James 3:9

ἐν αὐτῇ : this is Hebrew usage, cf. εἰ πατάξομεν ἐν μαχαίρῃ, Luke 22:49; ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ, Revelation 6:8. εὐλογοῦμεν : this use is Hellenistic. Both in speaking and writing the Jews always added the words ברו־ הוא (“Blessed [be] He”) after the name of God; cf. Mark 14:61, where ὁ εὐλογητός is used in reference to God. τὸν Κύριον καὶ πατέρα : the reading Κύριον can scarcely be right; Θεόν is not, it is true, well attested (see critical note), but it is required on account of the καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ; neither the combination τὸν θεὸν καὶ πατέρα nor τὸν Κύριον καὶ πατέρα is in accordance with ordinary Jewish usage; the exact phrase does not occur in the Bible elsewhere, the nearest approach being Tob 13:4, … καὶ Θεὸς αὐτὸς πατὴρ ἡμῶν εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας. Cf. Isaiah 63:16, σὺ Κύριε πατὴρ ἡμῶν, and 1 Chronicles 29:10, εὐλογητὸς εἶ, Κύριε, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ Πατὴρ ἡμῶν. Although the Jews frequently speak of God as “Father,” it is usually in a different combination, probably the most usual being “Our Father” alone, or “Our Father and King”; in the great prayer called the “Shemôneh ‘Esreh” (“Eighteen” [Nineteen] Blessings), which was formulated in its final form about the year 110 A.D., each of the forty-four petitions which it contains begins with the words: Abinu Malkênu [58] (“Our Father, our King”). Πατήρ is always used in reference to God in order to emphasise the divine love; and in the passage before us a contrast is undoubtedly implied between the love of the Father towards all His children, and the mutual hatred among these latter. f1καταρώμεθα : this word shows that the special sin of the tongue which is here referred to is not slander or backbiting or lying, but personal abuse, such as results from loss of temper in heated controversy. Cf. Romans 12:13, εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε, and see the very appropriate passage in the Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Benj. 6:5, ἡ ἀγαθὴ διάνοια οὐκ ἔχει δύο γλώσσας εὐλογίας καὶ κατάρας. τοὺς καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ γεγονότας : quoted, apparently from memory, from Genesis 1:26, where the Septuagint reads, κατʼ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν; the Hebrew דמות (ὁμοίωσις) is synonymous with צלם (εἰκών). The belief that men are made in the material likeness of God is taught both in Biblical and post-Biblical Jewish literature; philosophers like Philo would naturally seek to modify this. An interesting passage which reminds one of this verse is quoted by Knowling from Bereshith, R. xxiv., Rabbi Akiba (born in the middle of the first century A.D.), in commenting on Genesis 9:6, said: “Whoso sheddeth blood, it is reckoned to him as if he diminished the likeness ”; then referring presently to Leviticus 19:18 (Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself), he continues, “Do not say: ‘after that I am despised, let my neighbour also be despised'. R. Tanchuma said, ‘If you do so, understand that you despise him of whom it was written, in the likeness of God made He him '.” The lesson is that he who curses him who was made in the image of God implicitly curses the prototype as well.

[58] To be distinguished from the “Abinu Malkênu” prayer used in the penitential portion of the Jewish Liturgy.