Sermon & Translation by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer
Church, Manhattan, KS, 11 June 2023
Omitting
greyed-out text should bring delivery under 45 minutes.
Around the year 400, Augustine, a pastor in North Africa who was a prolific writer wrote, “As a tree must strike deep roots downwards, that it may grow upwards, so every one who has not his soul fixed deep in humility, exalts himself to his own ruin.”
We are looking at an extended passage on the topic of humility before God. James is calling us to strike our roots deep into humility with respect to God.
We have seen earlier in James how humility enables us to ask for God’s wisdom to face trials and to receive God’s word of salvation, whereas pride causes us to discriminate against other Christians and generates lies and quarrels.
In James 4:6, we read a quote of Proverbs 3:34, “God organizes Himself against arrogant men, but it is to lowly ones that He gives grace.”
Then the next verse (James 4:7) begins with the word “Therefore” and begins a list of 10 commands. These imperatives are all in the Greek Aorist tense, which means that James is calling us, his audience, to “begin” doing these things if we aren’t doing them already.
Read my translation of the passage, starting at 4:7 “Therefore, start submitting yourselves to God, and start standing up against the Devil, and he will flee from y’all! Start drawing near to God, and He will draw near to y’all. Sinners, start purifying hands, and double-minded ones, start sanctifying hearts! Start feeling the weight of it and mourning and weeping. Let your laughter be changed into mourning and your joy into sadness. Let yourselves be humbled in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Stop talking derogatorily about one another, brothers. The one who is talking derogatorily about a brother or condemning his brother is talking derogatorily about the law and condemning the law. But, when you condemn the law, you are not being a doer of the law; instead you are being its judge. The Lawgiver and Judge is the One who is able to save and to destroy. So who are you who condemn your neighbor? Get with-it now, you who are saying, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into this town here and manufacture for one year there, then market and profit!” – who yourselves have no certainty of what will be morrow. (For what is your life? Indeed, it is smoke which is made to appear for a little while and then is made to disappear.) Instead y’all should say, “If the Lord wills, then we will live and do this or that.” But now y’all are boasting in your pretensions; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and isn’t doing it – to him it is a sin.”
In the last sermon, we looked at the first two commands: “Start submitting to God” and “start opposing the Devil.”
I noted that to do one was also to do the other1,
and that “submission” meant obedience to His laws, deference to His person, and acceptance of His right to judge,
while “resisting the devil” involves
enduring
suffering, believing
the gospel, putting away false ideas, and praying.
I
love what Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary about this:
“Now, as this subjection and submission to God are what the devil
most industriously strives to hinder, so we ought with great care
and steadiness to resist his suggestions.
If he would represent a tame yielding to the will and providence of God as what will bring calamities, and expose to contempt and misery, we must resist these suggestions of fear.
If he would represent submission to God as a hindrance to our outward ease or worldly preferments, we must resist these suggestions of pride and sloth.
If he would tempt us to lay any of our miseries and crosses and afflictions, to the charge of Providence, so that we might avoid them by following his directions instead of God's, we must resist these…
Submit yourselves to God, as considering how many ways you are bound to this, and as considering what advantage you will gain by it; for God will not hurt you by his dominion over you, but will do you good.”
What I want to focus on now is three aspects of God that lead us to submit to God with a humble attitude, and those are: His Righteousness, His Justice, and His Providence. First...
As we look at the 8 remaining commands in verses 8-10, there is a common thread, and that is the assumption that we are naturally unclean, impure, unfaithful, and proud. In our flesh, we have entirely the wrong attitude toward sin, and thus we are distant from God. On the other hand, God is intrinsically righteous: He can cleanse our hands and hearts, and He can exalt and save us when He draws near.
So the command at the beginning of v. 8 is “start drawing near to God.”
In the Old Testament, when some people “drew near” to God, they did so in Prayer:
for instance, Abraham, in Genesis 18:23, when he “drew near” and tried to talk God out of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah,
and David, who prayed in Psalm 119:169 “Let my supplication come near before thee, O Lord…” (Brenton)
In the Old Testament, the priests also “drew near” to God in corporate worship:2
Exodus 19:22 "...let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves..."
But then, the New Testament book of Hebrews says that God 7:19 “... superimposed a better hope through which we draw near to God... 10:19 having, by means of the blood of Jesus, open-access into the entryway of the holy places … 10:22 So let's keep approaching [προσερχώμεθα] with sincerity of heart in full assurance of faith … 13:15-16 Let it be through Him, therefore, that we offer up a thanks-offering always to God, which is fruit of lips confessing His name, and never forget good works and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.” (NAW) So, we also “draw near to God” in prayer and corporate worship.
By the way, even though James mentions our “drawing near” to God before he mentions God drawing near to us, James is not teaching that our drawing near to God causes God to draw near to us. Other passages of Scripture make it clear that God acts first to come near to us and to draw us to Himself, from the beginning of Genesis, when God came down to visit Adam and Eve, and on into the Gospels, when John and Jesus and the Apostles proclaimed to a wicked and sinful generation, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near." (Matthew 4:17, NAW) God takes the first initiative, but when we do respond to Him in faith with prayer and worship, how sweet it is to experience His nearness!
The 2nd and 3rd commands in v.8 are to “start purifying hands and sanctifying hearts.”
“Purification” and “sanctification” were things that one did in the Jewish culture to prepare to worship God. So, don’t think of James’ statement as some kind of humanistic substitute for the Gospel; think of it as James saying the same thing in the second half of v.8 that he did in the first half, namely, “draw near to God.” Prepare to be with God!
Remember John the Baptizer? His baptisms had the same idea behind them; John wanted the people of Israel to prepare to meet the Messiah, so John “prepared the way of the Lord” by calling people to repent of sin and be washed with water as a symbol of their readiness to meet God’s Anointed One.
The only other place in the Greek Bible where it speaks of “purifying hands” is Leviticus 14, when a person who had been healed of leprosy would offer an animal sacrifice, and some of the blood from that guilt-offering would be smeared on the person’s ear, hand, and foot. Physically, this made the person dirtier rather than cleaner, but God considered them clean because God was concerned about the spiritual state of that person, and through that animal sacrifice, the death of an innocent party had been applied to the sinner to pay for their sin.
James here is also talking about spiritual purification from sin; that’s why the vocative subjects in v.8 are “sinners” and “double-minded persons” rather than “health-workers with germs on their hands” or “mechanics with grease or on their hands” – although washing hands is good, James is more concerned with washing hearts.
The problem is “sin” (disobedience to God3) and “double-minded”-ness (which, according to James 1:7 means not trusting God), and the solution is “cleansing” and “sanctification.” This is a humble acknowledgment of our unrighteousness in light of God’s righteousness. But how is that done?
In the Old Testament, the process of sanctifying oneself to prepare to be in the presence of God included offering sacrifices for sin (Num. 8:21, 2 Chron. 30:15), getting rid of idols and other unclean things (2 Chron. 29:16), and bathing and washing clothes (19:10), but in the New Testament, that clean-up preparation is done through faith!
Acts 10:15 & 11:9 imply that Cornelius was “unclean” and “unholy,” but in Acts 15:9, the Apostle Peter explained that it was “by faith” that Cornelius and his household were “purified.4”
1 Peter 1:21-22 says that “you sanctified your souls” through “trusting in God... who raised [Christ] out of the dead and gave Him glory” (NAW, cf. Heb. 9:13-14).
2 Cor. 6:18-7:1 explains that “cleans[ing] ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God” come from owning God’s promise to make us His children!5 And...
1 John 1:9 adds6 that “confess[ing] our sins” to God is the way to be “cleans[ed] from all unrighteousness” That’s the only way to “purify” a “heart”!
In verse 9, James gives us more directives on how to humble ourselves by repenting of sin and preparing to encounter our righteous God.
Be miserable/afflicted/wretched/Lament/Grieve/literally “experience the weight” [This is an active verb, and might refer to fasting or wearing sackcloth.] “Mourn and cry aloud” with weeping over your sin and the awful consequences of sin, and tell God that you are sorry. Separate yourself from the lifestyle of following your own selfish desires.
“Let your laughter be changed into mourning and your joy into gloom/heaviness/literally a ‘down-appearance.’”
Here James takes up vocabulary from the Old Testament prophets like:
Joel 1:9-15 “...mourn, ye priests that serve at the altar of the Lord. For the plains languish: let the land mourn... Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests: mourn [θρηνεῖτε], ye that serve at the altar... Sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn service, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry earnestly [κεκράξατε] to the Lord, Alas... for the day of the Lord is nigh, and it will come as trouble upon trouble.” (Brenton)
Jeremiah 4:13-20 “...Woe unto us! for we are in misery. Cleanse [ἀπόπλυνε] thine heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved: how long will thy grievous thoughts be within thee? … I am pained [ἀλγῶ]… my soul is in great commotion, my heart is torn: I will not be silent, for my soul has heard the sound of a trumpet, the cry of war, and of distress: it calls on destruction; for all the land is distressed…” (cf. 9:13-20)
In 1 Corinthians 5:2 The Apostle Paul points out that the Corinthian church responded wrongly to a member that was boasting about his sexual immorality. “... Y'all are puffed up. Yet shouldn't you rather have mourned, in order that the man who committed this deed might be taken away out of your midst?” (NAW)
Jesus also said, "Blessed are the ones who mourn, because it is they who will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4, NAW)
And in Luke 7, when Jesus had dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee, and the sinful woman came up weeping and knelt at Jesus’ feet, which one did Jesus say, ‘Your sins are forgiven” to – the weeping sinner or the self-righteous Pharisee?
Later on in chapter 5, James is going to say, “Come now, you rich, cry and howl [ὀλολύζοντες] over the weight of your punishments that are coming upon you” – for your obsession with getting wealth, your unfair treatment of employees, and your licentious pleasure-seeking and forgetting God. It is right to weep about our sin.
But it has also been God’s pattern throughout history to exalt those who are humble before Him.
God “exalted” (Acts 13:17) the Israelite slaves in Egypt who trusted God’s deliverance to make them a great and independent nation.
And God “exalted” Mary when she humbly accepted God’s calling to give birth to the Messiah. In Luke 1:52 Mary observed of world history, “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.” (NKJV)
And God also “exalted” (Acts 5:31) Jesus to the throne of heaven after Jesus humbled Himself by taking on human flesh and being crucified for us (Phil. 2).
Your Heavenly Father will also exalt you when you humble yourself before Him.
Note, that v.10 does not say merely “be humble” but “be humble in the sight of the Lord.”
Those who are humble before God might also be considered lowly by men, but there is a difference between being humble around other people and being humble in the presence of the Lord. You can fake being humble around other people, but you can’t fake-out God.
And furthermore, it is quite common for those who are poor and despised in this world to be very arrogant and disrespectful toward God, so this isn’t about your bank account, this is about our hearts, whether we have a humble attitude toward God.
And James is merely repeating the promise that Jesus made three times in the Gospels:
Matthew 23:8-12 “But as for y'all, don't start being called 'Rabbi,' for your Spiritual Guide is The One, whereas y'all are all brothers. And don't start calling [anyone] among yourselves on this earth ‘Father,’ for your heavenly Father is The One... But the greater one among you will be the servant among you, and whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, yet whoever will humble himself will be exalted.” (NAW)
Luke 14:8-11 "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that, when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (NKJV)
Luke 18:10ff "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (NKJV)
So far, we’ve been talking about God’s righteousness. In light of our uncleanness, it is ludicrous for us to think ourselves good enough to be the standard of right and wrong for the world! We must humble ourselves, confess our sin, and receive the righteousness of Christ as a gift. But God’s righteousness isn’t the only reason we should be humble before God. James goes on to exhort us...
“There is… [a] disease innate in human nature, that every one would have all others to live according to his own will or fancy…. When thou claimest for thyself a power to censure above the law of God thou exemptest thyself from the duty of obeying the law.” ~John Calvin, Commentary on James, 1551 AD
In the book of James, the theme of God (rather than man) being the ultimate judge appears
in chapter 2: “My brothers, it should not be with preferential treatments of persons that y'all hold the faith concerning our Lord Jesus, the glorious Anointed One, for if a man with gold rings in splendid clothing happens to enter your synagogue and there also happens to enter a destitute man in filthy clothing,and y'all give regard to the one sporting the splendid clothes and say, "You sit down comfortably here," but to the destitute one y'all say, "You stand there," or "Sit here below my footstool," Have y'all not made distinctions among yourselves and become evil-reasoning judges?” … and later on “Y'all must speak... and act… as those who are going to be judged by [God]...”
It
also shows up here in chapter 4 v.12, where God is the
“lawgiver and judge,”
(Now, if you are reading a
King James Version, you won’t see the word “judge” there in
v.12, and, although I am a traditionalist when it comes to
the Bible, and it takes more than merely the agreement of
the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts for me to
support changing the Bible, here is a place where I think
that the evidence from the Greek manuscripts and the ancient
traditional versions is sufficient to add the phrase “and
judge.”)
The motif of God as judge shows up again in chapter 5 v.9, where James reminds the church not to “complain/grumble against one another so you yourselves don’t get condemned, because [God] the Judge is standing right at the entryway.” (NAW)
Now, there are other places7 in the Bible that make it clear that Christians can and should “judge”:
Jesus commanded “the people” in John 7:24 to “...judge with righteous judgment” (NKJV),
and the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6 that it was wrong for Christians to be unwilling to judge civil disputes, and in 1 Corinthians 7:37, Paul wrote that “he who has rendered a good judgment [in domestic matters]… does well,” and then in the religious matter of head-covering, he commands the church in chapter 11, “Judge what is appropriate among yourselves.” (NAW)
So, taking the whole council of Scripture into account, we don’t believe that James is instructing Christians to be un-discerning and accepting of everything, but what DOES James mean when he implies here that it is bad for us to judge?
Well, the word “judge” has a broad range of meaning, from “analyzing data,” to “forming an opinion that you keep to yourself,” to “making laws” to “publicly declaring someone’s guilt or innocence,” to “issuing a sentence of punishment.” All of that is in the range-of-meaning of the word “judge,” but I think James is focusing on the latter meanings, using it particularly to denote the action of making up laws, finding fault/guilt, and issuing condemnation.
What he points out is that, when you condemn someone based on mere personal opinions (such as them being poor and dirty), you are playing God and arrogating to yourself authority of law which you don’t have. It is ludicrous for any human being to stand in judgment over the law of God and try to identify parts of God’s law that are not good. It would be like your toddler trying to give you instructions on how to drive your car. It is the insanity of pride.
Another problem with this that James points out, is that taking on an attitude of judge over God’s law, using your own subjective likes and dislikes, removes you necessarily from being in submissive obedience to God’s law. James has already told us in chapter 1: “...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… a doer ... is the one who will be blessed in his doing!” (James 1:21 & 25, NAW)
James also brings up the related matter of our speech in v.118.
Speech and justice are closely intertwined. Notice how all of James’ previous references to speech touch on matters of justice:
Do not falsely accuse God by saying “I am being tempted by God” (1:13),
be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (1:19),
“speak... as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (2:12),
and in chapter 3 there are the warnings about the destructive power of the tongue and against cursing fellow human-beings.
Then we will see, in chapter 5, exhortations not to “grumble” lest we “be condemned” (v.9) and to mean what we say “lest we fall under judgment” (v.12).
What we say can bring guilt or blessing to us, and it can bring harm or benefit to others.
This Greek word in v.11 for “speak evil against/derogatorily” also shows up in some Bible stories, giving us concrete examples of what this problem looks like. It’s in9:
Numbers 12, where Miriam and Aaron “spoke against” Moses for marrying a woman from Ethiopia, and claimed that it was unfair for their little brother Moses to be treated with special respect for being a prophet. That’s when God struck Miriam and Aaron with leprosy and said, “Why weren’t you afraid of speaking against my servant Moses like that!” Then in...
Num. 21:5-6 “...the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.” (NKJV) After God and Moses had gone to such great pains to rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, the people projected on them the worst-possible motives, saying that God and Moses did it all just to kill them. Completely untrue and unjust accusations, but they influenced many to turn against God.
Psalm 77:17-22 “But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness… Yes, they spoke against God: They said, ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?’ ... Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious … Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.” (NKJV)
The logic of v.12 is that if God is the only one who can decree moral law and save and destroy, and if you arrogate to yourself the role of condemning a fellow-Christian due to your personal preferences, what does that make you? It means you think you’re God, and it means you are a competitor with God! But, since God is a jealous God, it also means that you are going to get humiliated by God, because God hates pride!
Furthermore, as Matthew Henry commented: “The sum and substance of [the law] is that men should love one another10. A detracting tongue therefore condemns the law of God and the commandment of Christ, when it is defaming its neighbour.”
So it is only right and good that we humble ourselves before God and guard ourselves against unjust and unloving judgmentalism against God and fellow-believers, because God is the ultimate lawgiver and judge, not us. Finally, James gives us a third reason to have a humble attitude toward God:
God’s sovereign control over all of life – His gracious disposing of all that happens to us and all that is given to us – is another reason we should humble ourselves before Him.
Remember James 1:17 “every good and perfect gift comes from Him” – every one of them!
And remember that James introduces Jesus to us in the very first verse as “Lord,” and throughout the book, James continues to insist on the sovereignty of God by calling Him “Lord” “1:7...that man must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord… 12 A man who is steadfast in a trial… will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love Him… 2:1 My brothers, it should not be with preferential treatments of persons that y'all hold the faith concerning our Lord Jesus... 3:9 we bless our Lord and Father... 4:10 Let yourselves be humbled in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (NAW)
Yet we can get to thinking of ourselves as little “lords” with our own little circles of power and authority and wealth, and that’s what James cautions against.
In v.13, we have some church members laying out a business plan. The next verb after “going to town” is a verb that also occurs in verses 15 and 17, and verses 15 and 17, all English Bibles translate it “to do.” This verb is followed at the end of v. 13 by a verb for marketing/selling product, so I think these guys are planning a manufacturing11 business.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with making plans!
In fact, Jesus said in Luke 14:28-42 that a wise man thinks-ahead and estimates costs before building a tower or starting a war campaign, and then proceeds accordingly. Planning strategically is not the problem, nor is making a profit.
In Jesus’ “Parable of the Talents,” the guys who made money are the good guys, whereas it was the guy who didn’t who was the one with the problem.
And, in Biblical history, wise and wealthy planners like Joseph and Moses and Joshua and David and Nehemiah and Daniel who prayed for wisdom and trusted God through the process of what God called them to do are held up as good examples.
The problem is making plans without reference to God – living like there is no God.
For instance, in Genesis 34:21, the Canaanites in Shechem lived like there was no God. They kidnapped and raped Dinah, then they said, “These [Israelites] are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in our land and trade in it…” Little did they know that they were about to be slaughtered by Levi & Simeon’s vigilantism! What we understand of what is going on in the world around us is so limited.
Jesus’ “Parable of the Rich Farmer” in Luke 12 is another example. This farmer understood a lot about farming, and he knew how to turn a good profit, but what he didn’t understand was how to live in light of eternity. While he was in the middle of building a bigger barn, he was surprised to hear God interrupt him with, “Fool, tonight your soul is required of you!” (Luke 12:16-21)
Part of humbling ourselves before God in light of His providential control of our lives, is to remember who we are. Verse 14 asks, “What sort of a thing is your life?” That’s a good question! What is my life?
Well, I am a creature created by God. If He had not made my soul, I would not exist! Therefore I am completely dependent upon God, and so, it is my responsibility to honor the God who made me. That’s what my life is, and that’s what my life’s about!
James goes on to say in v. 14 that I am a “vapor.” (For what it’s worth, every time the Greek word for “vapor” occurs in the Bible, it is describing “smoke” from a fire.) So that’s you [strike match and blow it out] – just a puff of smoke!
James seems to be alluding to Hosea 13:3 “Therefore shall they [the idolaters of Ephraim] be as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away, as chaff blown away from the threshing-floor, and as a vapor [smoke].... But I am the Lord thy God that establishes the heaven, and creates the earth, whose hands have framed the whole host of heaven... and thou shalt know no God but me; and there is no Saviour beside me.” (Brenton)
Also, James says that this “vapor/smoke” only lasts a “little” while before it “vanishes” away. I think it is interesting that every time the Greek word for “vanish” occurs in the Bible, it is always describing God’s judgment against the wicked.
You don’t have the ability to keep yourself on this earth for more than a few decades.
(I just read that life expectancy in our country has dropped to 76.4 years, according to the American Journal of Public Health.)
But God can make you or un-make you whenever He wishes; He can make your life as long or as short as He wants. Our life is literally in His hands.
His providential power should keep us humble before Him!
The wisdom literature of Scripture abundantly supports this:
Job 14:1-2 "Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.” (NKJV12)
Psalm 39:5 “Look, it is handbreadths that You gave my days to be, and my lifetime is like nothing in comparison with You. In fact, every man taking his stand is totally puny.” (NAW)
Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.” (NKJV)
Ecclesiastes 6:12 “For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?” (NKJV)
Walking with humility before God’s providence entails acknowledging God’s lordship and saying, as James puts it in v.15, “If the Lord wills, then we will live and do this or that.”
The Apostle Paul modeled that for us:
In Acts 18:21, he said to the church in Ephesus, “...I will return again to you, God willing.” (NKJV)
And to the church in Corinth he wrote: “...I will come soon to you, if the Lord wills…” (1 Cor. 4:19, NAW)
and later “I am hoping to remain some time with y'all – if the Lord makes it turn out.” (1 Cor. 16:7, NAW)
Simply admitting like that that you are not in control of the future but that God is, is a great way to humble yourself before Him.
This will also encourage other people to think about it. Every time you say, “If God wills…,” your friends will be reminded of God’s sovereignty!
“This must be said, not in a slight, formal, and customary way, but so as to think what we say, and so as to be reverent and serious in what we say.” ~Matthew Henry
And, if you feel like too much of a hillbilly saying, “Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise,” let me teach you the sophisticated way to do it. Sometimes, you will see in the writings of Classically-educated Christian authors the letters “D.V.” This is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Dominus voluerit13 found in the Vulgate translation of James 4:15, so you can say “D.V.” if you want to be really academic.
Our faith should shape our speech. And what we say will be an expression either of humble faith in God or proud opposition against God.
Verse 16 describes the opposite of humbly admitting God’s providence, and that is “boasting in your pretensions/arrogance/bragging.” If the “evil” of self-centered disregard for God is in your heart, it will show up in your speech, and we must fight that.
And so, in light of God’s righteousness and our sinfulness, let us humble ourselves before Him that we may be cleansed from our sin and saved.
And, in light of God’s Justice and our accountability to Him, let us humble ourselves before Him in our attitude towards His law and towards other people and guard our mouths.
And, in light of God’s Providence, let us humble ourselves before him and live, acknowledging the sovereignty of His will in all things.
ByzantineB |
NAW |
KJVC |
Vulgate |
PeshittaD |
7̈ ῾Υποτάγητε οὖν τῳ῀ θεῷ. Ἀντίστητε E τῳ῀ διαβόλῳ, καὶ φεύξεται ἀφ᾿ ὑμῶν· |
7 Therefore, start submitting yourselves to God, and start standing up against the Devil, and he will flee from y’all! |
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. |
7 subditi igitur estote Deo resistite [autem] diabolo et fugiet a vobis |
7 Subject yourselves therefore to God; [and] stand firm against Satan, and he will flee from you. |
8̈ ἐγγίσατε τῳ῀ Θεῳ῀, καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν. καθαρίσατε χεῖρας ἁμαρτωλοί καὶ ἁγνίσατε καρδίας δίψυχοιF. |
8 Start drawing near to God, and He will draw near to y’all. Sinners, start purifying hands, and double-minded ones, start sanctifying hearts! |
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. |
8 adpropiate Domino et adpropinquabit vobis emundate manus peccatores et purificate corda duplices animo |
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: sanctify your hearts, ye divided in mind. |
9 ταλαιπωρήσατεG καὶ πενθήσατε καὶ κλαύσατε· ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μεταστραφήτωH καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειανI.̈ |
9 Start feeling the weight of it and mourning and weeping. Let your laughter be changed into mourning and your joy into sadness. |
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. |
9 miseri [estote] et lugete et plorate risus vester in luctum convertatur et gaudium in maerorem |
9 Humble yourselves, and mourn X X: let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into grief. |
10 Let yourselves be humbled in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you. |
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. |
10 humiliamini in conspectu Domini et exaltabit vos |
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. |
|
11̈ Μὴ καταλαλεῖτεL ἀλλήλων, ἀδελφοί. ὁ καταλαλῶν ἀδελφοῦ Mκαὶ κρίνων τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καταλαλεῖ νόμου, καὶ κρίνει νόμον· εἰ δὲ νόμον κρίνειςN, οὐκ εἶ ποιητὴς νόμου, ἀλλὰ κριτής. |
11 Stop talking derogatorily about one another, brothers. The one who is talking derogatorily about a brother or condemning his brother is talking derogatorily about the law and condemning the law. But, when you condemn the law, you are not being a doer of the law; instead you are being its judge. |
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. |
11 nolite detrahere de alterutrum fratres qui detrahit fratri aut qui iudicat fratrem suum detrahit legi et iudicat legem si autem iudicas legem non es factor legis sed iudex |
11 Speak not against each other, [my] brethren; [for] he that speaketh against his brother, orO judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law. And if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but its judge. |
12̈ εἷς ἐστιν ὁP νομοθέτηςQ καὶ κριτήςR, ὁ δυνάμενος σῶσαιS καὶ ἀπολέσαι· σὺ Tτίς εἶ ὃς κρίνεις τὸν ἕτερον;U |
12 The Lawgiver and Judge is the One who is able to save and to destroy. So who are you who condemn your neighbor? |
12
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art
thou that judgest |
12 unus est legislator et iudex qui potest perdere et liberare tu autem quis es qui iudicas proximum |
12 There is one Law-giver and Judge, who can make alive, and can destroy: but who art thou, that thou judgest thy neighbor? |
13̈ ῎ΑγεV νῦν οἱ λέγοντες· σήμερον Wἢ αὔριον πορευσόμεθα εἰς τήνδεX τὴν πόλιν καὶ ποιήσομεν ἐκεῖ ἐνιαυτὸν ἕναY καὶ ἐμπορευσόμεθαZ, καὶ κερδήσομεν· |
13 Get with-it now, you who are saying, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into this town here and manufacture for one year there, then market and profit!” |
13
Go
to
now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city,
and |
13
|
13
|
14̈ οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθεAC τὸ τῆς αὔριον· ποίαAD γὰρAE ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν; ἀτμὶςAF γάρ ἐστινAG ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη, ἔπειτα καὶAH ἀφανιζομένηAI· |
14 – who yourselves have no certainty of what will be morrow. (For what is your life? Indeed, it is smoke which is made to appear for a little while and then is made to disappear.) |
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. |
14 qui ignoratis quid erit in crastinum quae enim est vita vestra X vapor est ad modicum parens deinceps exterminatur |
14
|
15̈ ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγεινAJ ὑμᾶς, ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃAK, καὶ ζήσομεν καὶ ποιήσομενAL τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο. |
15 Instead y’all should say, “If the Lord wills, then we will live and do this or that.” |
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. |
15 pro eo ut dicatis si Dominus voluerit et vixerimus X faciemus hoc aut illud |
15
Whereas |
16̈ νῦν δὲ καυχᾶσθε ἐν ταῖς ἀλαζονείαιςAO ὑμῶν· πᾶσα καύχησις τοιαύτη πονηράAP ἐστιν. |
16 But now y’all are boasting in your pretensions; all such boasting is evil. |
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. |
16 nunc autem exultatis in superbiis vestris omnis exultatio talis maligna est |
16
X X
|
17̈ εἰδότι οὖν καλὸν ποιεῖν καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντιAQ, ἁμαρτία αὐτῳ῀ ἐστιν. |
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and isn’t doing it – to him it is a sin. |
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. |
17 scienti igitur bonum facere et non facienti peccatum est illi |
17 X He that knoweth the good X X, and doeth it not, to him is sin. |
1John Owen observed, “that the first thing is to be under the banner and protection of God, and then we can successfully stand up against the devil: apart from God, we have no power to resist him.”
2Cf. Ex. 24:2, Lev. 10:3, 21:21-23, etc.
3Matthew Henry pointed out that this also relates to our submission to God, for he who is a slave of sin is not submitting to God as his Master!
4“So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” (NKJV)
5"‘I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters,’ Says the LORD Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (NKJV)
6“If we are confessing our sins, He is faithful and righteous in order to send away from us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (NAW)
7See also historical examples in Acts 16:15, 21:25, 1 Cor. 5:3, etc.
8See also Romans 2 & 14, on the problem of hypocrisy in condemning in others sin that you tolerate in yourself, and passages like Eph. 4:29-32 & Titus 3:1-2 using the Greek root βλασφημ-.
9See also Hos. 7 & Mal. 3.
10Moo suggested James was obliquely referring to Lev. 19:16 “ Thou shalt not walk deceitfully [δόλῳ] among thy people; thou shalt not rise up [ἐπισυστήση] against the blood of thy neighbour [πλησίον]…” - two verses before the Mosaic command to “love your neighbor,” thus “slander” would be breaking the “law.”
11Vincent pointed out, however, that “doing time” was a Greek idiom (viz Acts 15:33, 18:23, 20:3 and 2 Cor. 11:25), so ποιήσομεν/-ωμεν may have simply meant “pass time,” although he favored the interpretation of “doing something.” (On the other hand, ATR, Moo, and most English versions favored the interpretation of “doing time.”)
12cf. 9:26-27, Ps. 144:4, 1 Pet. 1:34, James 1:10
13 and, coincidentally of the more pagan-Roman-friendly deo volente – “God willing” rather than “Lord willing”
AWhen
a translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not
indicate it has done so by the use of italics or greyed-out text, I
put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a
wording which is different from all the other translations, I
underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my
opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Greek
word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text,
I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word
which is in the original text, I insert an X. I also place an X at
the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English
translation is singular. I occasionally use colors to help the
reader see correlations between the various editions and versions
when there are more than two different translations of a given word.
NAW is my translation. My original chart includes annotated copies
of the NKJV, NASB, NIV, and ESV, but I erase them from the online
edition so as not to infringe on their copyrights.
BThis Greek New Testament is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era as a break from the traditional Greek Bible by compiling just a few of the oldest-known manuscripts, but even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.
C1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain.
DJames Murdock, A Literal Translation from the Syriac Peshito Version, 1851, Robert Carter & Brothers, New York. Scanned and transcribed by Gary Cernava and published electronically by Janet Magierra at http://www.lightofword.org
EThe Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions of the GNT follow a half-dozen second-millennium manuscripts which omit the conjunction here. It’s hard to understand why they would do so. The Vulgate and Syriac and Critical GNTs followed the majority of manuscripts which insert δε.
FJames 1:8 is the only other instance of any form of this word in the Greek Bible.
GTurner and Blass & Debrunner interpreted these aorist imperatives as inchoative (“start to be miserable, start mourning …”) The first verb is only found elsewhere in the OT prophets, particularly Joel 1 and Jeremiah 4 & 9.
HThis is the spelling in the vast majority of manuscripts (including Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus) and of the Greek Orthodox GNTs, but, because P100 and Vaticanus read μεταtraphtw, the Critical GNTs carry on their spelling. Happily, στραφω and τραπω mean basically the same thing in Greek, so it doesn’t make a practical difference in meaning.
I Hapex Legomenon. Compound of “down” and “appearance.” A form of the word appears in Wisdom 17:4b “...noises [as of waters] falling down sounded about them, and sad visions appeared unto them with heavy [κατηφῆ] countenances.” (KJV)
JThis verb (like “submit” in v.7) is spelled in the Greek passive voice. There is a way in Greek to spell this verb in such a way that it is explicitly reflexive rather than passive, but the Greek passive spelling is sometimes used to denote reflexive action, so it is a matter of interpretation whether to translate this verb in this verse passively (“be humbled”) or reflexively (“humble yourselves”).
KThe majority of Greek manuscripts (including almost half of those dated to the first millennium, including the oldest-known manuscript of this verse) print the definite article before “Lord,” but modern critical editions of the GNT omit it because there are 15 manuscripts throughout history (including Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Alexandrinus) which omit it. This makes no difference in meaning, however, because “Lord” refers to the definite person of God, so it is definite whether or not it has a definite article.
LThis verb is only found in the GNT here and in 1 Pet. 2:12 & 3:16. The Present tense with the prohibitive connotes that it is a current practice they should stop. Cf. A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in loc: “Prohibition against such a habit or a command to quit doing it.” Moo agreed in his commentary (pg. 198), but disagreed in the footnote on the same page, however he provided a good word-association study on the previous page: “‘speaking evil’ is often linked to ‘jealousy’ (zelos) (2 Cor. 12:20, 1 Pet. 2:1), ‘selfishness’ (2 Cor. 12:20), quarrels (polemas in Pss. Sol. 12:3) and pride (T. Gad 3:3), and is said to be a manifestation of double-mindedness (Hermas, Similitude 8.7.2; see Mandate 2).”
MAlthough the majority of second-millennium Greek manuscripts read “and/kai,” the oldest-known manuscript that reads this way is from the 10th century, nevertheless, this is the reading of the TR and the KJV. All known manuscripts which have older dates than 10th century read “or/η” so that is the reading of the modern Critical GNTs and English versions, as well as of the Vulgate and Peshitta.
NFirst class conditional assumes the circumstance is true, therefore NIV and I translated it “when” not “if.”
OLamsa’s translation is “and,” but Murdock translated the word [ܐܘ] in the Peshitta accurately as “or.”
PBecause two of the oldest-known Greek manuscripts omit the definite article, the critical editions express doubt that it is authentic, but 80% of the first-millennium manuscripts contain it, including some of the very oldest, and, while only about three second-millennium manuscripts omit it. It is in all the rest, as well as in the majority of lectionaries, and it is the reading of the ancient Coptic and Ethiopic versions. Gramattically, this definite article denotes which nominative is the subject, and that is “The Lawgiver.”
QThe
only other place this Greek noun occurs in the Bible is in the LXX
of Psalm 9:20 “Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: let
the heathen know that they are men.” (Brenton) The Hebrew word
instead means “fear/terror,” and most English versions reflect
that in their translation of Psalm 9.
Calvin commented, “[T]he
whole majesty of God is forcibly assumed by those who claim for
themselves the right of making a law; and this is what is done by
those who impose as a law on others their own nod or will. And let
us remember that the subject here is not civil government, in which
the edicts and laws of magistrates have place, but the spiritual
government of the soul, in which the word of God alone ought to bear
rule.”
RAlthough the Majority of Greek manuscripts (followed here by the Textus Receptus and KJV) do not include the phrase “and judge,” the traditional Greek Orthodox and modern Critical GNT editions (and the contemporary English translations based on them) include the phrase because the majority text is only a slim majority, and all the manuscripts which are older than the 7th century include the phrase, and the majority of the ancient translations into Latin, Syriac, and Coptic also all contain the phrase, and the phrase is consistent with the rest of Scripture (e.g. John 8:50). There is no problem with manuscripts not having this extra phrase, as long as we understand that the phrase was omitted by copyists, not based on a theological objection to God being Judge, but rather because the phrase simply wasn’t there in some manuscripts.
S The “implanted word” is “able to save” (1:21), but faith that does not work is “not able to save” (2:14). Cf. Hebrews 7:25 In view of which He is also able to save in any eventuality those who come through Him to God, since He is always living for the purpose of interceding on their behalf.” and Jude 1:5 “Although y'all know all [these] things, I'm wanting to remind y'all that once having saved a people from the country of Egypt, the Lord subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” (NAW)
TCNTTS lists only three Greek manuscripts (all dated 12th or 15th century) which omit the conjunction here, but they are apparently what the Textus Receptus and Patriarchal editions of the GNT followed. The Critical editions coincide with the Majority editions of the GNT as well as with a newer Greek Orthodox edition.
UThe
Majority of Greek manuscripts read ‘oV
krineiV τον ‘eteron
(“Whom
you judge the other”), and this is the reading of the TR and
Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT.
However, every
one of the first-millennium manuscripts reads differently:
‘o
krinwn ton plhsion
(“the
one who judges
the neighbor” – although
there is a 9th
century manuscript and a 10th
century manuscript which read “‘ετερον/other”
instead of πλησιον/neighbor),
and
this is the reading of all the Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions,
so it is the reading of modern critical texts and English versions.
It’s a hard call which to
use, but at least they don’t mean anything contradictory.
Unlike
Paul’s and Luke’s frequent use of heteros
to refer to “another person,” James does not do that unless he
does here; conversely, if plesion
is the original reading here, it would correlate with James’ use
of “neighbor” in the “royal law” of 2:8.
VLiterally “You lead,” but the singular second person form does not match the plural nominative “ones who say,” therefore, likely an interjection (Robertson’s Grammar) “common in ancient Greek like ide nun ēkousate (Matt. 26:65).” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). Only found in this capacity here and James 5:1, but the LXX of Jdg. 19:6 also appears to be a case of interjection.
W “or … we will go … we will make … we will enter … we will make profit” (the reading of the Patriarchal GNT) comes from about 15 manuscripts (including 2/3 to 1/2 of the first-millennium manuscripts) and is followed by the Latin versions, Peshitta, Coptic, and all the English versions. On the other hand, the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Majority of Greek manuscripts (including Alexandrinus) read και … πορευσωμεθα ...ποιησωμεν … εμπορευσωμεθα … κερδησωμεν (“and … let us go … let us make … let us enter … let us make profit”), which is also the reading of the Hiraclean Syriac. (The modern Greek Orthodox GNT keeps the Future indicative forms of the Patriarchal edition but switches to the Majority reading for the conjunction “and”.) Here is a rare instance where the KJV deviated from the 1550 Textus Receptus, so Scrivener’s reconstruction of the Textus Receptus (based on back-translating the KJV into Greek in 1894) reads ‘η … -ομεθα etc. The same thing happens in v.15. But this is just two ways of saying the same thing when expressing future plans, so there is no contradiction here.
X Vincent supported “this” (the primary meaning of the word) over “such and such.”
Y Eight manuscripts between the 4th and 13th centuries omit the number 1 (followed by the Vulgate and the modern Critical GNTs and all the English versions), but the clear majority of not only second-millennium but also first-millennium Greek manuscripts contain it (followed by the Syriac versions and Textus Receptus – although the KJV didn’t follow the TR here). But, as usual, it makes no difference in meaning, since “a year” is the same as “one year.”
Z This word only occurs one other place in the GNT – 2 Pet.2:3 “exploit you with words;” in the LXX, it occurs several times translated “trade/buy/acquire/merchant/traffic/sell/customer.” The distinction between this and the previous verb is the distinction between manufacturing and marketing. The previous verb literally means “to make,” so this verb means “to sell product.” This bears a remarkable resemblance to what Hamor and Shechem told the men of the town of Shechem about Jacob and his family in Genesis 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it…” Little did they know that they were about to be slaughtered by Levi & Simeon’s vigilantism.
AA Etheridge and Lamsa translated more accurately “work.”
AB Cf. Lamsa “prosper.”
AC This seems to be a synonym for “know” (see Mark 14:68 & Acts 19:15, where it is used in parallel with οιδα), but it seems to have a slight distinction in that this is not intimate knowledge; it is often used in situations where we would say “I am aware/have some idea of” (as it is in Acts 10:28; 15:7; 18:25; 19:25; 20:18; 22:19; 24:10; 26:26; 1 Tim. 6:4; Heb. 11:8; Jude 1:10).
AD “Poia is a qualitative interrogative (of what character).” ~ ATR, Word Pictures
AE Because a half-dozen Greek manuscripts (including Vaticanus and Sinaiticus) omit the conjunction “for,” the modern critical editions of the GNT all omit it, but 75% of the first-millennium Greek manuscripts (including the oldest-known one – P100) as well as the Byzantine majority, the Lectionaries, Vulgate, Peshitta, and Coptic versions all contain the γαρ, so I think the UBS committee was a bit overconfident when rating their omission with a {B} level of certainty. Six words later in this verse, when the Vaticanus is one of 6 Greek manuscripts which omit the participles’ definite article, the critical editors chose to ignore the Vaticanus.
AF This noun shows up six other times in the Greek Bible, all of which refer to literal smoke from a fire, but the one James seems to be quoting is Hosea 13:3.
AG “it [your life] is/will be” is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts, including Alexandrinus and 4 more out of the 8 known first-century manuscripts, thus it is the reading of the Textus Receptus, Greek Orthodox, and Majority editions of the Greek New Testament, as well as of the ancient Lectionaries and the Latin and Syriac and Coptic and King James versions. Critical editions of the GNT, however, follow 10 Greek manuscripts (the oldest of which are Vaticanus and Sinaiticus) which read “y’all are,” followed by practically all the modern English versions. As usual, it doesn’t make a significant difference in meaning because “y’all” and “your life” are practically the same subject.
AH The majority of Greek manuscripts insert an extra conjunction (δε και = but also/and yet), and the modern Greek Orthodox GNT edition follows that majority, but it is only a slim majority. The 1904 Patriarchal GNT, the Critical editions, and the Latin, Syriac, and English versions follow the significant minority (including the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Alexandrinus manuscripts) which read simply και (“and”). The Textus Receptus, curiously, follows four manuscripts from the 10th – 12th centuries which instead read δε (“and/but/yet”), but this makes no difference in meaning. Vincent argued that “The καὶ placed after the adverb ‘then’ is not copulative [‘and’], but expresses that the vapor vanishes ‘even’ as it appeared.” This however seems to smuggle in an idea that, if James had meant to communicate, he would have used a different word to express (‘ως).
AI This participle is the alpha privative of the previous participle (“appear”), which is why I translated it “disappear,” but it is never used in the Greek Bible of mere disappearance, but always of God’s judgment against the wicked. Both participles are spelled in the Greek middle/passive form, so it is a matter of interpretation whether to interpret them as middle (“makes itself appear… makes itself disappear”) or passive (“it was made to appear… it was made to disappear”). In light of the Bible’s teaching on the divine origin of life and on God’s eminent work of judgment, it seems most in-keeping with Biblical theology to chose the passive meaning of these words in English translation.
AJ The infinitive form “to say” leaves some flexibility in interpretation, because it can take on the mood and number of verbs related to it, but its subject in this case is defined by the accusative-case 2nd person plural pronoun which follows it.
AK
3rd class conditional grammar structure, indicating that
the speaker doesn’t know whether or not it will be the case.
Calvin: “By ‘will’ he means not that which is expressed
[revealed] in the law, but God’s [secret] counsel by which he
governs all things.”
AL As in v.13, the Patriarchal text (and KJV) followed the 3 oldest-known manuscripts with the Alexandrian Grammar form with a future indicative, while the original Textus Receptus followed the Byzantine Majority grammar form with a subjunctive aorist, but both forms are ways of expressing a future plan, so there is no difference in meaning.
AM Lamsa translated the Syriac (and Greek) more accurately: “will.”
AN There is only one Greek manuscript (dated 10th century) which omits this “and,” so it is curious that both the Vulgate and Peshitta omit this “and.” I suppose it has more to do with writing style in Latin and Syriac than with any difference in meaning.
AO The only other place in the GNT that this noun appears is 1 John 2:16 “...the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the proud/showy lifestyle...” (NAW) Here in James it is plural, upon which Thayer commented, “the plural has reference to the various occasions on which this presumption shows itself.” On translating the word, Vincent commented that it is “derived from ἄλη, a wandering or roaming; hence, primarily, a vagabond, a quack, a mountebank. From the empty boasts of such concerning the cures and wonders they could perform, the word passed into the sense of boaster. One may boast truthfully; but ἀλαζονεία is false and swaggering boasting. Rev. renders vauntings, and rightly, since vaunt is from the Latin vanus, empty, and therefore expresses idle or vain boasting.”
AP cf. 1:9 – boasting in what is lowly is o.k, but not boasting in arrogance.
AQ cf. Matt. 23:23 “these you should have done without neglecting the weightier matters” and Matt. 25:44ff “to the extent that you did not do it to the least of these my brothers you did not do it unto me.”