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James 1

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Greeting and Trials That Produce Endurance 1–4

1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting. ​
2
Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; ​
3
knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.
4
And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. ​

Ask for Wisdom in Faith 5–12

5
But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ​
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But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. ​
7
For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;
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a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways. ​
9
But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
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and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. ​
11
For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him. ​

The Source of Temptation 13–18

13
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: ​
14
but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. ​
15
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
16
Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.
17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. ​
18
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. ​

Hearing, Speaking, and Anger 19–21

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Ye knowthis, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: ​
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for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
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Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ​

Be Doers of the Word 22–25

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But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. ​
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For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:
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for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
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But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing. ​

Defining True Religion 26–27

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If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain. ​
27
Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for James 1

Verse 1

a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ — Doulos is a bondservant; James places himself under the Lord Jesus Christ together with God. 'Scattered abroad' is diaspora, the Israelites living among the nations (John 7:35, 'the dispersed among the Gentiles'). 'Twelve tribes' is Paul's own phrase for Israel in Acts 26:7.

Verse 2

count it all joy — Hegeomai, to deem or reckon: a considered judgment, not a mood. 'Divers' is poikilos, of many kinds, the word rendered 'manifold' in 1 Pet 1:6, 'ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations'. Peirasmos here means trials that test; v.13 turns to the other sense, enticement to sin.

Verse 4

perfect and entire, wanting nothing — Teleios is complete, full-grown; holokleros is whole in every part. 'Wanting' is leipo, to lack, the verb of v.5, 'If any of you lack wisdom'. Patience (hypomone, remaining under the load) is given its 'perfect work' by being allowed to finish.

Verse 5

let him ask of God — The lack of wisdom named here is met by asking, as 'the LORD giveth wisdom' (Prov 2:6). 'Liberally' is haplos, singly, without reserve; 'upbraideth' is oneidizo, to reproach. God gives to 'all men' and does not rebuke the asker for asking.

Verse 6

nothing wavering — Diakrino, to be divided within oneself, to dispute with oneself; the same word as 'doubt' in Christ's saying, 'If ye have faith, and doubt not' (Matt 21:21). The wave (klydon, a surge) is 'driven with the wind and tossed': the doubter has no fixed ground to rest on.

Verse 8

A double minded man — Dipsychos, literally 'two-souled': one soul turned to God and one elsewhere. James uses the word again in 4:8, 'purify your hearts, ye double minded'. Elijah put the same case to Israel: 'How long halt ye between two opinions?' (1 Kings 18:21). 'Unstable' (akatastatos) means unsettled.

Verse 10

the rich, in that he is made low — Tapeinosis, a lowering of condition; the rich man's boast is in being brought low, as the brother 'of low degree' boasts in being exalted (v.9). The grass and flower come from Isa 40:7–8, 'The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.'

Verse 12

the crown of life — Stephanos is the victor's wreath, not a king's diadem. 'Tried' is dokimos, approved after testing. The same promise is made to the faithful at Smyrna: 'be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life' (Rev 2:10). The reward is for 'them that love him'.

Verse 13

God cannot be tempted with evil — Apeirastos, 'untemptable', is an adjective of the family of peirazo, the verb used three times in this verse. In v.2 trials are the occasion of joy; here the same family of words means enticement to sin, which James denies can come from God (cf. v.17).

Verse 14

drawn away of his own lust, and enticed — Exelko is to drag out, deleazo to catch with bait, the language of hunting and fishing; epithymia is desire. The source is within, as Christ said: 'from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts' (Mark 7:21).

Verse 17

Father of lights — Phos, light; the lights are the sun, moon and stars God made (Gen 1:16). 'Variableness' (parallage) and 'shadow of turning' (tropē, a turning) describe change in the heavenly bodies, which God does not share: 'God is light, and in him is no darkness at all' (1 John 1:5).

Verse 18

begat he us — Apokyeo, the same verb as 'bringeth forth' in v.15: lust brings forth death, but God's own will brings forth his people, 'with the word of truth'. Peter says the same: 'Being born again… by the word of God' (1 Pet 1:23). 'Firstfruits' (aparche) are the first part of the harvest, given to God.

Verse 19

swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath — Orge is wrath, anger as a passion of the mind. The triad draws on Proverbs: 'He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding' (Prov 14:29), and 'He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him' (Prov 18:13).

Verse 21

the engrafted word — Emphytos, implanted, as a plant is set in the soil; the word is already planted and is to be received 'with meekness' (praytes). 'Lay apart' (apotithemi) is to put off, as a garment (cf. Eph 4:22, 'put off… the old man'); 'filthiness' is rhyparia, moral dirt.

Verse 22

doers of the word — Poietes is a performer, set against akroates, one who only listens. The same contrast is in Rom 2:13, 'not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified'. 'Deceiving' is paralogizomai, to reckon falsely, so the hearer-only argues himself into error.

Verse 25

the perfect law of liberty — 'Looketh into' is parakypto, to stoop and peer in, as at the empty tomb (John 20:5). The phrase returns in 2:12, 'the law of liberty', by which believers 'shall be judged'. 'Continueth' (parameno) means to stay beside, against the hearer who 'goeth his way' (v.24).

Verse 26

bridleth not his tongue — Chalinagogeo, to lead with a bit; James uses it again in 3:2, 'able also to bridle the whole body'. 'Religious' (threskos) and 'religion' (threskeia) mean outward observance of worship. Such observance is 'vain' (mataios, empty) when the tongue is unchecked and the heart self-deceived.

Verse 27

To visit the fatherless and widows — Episkeptomai, to look upon with care, to go and see. The fatherless and widows are the pair the prophets set before the people: 'judge the fatherless, plead for the widow' (Isa 1:17). 'Unspotted' (aspilos) is without stain, kept clean 'from the world'.