James 4:15

ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν ὑμᾶς : “A classical writer would rather have said δέον λέγειν or οἵτινες βέλτιον ἂν εἷπον ” (Mayor). ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ : Cf. Berachoth, 17 a, “It is revealed and known before Thee that our will is to do Thy will” (quoted by Taylor, op. cit., p. 29); cf. John 7:17, ἐάν τις θέλῃ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν, γνώσεται … In the Hebrew commentary on a curious little work called The Book of the Alphabet of Ben Sira there occur the words אם גוזר שׁם, i.e., “If the Name (= God) wills”; and it is said that this formula should never be omitted when a man is about to undertake anything. This passage occurs in the comment on the eleventh proverb of the “Alphabet,” which runs: “The bride enters the bridal chamber and, nevertheless, knows not what will befall her”. The formula, “If the Name wills,” is, according to Ginsberg, of Mohammedan origin, “for the use of formulas was introduced to the Jews by the Mohammedans”. The formula is, of course, not Ben Sira's, as it forms no part of the work ascribed to him; the commentary in which it occurs belongs to about the year 1000 probably (see Jewish Encycl., ii. 678 f.). Cf., further, Acts 18:21, τοῦ θεοῦ θέλοντος, 1 Corinthians 4:19, ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ; and in Pirqe Aboth, ii. 4 occur the words of Rabban Gamliel (middle of third century A.D.), “Do His will as if it were thy will, that He may do thy will as if it were His will. Annul thy will before His will, that He may annul the will of others before thy will” (Taylor). καὶ ζήσομεν καὶ … both life and action depend upon God's will.