Begat] RV 'brought forth.' It seems at first sight natural to see in this v. a reference to the new birth of baptism, or to the regenerating power of the gospel (1 Peter 1:23). But such ideas are foreign to the simplicity of St. James's theological thought. The word of truth is the divine word which brought about the creation of man in God's image (Genesis 1:26). Firstfruits] see Numbers 15:21; Deuteronomy 18:3; Romans 11:16.

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