1. A FURTHER TEMPTATION OR SPIRITUAL DANGER CONNECTED WITH THE SYNAGOGUE IS AMBITION FOR THE OFFICE OF TEACHER OR RABBI 1. Two results are noted from the intemperate or unconsidered use of language: (1) The swiftness with which the evil spreads from an insignificant beginning. (2) The vast influen... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΛΛΆ, in many ways apart from speech. ΕἼ ΤΙΣ ἘΝ ΛΌΓΩΙ ΟΥ̓ ΠΡΑΊΕΙ. Comp. γλώσσῃ σὺ δεινός· ἄνδρα δʼ οὐδένʼ οἶδʼ ἐγὼ | δίκαιον ὅστις ἐξ ἃπαντος εὖ λέγει. | KP. χωπὶς τό τʼ εἰπεῖν πολλὰ και τὰ καίρια Soph. _Oed. Col._ 806–808; si volumus aequi omnium rerum judices esse … hoc primum nobis suadeamus ne... [ Continue Reading ]
2–12. FROM THIS THOUGHT OF THE TEACHING OFFICE AND ITS RESPONSIBILITIES AND FAILURES THERE IS A NATURAL TRANSITION TO THE USE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE TONGUE. Yet so passionate and agitated is the rebuke, that we may imagine it to have been occasioned by an actual experience of gross slander or grievo... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ δὲ with אABC (ιδε) KL and many others, also O.L. and Vulgate (si autem). ἰδοὺ is read in a few cursives and has the authority of several versions. 3. ΕἸ ΔῈ ΤΩ͂Ν ἼΠΠΩΝ κ.τ.λ. A man’s tongue or speech is regarded as a force distinct from himself, just as his body is. If he can bring his tongue und... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΔΟΎ, in later Greek little more than a vivid particle of transition. ὙΠΌ, generally used of personal agency: ch. James 1:14 is hardly an exception to this. Comp. 1 Corinthians 6:12 ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐγὼ ἐξουσιασθήσομαι ὑπότινος. Colossians 2:18 εἰκῇ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ. ΜΕΤΆΓΕΤΑΙ. Si... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΓΆΛΑ ΑΥ̓ΧΕΙ͂ with ABC*P; μεγαλαυχεῖ in אC2KL and later MSS. ἡλίκον, for ὀλίγον of T.R., with אA2BCP; ὀλίγον, a change to an easier reading, has a good deal of later support, A*vidC2KL &c. 5. ΜΕΓΆΛΑ ΑΥ̓ΧΕΙ͂, BOASTETH GREAT THINGS. There is no thought of an unfounded boast. The achievements on whic... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ Ἡ ΓΛΩ͂ΣΣΑ: so אcABCKLP &c. Tischendorf omits καὶ on the authority of א*, and on the same unsupported authority reads καὶ σπιλοῦσα for ἡ σπιλοῦσα below. 6. ΚΑῚ Ἡ ΓΛΩ͂ΣΣΑ ΠΥ͂Ρ. For the general sense of the difficult passage which follows, comp. Proverbs 16:24-30, especially the expressions: ἐπὶ δὲ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΆΡ introduces a further fact in illustration of the preceding thought—the indomitable character of the tongue. James 3:7 is subordinate to James 3:8, and might have been expressed by a concessive clause, ‘for though all creatures are subject to man, yet cannot he tame the tongue.’ ἙΡΠΕΤΩ͂Ν. Heb. ר... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΑΤΆΣΤΑΤΟΝ with אABP, Old Latin and Vulgate &c. ἀκατάσχετον of the T.R. is read in CKL and many later MSS. 8. ἈΚΑΤΆΣΤΑΤΟΝ, RESTLESS, DISQUIETED. ἀκατάσχετον, uncontrolled, unruly. For the reading see critical notes. For the thought comp. Hesiod, Ἔργα 761 δεινὴν δὲ βροτῶν ὑπαλεύεο φήμην· | φήμη γάρ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΎΡΙΟΝ with אABCP, Old Latin and other versions; KL and a majority of later authorities have θεόν. But it is more probable that θεὸν should have been substituted for κύριον, than that the reverse should have happened. 9. ἘΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΗ͂Ι. The instrumental use of ἐν in N. T. is generally to be attributed t... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ ΧΡΉ. ΧΡΉ. here only in N.T.: IT IS NOT RIGHT or FITTING. It is not the same as δεῖ, which implies moral obligation, duty. Here the unfitness or incongruity is expressed.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΉΤΙ Ἡ ΠΗΓῊ Κ.Τ.Λ. An argument from natural analogy. This inconsistency of blessing and cursing with the same mouth is unnatural. We are reminded of Aristotle’s argument against usury—the unnaturalness of ‘barren metal’ bearing, having offspring (τόκος) as it were. Ἡ ΠΗΓΉ, the article generalises.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓́ΤΕ ἉΛΥΚῸΝ ΓΛΥΚῪ ΠΟΙΗ͂ΣΑΙ ὝΔΩΡ with א (οὐδεὲ) ABD, Old Latin and Vulgate. The T.R. has the support of KLP and later MS. authority and some versions in reading οὐδεμία πηγὴ ἁλυκὸν καὶ γλυκὺ ποιῆσαι ὕδωρ. The reading in the text is an instance of the rule that a reading is to be preferred out of wh... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊΣ ΣΟΦῸΣ ΚΑῚ ἘΠΙΣΤΉΜΩΝ. St James is here thinking of σοφία and ἐπιστήμη as practical systems of life. σοφία as well as πίστις and ἔλεος must have its ἔργα. Comp. Ephesians 5:15 βλέπετε οὖν�ʼ ὡς σοφοί, where the Apostle indicates a philosophy of life. σοφία, ἀκρίβεια and ἐπιστήμη are closely connect... [ Continue Reading ]
13–18. BUT BESIDES THE EFFECT AND DANGERS OF SPEECH, THE TOPIC OF TEACHING SUGGESTS ANOTHER POINT—THE POSSESSION AND USE OF WISDOM. HENCE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TRUE WISDOM AND THE FALSE WISDOM 13–18. Another line of thought, also springing from the topio of teaching (James 3:1), is the right... [ Continue Reading ]
ΖΗ͂ΛΟΝ ΠΙΚΡΌΝ, in strong contrast to πραϋ̓τητι σοφίας. ἘΡΙΘΕΊΑΝ (ἐριθίαν W. H.), PARTY SPIRIT, intrigue, contention. The derivation is from ἔριθος, a day labourer; ἐν δʼ ἐτίθει τέμενος βαθυλήιον· ἔνθα δʼ ἔριθοι | ἤμων ὀξείας δρεπάνας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες, _Il._ XVIII. 550; πότνιʼ Ἀθηναία, ποῖαί σφʼ ἐπό... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑὝΤΗ (ΣΟΦΊΑ), this false wisdom indicated above, the fanaticism of the zealot. ἘΠΊΓΕΙΟΣ. Comp. εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω ὑμῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε; John 3:12 : τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες, Philippians 3:19, see also 1 Corinthians 15:40; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Philippians 2:10... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΊΑ, opposed to the εἰρήνη of the heavenly wisdom and especially characteristic of the zealots. Comp. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν�, ἀλλʼ εἰρήνης, 1 Corinthians 14:33. ΠΑ͂Ν ΦΑΥ͂ΛΟΝ ΠΡΑ͂ΓΜΑ, comp. πᾶς γὰρ ὁ φαῦλα πράσσων μισεῖ τὸ φῶς, John 3:20 : ἐκπορεύσονται … οἱ τὰ φαῦλα πράξαντες εἰς�, John 5:29.... [ Continue Reading ]
The insertion of καὶ in T. R. before ἀνυπόκριτος is against the best authority. 17. Ἡ ἌΝΩΘΕΝ ΣΟΦΊΑ, THE HEAVENLY WISDOM, the supreme excellence of the religious life, in which the child Jesus kept advancing, προέκοπτεν τῇ σοφίᾳ, Luke 2:52, which was manifest in His manhood, πόθεν τούτῳ ἡ σοφία αὔτη;... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΡΠῸΣ ΔῈ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗΣ κ.τ.λ. δικαιοσύνης gen. of apposition, the fruit which consists of righteousness. The connecting thought between this and the preceding paragraph centres in δικαιοσύνη, which is regarded as the supreme aim and crown of the Christian life: comp. 2 Timothy 4:8 ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης σ... [ Continue Reading ]