Sermon & Translation by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 2 Apr. 2023
Read passage, starting at v.17:
Every good gift and every
perfect endowment is from above, coming down from the Father of
Lights, in the presence of whom there is no fluctuation or shading
due to revolution. After planning it, He gave birth to us by means
of the word of truth in order for us to be a particular
firstfruit from among His creations. You should be in-the-know, my
dear brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, slow to speak,
[and] slow to anger, because the anger of man does not accomplish
the righteousness of God. Therefore, after putting away all
filthiness and overflow of evil, y’all must receive with
meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls, and
y’all must become doers of the word, and not just hearers who
are deluding themselves. For if someone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, this one is comparable to a man taking
cognizance of the family-resemblance of his face in a mirror: once
he took cognizance of himself and went away, he then forgot
immediately of what kind he was. But the one who peers into the
perfect law – that of liberty – and remains beside it,
this person has become – not a forgetful hearer, but rather –
a doer of the work. This is the one who will be blessed in his
doing! If someone among y’all reckons that he is religious,
but is deceiving his heart while not holding his tongue in check,
the religion of this one is vain. This is pure and undefiled
religion according to our God and Father: to watch over orphans and
widows in their distress, [and] to keep oneself unsullied from the
world.
Verse 19 begins with a command which is based on previous context and which will be given more context afterwards.
There is also a dispute between the reading of the oldest-known manuscripts of v.19 (which start with the command “Y’all should know”) and the majority of Greek manuscripts (which instead start with the word “Therefore/Wherefore”). The “therefore” crowd points clearly to the context of the previous two verses:
The facts that God is the giver of every good gift and that God has taken the initiative to give us eternal life are reasons for us to humble our self-centered pride that wants to live according to what we know, what we want to say, and what feelings we want to express. Our flesh naturally wants to decide what is right and wrong for ourselves and wants to use anger and human effort to make right what we feel is wrong.
But the reality is that we are not the center of the universe, God is. God is the omnipotent creator, omniscient judge, and omnipresent savior who actually has the authority and the power to make things right. So, in light of Who God is, we must become worshipers of Him rather than worshipers of ourselves, and that means:
listening more, so that you can learn from God’s word and His creation,
talking less and using your powers of speech only to say what He wants you to say,
and trusting God’s control of things so that you don’t angrily try to take control of all your circumstances.
Anger usually comes from a person feeling that something important is being threatened when they don’t feel like they have the power to control the threat. So anger floods them, and then they feel more powerful, and the anger overcomes some of their natural reservations... and then they usually regret what they do next.
I saw several illustrations of this recently when I spent a week with 19 of my grandchildren. I love ‘em, but it got a little crazy at times! Think about the toddler who is told by her parents that she has to eat three more bites of supper before she can have dessert. Her natural “I’m-the-center-of-the-universe” approach to life informs her that a great injustice is being done to her. She doesn’t want another green bean; she wants dessert NOW! But there’s this parental authority standing in the way of what she wants. So, rather than being “slow to speak and slow to anger,” she lets anger carry her into screams of defiance as she throws her green beans at Daddy. Well, that just gets her into bigger trouble! Her self-centered attempt to make things right through the power of her anger won’t make things right the way God makes things right. And that approach won’t work for you either.
If you’re an adult, hopefully, you aren’t throwing infantile fits anymore, but we just have more-refined ways of channelling our anger to try to fix our world. For instance, there are a lot of social justice causes that a person can get involved in today, and many of them have identified genuine problems where unrighteousness exists, but many organizations fail to recognize God as the source of goodness, justice, and salvation, and instead they organize themselves around expressing anger and trying to fix the problem humanisti cally. God’s word, however, tells us that, “the anger of man does not work/achieve/bring about/accomplish the righteousness of God.”
The Old Testament Proverbs are full of warnings against anger:
Proverbs 29:8 Scoffers set a city aflame, But wise men turn away wrath.
Eccl. 7:9 Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools. Prov. 14:29 He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.
Prov. 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
Prov. 15:18 A wrathful man stirs up strife, But he who is slow to anger allays contention.
Prov. 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (NKJV)
There are many New Testament passages that talk about it too:
Matt. 5:22 Jesus said, "... every one who is angry toward his brother will be guilty in the judgment…” (NAW)
Eph. 4:26 Paul wrote, "Be angry yet do not keep sinning; the sun must not continue to go down upon your exasperation… 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and yelling and slander be put away from y'all together with all malice.” (NAW)
Col. 3:8 “But now, you yourselves must throw it all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, disgraceful speech from your mouth” (NAW)
I should add that this is not a categorical prohibition against anger. This prohibition is only against the anger of man. There is a place for the anger of God, and God allows us to express righteous anger in keeping with His own character by being offended at what He has determined to be evil, and I believe that is why Ephesians 4:26 says we can “be angry...” Righteous anger can lend us courage in obedience to God to oppose evil, but anger is a powerful emotion that must be handled wisely under God’s direction, not as an outflow of merely human thought.
What is the “righteousness of God” which is the proper goal? Paul defined it in the book of Romans: “1:16 ...I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes... 17 For in it [that is, in the gospel of Christ] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’… Romans 3:21 now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe…. Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved... 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes… 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NKJV)
So, looking back at the context of verses 17-18, the commands in v.19 to “be in-the-know” and to “be quick to listen... [and] slow to anger” instruct us to humble ourselves before our almighty Creator God, and align ourselves with His goodness, His word of truth, and His plan of making people right, rather than doing our own thing.
Looking forward, there is more context to these commands:
The emphasis that James put on works in his epistle is well-known, but notice what James says before he emphasizes being a “doer of the word”: First, he says in v.21 to repent and believe, or, in his words, “put away all filthiness and overflow of evil" [I love the KJV’s translation: ‘superfluity of naughtiness’ – rid yourselves of that]” and “receive... the... saving… word.” This is the gospel call!
The first part of the verse referring to repentance paints the picture of dirty clothes.
When a baby in diapers gets diarrhea, two things have to happen before you want to hold that child, otherwise you’re going to get stinky yourself (don’t ask me how I know!).
For one thing, you want him to be wearing clean clothes. (I’m a bit wary of picking up toddlers when there’s a suspicious-looking wet spot – or worse, a suspicious mustard-colored spot – on their clothes.)
But it doesn’t do much good to change a toddler with diarrhea into clean clothes, because they’re just going to soil the new clothes, as long as “filth” is still “overflowing” out of them!
The picture James presents of repentance is like that: We need to shut down the idol factory in our hearts – quit spewing out sin like a fountain, and get washed in the blood of Christ which will forgive all our sins and make us (and our garments) clean.
Note the word “all” in “all filthiness” – we cannot make compromises with sin.
2 Cor. 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness1 of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (NKJV)
Col. 3:5 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry… 8 now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” (NKJV)
Heb. 12:1 “...putting away from ourselves every encumbrance and sin...” (NAW)
But remember, this total repentance cannot be done by human effort any more than “human anger can achieve the righteousness of God.” It is done by “humbly receiving the word of God” and “acting” consistently with it, in the power of our Heavenly “Father” who is “perfecting/completing/maturing” us.
Following repentance2, we also need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – that is, to “receive the saving word.”
In the parallel passage in Peter’s first epistle we read the same idea:“Therefore after you have displaced all wickedness and deceptiveness and hypocrisies and rivalries and all trash-talks, like newborn babies, y'all must start cultivating desire for the non-deceptive milk of the word, in order that y'all might be caused to grow in salvation by means of it” (1 Pet. 2:1-2, NAW)
James uses the word “implanted” to describe this Gospel message, borrowing a Greek word from Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower” in Luke 8, where Jesus says that “the seed is the word of God” which is preached throughout the world. When we believe that news about the kingdom of God, it’s like this seed is planted in our heart and mind, and that seed grows as a new spiritual life in us.
But, James says, we have to receive it “with meekness/humility/gentleness.”
This is in light of the fact that God is the Creator, the Giver of every good gift, and the Author of eternal life. When we know how great God is (compared to us), we are in the right frame of mind to receive the salvation He offers us on His terms.
Meekness is the opposite of fleshly pride that causes us to be “[quick] to speak - [quick] to anger” – humility is the opposite of assuming that we are right and that we know what we need and that we deserve to get it.
In ch. 4, James will remind us that, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Faith, humility, and a good relationship with God go hand-in-hand.
Also note that this “word” has the “ability/power to save your soul.”
You are not the one who saves your soul by doing good works, “the word” is the instrument of God with the awesome power to save eternal souls; all we do is receive it.
You may not be sure if you are saved or not – or even if you can be saved, but God says authoritatively here that if it is “His will” to get the “word of truth” into you, it will “save your soul.” And that’s not just talking about some temporal benefit; that is talking about your eternal soul, and it will be forever “safe” because of the truth of the Gospel “word planted” and growing in your heart and mind.
“I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of salvation to all those who believe...!” (Rom. 1:16, KJV)
2 Tim. 3:15 “...you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)
Now, after repentance and faith comes active obedience:
In context, this “word” which must be acted upon (rather than passively listened to) is
the same “word of truth” from v.18 by which you were “born” again to eternal life,
and it is the same “implanted word” from v.21, which is “able to save your souls.”
The gospel message (that Jesus can save you by His death and resurrection from the wrath of God against your sin) requires an active response of trusting in Christ, conforming to the character of Christ, and obedience to the commands of Christ.
Those who listen to the word of God in Christian contexts and call themselves Christians, yet who continue to trust in themselves and live according to their flesh and disobey God’s word, are deceiving themselves if they think they are right with God.
What if, after I had married my wife, I continued to live in my college dorm room with my buddies and worked only to provide money for myself, and didn’t try to have any children, but I still invited my wife to social events, and sat with her at church? Even if I maintained that we were married, there would be something perversely wrong with me not doing anything about being married – not making the life changes necessary to merge our lives and personalities and fortunes together and bear fruit in our relationship!
Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-27 “Not everyone who is saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but rather the one who is doing the will of my Father in the heavens... Everyone therefore who is hearing these words of mine and doing them will be likened to a smart man who built his house upon the rock, and the rain came down and the rivers went [up] and the storm-wind blew and dropped down before that house, and it did not fall down, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who is hearing these words of mine and not doing them will be likened to a stupid man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain came down, and the rivers came [up], and the storm-wind blew and battered that house, and it fell down, and its downfall was momentous.” (NAW)
Jesus added in John 13:17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (NKJV)
So the Apostle Paul summarized in Romans 2:13 “for [it’s] not the hearers of the law [who] are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law [who] will be justified” (NKJV)
The Greek verb root paralogizomai behind the English phrase “deceiving yourselves,” only occurs one other place in the New Testament, and that is where Paul wrote in Colossians 2:4-8 “...that no one... delude (παραλογίζηται) you with persuasive argument... see[ing] your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith... See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception (ἀπάτης), according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (NASB)
A “deceived/deluded” person (in regards to this topic of the Biblical Gospel) is someone who is not trusting in Christ Jesus but rather who is following worldly, man-made philosophy, propaganda, and tradition.
Colossians 2:8 (as well as James 1:26) offer us a Greek synonym3 for “deception” which is found in a number of other passages throughout the Bible saying the same basic thing:
Romans 16:17-18 “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive (εξαπατωσιν) the hearts of the simple.” (NKJV) Once again, it’s the Lord Jesus Christ vs. worldly food and humanistic flattery.
1 Cor. 3:18-23 “Let no one deceive (ἐξαπατάτω) himself, if someone seems to be wise among you in this age, let him become stupid in order that he might become wise, for the wisdom of this world is stupid according to God... So, let no one boast in men... Y'all belong to Christ; Christ belongs to God.” (NAW) Again, human wisdom vs. the divine Christ.
2 Cor. 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived (ἐξηπάτησεν) Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (NASB)
Now, be sure to understand that when James says to be “doers” instead of “mere hearers,” He’s not talking about mere laziness versus activism.
James is not saying, “Just get off your duff and do any old thing.” He is calling for specific action, that is, to be a “doer of the word” – the Gospel-word,
or, as Jesus put it, “doing the will of my Father… doing… these words of mine,”
or, as Paul put it, being “doers of the law… of God.”
When James talks about works, He is talking about works that flow out of receiving the Gospel, works that are what the Bible tells us to do and which are done according to God’s will, not man’s will.
Repentance from sin and faith in Jesus leads to actions which are consistent with this relationship with God. That will include:
“humbly” being “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger,” (as we saw in v.19)
“loving” God rather than taking potshots at Him when we’re going through hardships, and “persevering under trial” (as we saw in vs.12-13),
“rejoicing” in the hope of heaven and “asking God... for wisdom” (as we saw in vs. 5 & 9)
James compares those who hear the Gospel but do nothing about it to someone who is using a mirror.
James uses a Greek word which emphasizes the mental activity going on when he looks at his face in the mirror.
And what is this person looking at and thinking about? Unfortunately the NIV and ESV (and other contemporary versions) ignore the Greek word which answers that question: He is pondering his γενέσεως – a word usually used in Greek for “generation/birth,” but here, coupled with the Greek word ‘opoios in the next verse (meaning “manner/kind/ likeness”), I think James is describing someone who is trying to recognize family resemblance in his mirror image.
But as soon as he walks out of the bathroom, he is no longer thinking about maintaining resemblance to his family of origin. He’s like the incorrigible child in those modern stories about English nobility who, instead of acting dignified to preserve the family name, instead runs wild and embarrasses the family.
Similarly, a person in a church service may be led to think about what God is like and how that should be reflected in our lives, but then as soon as the benediction is pronounced and he is out the door, if he no longer thinks about what God’s wonderful character is like and how that should be reflected in his life, but rather returns to a life of selfish pride, then such persons are not Christians, those are “hearers who deceive themselves.”
God described those kind of persons to the Prophet Ezekiel, saying, "...they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.” (Ezek. 33:31-32, NKJV)
In contrast to how the mere-hearer “takes cognizance” of his face in the mirror, James uses a different Greek verb in v.25 to describe how the “effectual doer” “looks at the law of liberty and abides by it.” The verb for his “looking/peering at the perfect law” denotes that it has changed his stance. It has literally made him “bend over.”
This word is the one which English versions translate “stoop” in the Gospels, when John and Peter peered into Jesus’ unexpectedly-empty tomb.
The law-word of God, spoken authoritatively by Jesus and written down in the Bible, has grabbed the do-ers attention, changed his stance, and drawn him in, in such a way that he will never leave it.
The Apostle Paula described that in 2 Cor. 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (NKJV)
In the the Old Testament, King David used the word “perfect” to describe God’s law in Psalm 19:7, and, since the time of the Old Testament, the law of Christ in the New Testament has been added to the law of God it to bring it to a completed perfection4.
But James narrows it down further by calling it “the Law of Liberty.” What is this “law of Liberty” that Christians will stop and pay attention to and live by?
It is not a phrase found anywhere else in the Bible apart from being “judged by the law of liberty” in James 2:12, but Jesus and the Apostles used the same root word for “liberty/ freedom” in connection with the Gospel, and I think that’s what James is referencing:
John 8:32-36 Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free5... whoever commits sin is a slave of sin... "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (NKJV) The “law of liberty” that the do-er “cranes his neck to look at” is the truth that Jesus liberates us from being controlled by sin.
This is also what Paul wrote in Romans 6:17-23 “...God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness... now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJV)
Rom. 8:1-4 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (NKJV)
Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (NKJV) The “law of liberty” is specifically the Gospel which explains how Jesus suffered death on the cross under the law of God in order to set us free from bondage to sin and death – that’s what Christians keep looking at and keep acting in accordance with.
“Abiding/continuing/persevering/remaining beside” this “perfect law of liberty” of the Gospel is what will take us beyond “hearer-only” status to “blessed6” status. But, what does that look like? How do we “remain beside” the “perfect law of liberty”? A whole series of sermons could be composed on that theme, but one practical application has already been made back in v.19 on being “slow to speak and slow to anger,” and James gives three more specific applications in verses 26-27:
1. One way that we apply repentance, faith and obedience to the Gospel of Jesus is by “bridling/reigning in/holding our tongue in check”
This is a recurring theme in James7, so we will see it again in chapter 3 and chapter 5, but here are three ways we can hold our speech in check:
When we experience hardship or learn about evil in the world (perhaps it is sickness or a crying child), a mind filled with the vision of the Gospel will keep your tongue from critisizing God8 and will praise Him instead.
Conversely, when we experience success and favor in life, and we want everybody to see it, a mind fixed on Christ will keep your tongue from boasting and drawing attention to yourself9 and will instead give glory to God for “every good gift.”
And, one more application to speech: when we “put aside all filthiness… and humbly receive the word implanted… and become doers,” the things we talk about will conform to God’s commands like Ephesians 5:4 “no filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (NKJV)
2. Visit/look after/watch over orphans and widows in their distress
James also reminded the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2 to “remember the poor”
The Old Testament law is full10 of commands to be generous to orphans and widows and others who are needy.
Deuteronomy 10 explains that this is because it is the character of God Himself to care for orphans and widows: 17 "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (NKJV, cf. Psalm 9:35, Hos. 14:4)
3. Keep oneself unstained/unpolluted/unspotted by the world
We will not want to be influenced by the world or want to take on its characteristics if we are centered on Christ, the Gospel message, and the Bible, and acting in keeping with these things.
It doesn’t mean we won’t be in the world; we will be ministering to the world just like Jesus did, but the world’s hatred of Jesus won’t rub off on us because the Gospel of Jesus so fills our vision.
1 Tim. 6:12-14 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession... I urge you in the sight of God... that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing” (NKJV)
Byzantine |
NAW |
KJV |
Vulgate |
Murdock Peshitta |
17 πᾶσα δόσιςA ἀγαθὴ καὶ πᾶν δώρημα τέλειον ἄνωθένB ἐστι καταβαῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτωνC, παρ᾿ ᾧ οὐκ ἔνιD παραλλαγὴE ἢ τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμαF. |
17 Every good gift and every perfect endowment is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, in the presence of whom there is no fluctuation or shading due to revolution. |
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. |
17 omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est descendens a Patre luminum apud quem non est transmutatio nec vicissitudinis obumbratio |
17 Every good X and X perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no mutation, not [even the] shadow of change. |
18 βουληθεὶς ἀπεκύησεν ἡμᾶς λόγῳ ἀληθείαςG εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἀπαρχήν τιναH τῶν Iαὐτοῦ κτισμάτων. |
18 After planning it, He gave birth to us by means of the word of truth in order for us to be a particular firstfruit out of His creations. |
18 [Of] his [own] will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. |
18 voluntarie genuit nos verbo veritatis ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius |
18
He
saw fit,
and begat us by the word of truth; that we might be |
19 ῞ΩστεJ, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοί, ἔστω δὲ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ταχὺς εἰς τὸ ἀκοῦσαι, βραδὺς εἰς τὸ λαλῆσαι, βραδὺςK εἰς ὀργήν· |
19 You should be in-the-know, my dear brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, slow to speak, [and] slow to anger, |
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, X let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: |
19 scitis fratres mei dilecti sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum tardus autem ad loquendum [et] tardus ad iram |
19 X And be ye, my beloved brethren, every one [of you], swift to hear, [and] slow to speak; [and] slow to wrath: |
20 ὀργὴ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς δικαιοσύνην Θεοῦ οὐκ Lκατεργάζεται. |
20 because the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. |
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. |
20 ira enim viri iustitiam Dei non operatur |
20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. |
21 διὸ ἀποθέμενοιM πᾶσαν ῥυπαρίανN καὶ περισσείανO κακίας ἐν πρᾳότητι δέξασθε τὸν ἔμφυτονP λόγον τὸν δυνάμενον σῶσαι τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν. |
21 Therefore, after putting away all filthiness and overflow of evil, y’all must receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls, |
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. |
21 propter quod abicientes omnem inmunditiam et abundantiam malitiae in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum quod potest salvare animas vestras |
21
Wherefore,
remove [far
from you]
all impurity, and [the]
abundance of wickedness;
[and],
with meekness,
receive the word that is implanted [in
our nature],
which is able to |
22 Γίνεσθε δὲ ποιηταὶ λόγου καὶ μὴ μόνον ἀκροαταὶ παραλογιζόμενοιQ ἑαυτούς. |
22 and y’all must become doers of the word, and not just hearers who are deluding themselves. |
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your [own] selves. |
22 estote autem factores verbi et non auditores tantum fallentes vosmet ipsos |
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only; [and do not] deceive yourselves. |
23 ὅτι εἴ τις ἀκροατὴς λόγου ἐστὶ καὶ οὐ ποιητής, οὗτος ἔοικενR ἀνδρὶ κατανοοῦντι τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεωςS αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐσόπτρῳT· |
23 For if someone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is comparable to a man taking cognizance of the family-resemblance of his face in a mirror: |
23
For if |
23 quia si quis auditor est verbi et non factor hic conparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suae in speculo |
23
For
if |
24 κατενόησε γὰρ ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀπελήλυθε, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν. |
24 once he took cognizance of himself and went away, he then forgot immediately of what kind he was. |
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth [his] way, and straightway forgetteth what manner [of man] he was. |
24 consideravit enim se et abiit et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit |
24 for he seeth himself, and passeth on, and forgetteth XU what [a man] he was. |
25 ὁ δὲ παρακύψας εἰς νόμον τέλειον τὸν τῆς ἐλευθερίας καὶ παραμείνας, οὗτοςV οὐκ ἀκροατὴς ἐπιλησμονῆςW γενόμενος, ἀλλὰ ποιητὴς ἔργου, οὗτος μακάριος ἐν τῇ ποιήσει αὐτοῦ ἔσται. |
25 But the one who peers into the perfect law – that of liberty – and remains beside it, this person has become – not a forgetful hearer, but rather – a doer of the work. This is the one who will be blessed in his doing! |
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. |
25 qui autem perspexerit in lege perfecta libertatis et permanserit non auditor obliviosus factus sed factor operis hic beatus in facto suo erit |
25
But
[every]
one that looketh |
26 XΕἴ τις δοκεῖ θρησκὸςY εἶναι ἐν ὑμῖνZ, μὴ χαλιναγωγῶν γλῶσσαν αὐτοῦ ἀλλ᾿ ἀπατῶν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ, τούτου μάταιος ἡ θρησκεία. |
26 If someone among y’all reckons that he is religious, but is deceiving his heart while not holding his tongue in check, the religion of this one is vain. |
26
If |
26 si quis autem putat se religiosum esse non refrenans linguam suam sed seducens cor suum huius vana est religio |
26
And
if |
27 θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντοςAA παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ αὕτη ἐστίν, ἐπισκέπτεσθαι ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας ἐν τῇ θλίψει αὐτῶν, ἄσπιλονAB ἑαυτὸν τηρεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου. |
27 This is pure and undefiled religion according to our God and Father: to watch over orphans and widows in their distress, [and] to keep oneself unsullied from the world. |
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit [the] fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. |
27 religio munda et inmaculata apud Deum et Patrem haec est visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum inmaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo |
27
[For
the]
worship that is pure and |
1This is a different Greek word (μολυσμοῦ), but a synonym to the one translated “filthiness” in James 1 (ῥυπαρίαν).
2The Greek grammar of this sentence with an Aorist participle (“putting aside”) followed by an Imperative (“receive”) indicates that there is a sequence of repentance before faith, although this shouldn’t be pressed too far.
3This is, of course a noun form, but verbal forms of the same root are cited here. cf. other Greek synonyms for “deceit” such as ἀπατάτω in Eph. 5:6, εδολιουσαν in Rom. 3:13 and πλανᾶσθε in 1 Cor. 6:9 and 15:33.
4The Hebrew tamiymah in Psalm 19 does mean “perfect,” but the LXX chose to render it ἄμωμος – without blemish.
5This is the cognate verb for the Greek noun James used.
6Luke
11:28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are
those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
(NKJV)
Rev. 22:14 “Blessed are those who
do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of
life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”
(NKJV)
James 1:12 “A man who is steadfast in a
trial is blessed, because, after he has proved himself
genuine, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised
to those who love Him.” (NAW)
7Other
notable references include:
Psalm 39:1 "I will keep
my ways from sinning with my tongue; let me keep a muzzle against my
mouth while yet an evil person is in my presence." (NAW)
Psalm
34:13 “Maintain your tongue away from evil and your lips
away from speaking deceit.” (NAW)
Psalm 141:3 “Set
a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my
lips.” (NKJV)
1 Pet. 3:10 "The one who wants
to love life and to see good days, let him stop his tongue from bad
and his lips such that they don't utter deceptiveness.”
(NAW)
Prov. 10:19 “In the multitude of words sin
is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”
(NKJV)
Eph. 4:29 “Do not continue to let any
rotten word proceed out of your mouth, but rather it should be
something good toward building up of the needy in order that it
might give grace to the hearers.” (NAW)
Col. 4:6
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt,
that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (NKJV)
8See Mal. 3:14 for an example of complaining against God.
9See Matt. 6:2 for an example of this.
10Exod. 22:21, Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19 – and then there’s the prophets: Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5; Isa. 1:17, Jer. 7:6, etc.
APhil.
4:15 (the Philippians’ financial support of Paul in prison in
Rome) is the only other occurrence of this noun in the NT.
Faussett:
“‘gift ... gift’ — not the same words in
Greek: the first, the act of giving, or the gift in its initiatory
stage; the second, the thing given, the boon, when perfected.”
Later commentators noted that since this line is in a poetic meter,
perhaps the three-syllable dorema was chosen to fit the meter
and not because of a difference in meaning.
BThis adverb usually means “top” (like the temple curtain ripping from “top” to bottom), or “beginning” (like Luke investigated the Gospel from “the beginning”), or “again” (as in, “you must be born again”), but there is one other place outside of James in the N.T. where it is translated “from above,” and that is John 19:11 (“you would have no authority except it has been given to you from above”). James 3 goes on to use it in the same sense, and it is often used that way in the Greek O.T., especially in conjunction with “heaven”: Genesis 27:39 (“ the dew of heaven from above”), 49:25 (“blessings of heaven above”), Isaiah 45:8 (“Let the heaven rejoice from above”), Jeremiah 4:28 (“...let the sky be dark above”), cf. Job 3:4 (“...let not the Lord regard it from above”). (Brenton)
CThe plural form of “lights” occurs only four other times in the Greek Bible, half referring to a multiplicity of oil lamps (1 Mac. 12:29, Ezek. 42:11), and the other half referring to the sun, moon, & stars (Jer. 4:23, Ps. 136:7), which is probably why the NIV added the word “heavenly.” Two other possibilities are suggested in the three other N.T. passages which mention both “father” and “light”: 1) “Light” could be a metaphor for “life” as it is in Ps. 48:20 & Matt. 5:16, meaning “the Father who created human life,” or 2) “Light” could be a euphemism for “heaven” as it is in Col. 1:12 (“the saints in light”).
DSinaiticus and a handful of miniscules instead read estin (“it is”) which means practically the same thing.
ELit. “transition to otherness” Only here and 2 Kings 9:20 (describing Jehu’s “crazy” driving).
F
Hapex Legomenon.
Sinaiticus
and Vaticanus,
two of the oldest-known manuscripts spell this in the genitive case
(“turning
of shadow”),
but all the other
manuscripts spell it in the nominative case.
Together with the
previous word, it appears to be denoting the way we get shades of
light and darkness due to the rotation of the earth and due to its
revolution around the sun. Trope
is not used anywhere else in the NT, but it is in the O.T. in Exod.
32:18; Deut. 33:14; 1 Ki. 22:35; 1 Ma. 4:35; 5:61; 2 Ma. 12:27, 37;
Job 38:33; Wis. 7:18; Sir. 45:23; Jer. 30:27. The Deut. 33 instance
seems to be denoting seasonal changes, but all the rest have to do
with political “revolutions” where one leader loses in
battle to another.
Vincent:
“This is popularly understood to mean that there is in God not
the faintest hint
or shade
of change, like the phrase, ‘a shadow of suspicion.’ But
the Greek has no such idiom… Compare Plato, Republic,
vii., 530: ‘Will he (the astronomer) not think that the heaven
and the things in heaven are framed by the Creator in the most
perfect manner? But when he reflects that the proportions of night
and day, or of both, to the month, or of the month to the year, or
of the other stars to these and to one another, are of the visible
and material, he will never fall into the error of supposing that
they are eternal and liable to no deviation (οὐδὲν
παραλλάττειν)
- that would be monstrous.”
G“word of truth” is in the LXX of Ps. 118:43, 160 (that’s Psalm 119 in English versions); Prov. 22:21; and Eccl. 12:10.
HBlass & Debrunner suggested in their Grammar that this word is used “to soften the metaphorical expression.” (Hanna)
IThis is the reading of half of the oldest-known manuscripts (That is, the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus) as well as of the overall majority of manuscripts. The other half (That is, the Alexandrinus and Ephraemi Rescriptus) add an emphatic epsilon prefix (“his own” instead of “his”), which doesn’t substantially change the meaning.
J“Subsequently” is the reading of the majority of Greek texts, the oldest of which is dated at the 6th century (hence the KJV “wherefore”). But the four oldest-known manuscripts instead read iste (“Y’all should know” or, as ATR advocated, “y’all have known”), and this presumably-older reading is supported by several more-recent manuscripts as well as the ancient Latin and Coptic translations. Curiously, the majority of ancient lectionaries omit the word all together. All three variants are represented among Syriac versions, for instance Lamsa renders “Therefore,” whereas Murdock omits.
KThis
word only here and Luke 24:25 (“slow to believe”)
“ingressive
aorist active infinitive, slow to begin speaking, not slow while
speaking” ~ATR
LAbout 5 Greek manuscripts (including 3 of the 5 oldest-known) omit the verb prefix, and this is reflected in the 3rd and 4th editions of the UBS Greek New Testaments, but it doesn’t significantly change the meaning. The vast majority of manuscripts (Including the 5th century Ephraemi Rescriptus, and another uncial from the 6th century) include the prefix kata- (emphasizing the ultimate result of the work more than the process of the work), and this is reflected, not only in the Byzantine and Greek Orthodox texts, but also in the Nestle-Aland 28th and the UBS 5th edition text.
M All the English versions translated this participle as though it were Present tense and therefore simultaneous to the main verb (“receive”), but this verb is Aorist tense, and, as a participle, this should indicate prior action. “Repent and believe” comes in sequence.
NHapex legomenon, but forms of this word also occur in Zech. 3:3-4 & Jas. 2:2 (referring literally to dirty clothes) and Rev. 22:11 (referring to morally-polluted persons).
O The Bible book which uses this Greek word the most is Ecclesiastes (1:3; 2:11, 13; 3:9; 5:8, 15; 6:8; 7:11-12; 10:10-11) primarily in the context of financial “profit” but also in the figurative sense of “advantage.” It is also in Rom. 5:17 (“abundance of grace”), 2 Cor. 8:2 (“abundance of joy”) and 2 Cor. 10:15 (“we shall be greatly enlarged”). Nowhere else does it modify “evil.”
POnly elsewhere in the LXX in Wisdom 12:10 “their malice was bred in them.” However, if you break the Greek compound word apart, the verb phuw was used by Jesus in the Parable of the Sower, in Luke 8, where He said that “the seed is the word of God.” This Greek word, by the way, does not contain the meaning of “graft” as in splicing together two different plants.
QThe only other place this word appears in the GNT is Col. 2:4 (“in order that no one may deceive you with persuasive speech”), but it shows up several places in the LXX where one person deceived another (Gen. 29:25; 31:41; Jos. 9:22; Jda. 16:10, 13, 15; 1 Sam. 19:17; 28:12; 2 Sam. 19:27; 21:5; Est. 8:12; Ps. Sol. 4:11; Lam. 1:19; Bel. 1:7).
RRare word only elsewhere in the Bible in v.6 and in Job 6:3 & 25.
SFrequently used in LXX having to do with “generation,” but in GNT only here and 3:6 (“the tongue… sets on fire the course of the generation”) and Matt. 1:1 (“genealogy”) and Mat. 1:18 & Lk. 1:14 (“birth” of Christ). Syriac omits, and so does NIV and ESV.
TOnly other occurrence of this word in the Bible is 1 Cor. 13:12. (The Apocrypha has it in Wis. 7:26 & Sir. 12:11.)
ULamsa also omits the “immediately.”
VThe 5 oldest-known manuscripts of James omit this word, so it is not in the UBS GNT or the Latin versions, but it is in the majority of Greek manuscripts, so it is in the Textus Receptus and in modern Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT. It doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence; it just emphasizes “this.”
W Noun form of the verb in the previous verse. Appears nowhere else in the Greek Bible except in the apocryphal Sir. 11:27.
XA very few manuscripts (including the Ephraimi Rescriptus) and versions add a conjunction de here.
YOnly
two other Biblical occurrences of any form of this word: Acts 26:5
("the strictest sect of our religion”) and Col.
2:18 (“worship of angels”) (plus apocryphal
citations in 4 Mac. 5:7, 13 and Wis. 14:18, 27).
Vincent &
ATR: “external observances of public worship”
ZAlthough the majority of Greek manuscripts (and therefore the Patriarchal Greek Orthodox edition of the GNT) read “among y’all,” all 4 of the oldest-known manuscripts omit this phrase, so it is not in the Nestle-Aland or UBS or Modern Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT, and it’s also not in the ancient Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions. The difference between “someone” and “someone among you” isn’t significant, considering that whereever the letter is read it would apply “among you.”
AA
2 Ma. 14:36; 15:34; Wis. 3:13; 4:2; 8:20; Heb. 7:26; 13:4; 1 Pet.
1:4
“pure and undefiled, present the positive and
negative sides of purity.” ~Vincent
AB 1 Tim. 6:14; 1 Pet. 1:19; 2 Pet. 3:14