James 1:6

ἐν πίστει : πίστις, as used in this Epistle, refers to the state of mind in which a man not only believes in the existence of God, but in which His ethical character is apprehended and the evidence of His good-will towards man is acknowledged; it is a belief in the beneficent activity, as well as in the personality, of God; it includes reliance on God and the expectation that what is asked for will be granted by Him. The word here does not connote faith in the sense of a body of doctrine. This idea of faith is not specifically Christian; it was, and is, precisely that of the Jews; with these אמונה (Emûnah) is just that perfect trust in God which is expressed in what is called the “Creed of Maimonides,” or the “Thirteen principles of faith”; it is there said: “I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Author and Guide of everything that has been created, and that He alone has made, does make, and will make all things”. In Talmudical literature, which, in this as in so much else, embodies much ancient material, the Rabbis constantly insist on the need of faith as being that which is “perfect trust in God”; the měch ûsarê 'amanah, i.e., “those who are lacking in faith,” (cf. Matthew 6:30, ὀλιγόπιστοι = קטני אמונה) are held up to rebuke; it is said in Sotah, ix. 12 that the disappearance of “men of faith” will bring about the downfall of the world. Faith therefore, in the sense in which it is used in this Epistle, was the characteristic mark of the Jew as well as of the Christian. In reference to αἰτείτω δὲ ἐν πίστε : Knowling draws attention to Hermas, Mand., ix. 6, 7; Sim., James 1:4; James 1:3. μηδὲν διακρινόμενος : διακρίνεσθαι means to be in a critical state of mind, which is obviously the antithesis to that of him who has faith; it excludes faith ipso facto; Cf. Matthew 21:21, If ye have faith and doubt not (μὴ διακριθῆτε) …; Aphraates quotes as a saying of our Lord's: “Doubt not, that ye sink not into the world, as Simon, when he doubted, began to sink into the sea”. ἔοικεν κλύδωνι θαλάσσης : a very vivid picture; the instability of a billow, changing from moment to moment, is a wonderfully apt symbol of a mind that cannot fix itself in belief. ἔοικεν occurs only here and in James 1:23 in the N.T., κλύδων only elsewhere in Luke 8:24. ἀνεμιζομένῳ : a number of verbs are used in this Epistle ending in - ιζω, viz., ὀνειδίζω, ῥιπίζω, παραλογίζομαι, φλογίζω, ἐγγίζω, καθαρίζω, ἀγνίζω, ἀφανίζω, θησαυρίζω, θερίζω, στηρίζω, μακαρίζω; the word before us is one of the sixteen used in the Epistle which do not occur elsewhere in the N.T., nor in the Septuagint. ῥιπιζομένῳ : from ῥιπίς a “fan”; it occurs here only in the N.T., but cf. Daniel 2:35 (Septuagint), καὶ ἐρρίπισεν αὐτὰ ὁ ἄνεμος; the word is not used in Theodotion's version. With the verse before us cf. Ephesians 4:14.… κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ περιφερόμενοι παντὶ ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας.