James 1:2

Πᾶσαν χαράν : Cf. Philippians 2:29, μετὰ πάσης χαρᾶς : the rendering in Syr lec, which is rather a paraphrase than a translation, catches the meaning admirably: בכל חדוא הוו חאדין אח̈י, “With all joy be rejoicing my brethren.” ἡγήσασθε : the writer is not to be understood as meaning that these trials are joyful in themselves, but that as a means to beneficial results they are to be rejoiced in; it is the same thought as that contained in Hebrews 12:11 : πᾶσα μὲν παιδεία πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν οὐ f1δοκεῖ χαρᾶς εἶναι ἀλλὰ λύπης, ὕστερον δὲ καρπὸν εἰρηνικὸν τοῖς διʼ αὐτῆς γεγυμνασμένοις ἀποδίδωσιν δικαιοσύνης. ἀδελφοί μου : this term of address was originally Jewish; in Hebrew, אח is used, in the first instance, of those born of the same mother, e.g., Genesis 4:2, etc.; then in a wider sense of a relative, e.g., Genesis 14:12, etc.; and in the still more extended meaning of kinship generally, e.g., of tribal membership, Numbers 16:10; as belonging to the same people, e.g., Exodus 2:11; Leviticus 19:7, and even of a stranger (גֵּר) sojourning among the people, Leviticus 19:34; it is also used of those who have made a covenant together, Amos 1:9; and, generally, of friends, 2 Samuel 1:26, etc.; in its widest sense it was taken over by the Christian communities, whose members were both friends and bound by the same covenant (cf. the origin of the Hebrew word for “covenant,” בּרית, from the Assryo-Babylonian Biritu which means “a fetter”). This mode of address occurs frequently in this Epistle, sometimes the simple ἀδελφοί without μου (James 4:11; James 5:7; James 5:9-10), sometimes with the addition of ἀγαπητοί (James 1:16; James 1:19; James 2:5). πειρασμοῖς : in James 1:12 ff. πειρασμός obviously means allurement to wrong-doing, and this would appear to be the most natural meaning here on account of the way in which temptation is analysed, though the sense of external trials, in the shape of calamity, would of course not be excluded; “it may be that the effect of external conditions upon character should be included in the term” (Parry). It is true that the exhortation to look upon temptations with joy is scarcely compatible with the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4) or with the words, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41; Luke 22:40; see too Mark 14:38; Luke 22:46; Revelation 3:10); but, as is evident from a number of indications in this Epistle, the writer's Judaism is stronger than his Christianity, and owing to the Jewish doctrines of free-will and works, a Jew would regard temptation in a less serious light than a Christian (see Introduction § iv.). Most pointedly does Parry remark: “There is a true joy for the warrior when he meets face to face the foe whom he has been directed to subjugate, in a warfare that trains hand and eye and steels the nerve and tempers the will …”; this is precisely the Jewish standpoint; while the Christian, realising his sinfulness and inherent weakness, and grounded in a spirit of humility, reiterates the words which he has been taught in the Lord's Prayer. This passage is one of the many in the Epistle which makes it so difficult to believe that it can all have been written by St. James. περιπέσητε : the connection in which this word stands in the few passages of the N.T. which contain it supports the idea that in πειρασμοῖς external trials are included (Luke 10:30; Acts 27:41). ποικίλοις : Cf. 1 Peter 1:6., ἐν ποικίλοις πειρασμοῖς, Pesh. adds πολλοῖς, cf. Malachi 2:6; Malachi 2:6, ποικίλαις καὶ πολλαῖς δοκιμάσας τιμωρίαις