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THE CATHOLIC 
 
 EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 
 
 A REVISED TEXT. 
 
 WITH TRANSLATION, INTRODUCTION, AND NOTES, 
 CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL. 
 
 BT 
 
 FRANCIS TILNEY BASSETT, M.A., 
 
 •VICAE OF DTJLVEETON, 
 AUTHOE OF "tEANSLATION OF THE PEOPHET HOSEA," ETC. 
 
 Multse terricolig liiigu<e, coelestibus una. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS, 
 
 15, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 1876. 
 
KaropOol, TOi/? Se iTnrifjLrjatf;. 
 
 St. Greg. Nazianzen. 
 
TO THE 
 
 Rev. THOMAS DEHANY BERNARD, M.A., 
 
 CANON RESIDENTIARY OF WELLS, AND RECTOR OF WALCOT, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE 
 INSCRIBED WITH GRATITUDE AND ESTEEM. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 PRErACE 
 
 Introduction ..... i. 
 
 Epistle of St. James • .... 1 
 
 Excursus on the " Glory " . . . . 87 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the midst of the multitude of commentaries, critical, 
 exegetical, and homiletical, which swell our religious, 
 literature at the present day, an apology may seem to 
 be the necessary prelude to introducing this small 
 volume to the theological public. 
 
 The great uncertainty that hangs like a mist over the 
 authorship of this Epistle, the long birth-struggle that 
 preceded its affiliation among the canonical Scriptures, 
 the peculiarity of its structural composition, the absence 
 of Christian dogma, the confessed difficulty in har- 
 monizing the treatise on justification with the doctrinal 
 definitions of St, Paul, and other inspired writers on the 
 same subject, may furnish sufficient ground for some 
 further inquiry, especially as, to the writer's mind, the 
 whole question has been treated in an unsatisfactory 
 manner ; the evidence of facts has not been fairly 
 admitted, theories or guesses of by-gone days have been 
 accepted without sifting their value, and these loose 
 and unsupported conjectures of an uncritical period, 
 leaning on the artificial aid of an unquestioning tradi- 
 tion, have come down to the church of our day, and been 
 received as authoritative and reliable. 
 
ii PREFACE. 
 
 The present work proposes a system which is based 
 in the first place on external evidence and objective 
 facts, the only sure foundation for the student of Scrip- 
 ture to build upon, and this in the second place is 
 strengthened by internal evidence and undesigned coin- 
 cidences, the screws and rivets which, though small and 
 to many invisible, have no mean office in bracing and 
 holding together the superstructure. This system, it is 
 believed, will account for the various perplexing pheno- 
 mena both in the history and the contents of the 
 Epistle. 
 
 The pages have not been burdened with an ever- 
 recurring and overwhelming reference to authorities, as 
 is too frequent in theological works ; it will be enough 
 to say that solitude in opinion has not been regarded as 
 strength, and above all the hope has been cherished that 
 the Spirit of God may vouchsafe to employ the feeble 
 op^ir] of the pilot to guide the ship to the haven of 
 truth, chap. iii. 4. 
 
 My thanks are due for many acts of courtesy and 
 kindness to Professors Westcott, Lightfoot, Swainson, 
 and Wright, of the University of Cambridge ; and to the 
 Rev. F. Field, late Fellow of Trinity College, and, 
 through him, to Dr. Ceriani of the Ambrosian Library, 
 Milan, and to Dr. Lange of the University of Bonn. 
 
 DULVERTON VICARAGE, 
 
 Febmary Sth, 1876. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 Opinion, almost universal, has excluded St. James, the 
 son of Zebedee, from the authorship of this Epistle : the 
 general verdict may be summed up in one word, " It is 
 impossible." Whether this sentence is arrived at on 
 enlightened and sufficient grounds is a grave question. 
 However that may be, the honour of penning this 
 Epistle has been conferred upon another James, who is 
 called the brother of the Lord, and was the Bishop of 
 Jerusalem, although no small controversy has arisen as 
 to his identity with James the Less, or rather the Little, 
 the son of Alpha3us, one of the twelve Apostles. 
 
 It will be sufficient for us to distinguish him at pre- 
 sent from James the Elder, as he has been called, the 
 brother of John and the son of Zebedee, who was one 
 of the "first called among the Apostles and one of the 
 favoured three among them. 
 
 In entering upon the question of the authorship of 
 this Epistle, it is necessary to premise that the whole 
 subject is exceedingly unsettled, and that the ordinary 
 opinion rests on very weak and uncertain foundations; 
 and further, that there is some evidence for believing 
 
ii mTEODUCTION. 
 
 that James, the son of Zebedee, was the writer of this 
 Epistle. After a careful investigation of the question of 
 authorship, this opinion has been forced upon the mind. 
 External evidence on the whole subject is extremely 
 vague and next to valueless; a decision of the question 
 is on external grounds impossible ; room is left only for 
 opinion, which must be formed solely on the internal 
 evidence furnished by the Epistle itself, and the unde- 
 signed coincidences which link it to the Gospel narra- 
 tive. 
 
 The point at present submitted to our inquiry is to 
 distinguish between the claims to the authorship, it will 
 therefore be necessary to confine our remarks to this 
 subject alone; we have nothing to do, consequently, 
 with references in Patristic writings to this Epistle, real 
 or supposed, unless those passages bear upon the ques- 
 tion of authorship. 
 
 The first who quotes this Epistle with the addition of 
 a name is Origen, who flourished in the middle of the 
 third century. In his commentary on St. John he uses 
 
 the words eV rfj ^epoixevy 'laKco^ou einardXy^ where it will 
 
 be observed he does not say to which James he ascribed 
 the Epistle. In Rufinus' Latin version of Origen's 
 Homily, the eighth on Exodus we read, " Apostolus 
 Jacobus dicit," but again he does not specify which one 
 of that name. In one place he is called the "brother 
 of the Lord," but it must be remembered that this was 
 only in a translation made after the question was looked 
 on as settled. 
 
 Eusebius, who lived in the early part of the fourth 
 century, in his well known Ecclesiastical History, in 
 speaking of this Epistle says, ^ Xeyofjuevrj 'Iukm^ov (piperac 
 
mTEODUCTION. iii 
 
 e-maroXr]., H. E.^ iii. 25. And again, after quoting from 
 the writings of Hegesippus an account of the martyrdom 
 of James the Just, the Bishop of Jerusalem, he writes : 
 " These accounts are given respecting James, whose the 
 first of those called Catholic Epistles is said to be:" 
 Ov . . . elvau Xeyerai^ H. E., ii. 23. See also iii. 25. 
 
 Jerome, who lived at the close of the same century, 
 says, " James who is called the brother of the Lord, and 
 surnamed the Just, wrote only one Epistle, which is one 
 of the seven Catholic Epistles, though it is asserted to 
 have been published by some one else, though by de- 
 grees, as time went on, it gained authority:" "Jacobus, 
 qui appellatur frater Domini, cognomento Justus, unam 
 tantum scripsit Epistolam, quas de septem catholicis est, 
 quce et ipsa ab alio quodam sub nomine ejus edita 
 asseritur, licet paullatim tempore procedente obtinuerit 
 auctoritatem," The authority of the Syrian Church and 
 of Ephrem Syrus has been cited in favour of the ordinary 
 view, but it would appear that this is based upon the 
 Greek version of his works only. See Westcott's Canon 
 of the New Testament^ p. 395. 
 
 Such is all the evidence to be gleaned from the ancient 
 church in favour of the authorship by the Bishop of 
 Jerusalem, and the sum total of that evidence does not 
 go beyond the words Xeyeadac and (fiipeadai,. Even in the 
 judgment of Eusebius it was only a hear-say, a tradition 
 more or less circumstanced in doubt. And Jerome, 
 whose critical attainments were the highest in the 
 Western Church, qualifies his former statement by 
 throwing the gravest suspicions on the whole subject. 
 However, it would seem that the impression that the 
 Bishop of Jerusalem was the author gradually passed 
 
iv mTEODUCTION. 
 
 current, and when the Council of Carthage, a.d. 397, 
 accepted the Epistle as canonical, all disputings were 
 laid to rest. The Fathers of this period and their suc- 
 cessors in after times ascribe the Epistle to the Lord's 
 brother, but the strength of a chain is only the strength 
 of its weakest point, and the abundant assertions of a 
 late period will not compensate for the lack of testimony 
 on the part of those who lived nearest to the date of the 
 composition of the Epistle. 
 
 The internal evidence in favour of the authorship by 
 the Bishop of Jerusalem may be summed up briefly. 
 That there was not time before the date of the martyr- 
 dom of the son of Zebedee, which occurred a.d. 44, for 
 so large a number of Jewish Christians to be found in 
 the Dispersion; but this begs the question, a most im- 
 portant one as will be seen, whether the Epistle is 
 addressed to believers in Christ only. The corrupt 
 condition of the churches is also advanced, which could 
 not have increased to such an extent at an early date; 
 but this begs the same question. Various features in 
 the graphic descriptions with which the Epistle abounds, 
 serve to show that the author's residence was in Judsea, 
 and that he had an intimate acquaintance with the 
 characteristics of the Holy Land; but such evidence 
 would be equally applicable to both, and therefore may 
 be passed by as irrelevant to our question. Perhaps the 
 only verbal coincidence that would furnish an argument 
 for the authorship by the Bishop is the use of the verb 
 xalpeiv^ chap. i. 1, which reminds us forcibly of the 
 superscription to the letter sent to the Gentiles contain- 
 ing the sentence of the Council of Jerusalem, Acts xv. 
 23, which was undoubtedly from the pen of the Bishop 
 
INTEODUCTION. v 
 
 of Jerusalem.* The implied nearness of the destruction 
 of Jerusalem has also been advanced, but this is a most 
 uncertain basis : this portion of the Epistle will be found 
 hereafter to furnish evidence in favour of the authorship 
 by the son of Zebedee. 
 
 We now turn our attention to the arguments that 
 may be adduced in support of the view that St. James 
 the Elder was the author of this Epistle. 
 
 The superscriptions and subscriptions to the Epistle 
 found in the most ancient uncial MSS. claim our atten- 
 tion in the first place; those that are affixed in later 
 ones, necessarily in a case like this, are of little value, as 
 opinions had settled down on the matter. There is no 
 superscription in n, a and c; b superscribes IukwISov 
 
 €7naTo\rj. In the subscription x has einaTokri iaK(oj3ov, 
 B has laKco/SoVf and a IaK(o/3ov eTncTToX'T]. 
 
 It will be perceived that these, the most important 
 MSS. we possess, state nothing beyond the name of 
 James. There is no mark that would attribute the 
 Epistle to any one of the three of that name. 
 
 We now turn to the ancient versions. There were 
 but two made in the earliest days of the Christian era. 
 For convenience sake we may mention first the old 
 Italic Version, made most probably at the commence- 
 ment of the second century in Africa. It is most pro- 
 bable that this version did not contain originally the 
 Epistle of St. James; there is, however, a MS., Codex 
 Corbeiensis ff.^ which contains among other writings the 
 Epistle of St. James in an ante-Hieronymian translation. 
 This MS. itself is held to be of the ninth century. 
 Martianay made an edition of St. James' from this at 
 
 * See note on chap. i. 1. 
 
vi INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Paris, A.D. 1695, but it has since been conveyed to 
 St. Petersburgh. This valuable MS. has definitely this 
 subscription to our Epistle, " Explicit Epistola Jacobi 
 filii Zebedaii." 
 
 There was only one other version of equally early 
 date, the Peshito Syriac. The exact period at which it 
 was executed cannot be determined, but it certainly 
 existed in the second century, and was probably made 
 at the close of the first century of Christianity. There 
 are several points of interest in connection with this 
 version that have a bearing on the Epistle of St. James. 
 Syriac had become the vernacular dialect in Galilee. 
 The Apostles spoke Syriac. A large number of early 
 believers used this dialect also. It has even been held 
 by some that this Epistle, as well as the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, was composed 
 in Syriac and afterwards translated into Greek. The 
 Syriac Version was undeniably made in the neighbour- 
 hood where the Epistle was written, and the task of 
 translation must have been performed by one who was 
 allied in tongue and thought with the highest authorities, 
 the Apostles or their immediate successors. Now the 
 oldest MSS. of this version have, either in the super- 
 scription or the subscription, or both : " The Epistle of 
 James the Apostle." This brings in another point of 
 evidence, and narrows the question in some degree. If 
 the view enunciated by Jerome, that the son of Alphajus 
 and the brother of the Lord are identical, is untenable; 
 or if the opinion held by the ancient church that James 
 the brother of the Lord was the son of Joseph by a 
 former marriage, be true, then the Bishop of Jerusalem 
 was not an Apostle ; and consequently the author must 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 either be the son of Zebedee, or the son of Alphaeus; 
 there is little that can be advanced, either from ancient 
 testimony or internal evidence, in favour of the latter, if 
 he is regarded as a distinct person from the Bishop ; and 
 but few modern critics who make this distinction sup- 
 port his pretensions to the honour. 
 
 But it has been long and freely asserted that the 
 Peshito Syriac assigns this Epistle to James the son of 
 Zebedee; this brings us to an interesting question in 
 connection with the testimony of the printed editions of 
 the Peshito Syriac Version. Grotius, in the Critici 
 Sacri, writes, " Jacobum hunc Syrus, qui inscriptionem 
 fecit ad has et sequentes Epistolas, putat fuisse Zebe- 
 daidem." 
 
 And Pole in his Synopsis Criticorum quotes and sup- 
 ports this : " Erat hie Jacobus Zebedaei, Ita putat Syrus, 
 qui inscriptionem fecit ad has et sequentes Epistolas." 
 
 Hammond, in his paraphrase of the New Testament, 
 bears a like testimony : " though the Syriac conceive it 
 (the author of the Epistle) to be the son of Zebedee." 
 
 Michaelis, in his introduction, vol. iv. p. 277, says: 
 " In the Syriac Version, into which the Epistle of St. 
 James, the first of St. Peter, and the first of St. John 
 have alone been admitted as canonical, these three 
 Epistles have the following joint subscription, according 
 to the edition of Widmanstadt : ' In the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ we here close the three Epistles of 
 James, Peter, and - John, who were witnesses to the 
 revelation from our Lord when He was transfigured on 
 Mount Tabor, and who saw Moses and Elias speaking 
 Avith him.' 
 
 " In the edition of the Syriac Version published by 
 
viii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Tremelliiis the subscription is to the same purport, but 
 more concise : " The three Epistles of the blessed 
 Apostles, before whose eyes our Lord was transfigured, 
 namely James, Peter, and John." According to this 
 subscription, then, the elder James, the son of Zebedee, 
 was the author of the Epistle, for he, and not the 
 younger James, the son of Alphseus, was present at the 
 transfiguration." 
 
 Lange, in the introduction to his commentary on this 
 Epistle (p. 10, Clark's translation), follows the same 
 view : " the subscription in the Peshito and that in an 
 old Latin translation ascribe without any reason the 
 authorship to him " (that is, to James the son of Ze- 
 bedee). 
 
 And the writer of the article on this Epistle in the 
 Bible Dictionary repeats the assertion : " The author of 
 the Epistle must be either James the son of Zebedee, 
 according to the subscription of the Syriac Version ; or 
 James the son of Alphseus, according to Dr. Davidson's 
 view ; or James the brother of the Lord," etc. 
 
 After all this catena of authorities, it may be well to 
 investigate on what ground the assertion rests. The 
 MSS. of the Peshito Syriac in the British Museum, 
 ranging from the fifth or sixth century to the eighth, 
 have simply in the superscription of the Epistle, or in 
 the subscription, or both, " The Epistle of James the 
 Apostle," \^*:^^ ^QiiX., jZ;.^j, but no further mark of 
 identification is furnished.* 
 
 We now come to consider the printed editions of the 
 
 * A MS. in the Cambridge University Library bas in the subscription, 
 '• Here ends the Catholic Epistle of James, chief of the Apostles and 
 Bishop of Jerusalem." This MS., however, is not older than the eleventh 
 or twelfth century, and therefore this testimony is almost valueless. 
 
INTEODUCTION. ix 
 
 Peshito, to which reference has already been made in 
 citing the remarks of Michaelis. 
 
 In the year 1555 the first printed edition of the 
 Peshito was published at Vienna by Albert Widman- 
 stadt, Chancellor of the Emperor Ferdinand I. Moses of 
 Mardin, legate from the monophysite Patriarch Ignatius 
 to Pope Julius III., seems to have supplied a MS. of the 
 Jacobite family for the purpose. Widmanstadt contri- 
 buted a second MS. of his own, and these two scholars, 
 together with Portell, edited the work. It is in this 
 edition of the Peshito that the title quoted by Michaelis is 
 
 P 1- 
 
 found : ^oouX-j •. ^^^| b^L ^.IiVjAa/ ^sa*a:c ^qa- ^;J:o Vsao 
 7 y „ V p 
 
 Tremellius published a second edition in 1569. This 
 contained the Xew Testament in Hebrew characters, 
 with a literal Latin version. Tremellius used several 
 MSS. in preparing his work. It is from this edition 
 that the second quotation in Michaelis is made: Xi'j^ni'!! 
 p-i;i3ri iin)3:yS po 'li'nn'^N'n ^r\h^ rhm |-)5x n^rii . . . jnisn xnnn 
 
 .)3nin.i Dnp?'^i 3-ipy;3 
 
 The assertion so freely made by Grotius and Pole and 
 later writers that the Peshito Syriac assigns this Epistle 
 expressly to James the son of Zebedee, appears to be 
 without any foundation so far as the authority of MSS. 
 is concerned, and must have been derived from this 
 general title to the three Catholic Epistles in these 
 early editions of the printed text. Then the question 
 will arise, could Widmanstadt have found this title in 
 either of the MSS. he used, or did he supply the title 
 himself? Again, did Tremellius derive his general title 
 
X INTEODUCTION. 
 
 from the MSS. he used, or did he take it from Widman- 
 stadt ? It has been suggested to me by a learned friend 
 that the word x*:^Ajw, which MichaeHs renders, "we 
 close," signifies properly " we seal," and so might be 
 understood of the " closing " of a book ; but that this 
 meaning is scarcely suitable for the title placed at 
 the beginning of the three Epistles, for Widmanstadt 
 prefixes it as an introductory note : hence he infers that 
 the first editors of the printed Syriac copies adopted 
 this verb as the nearest and best to express the newly 
 discovered operation of j^rinting in the same way that 
 TVTTovv and imprimere were adopted in Greek and Latin 
 for the same purpose.* This theory, if accepted, would 
 prove that the title was inserted by Widmanstadt, as the 
 mention o^ printing could have had no place in the MS. 
 from which he framed his edition ; it would also account 
 for the mistranslation of Michaelis ; but if not accepted, 
 the origin of this title is left in mystery. Still it is a testi- 
 mony of some importance, however it arose, that Widman- 
 stadt and his co-adjutors held this view of the question 
 of authorship, as it is well known Luther did at least at 
 one period of his life, though it does not appear from 
 what source their opinions on the subject were derived. 
 At all events we may come to the conclusion that 
 from this insertion in the earliest printed editions of 
 the Peshito, the impression was made on after critics 
 that this ancient translation of tlie Scriptures contained a 
 direct authority for assigning this Epistle to St. James 
 the son of Zebedee, an assertion which is not supported 
 by the facts of the case. 
 
 * This verb is used in tliis acceptation in tlie Syriac Bible edited by the 
 late Professor Lee. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 The external evidence thus being, as we have already 
 observed, feeble on all sides, we must have recourse to 
 internal evidence, as the only means left us of arriving 
 at a conclusion ; the attention of the reader is therefore 
 solicited to the internal testimony and the undesigned 
 coincidences furnished by the Epistle in favour of the 
 authorship by the son of Zebedee. 
 
 (1) There were three Apostles who, if we may so 
 express it, were in the first class of the Apostolic Col- 
 lege. It is well known that Peter, James, and John 
 were the favoured three, e/cXe/crwv eKXeKTorepoi, as Clemens 
 Alexandrinus calls them; that they (with Andrew) were 
 the first called both to discipleship and apostleship, and 
 that these three had the privilege of being present on 
 the most important occasions in our Lord's life and 
 ministry : we may note especially their being witnesses 
 of the transfiguration on the Mount, Matt. xvii. 1, and 
 of the agony in the garden. Matt. xxvi. 37. The pro- 
 minent position of the three is so patent that we need 
 not press upon the reader the evidence furnished of the 
 rivalry which existed in the prayer of the widow of 
 Zebedee and her two sons, that they might sit on the 
 right hand and on the left hand of the Lord in His 
 kingdom. Neither is it necessary to urge the strong 
 probability that at the last supper, in the upper room at 
 Jerusalem, this prayer received a kind of answer which 
 might be typical of their rank in the future kingdom, for 
 St. John was on the right hand of Jesus, and as it is 
 certain from St. Peter's making signs to him to ask 
 Jesus who the traitor was, he could not have occupied 
 the place on the left hand; it remains therefore almost 
 proved that the second place of dignity was conferred 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 upon the other member of the favoured three, on St. 
 James. It would appear strange that one who had so 
 exalted a rank in the ministry during our Lord's life 
 on earth, who had been an eyewitness of the most im- 
 pressive scenes, and afterwards was honoured with the 
 first crown of martyrdom among the apostolic band, 
 should have come so far behind his compeers in the 
 greatest privileges, St. Peter and St. John, in being 
 excluded from the honour of leaving his testimony to 
 others in the writings of the inspired Scriptures. St. 
 Peter has bequeathed to the church his two Epistles 
 and doubtless the Gospel which bears the name of St. 
 Mark, and St. John has left behind him his Gospel, 
 three Epistles, and the Apocalypse. It would seem, 
 therefore, a priori^ most probable that St. James, their 
 fellow in previous honours, should also leave some like 
 legacy of the wealth of grace he had received from his 
 divine Master, some testimony of his own to the truth 
 on the page of the inspired Word. 
 
 (2) Assuming for the instant that St. James the 
 Elder did not only preach with his voice, but also pen 
 some writing with his hand, we may fairly take this 
 Epistle which has come down to us under the name of 
 James, without allotment of that name, and subject it to 
 examination with a view to discover whether there are 
 any hints or undesigned coincidences which link together 
 expressions in the Epistle with the history and experience 
 of the son of Zebedee as narrated in the Gospel history. 
 No one can have read this Epistle with ordinary care 
 without observing the close resemblance that exists 
 between the teaching of the writer and the ministerial 
 utterances of John the Baptist. The burden of the 
 
INTEODUCTION. xiii 
 
 Baptist's preaching was conviction of sin and the 
 necessity of repentance. The same exhortations are 
 echoed throughout this Epistle. The Gospel is not 
 revealed in its full development as a S3^stem of recon- 
 ciliation, pardon, and peace to the believer, but the 
 pathway for its acceptance is being cut through the 
 forest of opposing passions and prejudices with the axe 
 of conviction, and the summons to the heart of the 
 hardened Jew, " Thou art the man." The general 
 parallel between the Baptist and the Apostle is so 
 obvious that we need only point out a few passages, by 
 way of example, where the correspondence is clearest. 
 Compare Matt. iii. 8 with James i. 22, 27 ; Luke 
 iii. 11 with chap. ii. 15, 16 ; Matt. iii. 9 with chap. ii. 
 19, 20 ; Matt. iii. 10, 12 with chap. v. 1-6. This 
 similarity in the teaching leads us to enquire whether 
 there was any acquaintance between the two; whether 
 the son of Zebedee had come within ear-shot of the 
 preaching of the Nazarite of the wilderness. We gather 
 from Jno. i. 35, 42, that on one occasion when the 
 Baptist was engaged in the great work of his mission, 
 two of his disciples were with him, and when he 
 uttered the memorable words, " Lo! the Lamb of God," 
 they followed Jesus to whom their teacher directed 
 them. One of the twain, we are told, was Andrew, 
 himself an intimate companion of James, see Matt. iv. 
 18-22. And the other, there can be little douot, was 
 his brother John, who in his writings invariably con- 
 ceals himself under the anonym of humility. Moreover, 
 Andrew's first act after converse with the Lord is 
 recorded. He went and found his brother Simon and 
 brought him to Jesus, Jno. i. 42. It would be quite 
 
siv INTEODUCTION. 
 
 in keeping with the customary delicacy of St. John to 
 suppress the fact that he did the same kind office to his 
 own brother; but be. this as it may, we have here in 
 close connection with the Baptist, Andrew, a friend, and 
 most probably John, the brother, and Peter, another 
 friend, of James. It is most likely that all the party, 
 the leading quaternion in the Christian army, were all 
 disciples of John the Baptist before they enlisted under 
 Jesus, the great Captain of Salvation ; but it is quite 
 sufficient for our purpose to show that James, the 
 brother of John and intimate friend of Andrew and 
 Peter, must have had either personal knowledge of the 
 Baptist, or have heard immediately after he had de- 
 livered his startling discourses, graphic accounts of them 
 from those that had heard them ; and thus from his 
 own hearing or from immediate information from those 
 that had been present, a similarity in their mode 
 of teaching arose, to say nothing of the special pur- 
 pose which both had in their minds, a subject which 
 will be treated of in another place. It is almost 
 needless to remind the reader that James the son of 
 Alphasus does not appear to have received his call to 
 discipleship at this early period, as we find no mention 
 of him till Matt. x. 3, and if we regard the brother of 
 the Lord and subsequent Bishop of Jerusalem as dis- 
 tinct from him, it is evident from the testimony of 
 St. John, chap. vii. 5, that at a period some time after 
 this he was not reckoned amongst the disciples. 
 
 Another feature in this Epistle which has attracted 
 universal notice is the striking similarity which is trace- 
 able between it and the sermon on the mount. The 
 principal parallels, to quote the summary given of them 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 in the late Dean Alford's Prolegomena to this Epistle, 
 
 are: 
 
 James 
 
 
 
 Matt. 
 
 chap. i. 2 
 
 with 
 
 chap. 
 
 V. 10-12. 
 
 i. 4 
 
 
 
 V. 48. 
 
 i. 5; V. 15 
 
 
 
 vii. 7 and foil. 
 
 i. 9 
 
 
 
 V. 3. 
 
 i. 20 
 
 
 
 V. 22. 
 
 ii. 13 
 
 
 
 vi. 14, 15; V. 7. 
 
 ii. 14 and foil. 
 
 
 vii. 21 and foil. 
 
 iii. 17, 18 
 
 
 
 V. 9. 
 
 iv. 4 
 
 
 
 vi. 24. 
 
 iv. 10 
 
 
 
 V. 3, 4. 
 
 iv. 11 
 
 
 
 vii. 1 and foil. 
 
 V. 2 
 
 
 
 vi. 19. 
 
 V. 10 
 
 
 
 V. 12. 
 
 V. 12 
 
 
 
 V. 33 and foil. 
 
 It is purposed to treat of the reason of this relation- 
 ship between the sermon of the Master and the treatise 
 of the servant in another place, but it will be sufficient 
 for the argument we have in hand to emphasise the fact 
 that James the son of Zebedee had received his call 
 before the date of the preaching of the sermon on the 
 mount, and that he was present when our Lord delivered 
 that exposition of His doctrine, comp. Matt. iv. 21, 22 
 and V. 1, whereas the call of the son of Alpha3us was 
 posterior to this date,* and we have no hint given us of 
 the presence of the future Bishop, if he were a distinct 
 
 * It will be gathered from this that the narrative in Luke vi. 20 and 
 foil, is considered to be distinct from the sermon on the mount, Matt, 
 v.-vii. 
 
xvi INTEODUCTION. 
 
 person. The reader may therefore be left to judge 
 which author would be the more likely to have remem- 
 bered those sayings, and to have woven them into the 
 fabric of his own teaching ; the one who had heard the 
 sermon, or the one who had not. 
 
 The next occasion that the subject of our enquiry 
 comes before our notice is connected with the special 
 ordination by our Lord of twelve out of His most 
 intimate friends and followers to be His apostles. The 
 list is found in all three of the synoptic evangelists. 
 All agree in recording the symbolic surname of Peter 
 which was given to Simon, but St. Mark alone has pre- 
 served to us the information that a like honour was 
 conferred on the two sons of Zebedee : the Lord " sur- 
 named them Boanerges, which is, sons of thunder," 
 chap. iii. 17. Whether we take this figurative cognomen 
 as descriptive of the fiery zeal of the two brethren, or as 
 prophetic of the power with which they should appeal 
 to the ears of men's hearts, which is the more consistent 
 interpretation, we might search far and wide throughout 
 the writings of the New Testament to find a finer 
 example of the zeal and force with which the ancient 
 Hebrew prophets pealed forth their denunciations with 
 the voice of thunder, and electrified the hearts of the 
 sinful and the reprobate. And surely it were strange, 
 if the younger brother penned the writings that go by 
 his name, that like the wires of the telegraph have con- 
 veyed the spark of the grace given him, and the fire 
 that dwelt on his tongue, to every portion and generation 
 of the church, that the thunders of the elder brother's 
 voice, though co-partner in this title, should so long 
 since have ceased, and not a single syllable of his utter- 
 
INTEODUCTION. xvii 
 
 aiices been preserved as an echo of his preaching, that 
 like an alarum from the skies bowed his hearers with 
 awe, and aroused them with the " burning words " of 
 zeal from the slumber of ignorance and sin. 
 
 The next incident in the life of this James that serves 
 to supply a connecting link with this Epistle is found in 
 his being selected, together with Peter and John, to be 
 a witness of the transfiguration of the Lord. Only these 
 three were present ; the rest of the twelve were excluded 
 from the sight. That the appearance of their Master 
 " decked with liglit as with a garment " made an abiding 
 impression on the minds of those who witnessed this 
 epiphany is clear from St. Peter's well known reference 
 to the scene, 2 Pet. i. 16-18. And St. John, though he 
 has not in his writings categorically related this divine 
 manifestation, yet most unmistakably refers to his being 
 an " eye-witness of the majesty " in one of his most 
 important paragraphs : " And the Word became flesh 
 and tabernacled in us, and we beheld his glory ^^^ ideaad- 
 IxeOa Ti)v ho^av avrov, Jno. i. 14. Compare also 1 Jno. 
 i. 1, 2 with 5, 7. Now when we turn to our Epistle, 
 chap. ii. 1, and find the writer entitling Jesus Christ as 
 the "glory," the Shechinah, which was manifested at the 
 transfiguration, there can be little doubt that he was the 
 other eye-witness of that glory, and that the same 
 indelible impression had been printed upon his memory as 
 on that of the other two. The charge, moreover, of their 
 Master at the time not to divulge the things tliey had 
 seen till He were risen from the dead, and the question- 
 ing of these three brethren one with another what " the 
 rising from the dead " meant, would serve to deepen 
 the importance of the revelation, and to enhance the 
 
xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 necessity of making known afterwards this evidence of the 
 Messiahship; hence can we most satisfactorily account 
 for this reference to the transfiguration.* And we may 
 fairly put the question to the unbiassed reader, which 
 would be most likely to have introduced into his writings 
 this allusion to the transfiguration, the son of Alph^us or 
 the future Bishop, who were not present at the scene, or 
 the Apostle who gazed upon the glory in the Holy Mount ? 
 Another feature in the character of this Apostle is 
 adverted to by the Evangelists, which at least seems to 
 have suo:o:ested some lines of thouo:ht and warnings 
 against like failings in the Epistle. I refer to the strife 
 for supremacy among the disciples. The commencement 
 of this rivalry first crops up soon after the three disciples 
 Peter, James, and John had received the special honour 
 of being selected as witnesses of the transfiguration : a 
 most likely time, not only to assert their superiority over 
 the rest, but also to discuss the primacy amongst them- 
 selves. We are told by St. Matthew, xviii. 1 and foil., 
 that " the disciples came to Jesus, saying, who is the 
 greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" It must be 
 remembered that the transfiguration was a type of the 
 full development of that kingdom, according to our 
 Lord's own statement. Matt. xvi. 28. The controversy 
 had evidently been engendered by the recent circum- 
 stances, as St. Mark tells us, chap. ix. 33, that the Lord 
 enquired " What was it that ye disputed among your- 
 selves by the way?" It is evident that although Jesus 
 called the twelve to hear the rebuke He administered, 
 yet the chief parties in the quarrel must almost neces- 
 sarily have been the three who had been already pre- 
 
 * See on tliis subject tlie Excursus on tlie " Glory." 
 
INTEODUCTION. xix 
 
 eminent in privilege. In the recent honour James and 
 John had been preferred before Andrew, why should 
 they not be above Peter his brother? why should not 
 the sons of Zebedee be advanced before those of Jonas? 
 It is to this, perhaps, that we are to attribute Peter's 
 question to the Lord, which is found in proximity to 
 the narrative of this dispute, " How oft shall my brother 
 trespass against me, and I forgive him?" Matt, xviii. 21. 
 But all uncertainty as to the individuals among the 
 twelve who were ambitious of the highest rank is 
 removed when we find James and John, with the aid 
 and advocacy of their mother, desiring the greatest 
 honours of the future kingdom, the seats on the right 
 hand and the left hand of the Lord. The ten heard of 
 the request that had been made, and " were moved with 
 indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called 
 them unto him, and said. Ye know that the princes of 
 the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that 
 are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall 
 not be so among you : but whosoever will be great among 
 you, let him be your minister ; and whosoever will be 
 chief among you, let him be your servant," Matt. xx. 
 24-27. But even this reproof did not suppress the 
 emulation, for we learn from St. Luke's narrative that 
 even after the last supper this strife again burst out, 
 when a similar rebuke was given by the Lord, but with 
 the addition of a remarkable promise, as if with the 
 intent to pacify their minds and allay their jealousies: 
 " Ye are they who have continued with me in my 
 temptations : and I appoint, SLarldefjiai, to you a kingdom, 
 as my Father hath appointed unto me ; that ye may eat 
 and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones 
 
XX INTEODUCTION. 
 
 judging the twelve tribes of Israel," Luke xxii. 28-30. 
 We have already called attention to the fact that St. 
 John occupied the right hand of the Lord at the last 
 supper, and the probability that St. James was on His 
 left hand; hence it is natural to suppose that this new 
 outburst of jealousy was connected with this arrange- 
 ment, and that St. Peter was the one who felt dis- 
 satisfied, and that consequently the dispute originated on 
 this occasion with him; and have we not a hint that 
 such was the case in the solemn address the Lord made 
 to Peter immediately after quelling this unseemly and 
 ill-timed cavil : " Simon, Simon, Behold Satan desired 
 you, tf/ia?, to sift as wheat; but I prayed for thee, irepl 
 o-oi), that thy faith might not fail. And when thou art 
 converted, strengthen thy brethren," Luke xxii. 31, 32. 
 To say nothing more definite, may we not trace in the 
 teaching of this Epistle passages that seem to be reflec- 
 tions of these scenes, and echoes of these rebukes? the 
 very faults of the writer in his previous life furnishing 
 the material for warnings to others. St. Peter's Epistles 
 are full of such allusions to the past history of his 
 experience. Is not St. James' Epistle also? The 
 general character of the Epistle is a strong protest 
 against pride, the prevalent self-exalting Jewish pride, 
 the domineering of one over another. This natural ten- 
 dency of the human heart had met with severe reproofs 
 from our Lord's lips, and now the Apostle, humbled 
 himself, preaches humility to others. A few passages 
 may serve as the direct outcome of the scenes in the 
 Apostle's life which have been referred to. In chap. i. 
 9-12 the lowly brother is exhorted to rejoice in his 
 exaltation, and a gloomy picture is drawn of the doom 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 of the opposite character. The subject was one calcu- 
 lated to awaken the remembrances of the past, and the 
 language of v. 12 seems to recall the memories of the 
 last scene in which the jealousy of the brethren mani- 
 fested itself, when the Lord covenanted to give them a 
 kingdom; for, writes St. James, " Blessed is the man that 
 endureth temptation, because having become approved 
 he shall receive the crown of life ivhich the Lord promised 
 to tliose that love him." The caution against jealousy 
 and selfishness in chap. iii. 14, 16, seems almost like an 
 utterance prompted by a penitential remembrance of per- 
 sonal failings in former days, and comes most fittingly 
 from the pen of one who had felt the evil of arousing such 
 contentions among the brethren. Chap. iv. begins with a 
 severe reprimand of those that manifested a quarrelsome 
 and ambitious disposition, and the citation, probably 
 from Prov. iii. 34, which, consistently with our argu- 
 ment, by the way, is also embodied in the writings of 
 St. Peter, another of the great but litigious three, 
 1 Pet. V. 5, seems to be the categorical form of the 
 lesson these Apostles had received under the tender 
 illustration . recorded b}' the Evangelist : " Jesus called 
 a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 
 and said. Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted 
 (mark the parallel use of this word to St. Peter on a like 
 occasion, Luke xxii. 32), and become as little children, 
 ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoso- 
 ever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, 
 the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven," Matt, 
 xviii. 2-4. 
 
 Remembrances of such scenes and exhortations might 
 be stamped forcibly on the mind of the son of Alphosus, 
 
xxii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 experiences of his own heart and life ; or the need that 
 others had of such instruction, might give birth to these 
 monitions and reproofs, but surely they appear to be 
 more consistently attributed to the Apostle who had 
 been the cause of eliciting from the Great Teacher the 
 same rebukes that, under His inspiration and the 
 promptings of his own experience, he was now adminis- 
 tering to others. And we may again remind the reader 
 that there is no evidence that the future Bishop was 
 present on the occasion referred to ; and that it is almost 
 certain that he was not. 
 
 Closely consequent upon the first instance of the 
 outbreak of rivalry among the brethren is another 
 incident in the life of James the son of Zebedee, which 
 occurred in a village of the Samaritans, as the Teacher 
 and the twelve were on their journey to Jerusalem. 
 The link that ties too;ether the exhibitions of ambitious 
 and revengeful temper has been preserved to us in its 
 proper place by St. Luke. See chap. ix. 46-56. It 
 would seem that the three disciples after the trans- 
 figuration had become inflated with their supereminence 
 over the residue, and were tempted to dispute between 
 themselves for priority. This perversion of the privilege 
 they had enjoyed together, the Lord, as we have seen, 
 rebuked ; but thirst for dominion and narrow-minded- 
 ness go hand in hand. St. John, evidently with his 
 spirit rufiled by the recent rebuke, put in the remark, 
 full of the same inflated selfishness, " Master, we saw 
 one casting out devils in thy name ; and we forbad him, 
 because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto 
 him, Forbid him not ; for he that is not against us 
 is for us." Soon after this occurrence the journey to 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 Jerusalem commenced. The way lay through Samaria ; 
 they enter a village that belonged to that district. The 
 inhabitants would not welcome the Lord and His fol- 
 lowers : they perceived that the Lord, who made no 
 secret of His Messiahship in Samaria, was going up to 
 Jerusalem to keep the feast, and not to Mount Gerizim, 
 and therefore they refused to acknowledge and entertain 
 Him. Here then was another wound to pride, and the 
 feelings of the two brethren, which had scarcely re- 
 covered from the former excitement, were again inflamed. 
 The recent sight of Elijah on the mount, and the neigh- 
 bourhood where he had called down vengeance on the 
 foe, 2 Kings i. 10, 1.2, alike flash across their mind, and 
 James and John said, " Lord, wilt thou that we com- 
 mand fire to come down from heaven and consume 
 them, even as Elias did?* But he turned and rebuked 
 them." 
 
 Two distinct references are to be found in this Epistle 
 to this incident in the Apostle's life. In chap. i. 19, 20 
 he exhorts his brethren to be " slow to speak, slow to 
 wrath," adding, " for the wrath of a man, avSpo^, does not 
 work out the righteousness of God." What could reflect 
 with greater exactitude the sin he had committed, or the 
 lesson he had learnt in the village of Samaria? Again, 
 the reference, in chap. v. 17, to Elijah has doubtless a 
 twofold origin. As the transfiguration had made a 
 deep impression on the minds of those that witnessed it, 
 so must also the persons who were associated with the 
 Lord in the glorious vision ; chap. ii. 1 and this passage 
 
 * The words 'Oy kol 'HXt'ns iunirjarev arc not found in « and b, although 
 they are in a, c, d, etc. ; but this does not in auy way afl'ect the argument, 
 as the thought must have been suggested by what the prophet had done 
 in that place, even though it might not be expressed in the text. 
 
xxiv INTEODUCTION. 
 
 may therefore both be advanced in favour of the son of 
 Zebedee being the author of this Epistle, but the epithet 
 we find apphed to Ehjah in this place adds another strong 
 link to our argument. James, when he mentioned 
 Elijah, was reminded of his own faults and failings in 
 connection with the abuse he had made of the great 
 prophet's example, yet was Elijah one like himself, bixoio- 
 iradrj'^;^ of like passions, feelings, experiences, infirmities, 
 impulses. He, too, had lost his patience once on a time ; 
 see 1 Kings xix. 4, 10. Thus there was a parallel 
 between the prophet and the Apostle both in their zeal 
 and in their infirmities ; and this epithet applied by the 
 latter to the former seems almost intended to plead an 
 apology for his failings, as well as to inspire confidence 
 that the prayer of a just man, although subject to the 
 weaknesses of humanity, would not be ineffectual in 
 gaining the desired answer. 
 
 Once more, it is frequently advanced that the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem is spoken of as close at hand in this 
 Epistle, and therefore it must have been written at a 
 period later than a.d. 44, when James the Elder suffered 
 martyrdom, and that thus we are compelled to assign it 
 to the son of Alphasus or the Bishop of Jerusalem ; but 
 this is a slender foundation for the superstructure. The 
 Bishop could not have penned the letter much after the 
 year a.d. 60, which is the usual date fixed, as he was 
 put to death at the passover a.d. 62, exactly eighteen 
 years after the death of the elder James. In the fulfil- 
 ment of a prophecy which the Apostles believed was 
 imminent every day of their lives, would not sixteen or 
 jeighteen years be a vanishing fraction? 
 
 But there appears to be internal evidence even here 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 that the elder James was the writer. St. Mark tells us 
 that when the Lord had left the temple for the last thne, 
 and his disciples had pointed out the magnitude and 
 magnificence of the structure, and He told them that 
 not one stone should be left upon another; after this, as 
 He sat upon the Mount of Olives, " Peter, James^ and 
 John and Andrew asked him privately^ Tell us when 
 shall these things be; and what shall be the sign when 
 all these things shall be fulfilled?" Our Lord's reply 
 to the inquiring disciples embraces all the points found 
 in the Epistle relative to the same subject; indeed, the 
 warnings of the Apostle are but an epitome of the Divine 
 predictions. Compare Mark xiii. 7 with James iv. 1 ; 
 Mark xiii. 9 with James ii. 6, 7; Mark xiii. 32 with 
 James iv. 13, 14; Mark xiii. 19 with James v. 1-3; 
 Matt. xxiv. 27, 29 with James v. 3, 5. When we thus 
 discover the chief particulars foretold by the Lord in 
 the ears of this James, a privilege, be it remembered, 
 not conferred upon the son of Alphaeus, the wars and 
 rumours of wars, the persecution of believers in the 
 synagogues, the unexpected coming of the judgment, 
 the general afliiction and the princely luxury and care- 
 lessness of the period, all reflected on the pages of the 
 Epistle, can we withhold our conviction that the Apostle 
 who heard these prophecies from the mouth of the Lord 
 in one of his last conversations with Him, and in answer 
 to his own anxious inquiry, would be more likely to 
 remember and record them than those who had not been 
 privileged to hear those predictions ; or in other words, 
 that the son of Zebedee is the more likely to be the 
 author of our Epistle tlian the son of Alphceus or the 
 Bishop of Jerusalem. 
 
xxvi INTEODUCTION. 
 
 There are, in addition to the foregoing arguments, 
 certain verbal coincidences and other features that forbid 
 formal classification, that may be adduced in support of 
 our proposition. 
 
 No one when reading the Epistles of St. James and 
 1 Peter can fail to be struck with the correspondence 
 that exists between them. Some of these parallels may 
 be cited: Jas. i. 2 and foil, with 1 Pet. i. 6, 9; Jas. i. 
 10 and foil, with 1 Pet. i. 24; Jas. i. 21 with 1 Pet. ii. 
 1 and foil.; Jas. iv. 6, 10 with 1 Pet. v. 5 and foil.; 
 Jas. V. 20 with 1 Pet. iv. 8. 
 
 Such a mutual reflection of kindred thoughts, doc- 
 trines, and expressions between the two writers naturally 
 suggests which we know was the case, supposing our 
 author to be the son of Zebedee, that the twain were 
 closely allied in calling, training, experience, and Avork. 
 Such an alliance, it is true, might exist between Peter and 
 the son of Alphaeus or the Bishop, but we know that 
 such an intimacy did exist between Peter and the elder 
 James, who were side by side throughout tlie ministry 
 of our Lord, and were fellow class-men of the highest 
 rank under His Divine tuition. We claim, therefore, 
 this unison of sentiment as a strong internal evidence 
 that the writer was none other than the near friend of 
 Peter, James the son of Zebedee. 
 
 Further, we may mark some features among the 
 illustrations contained in the Epistle which seem to 
 corroborate our view. In chap. i. 6 we have a grajDhic 
 sketch of the sea labouring under the influence of wind 
 and storm, evidently drawn by an artist familiar with 
 such a scene. And how fitly does all this fall in with 
 the circumstances of the son of Zebedee, who had spent 
 
INTEODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 all his early life on those waters, and had so often 
 seen them subject to violent disturbances. Again, in 
 chap. iii. 4, the illustration borrowed from the ship and 
 the helm, to show the influence and power of the tongue, 
 cannot fail to remind us of the boat in which he had 
 plied his trade and left to follow the Lord, or of that 
 boat in which he had so often embarked with His Master 
 on the Sea of Galilee, and " come to the land whither 
 they went." It is quite conceded that both the son of 
 Alphaeus and the brother of the Lord were familiar with 
 both the sea and the ships, but we have no authority for 
 supposing either of them to have been fishermen, and as 
 conversant with maritime matters as the son of Zebedee. 
 Whatever view is taken of the relationship termed 
 " brother," whether this James were the son of Joseph 
 by a former marriage, or the son of Joseph and Mary 
 after the birth of the Lord, the latter would more likely 
 be of the same occupation as Joseph, as indeed our Lord 
 himself is said to have been, Mark vi. 3. The figures 
 of speech referred to above, will, with more consistency 
 with known facts, harmonize with the antecedents of 
 James the Elder. 
 
 The peculiar use of J/zcato?, the just one, James v. 6, 
 as not only an epithet but a synonym of the Messiah, is 
 worthy of observation in connection with the similar 
 use of the word in other writers ; the nearest approach 
 in the Epistles to this example is 1 Jno. ii. 1, " Jesus 
 Christ the righteous," 'Irjvovv Xpiarov SUaiov : compare 
 also V. 29. Very near to the same use is the language 
 of St. Peter, Acts iii. 14, " But ye denied the holy one 
 and just," t6v ayiov Koi hUaiov: compare also 1 Pet. iii. 
 18. This title of the coming Messiah, the "just" or 
 
xxviii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 " righteous one," is frequent in the psalms and prophets. 
 We know that at the time of His coming there was a 
 wide-spread expectation that the Messiah was at hand, 
 and many of the predictions on which the Jews rested 
 their hopes had gained circulation. It is highly pro- 
 bable that this character of the great Deliverer was not 
 unknown among the Gentiles, for it is significant that 
 Pilate's wife employs this word in. her message to her 
 husband, Matt, xxvii. 19, and Pilate repeated it in his 
 declaration of the innocence of Jesus before the people, 
 V. 24. The centurion who was on guard at the cross 
 reproduced it in his exclamation, when Jesus gave up the 
 ghost, Luke xxiii. 47, to which confession perhaps Peter 
 refers in his expostulation with the Jews already cited. 
 Acts iii. 14. If we except these examples of Gentile 
 use we find the. epithet only in the mouth of Stephen 
 when before the Sanhedrim, Acts vii. 52, and of Ananias 
 at the baptism of St. Paul, Acts xxii. 14. 
 
 The growth of the word from an epithet to a synonym, 
 traceable in the use of it by Peter, James, and John, 
 hints at the same conclusion, that our author was James 
 the Elder. It may be that this title was one to which 
 they were specially attached, and they used it frequently 
 in mutual conversation until the very familiarity ren- 
 dered it equivalent to a proper name. 
 
 There is also a striking similarity to be traced between 
 the composition of St. James and St. John in this parti- 
 cular, that both are in the habit of making a statement, 
 and then, apparently for the sake of emphasis, denying 
 the opposite, or vice versa. This feature in St. John's 
 style is so well known that one or two examples will be 
 sufficient for us to refer to : Jno. i. 3, 5 ; xx. 7 ; 1 Jno. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxk 
 
 i. 5, 6, 8; ii. 11, 15; v. 12. It would appear from many 
 passages that this was a feature frequent in our Lord's 
 discourses. 
 
 For examples in St. James' Epistle, see ch. i, 5, 17, 
 23; iii. 17. Perhaps we may venture to regard this as 
 a family likeness between James and John in their style 
 of address and composition ; if so, it will serve as an 
 additional link in our chain of evidence. 
 
 In the days of the Apostles there arose two distinct 
 and opposite heresies : the Docette, who sprung from the 
 false teachino; of Simon Mag'us, tauo;ht that our Lord's 
 body was an apparition only; and the Ebionites, who 
 held the simple humanity of Christ, that He was born 
 of Joseph and Mary. Against both these errors we find 
 constant and undoubted protests in the writings of St. 
 John. Tracing upward chronologically the later Epistles 
 of St. Paul, the pastoral, and still further back, those of 
 the earlier captivity, we find evidence that those errors 
 which afterwards were systematized in Gnosticism were 
 growing and diffusing with alarming rapidity ; but even 
 at a prior date, a.d. 57, in the first Epistle to the 
 Corinthians, there are not wanting references, especially 
 in the essay on the resurrection, to these errors, then 
 perhaps, only emerging from an embryo state. This is a 
 wide subject, which it would be out of place to pursue or 
 enlarge upon here ; all that is necessary for our argument 
 is to remind the reader that the Ebionites were a sect 
 of Jewish origin, and that the name is clearly derived 
 from the Hebrew jms, poor.* Two reasons may be 
 assigned why the sect received this name; it may have 
 
 * The theory of Tertullian, De Prccscrip., chap, xxxiii., that it was the 
 name of a man who fox'med the sect, is unfounded. 
 
XXX INTEODUCTION. 
 
 been imposed on them by the Jews as a name of con- 
 tempt, or, which is far more hkely, they assumed it 
 themselves, as a title of honour, seeing that throughout 
 the psalms and prophets the word was used almost as an 
 equivalent for pious^ and that in the sermon on the 
 mount the Lord had employed it in the same manner; 
 hence "with a pride that apes humility" they distin- 
 guished themselves by so goodly a name : but through- 
 out our Epistle we find the " poor " equivalent to the 
 believing, humble Christian, in contradistinction to the 
 " rich," who oppresses, defrauds, and despises him, in 
 exact accordance with the usage of the Old Testament 
 and the sermon on the mount. Hence it is evident, 
 for this is the point we have to insist upon, that if our 
 Epistle were written at the date generally assigned, a.d. 
 60, we should see St. Paul deep in his labours to arrest 
 the spread of a system of error, whose advocates prided 
 themselves on a title which they had arrogated to them- 
 selves in a self-righteous and complacent spirit, and St. 
 James complimenting the really pious and humble 
 among the Jews by the very same title which was 
 being perverted by the heretics ; this could scarcely 
 have happened. The history of the church has con- 
 stantly shown that words and terms, orthodox at one 
 period, have necessarily been laid aside at a subsequent 
 one, when the meaning has changed, or the application 
 been abused, and such doubtless was the history of this 
 word. 
 
 But if the Epistle was written by the son of Zebedee, 
 we gain at least thirteen or fourteen years before the 
 first references are made to these false teachings by St. 
 Paul. Before the martyrdom of St. James, a.d. 44, the 
 
mTEODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 error, to say the utmost, could only have existed in the 
 very earliest germ, and scarcely have been in a nascent 
 state, much less could the system have been distin- 
 guished by the holy name which was afterwards de- 
 praved by heretical assumption : we contend that this is 
 another argument in favour of the authorship by the son 
 of Zebedee. 
 
 The chief objections to this view we have already 
 dealt with, such as the implied nearness of the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, and the generally received opinion 
 that the Epistle was the work of one of the other two 
 who bore the same name. There is none other worth 
 naming except, perhaps, the omission of the title Apostle 
 in the preface of the Epistle. This would be equally fatal 
 to those who hold that the Epistle was penned by the son 
 of Alphasus, who was one of the twelve, but St. John, 
 the brother of James the Elder, never adopts this title in 
 any of his introductory addresses, probably from motives 
 of humility; why should there not be a family likeness in 
 this lowly grace, and the brethren who sought the high- 
 est places of honour in the kingdom become content to 
 be followers of the " holy and humble men of heart ? " 
 
 The preceding arguments, though far from being con- 
 clusive, are still very potent, especially so when the 
 weakness of the testimony is considered that is brought 
 forward to prove the authorship of another James ; the 
 tradition of a " hear-say," and that only partially received 
 by the reporter, is but scanty evidence; but when we 
 turn to the second James, we are met with another 
 difficulty, which it seems never has been, and probably 
 never will be, removed. Is James the son of Alphseus 
 identical with another James, called the brother of our 
 
xxxii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Lord, and generally known as the Bishop of Jerusalem, 
 or are they distinct individuals? This question again 
 involves another of equal difficulty : What relationship 
 are we to understand by " the brethren of the Lord ? " 
 This subject has been several times referred to already, 
 and although a solution of the difficulty has nothing to 
 do with the views entertained in these pages, yet the 
 Litroduction to the Epistle would be imperfect without 
 some reference to the identity or non-identity of James 
 the Less, or rather the " Little," with James the Just, 
 the brother of the Lord and Bishop of Jerusalem, and 
 to the relationship which is implied in the term, "the 
 brother of the Lord." On both these subjects much 
 has been written, both in days ancient and modern; 
 every commentary more or less touches upon them; 
 and of late years some very valuable treatises, from 
 the pens of both continental and English theologians, 
 have appeared, yet neither of the questions has received 
 a satisfactory and certain solution; all the testimony 
 that can be scraped together has been sifted, and in- 
 genuity in framing theories, we may hope, has been 
 exhausted ; any addition that would be likely to bring 
 these doubtful points to a conclusion is impossible, unless 
 further evidence should spring up by the discovery of 
 some more archives of an early date, a boon not likely 
 to fall to our lot. 
 
 There are three distinct opinions on the subject of the 
 " brethren of the Lord," all of early date, which claim 
 our adoption and adhesion, and it is a strange coin- 
 cidence that the three commentaries which most deserve 
 our respect, and are in most frequent use by students of 
 Holy Scripture, severally advocate each of these three 
 
INTllODUCTION. xxxiii 
 
 proposed solutions of the difficulty, a fact which is the 
 best evidence of the impossibility of settling the ques- 
 tion. It would be quite beyond the limits of our Intro- 
 duction, already too long, to enter into all these theories, 
 and cross-examine their testimony, balancing the weak 
 points of each against the strong points of the others ; it 
 will be enough to direct the reader to the connnentaries 
 of Bishop Wordsworth and the late lamented Dean 
 Alford in their Introductions to this Epistle, and in 
 their notes on Matt. i. 25 and xiii. 55, and to Professor 
 Lightfoot's admirable essay on " the brethren of the 
 Lord," in his commentary on the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians. A brief sketch of the outline of the three theories 
 will serve our purpose in showing the uncertainty that 
 hangs over the whole question. 
 
 (1) The ancient Ante-Nicene Church held, with the 
 exception of Tertullian,* and the reference of his remarks 
 is not alto2:ether clear, that the so called brethren of the 
 Lord were the offspring of Joseph by a former marriage, 
 that Joseph was an aged man when he took Mary, whom 
 he treated as a ward rather than a wife. Joseph died 
 not long after our Lord reached His twelfth year, so 
 that the Virgin Mary and her step-children remained 
 together with, her divine son as members of one house- 
 hold. This view is entertained by the apocryphal Gos- 
 pels, which probably retained the tradition of truth in 
 this matter, by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, 
 Gregory of Nissa, Epiphanius, and other fathers, and by 
 the ancient services of the Eastern church. 
 
 * The passage wliicli is quoted in almost all commentaries from Papias, 
 as supporting the views of Jerome, has been proved by Professor Light- 
 foot (see Commentarij on Galatians, p. 259, note) to have been penned by 
 another Papias, a writer of the eleventh century. 
 
 d 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 In the fourth century a strong tide in favour of celi- 
 bacy over the marriage state set in. Helvidius, a dis- 
 ciple of Auxentius, an Arian, who lived at Rome, 
 attacked this school and its teachings, and asserted that 
 the Virgin Mary bore children to her husband Joseph. 
 Bonosus, probably Bishop of Sardica, and Jovinian, an 
 Italian monk in the same century, held the same view ; 
 which has been endorsed by Strauss, Herder, Davidson, 
 and most rationalistic critics, and by Dean Alford in his 
 well known commentary. The leading arguments ad- 
 vanced are the natural impression that would be made 
 on the general reader of the narratives of the early 
 portion of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, 
 though the actual expression, 7rpoiT6TOKo<; uto^, Luke ii. 7, 
 and the ew? ov ereKe, Matt. i. 25, are not pressed so 
 urgently as formerly, as the " first-born," in the Jewish 
 mind, did not involve the thought of a second-horn^ and 
 the latter passage refers rather to the miracle of our 
 Lord's birth than to any subsequent circumstances. 
 
 Jerome, when a young man, opposed the view pro- 
 pounded by Helvidius, and wrote a treatise against him ; 
 and at that time originated the solution of the question 
 which from his day has been almost universally received 
 in the Western Church, and till quite recently may be 
 said to have been the accepted tlieory of the leading 
 theologians of our own Church. The explanation given 
 by Jerome was that the " brethren " of our Lord were 
 not, as Helvidius taught, the sons of Mary the Virgin, 
 but were the cousins of our Lord, being the offspring of 
 Mary, the sister of the Virgin and wife of Alphasus. 
 The followers of this theory have identified Alphseus 
 with Clopas, these two names being different forms 
 
IKTEODUCTION. xxxv 
 
 of the Aramaic '^hn. This mode of explaining the 
 relationship was new at the time, as Jerome cites 
 no ancient authority in support of his views, and he 
 did not press his opinion in after years. It involves 
 a great number of difficulties, and postulates many con- 
 cessions. 
 
 There are also several other hypotheses of later date 
 on this subject, but they are all entirely unsupported by 
 external evidence. 
 
 Hence it will appear from an inspection of these 
 three theories, that if the last-named is accepted, James 
 the son of Alpha3us and the Bishop of Jerusalem were 
 identical, but if either of the other two furnishes the 
 solution, then James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, was not 
 the son of Alpheeus, and consequently not an Apostle. 
 The statement of St. John, chap. vii. 5, is very con- 
 clusive on this point, and all the evasions that have been 
 fabricated to escape from the plain and literal meaning of 
 the words only serve to strengthen their testimony. To 
 enter into this part of the question would be quite beside 
 our purpose. The discussion has occupied the attention 
 of most modern theolosrians and divided their conclusions. 
 The view respecting the authorship maintained in this 
 work is quite distinct, and the only object in making re- 
 ference to these questions is to show the doubts that have 
 been entertained concerning both the person and the office 
 of the generally reputed author of the Epistle. Some 
 have regarded this difficulty as so insuperable and the 
 testimony so entangled and conflicting that they have 
 taken refuge in a theory still more desperate, that the 
 Epistle was written by a different James altogether. 
 
 We conclude, therefore, that external evidence on the 
 
xxxvi INTEODUCTION. 
 
 whole question is weak on all sides; too weak, indeed, 
 to settle the dispute with any degree of certainty. 
 There is more than a doubt concerning the identity of 
 the son of Alphseus and the Bishop of Jerusalem. The 
 testimony to the authorship by the latter is very in- 
 definite in ancient authorities, and if stated qualified and 
 all but cancelled, and those that support this view 
 unreservedly are too late to be of any critical value. 
 The direct external evidence also for the authorship 
 of the elder James is but small, and only reaches pro- 
 bability. It may be summed up thus : the most ancient 
 MSS. of the Peshito Syriac Version call the author an 
 apostle, which title in its full and proper sense would 
 eliminate James the Bishop ; and as the son of Alphseus, 
 considered distinct from him, has little or no claim to 
 the authorship, the title of apostle would most fitly 
 describe St. James the Elder. 
 
 Again, it would appear that some tradition had come 
 down with this ancient version, from the fact that the 
 first editor of the printed text in the sixteenth century, 
 together with those that assisted him in his work, held 
 the opinion that the son of Zebedee was the writer. 
 
 Further, only one MS. is extant of this Epistle, in an 
 ante-Hieronymian Latin version; this in its subscrip- 
 tion attributes the Epistle to the son of Zebedee ; we may 
 thus fairly claim the two earliest versions on our side. 
 But on turning to the evidence afforded by internal 
 marks and undesigned coincidences, the verdict is 
 strongly in favour of the opinion that the Epistle was 
 written by St. James the Elder, the brother of John and 
 the son of Zebedee. 
 
 This will be further corroborated when we examine 
 
INTEODUCTION. xxxvii 
 
 the question, To whom, and for what purpose, was the 
 Epistle written? 
 
 TO WPIOM WRITTEN. 
 
 It is a matter of the greatest importance when we 
 investigate any subject in connection with divine revela- 
 tion to strip our minds of all subjective and self-spun 
 theories and inclinations, and to yield ourselves up 
 willingly to the guidance of the objective facts placed 
 before us. Evidence, not invention, should shape our 
 decisions; facts, not fancies, should rule our verdict. 
 Perhaps there is no writing in the New Testament that 
 has suffered so much as this Epistle from neglecting the 
 broadest hints and the plainest statements on the one 
 hand, and inventing hypotheses with an exuberant 
 imagination on the other. The whole question. To 
 whom is this Epistle written? is settled for us without 
 any inquiry being necessary, in the fewest words, " To 
 the twelve tribes." It is really painful, as being utterly 
 obstructive to the discovery of truth, after reading this 
 address with which the letter is inscribed, to find critics, 
 like postmen who are ill-skilled in deciphering hand- 
 writing, conveying the letter to every house except that 
 of the person whose name is specified on the envelope. 
 Thus De Wette, Kern, and others, hand over the Epistle 
 to Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians as though 
 the "twelve tribes" were synonymous with the Catholic 
 Church, or the phrase were a symbolical designation of 
 Christendom. Neander, Alford, and others, to Jewish 
 Christians, as though Christianity had already embraced 
 the twelve tribes and all Israel were converted ! Huther, 
 
xxxviii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 to the twelve tribes, interpreting the phrase to mean 
 true Jews, those worthy of the name, but where is 
 this phrase found as equivalent to the " remnant ac- 
 cording to the election of grace ? " And Lange 
 appropriates " the poor man with a vile raiment " 
 to the Gentile Christian; the Gentile Christian in a 
 synagogue! It is true that such critics find a dif- 
 culty when they come to the alarming denunciations 
 found in the fourth and fifth chapters, but the difficulty 
 is slurred over with an easy evasion : they were unworthy 
 members of the churches, the state of things was unsatis- 
 factory, Jewish errors had been imported, and such like. 
 But where, at any period before a.d. 60, adopting the 
 date of our critics, could such a picture as that painted by 
 St. James be found as a ioAtMnl facsimile of the church? 
 Surely if any church had deserved the caricature, it 
 would speedily have been disestablished from the Apos- 
 tolic communion. The church of Corinth, it is true, 
 has been cited as parallel, but though they had been 
 gross sinners before they joined the church, this was 
 now a thing of the past, so that St. Paul wrote to them 
 in this wise : " such were some of you ; but ye are 
 washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," 
 1 Cor. vi. 11. And as to the delinquents referred to in 
 the eleventh chapter, the cases compared do not admit 
 of comparison; for the Corinthians just redeemed from 
 Gentile idolatry had confounded the great Christian rite 
 with their former idol feasts, and had acted at the former 
 as they had done at the latter, and they were rebuked 
 by divine chastisements in order that they might not be 
 condemned with the world; but the sinners referred to 
 
mTEODUCTION. xxxk 
 
 in the Epistle of St. James are denounced as those on 
 whom the divine judgment, like a ripe thunderbolt, was 
 just about to fall irremediably. 
 
 But " to the ticelve tribes " is not the whole of the 
 superscription, particulars are given which are of a dis- 
 tinguishing character, serving to fix both upon the 
 parties addressed and the localities where they would be 
 found. "To the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion,^^ 
 raU iv rfj Siaavropa. It is evident that this section of 
 the Israelitish people was in the author's view, and this 
 is rendered even more clear by the fact that the letter 
 was beyond all doubt penned and posted at Jerusalem, 
 yet with a strange perversity we find critics of very high 
 character holding that the designation of the dispersion 
 does not necessarily limit the readers to the Jewish 
 churches out of Palestine. Thus the portion of the 
 family abroad is the same as the portion at home; but 
 surely the Jews of the dispersion known as 'EXK.rjvi.aTai 
 were considered a distinct section of the Hebrew race 
 ever since the Babylonish captivity. The Jews who did 
 not return to their native land after that great crisis in 
 their history, the xni'pj '•33, were the ancestors of that wide- 
 spread distribution of the Jewish people over the then 
 known world, the Biao-Tropd. These sojourners amongst 
 the Gentiles were known also by the name Hellenists, 
 ' EX\r]vt(TTai, from their having adopted the customs, and 
 manners, and language of the Greeks among whom they 
 dwelt. Of necessity their religious privileges must have 
 been considerably less than those of their brethren who 
 lived in the land near their temple and under the 
 regimen of the ceremonial law; the chief tie that linked 
 them to tlieir brethren at home was the payment of the 
 
xl INTEODUCTION. 
 
 half-shekel to the temple service. Representatives of 
 the various settlements, it would also appear, went to 
 Jerusalem to keep the chief feasts. See Acts ii. 5-11. 
 But that they were distinguished and had feelings of 
 jealousy against their more favoured brethren, is seen by 
 the " murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, 
 because their widows were neglected in the daily minis- 
 tration," Acts vi. 1. 
 
 It was to the Jews of the dispersion, to the Hellenists, 
 beyond all dispute that St. James addressed this Epistle ; 
 to those who were non-resident in the land of Judaea, as 
 distinct from those who were resident there ; to Grecising 
 Jews as distinct from Hebrews. And if any doubt could 
 exist on this point, it is removed by St. Peter's testi- 
 mony. It has been remarked that a strong relationship 
 is visible between these Epistles, and in his superscrip- 
 tion the Apostle of the circumcision addresses his letter to 
 
 the "sojourners of the dispersion {7rape7nSrjfiot<; haairopa';) 
 
 at Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," 
 1 Pet. i. 1. The dispersion is therefore specified to be 
 the Jews who were scattered up and down the Gentile 
 world. But further, it would appear that the letter was 
 addressed to them as Jews. The difference be1;ween 
 the superscription of this Epistle and that of 1 Peter is 
 very suggestive : there the sojourners of the dispersion 
 are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 
 Father, in sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience 
 and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." They 
 are expressly defined first to be Jews, secondly to be 
 Christians, Jewish Christians ; but St. James defines his 
 readers simply as the " twelve tribes in the dispersion." 
 This marked dissimilitude between the two Apostles in 
 
INTEODUCTION. xli 
 
 their description of their readers is a strong argument 
 against the date ordinarily assigned to this Epistle, 
 which would make the two Epistles to have been written 
 almost at the same time, whereas it is barely credible that 
 two inspired Avriters could have addressed the same peo- 
 ple, at the same period, in terms so widely discrepant. 
 In brief, we can but hold that St. James wrote to tlie 
 Jews of the dispersion^ as such; but they were at this 
 time a mixed assembly in a religious point of view, as a 
 large infusion of Christianity had spread among these 
 scattered communities of Israel through the information 
 brought to the various centres of their sojournings by 
 the visitors who came up to Jerusalem at that memorable 
 Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon 
 the Apostles, and from other sources. St. James makes 
 reference to these believers as the poor, humble, tempted, 
 beloved brethren. The sharp line of distinction between 
 the synagogue and the church had not yet been drawn : 
 the Christian Jew, at Jerusalem attended the services 
 at the temple, and those of the dispersion worshipped 
 in the synagogues holding, it is most probable, a 
 gathering or after-meeting of their own body at a dif- 
 ferent hour. To this custom, it is likely, St. Paul refers 
 in Heb. x. 25, "Not forsaking the assembling of your- 
 selves together," ti-]v iTnawa^w^riv. Thus our Epistle 
 when read, would be read in the synagogue where all 
 met together, and thus be heard of all, both Jewish non- 
 Christians and Jewish Christians: the former were to 
 appropriate the rebukes, the latter the consolations of the 
 Epistle. With this view all the parts of the Epistle are 
 consistent with each other, and the extremes of praise 
 and invective, in themselves so irreconcilable, each receive 
 
xlii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 their own allotment and proper direction. The general 
 tone of the letter is decidedly one of severe reproof, at 
 times rising to prophetic denunciation, relieved by 
 tender utterances of love and whispers of consolation : 
 the former adapted to the majority of the attendants at 
 the synagogue, who were non-Christians, and the latter 
 to the minority, who had in different degrees of light 
 received the doctrine that Jesus of Nazareth was the 
 Messiah. 
 
 In proof of this position, the reader may be reminded 
 that the standpoint of this Epistle is essentially Jewish : 
 the address, as we have seen, is to the twelve tribes ; the 
 terms " rich " and " poor " are distributed after the 
 manner of the Old Testament writers; the place of 
 worship is the synagogue, chap. ii. 2 ; the definition of 
 the faith they possessed is the Jewish creed, the SIC ma 
 Israel^ that "God is one," chap. ii. 19; the oaths pro- 
 hibited are Jewish, chap. v. 12, etc. ; the sins denounced 
 are those to which the Jews were addicted, pride, self- 
 conceit, ostentation, over-bearing, fraud. Commentators 
 who insist upon the Christian character of these Jewish 
 churches, as they call them, may well find a grave 
 difiiculty when they come to chap. iii. 9, and read of the 
 members of these churches cursing one another; or to 
 chap. iv. with its charges of lust, and murder, and envy, 
 of evil speaking and godless boasting ; and to chap. v. 
 with its withering denunciations of judgment upon 
 ungodly hoarders, and pleasure-seeking wantons, and 
 murderers of the Messiah. Strange features, truly, to 
 be found in a Christian church immediately after its 
 foundation ! But when we remember that the persons 
 addressed are the twelve tribes, Jews not Christians, the 
 
INTEODUCTION. xliii 
 
 characteristics all hold good: the invectives of the 
 Apostle fit in with the well known features of the con- 
 dition of the Jewish people at this period of their history, 
 when they were ripening for the divine judgments. 
 The dispersion as well as the people of the land Avere 
 similar in their sinful thoughts and habits, and the pre- 
 sence of a large deputation of the dispersion at the Pass- 
 over feast when Christ was crucified, who doubtless 
 co-operated in raising the cry, " Crucify him," and who 
 by their continued unbelief still echoed that cry, would 
 bring them under the ban of that awful charge, " Ye 
 condemned and murdered the just One," chap. v. 6. 
 
 On the other hand, the arguments in support of the 
 Epistle being addressed to Christians^ as such, are easily 
 disposed of: they either place a too strong emphasis on 
 those passages which relate to the Christian converts, 
 who were undeniably included in the dispersion, as 
 though those passages formed the general tenor and 
 tone of the Epistle, or they do not prove the point which 
 they are cited to establish. For instance, the title by 
 which St. James opens his Epistle, "James, a servant of 
 God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ," is advanced as 
 evidence that the Apostle was addressing Christians, but 
 it is one thing for the writer, himself a converted Jew, 
 to confess his faith, and another to imply that all his 
 readers must be fellow-believers with him in the Gospel, 
 especially when we remember that he immediately adds, 
 " to the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion," among 
 whom Christianity could not have been the prevalent 
 religion. Again, the frequent use of "brethren," "my 
 brethren," is supposed to involve a brotherhood in the 
 Christian faith ; but the writer and his readers were alike 
 
xliv INTEODUCTION. 
 
 descendants of the Jewish race, and therefore the name 
 of brother^ so familiar among the Hebrews, would not be 
 out of place on the ground of national unity, whereas 
 the two places where " my beloved brethren " is found, 
 chap. i. 16 and chap. ii. 5, very probably express a 
 double and a closer relationship, a tie both in the flesh 
 and in the spirit. 
 
 In chap. i. 18 "the firstfruits of his creatures" is a 
 term applicable to the Jewish race, and does not necessi- 
 tate a Christian interpretation. See note in loc. 
 
 Chap. ii. 1, " do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Shechinah, with respectings of persons," can 
 only prove at the utmost a fact which we admit, the mix- 
 ture of believers with unbelievers in the synagogue, the 
 place where the fault reprobated was committed, see note 
 in loc. And for the argument based on koXov 6vo/ia^ chap, 
 ii. 7, we may also refer the reader to the note iii loc. 
 The exhortation to patience in suffering, and the injunc- 
 tions concerning confession and prayer, in the fifth chap- 
 ter are beyond controversy addressed to the believing 
 section of the dispersion. Our argument, it must be 
 remembered, does not exclude " the remnant according 
 to the election of grace," but holds that the majority of 
 the twelve tribes in the dispersion were, as we know 
 they must have been, unbelievers, and as this Epistle 
 was addressed to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, it 
 must necessarily have been addressed to a body of 
 Jewish people, the majority of whom were unbelievers 
 in the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 Consistently with this we find in the preface of the 
 Epistle no salutation of "saints," "elect," "called," 
 "church," or the like; there is no mention made of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. slv 
 
 distinctive doctrines of the Gospel; the blood of Jesus 
 is not preached in its atoning power, as by St. Paul ; the 
 unction from above is not insisted on, as by his brother 
 St. John in his Epistles ; Passover and Pentecost are not 
 celebrated, and the name of Jesus Christ is only found 
 twice throughout the whole Epistle. There must be 
 some real and fundamental reason for this singularity and 
 exceptional peculiarity. To say that the writer was 
 enforcing practical religion, or removing impressions 
 that had been erroneously arrived at through a misun- 
 derstanding of the writings of St. Paul, only evades the 
 difficulty without explaining it, or even proving the 
 existence of the difficulty which commentators have 
 invented in order to combat. Such a shift is alike 
 unworthy of the critic and the Christian, and more so 
 of the grave subject over which they deliberate. This 
 will become more plain when we consider the Object in 
 view, which the author of our Epistle had. This may 
 be briefly stated. 
 
 THE OBJECT IN VIEW. 
 
 We have already called attention to the similarity be- 
 tween this Epistle and the preaching of John the Baptist, 
 and to the still closer relationship both in doctrine and 
 form of expression that exists between it and the sermon 
 on the mount. Where such a resemblance is found, both 
 in the matter and the manner of distinct discourses, it may 
 with safety be concluded that the purpose of those dis- 
 courses is also similar, and that the object their several 
 authors had in view would be nearly related, if not 
 absolutely identical ; and this inference gathers strength 
 
xlvl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 when we remember that the Baptist and our Lord 
 uttered their appeals to Jews, and that St. James wrote 
 his Epistle to Jews, to people of the same race and 
 rehgious antecedents. The question now arises, What 
 was the purpose of the Baptist's teaching? and the 
 reply, it may be presumed, is ready on the lip of a 
 general confession, that the great prophet of the wilder- 
 ness preached the gospel of repentance and conviction 
 of sin; that his mission was to excite in the hearts of 
 his hearers a sense of their sinfulness and unworthiness, 
 to break down the wall of carnal security and reliance 
 on external privileges. Hence the desert rang with the 
 cry, " Repent ye," and the stream of Jordan conveyed 
 the echoes of warning, " Flee from the wrath to come." 
 To be a descendant of Abraham involved no merit in 
 the sight of God. Bring forth fruits meet for repent- 
 ance; the fan of judgment shall sever the chaff, and the 
 fire consume it ; and the axe of retribution shall lay low 
 every evil tree and every unproductive tree ; God can 
 raise up children to Abraham out of these stones ; trust 
 not in the mere accident of a pious pedigree. 
 
 And what was the object that the "greater than 
 John " had in the ever memorable sermon preached on 
 the mountain? It was an unfolding of the true meaning 
 and intent of the law, a lifting up of its teaching above 
 the mere external letter and bare outside obedience to 
 its precepts to the higher platform of loving self-dedica- 
 tion and spiritual service. He told the Jew, inflated 
 with his privileges and boasting in the law, that the evil 
 thought was equivalent to the evil deed, the evil look to 
 the evil act, the inner surgings of anger and malice were 
 the same in God's sight as the outburst of passion and the 
 
mTEODUCTION. xlvii 
 
 perpetration of murder ; that almsgiving might go hand 
 in hand with sin, and prayer itself involve a penalty; a 
 great show of religion might cover a nest of abomina- 
 tions, the sheep's clothing of a prophet might robe a 
 ravening wolf ; fasting disfigure the face of a hypocrite, 
 and hands lifted to heaven in the sight of men betray a 
 heart bowed down and enslaved to the things of earth. 
 What was all this but the same teaching as the Bap- 
 tist's? conviction of sin, based upon the requirements of 
 the law. It forestalled the language of St. Paul : " the 
 law is holy, and just, and good," "by the law is the 
 knowledge of sin," " by the deeds of the law no flesh 
 shall be justified." We need not, after having pointed 
 out the parallels between our Epistle and the preaching 
 of the Baptist and the sermon on the mount, stop to 
 remind the reader that the teaching of St. James is 
 precisely parallel, the doctrine the same, the very lan- 
 iruaj^e often the same, and the illustrations also. But, 
 further, this doctrine of conviction of sin was the neces- 
 sary preface to the preaching the Gospel of grace and 
 pardon and acceptance in the merits of Another; the 
 Jews of that day needed to be led, like their forefathers, 
 to the foot of Sinai before they were in a condition to 
 appreciate the milk and honey of the Gospel Canaan; 
 the conviction of our needs must go before the supply 
 of those needs, and this system of education, both in the 
 case of communities and individuals, is everywhere 
 traceable in the school of our great Father. But to 
 apply the foregoing remarks to the Epistle before us, 
 the Baptist preached repentance and conviction of sin 
 to the Jews that were in the land : " There went out to 
 him Jerusalem and all Judaea, and all the region round 
 
xlviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 about Jordan," Matt. iii. 5. Our Lord also preached 
 the sermon on the mount dealing with the same subject 
 at the commencement of His ministry to the Jews that 
 ivere in the land : " There followed him great multitudes 
 of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from 
 Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan," 
 Matt. iv. 25. Now if there was a necessity to enforce 
 this special doctrine of conviction of sin on that branch 
 of the Jewish people that resided in the land, the same 
 doctrine would be necessary also for the dispersion; 
 the ancestry of both was the same, the trust in the 
 righteousness of Abraham the same, their self-righteous- 
 ness was the same, and therefore their needs were 
 the same. It was therefore consistent with the har- 
 mony of the Divine proceedings that tlie dispersion 
 should have the same training for the Gospel as 
 their brethren at home, and St. James the Great, we 
 believe, was selected for this service; hence we can 
 account for the varieties found in this Epistle. He is 
 the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he confesses 
 it, as the Baptist declared that he was the servant of 
 Him who came after Him, but was preferred before Him. 
 All his invectives against Jewish sin are plain, for they 
 were hurled at the same sinful race as the Baptist's invec- 
 tives were, to lead them to cry out, "What shall we 
 do?" On the other hand, there were some in the dis- 
 persion who had heard the glad tidings and listened to 
 the good news, to them he frequently adverts in tender 
 accents, as we may picture the stern Nazarite did when 
 he turned from his rebukes launched at " the generation 
 of vipers," to point his disciples to the " Lamb of God, 
 that takes away the sin of the world." 
 
1 • mTEODUCTION. xlix 
 
 We conclude therefore that the main purpose of 
 St. James in this Epistle was to preach to the Jews 
 of the dispersion the same doctrine of conviction of 
 sin, that the Baptist, and our Lord in the sermon on 
 the mount, had preached to the Jews in the land of 
 Judcea, with the same object in view, to lead them 
 through humiliation and godly sorrow and sore com- 
 punction to see their lost estate before God, and so to 
 prepare them for the reception of that Gospel which in 
 all its fulness of mercy and free grace, proclaims through 
 Christ pardon, peace, and life, without money and 
 without price, by his blood shedding and all-righteous 
 merits. 
 
 THE DATE OF THIS EPISTLE 
 
 has been variously assigned, even by those who hold 
 James the Bishop to have been the author. His 
 martyrdom and the fall of Jerusalem fix a certain 
 limit on one side, but where shall the limit be fixed 
 on the other? The ordinary opinion, that it must have 
 been the product of this James late in his life-time, 
 in consequence of the developed condition of the Jewish 
 churches in the dispersion, is quite untenable, as in 
 what, it may be asked, is that development seen? the 
 only development plainly legible in the Epistle is a 
 development of sinful practices, and until it can be 
 shown, which we are thankful to say it has never been, 
 that the defaulters were Christians, this opinion is per- 
 fectly baseless. Others, including such men as Nean- 
 der, Hofi'man, etc., on the continent, and the late Dean 
 Alford, place the period of writing before, though not 
 long before, the council at Jerusalem, about a.d. 45. 
 
1 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 And Huther advances that after the doctrine of St. Paul, 
 that a man is justified, not by works but by faith, had 
 become generally known, it is inconceivable that St. James 
 could promulgate his doctrine of justification by works in 
 ignorance of that circumstance. The opinion, therefore, 
 concerning the early date is no novelty, although we 
 must say that this supposed collision between St. James 
 and St. Paul must not be allowed for an instant, for it 
 is perfectly plain that, without taking into consideration 
 the great fact of inspiration, if St. James would not 
 have written his chap. ii. after St. Paul had sent his 
 treatises on justification by faith to the churches of 
 Galatia and Rome, surely, vice versa., St. Paul would 
 not have written those and like productions after reading 
 the Epistle of St. James. 
 
 But according to our theory all such contradictions 
 and difiiculties disappear, and all the phenomena fall 
 into order. St. James the Elder is the author; his 
 death took place at Easter, a.d. 44; this Epistle was 
 written before that period, probably very soon after the 
 death of Stephen, to whose apology before the Sanhedrim 
 this Epistle has strong afiinities ; all the features of the 
 question harmonize; the Apostle, one of the great 
 three, is honoured with a place amongst the inspired 
 writers, as the other two members of the trio were. He 
 writes to his brethren according to the flesh to carry out 
 the same line of work which the Baptist, and the Lord 
 in the earlier days of his teaching, had done. The 
 Jewish views of justification are those that are opposed. 
 The early date is necessary, both from the mixed condi- 
 tion of believers with unbelievers in the synagogues of 
 the dispersion, and from the date of the writer's death. 
 
mTRODUCTION. U 
 
 GENUINENESS AND CANONICITY OF 
 TPIE EPISTLE. 
 
 The testimonies of the early fathers, real and sup- 
 posed, have been frequently collected and catalogued; 
 they may be summed up thus : — 
 
 Clement of Rome : 'A/Spaafi 6 ^iXo? Trpoa-ar/opevOeL'i^ Abra- 
 ham ii'ho ivas called the friend^ i.e., of God, compare 
 James ii. 23 with Clement's 1 Ep. ad Cor. chap. x. 
 
 And again, Sia Tricmv koI (ptXo^eviav icrcodr] 'Paa^ rj iropvr], 
 
 " Because of faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was 
 saved," compare ii. 25 with lb. chap. xii. 
 
 The Shepherd of Hermas : 'Eav ovv avTia-rf}'; avTov (scil. 
 
 Bid^okov) — (f)ev^6Tat airo gov KaTrj(7^vjjbfjLevo<;, U Mand. xii. 5. 
 
 If therefore you resist him {i.e.., the devil) he will flee 
 from you ashamed, compare James iv. 7. There are other 
 passages in the same author which have some similarity 
 to our Epistle, 
 
 Irenseus : " Abraham credidit Deo, et reputatum est 
 
 illi ad justitiam, et amicus Dei vocatus est," Hcer. iv. 
 
 16, 2, Abraham believed God, and it teas imputed to him 
 
 for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. 
 
 Compare James ii. 23. 
 
 Origen quotes the Epistle in several places of his 
 works, and as has been remarked above refers to 
 the Epistle as that which is said to be James', see 
 page ii. 
 
 Eusebius classes the Epistle among those writings 
 which were objected against and not universally re- 
 ceived, Twv 8' avTcXeyofievcov, yvcopL/jUWv S" ovv ofico<; roc<i vroXkols 
 Tj Xeyo/JyivT] 'IaK(o/3ov (peperai, k. t. X.., U. E. iii. 25, Amonq 
 
 the disputed books, although they are well known and 
 
 e* 
 
lii mTEODUCTION. 
 
 approved by many^ is reputed that called the Epistle of 
 James^ etc. 
 
 Again Eusebius, after relating Hegesippus' account of 
 the martyrdom of James the Bishop of Jerusalem, adds : 
 ToMvra koI ra Kara top ^Iukco^ov, ov rj irpdorrj rcov ovofia^ofMevwv 
 KaOoXiKcov eTTCcrrokoov elvai Xiyerai' ia-reov he w? voOeverai fxev. 
 ov TToWol 701)1/ TOiV TraXaioiV avTr}<i i/jLvrj/jiovevcrav, 3. E. ii. 23, 
 These accounts are given respecting James ^ who is said to 
 have written the first of the Epistles called Catholic^ but it 
 must be known that it is considered spurious. Not many 
 indeed of the ancients mentioned it. 
 
 Once more, Eusebius, quoting from the authority 
 of Clemens Alexandrinus, reports, ixrjhe tu^ dvriX€jofieva<i 
 TrapeXOoiV, ttjv ^lovha Xejco Kal Ta<; XoiTra? Ka6o\iKa<i iTrtaroXd'i, 
 H. E.^ vi. 14, Neither omitting those Epistles that are 
 disputed., I mean that of Jude and the rest of the Catholic 
 Epistles. 
 
 Hippolytus cites the former part of chap. ii. 13. 
 
 Dionysius of Alexandria quotes part of chap. i. 13. It 
 is worthy of note that Eusebius tells us of his intimacy 
 with the churches in Syria, Arabia, Cappadocia, Pontus, 
 and Bithynia; the last named places, it will be remem- 
 bered, were those to which St. Peter addressed his first 
 Epistle to the sojourners of the dispersion. 
 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Neo-C^esarea in 
 Pontus (mark the place also), cites the subject mat- 
 ter of chap. 1. 17, hifkov yap to? irdv djaObv reXeiov 6e6dev 
 epxerat. 
 
 Chrysostom received this Epistle among the number 
 of the canonical books, as has been stated above, but 
 Leontius of Byzantium, writing at the close of the sixth 
 century, states that Theodore of Mopsuestia, in Cilicia, 
 
INTEODUCTION. liii 
 
 rejected the Epistle of James, "Ut arbitror ipsam Jacobi 
 Epistolam, — abrogat et antiquat." 
 
 Jerome's mention of the Epistle has been already- 
 referred to, with his revival of the report that it was 
 published by some one else under the name of James, 
 surnamed the Just, page iii. 
 
 It is not included in the Muratorian fragment, which 
 dates at about a.d. 170, but is found in the Laodicene 
 catalogue, a.d. 363. It may be here repeated that the 
 oldest uncial MSS. affix the name of James, either in 
 superscription or subscription. 
 
 Of the two versions made in the earliest days of the 
 church, the Peshito-Syriac contained this Epistle, but it 
 would seem that the old Italic Version did not. See, 
 however, page v. The Epistle was eventually received 
 as canonical by the Council of Carthage, a.d. 397, and 
 after this date it was universally admitted as canonical. 
 
 The above facts may serve as an outline of the ex- 
 ternal testimony relative to the question of the genuine- 
 ness and canonicity of this Epistle. There are strong 
 points and weak points in the evidence; the chief wit- 
 , ness is beyond doubt the Peshito-Syriac translation; the 
 references, some intended and some accidental, in the 
 writings of the fathers are weakened by the statements 
 of Eusebius and Jerome. It must be confessed that 
 here, as well as in the case of the authorship, there is 
 some mystery which needs unfolding. 
 
 The following suggestions may help to throw some 
 light on the path of our inquiry. The student cannot 
 fail to observe that with the exception of the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews, all the antilegomena, or disputed Epistles, 
 are among those called Catholic^ James, 2 Peter, 2 and 
 
liv INTEODUCTION. 
 
 3 John, and Jude. This prompts us to examine into 
 the meaning of this term Catholic^ as applied to these 
 Epistles. Clement of Alexandria, Stromat. iv. 15, gives 
 this name to the missive issued by the Council of Jeru- 
 salem, Acts XV. 22-29. In the fourth century it was 
 appropriated to this group of Epistles, as we learn from 
 Eusebius. Two explanations of the title alone deserve 
 notice, that which explains it as encyclical, or intended 
 for no church in particular, but for all churches, and 
 that which connects it with the dispersion; as OEcumenius 
 says, these Epistles were written not to one nation, but 
 
 KaOoKov rol<^ ttlo-tol^, rjTOi ^lovSaloi'i iv rf} hiacnropa. if the 
 
 latter be the true interpretation, we have a hint of great 
 importance that the Catholic Epistles were addressed to 
 the Jews of the dispersion, at different dates, and under 
 diiferent circumstances during the apostolic age, and 
 with this the internal evidence of these compositions 
 aofrees. It is a coincidence also worth notino^ that the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, though not catalogued as one of 
 the Catholic Epistles, perhaps for this very reason, that it 
 was sent to the Jews resident in Palestine, and not to the 
 dispersion, was addressed, as its name imports, to Jews, 
 and that it has passed through a very similar history 
 with reference to its reception by the church as canonical. 
 The 2nd and 3rd John were private communications, 
 whether addressed to persons of Jewish extraction or 
 not we cannot say, neither is our argument much 
 affected by them. The conclusion from the above pre- 
 mises seems natural that these Epistles, sent to members 
 of the dispersion, remained in the possession of churches 
 of strictly Jewish origin ; and as every day the separation 
 between the synagogue and the church was growing 
 
INTRODUCTION. Iv 
 
 wider and wider, those writings came to the know- 
 ledge of the general Christian church by accident, and 
 at intermittent times, and even then under feelings 
 of suspicion ; hence we may account for the evident 
 scrutiny they were subjected to before they were finally 
 admitted into the canon; hence, taking into considera- 
 tion this difficulty as accounting a prioi'i for the doubts 
 that clung around the composition, coupled with the 
 uncertainty of its authorship, the peculiarity of its 
 contents, mixed so largely with reproof against those 
 who could have no claim to Christianity, we may fairly 
 admit the grounds of hesitation before it was accepted 
 generally. 
 
 And on the other hand, from its presence in the 
 Peshito Syriac,* from the undoubted references in Her- 
 mas and others, and lastly from the fact that the Council 
 of Carthage, whose members were probably more ac- 
 quainted with the question than ourselves, ratified its 
 claims, there can be no real ground for doubt that our 
 Epistle has a valid right to its place among the canoni- 
 cal books of Holy Writ. This claim is substantiated 
 tenfold by the view concerning the authorship and pur- 
 pose of writing advocated in these pages. 
 
 We may here add, although beyond the pale of 
 criticism private opinions have no authority, and can- 
 not be admitted like historical facts to evidence, that 
 at the period of the revival of literature and the age 
 of the Reformation, when this question, which had been 
 sleeping in its grave for many centuries, revived, in 
 the Church of Rome Erasmus and Cardinal Caj'etan 
 
 * This version, it must be remembered, was in a language used by the 
 •Jews ; this affords additional support to the preceding argument. 
 
Ivi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 entertained doubts on the canonicity of this Epistle, 
 and Luther's opinions are familiar to every student. 
 In his preface to this Epistle in the year 1522 he 
 writes : " But to give my opinion, yet without the 
 prejudice of any one, T count it to be no Apostle's 
 writing ; " and in his preface to the New Testament, 
 two years later : " the Epistle of James is a right strawy 
 Epistle ; " yet it seems strange and contradictory, after 
 such expressions, that he held, at all events at one time, 
 that the author was the son of Zebedee. This low 
 estimate of the Epistle prevailed for a time among the 
 Lutherans, but subsequently it obtained a better recep- 
 tion among them, and it was acknowledged that St. 
 Paul and St. James agree essentially together. The 
 rationalistic writers, as might be expected, on various 
 grounds throw discredit on the Epistle. 
 
 LANGUAGE AND STYLE OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 There are two features that strike the student "on 
 perusing the few pages contained in this Epistle. The 
 first is, that the thoughts embodied, the structure of the 
 composition, and the mode of appeal are Hebrew and 
 not Greek; and the second is, that the Greek which is 
 the vehicle of these thoughts, so far as the language is 
 concerned, is unexceptionally good for the period, rank- 
 ing with the productions of St. Luke in excellency. So 
 much has this been felt that some critics, as Faber, 
 Bolten, and Bertholdt, have been of opinion that it was 
 written originally in Aramaic, and afterwards trans- 
 lated into Greek ; this was the case with St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, according to high patristic authority, which was 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ivii 
 
 written for Jewish use especially, and also with the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, which, according to Clement of 
 Alexandria, quoted by Eusebius, H. E. vi. 14, was 
 written by St. Paul in Hebrew, and translated into 
 Greek by St. Luke, which is highly probable, both 
 because it was addressed to the Jews of Palestine, who 
 used a Semitic vernacular, and also because the editorial 
 work of St. Luke in translating the treatise would 
 account for some of the internal difficulties found in 
 that Epistle. If our Epistle passed through the same 
 process, the superiority of the Greek would be accounted 
 for as well as the Semitic structure of the composition, 
 but against this hypothesis a grave difficulty presents 
 itself, that this letter was written to the Jews of the 
 dispersion^ the Hellenists or Grecising Jews, who had in 
 their estrangement from their own country and customs 
 adopted the language of those nations among whom they 
 dwelt. No satisfactory solution has ever been given of 
 this combination of Hebrew thought, identical in charac- 
 ter and force with the inspiration of the prophets of the 
 golden age of that language, and the confessed excellence 
 of expression in the Greek tongue ; neither is there any 
 ascertained experience in the history of any of the name 
 of James who can lay claim to the authorship of the 
 Epistle that would serve to solve the enigma; the 
 residence of the Bishop of Jerusalem in that city, where 
 so many races met, might be supposed to lend an 
 advocacy to his claims, but his cure of souls was evidently 
 confined to the Jewish believers, who were chiefly of the 
 poorer class, and they were Aramaic in dialect. How- 
 ever, the fact is before us, account for it as we can or 
 will, that the thought and structure of the composition 
 
Iviii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 is Hebrew, and that of a high order, and more than this, 
 that our Epistle is penned, not in prose but in poetry, 
 the true and natural utterance of exalted thoughts; 
 Bishop Jebb has beautifully entitled it, "a prophetic 
 poem." It is in short a Hebrew poem in a Greek garb. 
 
 It would be quite out of place to introduce here any- 
 thing like a treatise on Hebrew poetry, even though a 
 knowleds^e of some of the discoveries made in that 
 interesting field of inquiry is necessary to the intellec- 
 tual enjoyment of our Epistle. The reader is referred 
 to the well known works on the subject, both foreign 
 and English, the most interesting of which, so far as 
 this Epistle is concerned, is the elegant work of the late 
 Bishop Jebb on " Sacred Literature," based upon the 
 researches of Bishop Louth ; to this work the student 
 will observe that the writer is indebted for many hints 
 and examples. 
 
 It is well known that Hebrew poetry consists chiefly, 
 if not entirely, of the two classes of poetry known as the 
 lyric and the gnomic, the impulsive and proverbial ; both 
 are found represented in our Epistle. The former is 
 finely exhibited in chap. iv. and the early part of 
 chap, v., and the latter in chap. i. 22-27; ii. 26; iii. 
 throughout, etc. 
 
 It is familiar to all Bible students that Hebrew poetry 
 consists not in the prosodial laws which govern the 
 poetry of the Aryan races, but in the expression of 
 parallel ideas, grouped in various forms ; the simplest of 
 these is the couplet, in which the idea contained is ex- 
 pressed simply or generally in the former of the two 
 lines, and then particularized or augmented, elevated or 
 degraded, in the latter. This is called by Louth syno- 
 
INTEODUCTION. Ik 
 
 nyinous, but by Jebb cognate parallelism ; the following 
 may serve as examples : — 
 
 " Are ye not making distinctions amongst yourselves, 
 And become judges of wicked reasonings ?" — Chap. ii. 4. 
 
 " Thou seest that his faith was co-operating with his works, 
 And by his works his faith was perfected." — Chap. il. 22. 
 
 But St. James' style is rich in triplets, that is, in 
 arrano-iiio; his thouf^hts in three lines connected inti- 
 mately with each other, the second rising above the 
 first, and the third above the second, or drawing a 
 deduction from the previous two; examples will be 
 found in the following passages : — 
 
 " But the humble brother must glory in his exaltation ; 
 But the rich man (grieve) in his humihation. 
 Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away." — 
 
 Chap. i. 9, 10. 
 
 " Wherefore putting off all filthiness and abundance of malice, 
 In meekness receive the word that is sown, 
 Which is able to save your souls." — Chap. i. 21. 
 
 " For judgment shall be merciless, 
 To him that did not mercy ; 
 Mercy glories over judgment." — Chap. ii. 13. 
 
 " Therewith we bless the Lord and Father; 
 And therewith curse we men. 
 Who after the likeness of God are created." — Chap. iii. 9. 
 
 " Be weighed down, and mourn and wail ; 
 Let your laughter to mourning be turned, 
 And your joy into dejection." — Chap. iv. 9. 
 
 " Complain not against one another, brethren, 
 That ye be not judged ; 
 Lo! the judge before the doors standeth." — Chap. v. 9. 
 
 We find also specimens of quatrains, or sentences 
 distributed into four lines, so connected as to make the 
 
k INTEODUCTION. 
 
 sense continuous, though sometimes the connection is 
 traceable directly in pairs, and sometimes alternately. 
 Examples of this form of Hebrew poetry are presented 
 in the following passages : — 
 
 " If any one thinketh he is rite-religious, 
 Though not bridling his tongue, 
 But deceiving his own heart, 
 This man's rite-religion is vain." — Chap. i. 26. 
 
 " Lo, the bits of horses 
 Into their mouths we put, 
 That they may be obedient to us. 
 And their whole body we guide-about." 
 
 " Lo, the ships also, so great as they are, 
 And by violent winds driven. 
 Are guided-about by a very small rudder, 
 Wherever the will of the helmsman desireth." — Chap. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 1 " Ye lust and ye have not ; 
 
 3 Ye murder and envy, and cannot obtain, 
 
 2 Ye fight and war, ye have not ; 
 
 4 Because of your not asking." — Chap. iv. 2. 
 
 There is another form of Hebrew poetry found in St. 
 James, which Bishop Jebb terms epanodos^ and defines 
 thus : " Epanodos is literally, a going back ; speaking 
 first to the second of the subjects proposed : or, if the 
 subjects be more than two, resuming them precisely in 
 inverted order, speaking first to the last, and last to the 
 first. The rationale of this artifice in composition I 
 ventured to explain in the following words : Two pair 
 of terms or propositions, containing two important, but 
 not equally important, notions, are to be so distributed 
 as to bring out the sense in the strongest and most im- 
 pressive manner ; now this result will be best attained, 
 by commencing and concluding with the notion to 
 
mTEODUCTION. Ixi 
 
 which prominence is to be given, or by placing in the 
 centre the less important notion, or that which from the 
 scope of the argument is to be kept subordinate." Ex- 
 amples of epanodos will be found in the following places 
 of our Epistle : — 
 
 " But let the rich man {grieve) in his humiliation^ 
 
 Because as tlie flower of the grass he shall pass away, 
 
 For the sun arose with the Simoom, 
 
 And withered the grass, 
 
 And the flower of it fell down, 
 
 And the grace of its appearance perished, 
 
 So the rich man also in his ways shall be blighted." — 
 
 Chap. i. 10, 11. 
 " But become ye doers of the word 
 
 And not only hearers, 
 
 Deluding your own selves ; 
 
 Because if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer. 
 
 He is like a man considering the face of his nature in a mirror. 
 
 For he considered himself, and went away. 
 
 And straightway forgot what sort of man he was. 
 
 But he that inspected the perfect law 
 
 That pertaineth to liberty. 
 
 And continued there, 
 
 And became not a hearer of forge tfulness. 
 
 But a doer of work. 
 
 This man blessed in his doing shall be." — Chap. i. 22-25. 
 
 " God haughty men ojjposeth, 
 But to humble men giveth grace, 
 Submit ye then to God, 
 
 But withstand the devil, and he shall flee from you, 
 Draw nigh to God, and he shall draw nigh you. 
 Cleanse your hands, sinners, 
 And purify your hearts, double-minded. 
 Be weighed down, and mourn and wail ; 
 Let your laughter to mourning be turned, 
 And your joy into dejection. 
 Be humbled in the siyht of the Lord, 
 And he will exalt you." — Chap. iv. 6, 10. 
 
bdi INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Before closing these remarks on the poetical structure 
 of this Epistle, we may add that the figure called by 
 grammarians diiadiplosis, and by logicians sorites, is 
 frequent in St. James' composition. It consists in a 
 taking up, or repetition of, in the second clause the 
 predicate in the preceding one, and so on. Bishop Jebb 
 notices only one in our Epistle, chap. i. 15, but gives 
 some fine specimens from other places; we select for 
 an example Luke xii. 58 : 
 
 " Lest he drag thee to the jud^e, 
 And the judge hand thee over to the officer, 
 And the officer cast thee into prison." 
 
 See, for other examples, Jno. i. 4, 5; Rom. v. 3, 5; 
 viii. 29, 30; 2 Pet. i. 5-7. Specimens of this figure are 
 found in our Epistle : — 
 
 " Knowing that the test of your faith worketh out endurance, 
 But let endurance have perfect work 
 That ye may be perfect and complete, 
 In nothing lacking, 
 But if any of you lacketh wisdom," etc. — Chap. i. 3, 5. 
 
 Again : — 
 
 " Let no one when tempted say, 
 ' From God I am tempted,^ 
 For God is unskilled in evil things. 
 Neither tempteth he any one. 
 But each one is tempted from his own lust. 
 Being drawn away and enticed-by-a-bait. 
 Then lust having conceived bringeth forth si7i. 
 And sin being accomplished breedeth death." — Chap. i. 13-15. 
 
 Enough has been said on the subject of structure to 
 show the reader that the characteristics of this Epistle 
 are essentially Semitic ; that it was not only written by 
 
mTEODUCTION. Ixiii 
 
 a Jew to Jews, but that it was composed also after the 
 exemplar of those ancient prophecies to which their 
 forefathers had listened in the days when the inspired 
 seer uttered his burden, or unfolded his roll " written 
 within and without with lamentations and mourning and 
 woe." The subject matter, like a germ, accreted to 
 itself a body congenial to its nature, and Hebrew 
 thought could not escape the necessity of incarnation in 
 Hebrew rhythm, though it has come down to us clothed 
 in a o;arb wrouo;ht in another lano^uao^e, whose eleoi:ance 
 is so striking and suitable, that at first sight the observer 
 would conclude the foreigner to be a native. This 
 Hebrew basis will be more apparent when we enter on 
 the work of interpretation; the quotations, it will be 
 seen, and the references,'the logic and the arguments, the 
 doctrines and duties, the circumstances and the customs, 
 in a word, the composition in its essence and its acci- 
 dents, in its whole and in its parts, is thoroughly Jewish ; 
 and the superscription that introduces the Epistle to 
 the critic and the student is proved to be a faithful wit- 
 ness, both by direct and circumstantial evidence, " To 
 the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion." 
 
 The Greek text of the Epistle has been revised, the 
 readings adopted, as a general rule, are those supported 
 by the evidence of the most ancient uncial MSS., as will 
 be seen by the notes, except in a very few cases, where 
 the internal evidence is preponderating in favour of 
 readings exhibited by later authorities. 
 
 The Hebrew parallelisms have been preserved in 
 arranging both the Greek text and the English transla- 
 tion, and in the latter the position of the words in the 
 original has been observed as far as the different idioms 
 
Ixiv INTEODUCTION. 
 
 of the two languages would permit. The true emphasis 
 thus gained must plead an apology, if in some places a 
 too great stiffness of expression, or an overweening 
 anxiety for accuracy, should suggest the presence of 
 pedantry. 
 
THE 
 
 EPISTLE OF ST JAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 lAKOBO^ Oeov Kcu Kvpiov 'Ir/aov Xpiarov 
 SovXo^, roLS Sa)8eKa ^uAaty ral^ eu rfj biacnropa., 
 ^aipeiv. 
 
 1 James, of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ a ser- 
 vant, to the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion, 
 with joyful-greeting. 
 
 Ver. 1. James, i.e., Jacob, the Hebrew Spy supplanter; the 
 same name as that of the great patriarch. It is to be regretted 
 that the more ancient form of this word has not been retained in 
 translations. The original name became ^IdK(o/3o<; in Greek, and 
 Jacobus in Latin, in Italian Jdcomo, in Spanish laf/o and Diego, 
 in Portuguese Tiago, Xagme or Jayme, in French Jacques and 
 Jame, hence our James. See the interesting note in the Bible 
 Dictionary by Rev. F. Meyrick. For other particulars con- 
 nected with the author of this Epistle see Introduction. 
 
 Of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ a servant. Having 
 stated his name, the writer proceeds to describe his office, he is a 
 servant, SovXa, one bound to serve. This title conveys more 
 than the general notion of one who believes in and obeys God and 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. The call he had received, the mission and 
 special field of labour assigned him are also embodied in the term. 
 It is equivalent to the "servant of the LoRU " (niiT* iny) of the 
 Old Testament, a designation with which only a few of the mem- 
 bers of the Hebrew Church were honoured, who were raised up 
 by God for some specific work, the founding of a covenant, as in 
 
 2 
 
2 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 the case of Abraham and Moses; the inaugurating of some step 
 in advance or the introduction of some new phase or development 
 of the system, as in the case of Joshua, David, and ZerubbabeL 
 Thus St. James had a special service entrusted to him, v^hich 
 appears in this very Epistle to have been to make an appeal to a 
 particular section of his brethren. See Introduction. 
 
 By declaring himself to be a servant of God, St. James makes 
 confession of the Jewish faith, that he was a believer in the God 
 of his fathers, and by adding "and of the Lord Jesus Christ" 
 he equally announces his acceptance of Jesus Christ as the 
 Messiah and hope of Israel. It is to be noticed that the name 
 of Jesus Christ occurs only once more in this Epistle, chap. 
 ii. 1, a strong proof, as has been observed in the Introduction, 
 that this Epistle was not addressed by the author to Christians as 
 such, but to his brethren in the flesh generally. 
 
 To the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion. It is of the 
 greatest importance for the understanding of this Epistle to retain 
 in mind the persons to whom it was addressed: for the considera- 
 tion of this question, see Introduction. It will be sufficient for the 
 purpose of this note to remind the reader that St. James is 
 addressing Jews and not Gentiles; Jews as such, and not neces- 
 sarily Christian Jews; Jews, moreover, not dwelling in Judaea, 
 but Jews of the dispersion, i.e., Jews who were scattered through- 
 out the world in the midst of the Gentiles, the Hellenists or 
 Grecising Jews; the word hiaairopa always refers to this portion 
 of the Jewish people, see Jno. vii. 35; 1 Pet. i. 1. The views of 
 those commentators that maintain that the Jews residing in 
 Judaea are included, or that the Christians who were dispersed 
 throughout the world are addressed in a figurative term borrowed 
 from the well-known state of the Jewish people, are quite un- 
 tenable. 
 
 With joyful greeting., y^alpeiv., the regular Greek form of 
 epistolary greeting. There is probably a remote radical alliance 
 between this verb and the Hebrew nTI to live, with the annexed 
 idea of living prosperously and happily, hence the phrase v?2n Ti^ 
 May the king live! rendered in E.V., " God save the king," 
 1 Sam. X. 24, etc. y^aipeiv as a form of address is found in the 
 epistle sent to the Gentile churches by the council of Jerusalem, 
 Acts XV. 23 ; this form is not found in the preface of any other 
 Epistle in the New Testament, the use of it therefore in this 
 place has been generally considered as furnishing an undesigned 
 coincidence of the common authorship of the above decree and 
 this Epistle. Without seeking to invalidate the force of this 
 testimony as advanced by those who hold the ordinary view 
 respecting the authorship of this Epistle, we may remind the 
 reader that this verb is found in St. Paul's Epistles in the same 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 3 
 
 2 JJacrav yapav r^yrjaacrOe, dSeX(f)OL /jlov, 
 OTav Trupaaixolg TrepiTreaijre ttolklXoi^, 
 
 2 All joy esteem it, my brethren, 
 When into the midst of various temptations ye fall, 
 
 sense, though it rather assumes the form of subscription than of 
 superscription: see 2 Cor. xiii. 11; Phil. iii. 1; iv. 4. We 
 should have expected from the pen of one whose epistle exhibits 
 so much in m.atter and style tliat is akin to the writings of the 
 ancient prophets some phrase that savoured more of his nationality 
 and associations, the customary U2^?V Q)b^, elprjvr} v/xXv, peace be 
 to you: but when we call to mind that though the author 
 evidently tliought in Semitic, and constructed his epistle after a 
 Semitic model, yet he studied to attain excellency in Greek 
 expression, and further, that he was writing to his brethren of the 
 dispersion, to Jews who were mingled with the Greeks and used 
 their language, the propriety of this idiomatic mode of address 
 will be apparent. It may be remarked that St. John, the brother 
 of St. James, uses the word as a form of personal greeting, which 
 is closely akin to the epistolary use of the word in this place : 
 see 2 Jno. 10. 
 
 Ver. 2. All joy. Esteem every temptation to be a source 
 or cause of rejoicing. 
 
 Joij, ^apdv. This word seems to have been suggested by the 
 preceding ^ai'peiv with joyful- greeting. When I wish you joy, I 
 would have you regard even your temptations as conducive to 
 joy, which they will prove to be, if you view them as permitted 
 for the establishment of your faith and the refinement of your 
 spiritual character. For a somewhat similar play on this verb see 
 Eur. Hecuba, 426, 427. 
 
 Temptations. Were it not for the 13th verse we should be 
 induced to think that these temptations were trials and tests of 
 faith merely, such as affliction and persecution, but the prohibition 
 that the tempted man is not to refer the temptation to God, be- 
 cause it arises from his own lusts, plainly proves that in this place 
 we are to interpret the word as including the dark and evil temp- 
 tations of Satan and our own evil hearts, as well as the trials that 
 come upon us from external sources; the adjective Troi/ctXoi? shows 
 that every kind of temptation is referred to. It is God's prero- 
 gative to bring good out of evil, to make even our temptations 
 that burden our hearts, and torture our inner being, to be a means 
 of driving us to Him for succour, and our spiritual sufferings a 
 school of patience, and a pathway to perfection. Temptation is 
 not sin; resisted temptation makes a man stronger; the sin con- 
 sists not in the assaults of the foe, but in concession to his demands. 
 
4 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 3 yLV(O(jK0VT€9 OTL TO SoKL/jLLOv v/jlcou Tr]9 TTLarecos 
 KaTepya^eraL vtto fxovrjv 
 
 4 77 5e vTro/JLOurj epyov reXeiov i^erco, 
 Xva r]T€ reXeLOL kcll oXoKXrjpoif 
 
 ev fXTjSeiH XeLTTop-euoL. 
 
 3 Knowing that the test of your faith 
 Worketh out endurance. 
 
 4 But let endurance have perfect work, 
 That ye may be perfect and complete, 
 In nothing lacking. 
 
 Ye fall-amidst, TrepiTrearjTe. The preposition in composition in 
 this verb imparts the meaning of falling amongst trials, so as to 
 be encompassed by them. The servant of God is thus represented 
 as being hemmed in, as by an iron girdle of trials from which 
 human means can effect no escape ; but the things that are impos- 
 sible with men are possible with God ; the same grace that gives 
 the power to endure will also open the way of deliverance : see 
 1 Cor. X. 13. 
 
 Ver. 3. The test. The temptations mentioned in the preceding 
 verse serve as a test of your faith, hence their value ; gold may 
 be pure and precious, but its excellency is proved by its being 
 cast into the furnace and coming out more brilliant from the 
 ordeal ; so faith that is cast into the crucible of temptation, and is 
 neither melted away or wasted by the process, is proved thereby to 
 be a genuine grace, the gift of God. This test works out en- 
 durance, an abiding under the temptations, a bearing of them, and 
 a sustaining of them without yielding or falling under them, and 
 without impatience to be rid of them. 
 
 Ver. 4. But let endurance have perfect work. That is, let your 
 endurance of the testing process above named be exercised to the 
 end, let it be no unfinished work. Many run well for a time and 
 then grow weary in the race; many are bold at the onset, but fail 
 before the fight is over ; many put their hand to the plough, but 
 look back before they reach the end of the furrow. The trials 
 of the Jewish people in general, and especially of the early con- 
 verts to Christianity among them, at this period are familiar to 
 all, hence the appropriateness of this exhortation. 
 
 That ye may he perfect. There is a Divine and a human per- 
 fection ; the former is faultless, the latter is relative. Our Lord 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 5 
 
 5 ^l Se TL9 v/jLcou XeLTreruL ao(f)La9, 
 aLTeLTco irapa rod 8180VT09 Oeov 
 iraaLV clttXco^, koI /jli] opeiSl^ovro^, 
 KUL SoOijaerat aurco. 
 
 5 But if any of you lacketh wisdom, 
 Let him ask it from God who giveth 
 To all freely, and reproacheth not, 
 And it shall be given him. 
 
 taught His disciples, Matt. v. 48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even 
 as your Father in heaven is perfect," where the likeness between 
 the original and the copy is apparent, and yet the vast distance 
 between them felt the more by the juxtaposition. 
 
 Complete, oXoKXrjpoi. This word implies that which has all its 
 full parts and powers in possession ; the meaning is well illustrated 
 by the miracle recorded in Acts iii. The lame man healed by 
 Peter and John, in the unrestrained exercise of his newly gained 
 powers walked and leaped, and the apostles pointed at him as a 
 proof of the resurrection of Jesus, who had given him, through 
 their instrumentality, " this perfect soundness (oXoKXrjplav) in the 
 presence of all." As it was with this man's body so it should be 
 with our souls. 
 
 In notliing lacking. A further expansion of the idea contained 
 in the former word, indeed the three characteristics of the man of 
 God form a climax : ye are to be spiritually perfect, having all 
 your graces and virtues in their entirety, and in no one thing are 
 ye to be deficient ; the ideal statue is not to present to the view 
 one grace in abundant development, and another of stinted pro- 
 portions, symmetry not deformity is the model, each part is well 
 balanced with the rest, and all in graceful liarmony with the 
 whole ; the law of physical is also the law of moral beauty. As 
 the temptations spoken of are various, of divers sorts and kinds, 
 assaulting and testing the various constituents of the w^hole 
 character, the effect of a successful endurance of them severally 
 would be the perfection of each and all of the members of the 
 inner man, the completion of the godly character, the production 
 of a man after God's own heart. 
 
 Ver. 5. If any of you lacketh wisdom. The whole of this 
 verse bespeaks Hebrew thought and associations. With them 
 wisdom, nD3n, was the knowledge of the service of God, whereas 
 ignorance of God and irreligion were called n723, folly. We 
 must not forget, moreover, that "wisdom" in its most comprehen- 
 sive and expanded sense, as is evidenced by the occasional use of 
 
6 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 6 alreLTCD 8e ev TTLcrreL, /jirjSeu ^LaKpLvofxevos' 
 6 yap BiaKpLuopievos eocKe kXvScoul OaXaacrrjs 
 due/jLL^opLeucp kol ptTVL^opievcp. 
 
 6 But he must ask in faith, nothing doubting ; 
 For he that doubteth is like a wave of the sea 
 Wind-tossed and dashed about. 
 
 the plural form niDDH, was a synonym of the Word of God, to 
 whom the inspired metaphysicians ascribed the creation of the 
 world (see Prov. viii. throughout, and ix. 1 ; Ps. civ. 24, etc.), 
 and as the prophets and evangelists teach, became incarnate in 
 the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. James, therefore, after 
 laying before his brethren the rule of perfection, suggests the 
 thought that some may be lacking in the very essence of all true 
 perfection, the wisdom, the saving knowledge of Him whom 
 to know is everlasting life. 
 
 Freely, aifko)^. This is the only place w^iere this adverb is 
 used in the New Testament; we have, however, the cognate noun 
 airkoTT]^ in several places in St. Paul's Epistles, Rom. xii. 8; 
 2 Cor. i. 12 in some MSB., 2 Cor. viii. 2; ix. 11, 13; xi. 3; 
 Eph. vi. 5 ; Col. iii. 22. The exact import of the adverb in this 
 place has been decided differently by expositors, both ancient and 
 modern; the Syriac Version renders it " copiose," the Latin 
 Vulgate " affluenter," which is followed by Erasmus and Grotius. 
 Bede and Beza " benigne," others " sincere;" but the true and 
 literal meaning of aTrXw? appears to be simply, and the best inter- 
 pretation of the whole clause is, that God is induced simply by the 
 desire of conferring blessings, when He answers the prayers of 
 man ; hence, although " freely " (that is, without condition or 
 limit) is somewhat paraphrastic, it is a sound comment on the 
 original, and better suited to explain the intended idea in our 
 language than " simply." 
 
 And reproacheth not, fj,r) 6v6LBl^ovro<i. When men give, they 
 often take advantage of the obligation under which they place 
 the recipient, and by some unkind or ill-timed word or insinua- 
 tion cast in his teeth his position, his wants, or his inferiority. 
 In Ecclesiasticus this verb is several times connected with the act of 
 giving, as in this place, see chap, xviii. 18; xx. 15; xli. 22, 
 where the sense appears to be the same, fxera to Bovvac /xrj ovei- 
 Bit,e. St. James, therefore, teaches us that we may ask of God 
 His best gii'ts, His largest gifts, and He will confer them on us all 
 freely and fully, unworthy though we be, and will not charge or 
 chide us with our own unworthiness or His liberality. 
 
 Ver. 6. Having declared the readiness of God to answer 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 7 
 
 prayer, St. James proceeds to define the conditions required in 
 the petitioner. He must ask in faith ; and this is enforced by 
 him according to a style frequent in our author by the negation 
 of the opposite " nothing doubting." If, as we beUeve, Jews 
 were addressed in tliis Epistle, some of whom were believers in 
 Christ, some inquirers, some young and feeble in the faith, and 
 some unacquainted with or even rejecters of the Gospel, how 
 fitting is this exhortation to ask for saving wisdom with a full 
 assurance, or without a doubt that God would guide them to a 
 right conclusion, and give them wisdom in answer to their prayer, 
 as He had done to Solomon, to which episode in Israel's history 
 there is here an unmistakeable reference. 
 
 Doubting, Bi,aKptv6iMevo<i. Huther has an excellent comment 
 on this word, quoted by Dean Alford, " hiaKplveadai to doubt 
 is not the same as cnncfTeiv to disbelieve, but includes in it the 
 essential character of aTrtarla unbelief; while 7ri(TrL<; says J/es, and 
 aTTLaria no, ScaKplveadac is the union of yes and no, but so that 
 710 is the weightier ; it is an inward giving way, which leans not 
 to iriaTL'i but to aTViaTia" 
 
 For he that doubteth, etc. The play upon the words in this 
 sentence in the E.V., " He that wavereth is like a wave of the 
 sea," is entirely without foundation in the original. It was a 
 grave mistake in the Revisers of 1611 to render the same word by 
 different representatives, it was a graver mistake to confound 
 words that differed, especially when the phraseological form of a 
 sentence was calculated to stamp the expression as a household 
 word, " He that hateth suretyship is sure," Pro v. xi. 15 ; " The 
 tirst man is of the earth, earthy," 1 Cor. xv. 47, like the passage 
 before us need only to be pointed out to the student to expose the 
 misleading tendency of such translations. 
 
 Like a wave of the sea, loind-tossed and dashed about. The 
 figure of the rolling and rocking of the sea-wave naturally occurs 
 to the mind of the writer, who had spent his childhood and youth 
 on the treacherous waters of the sea of Galilee, and was by no 
 means Nescius aura fallacis. 'Ave/xl^ecrdat is only found in this 
 place, the classical form is avejxovadai. 'PtTrii^eaOat is generally 
 connected with pLirh, a fan, hence to fan into a flame, see Aristo- 
 phanes' RancB, .360, ^'' dveyeipeo Kal pnrll^eL^' sc. TroXtra?. St. 
 James may here vary the figure from fanning the fire to fanning 
 the waves, but probably he had in mind the more remote deriva- 
 tion of the word from pcirT], the force or impetus with which 
 anything is thrown, ^^ pcTrr] Bopiao," II. xv. 171, and ^^ piTral 
 Kv/xdrcov dve/xcov re," Pindar, P. 4, 346, will sufhciently illustrate 
 our passage. This is the only place in the New Testament where 
 this word is used. 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 7 fxr] yap oleoBco 6 avOpcdiros eKelvos, 
 hri Xrjfi\jr€TaL tl wapa rov Kvpiov. 
 
 8 avr]p Sl\I/v)(09, cLKaTaaTaros eu iracraL? ral? o^ols 
 
 avTov. 
 
 7 For let not that man think, 
 
 That he shall receive aught from the Lord. 
 
 8 A man doable-minded, unstable in all his ways ?'.!>' he. 
 
 Ver. 7. Let not that man think that he shall receive aught from 
 the Lord. Much less the high and precious gift of wisdom : this 
 seems to be the inference suggrested. 
 
 The Lordi rov Kvpiov. 'O Kvpto'i is a frequent title in our 
 author for God the Father ; he uses it as the LXX. had done, as 
 an equivalent for Jehovah. 'O Kvpua is a title of Christ in chap. 
 V. 7, 14, 15. 
 
 Ver. 8. Double minded, hly^vx^o'^. This is the first time this 
 word is used in the Greek language ; it was apparently invented 
 by St. James; the meaning of it is the same as the Hebrew 
 phrase 3'?1 37, Ps. xii. 3, " a heart and a heart," one heart leads 
 in one direction, the other in another. How fitly this description 
 harmonizes with the context will readily appear. The man that 
 lacks wisdom to see the Messiahship of Jesus, which was the great 
 question among the Jews of that day, or when he seeks guidance 
 of God asks not in faith, but doubtingly, he is a man half inclined 
 to believe and half inclined to disbelieve, changeable as a wave 
 that is blown upon first by a wind from one quarter, and then 
 driven back again by an opposite current; a man of two minds, 
 in which, as ever, the worse prevails. 
 
 In all his ways. The word " way " is here employed in its 
 metaphorical or figurative sense, as "^I^T often is in Hebrew : see 
 Gen. vi. 12 ; Is. xl. 27 ; Iv. 8 ; Jer. xxxii. 19; Prov. xvi. 31, 
 etc. 6^6<i is used in the same sense in chap. v. 20 ; Acts xiv. 16; 
 Rom. vi. 6; 2 Pet. ii. 15; Jude 11 ; the sense therefore in this 
 place is "in all his plans of thought and action." The next in- 
 quiry necessary to be made in this passage is, how are the words 
 to be arranged or connected with the previous subject? The 
 sentence may be arranged as in the E.V., "A double minded man 
 is unstable in all his ways." Regarding the double minded man 
 as generic, as any one of that class, and so making the sentence 
 independent of the previous subject, or connected with it only as 
 an illustrative proverb. Another mode of distributing the 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 9 
 
 9 Kav^aadco 8e 6 a5eA(^oy 6 raTreivos' eV tco vyjreL 
 avTov' 
 
 9 But let the humble brother glory in his exaltation; 
 
 words is to regard them as a further explanation of the character 
 under description, Let not that man think that he shall receive 
 aught from the Lord, inasmuch as he is a double-minded man, 
 unstable in all his ways. The translation, however, that is given 
 in the text is to be preferred to either of these. 
 
 Ver. 9. The humble brother ; the rich. We have here intro- 
 duced for the first time the two characters that are specially 
 addressed in this Epistle. St. James is a true follower, both in 
 ideas and language, of the psalmists and prophets of the Old 
 Testament. The " poor and needy," p-^SI ''jy, Ps. xxxvii. 14, and 
 similar phrases are always descriptive of the truly religious, the 
 meek and lowly in heart, and often predicated of Messiah in His 
 humiliation. The same connection between poverty and religion 
 appears in Zeph. iii. 12, and Zech. xi. 7. Our Lord adopted the 
 same phraseology, see Matt. v. 3, and Luke vi. 20, and asso- 
 ciated with that grace of lowliness the assurance of a place in the 
 Gospel kingdom. Whereas the "rich" is an equally well-known 
 epithet of the ungodly, the oppressor, and the enemy of religion, 
 see Ps. xlix. 16; Luke vi. 24. This forms the basis of the 
 parable of Dives and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19. The rich man was 
 a careless, uncharitable, irreligious man, whereas the poor man 
 was Lazarus, i.e., Eleazar, or one whose helper is God. The 
 "poor" and the "rich" therefore are two distinct and opposed 
 classes in this Epistle; the poor and lowly are the converted 
 among them, brethren not only in the flesh but in the Lord, 
 Christian Israelites; and the "rich" are the unconverted, and 
 antagonistic to the (jospel. How commentators can see in the 
 "rich man" a rich brother with such passages as u. 11; ii. 6, 7; 
 and v. 1-6 in view it is difficult to conceive. The connection 
 with the preceding verses is evident. The lowly believer is 
 one who has made up his mind on the great subject of the 
 Messiahship of Jesus, and he may well rejoice in his exalta- 
 tion, in the high and holy vocation wherewith he is called, and 
 in the sure and certain hope of the coming kingdom and glory; 
 while the unbeliever who at first was undecided and then adhered 
 to his former unbelief shall be humbled and pass away like a 
 blighted flower. There is a great difficulty in allotting the verb 
 to 6 7rXovaco<i, the rich man. Some commentators take the 
 "rich" to be a brother, parallel to the "lowly brother," and 
 repeat Kavx^-aOco with the second subject ; this, although quite in 
 accordance with the simplest rules of grammar, is perfectly 
 
10 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 untenable with the position of the " rich " throughout this 
 Epistle. In vv. 10, 11, the immediate context of this passage, 
 it is said that the rich man shall " pass away " irapekevaeTai, and 
 be " blighted " /ia/oay^j^o-erat ; in chap. ii. 6, 7 the "rich" are 
 charged with oppressing the poor and haling them to the law- 
 courts, and being guilty of blasphemy ; and in chap. v. 1-3 the 
 " rich" are challenged with the woes that are coming upon them 
 in consequence of their iniquities. In the face of these denuncia- 
 tions against the " rich," who are evidently a class in contradis- 
 tinction to the " poor" man, who is the representative of another 
 class, it is impossible to regard them as Christian brethren. For 
 the same reason we must reject all milder forms of the same order of 
 interpretation, such as the rich man should rejoice in being 
 brought to repentance through his trials, since this feature is not 
 introduced by the Apostle, but rather a prophecy of judgment. 
 The suggestion of Dean Alford that the indicative Kavx^aTai should 
 be supplied falls under this category as an unsuccessful attempt to 
 escape a difficulty. We are rather led to fall back upon a figure 
 found in classical usage, and not unfrequently met with 
 in the New Testament, namely, the borrowing from a word in 
 the preceding clause another word suited to the demands of the 
 followino- clause : If the lowly brother is to rejoice in his exalta- 
 tion which unites him to the Messiah here, and hereafter will 
 raise him to a place in His kingdom of glory, the rich man is to 
 grieve in his degradation from the wealth and luxuries of this 
 world, which were to come to nought at the impending fall of 
 Jerusalem, and in the persecution of the Jews, for then the rich 
 of Israel must fall and fade. This figure, called zeugma or 
 brachylogg, we find in 1 Cor. iii. 2, <^aXa ufid<; eTroTtaa, ov ^pwfjia, 
 " I have given you milk to dri?ik, not food;" here some verb con- 
 nected with eating must be supplied out of CTroriaa. Again in 
 chap. vii. 19 a passage occurs more closely allied to ours: ^ irepc- 
 TOjjii] ovSev iari, Kol t) aKpo^varla ovSev iariv, aXXa ryjprjai^ iv- 
 ro\o)v Geov ; here ra iravra must be supplied out of ovSev, its 
 opposite in the preceding clause, " Circumcision is nothing, and 
 uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments 
 of God is everything." Once more in the same Epistle, chap. x. 24, 
 we meet with fxrjSeU to eavTOv ^rjTeira), dWa to tov eTepov ; here 
 eKaaTO^ must be supplied out of the opposite pbrjSel'i in the former 
 clause, " Let 7io one seek his own good, but everg one that of the 
 other." Another example may be added from 1 Tim. iv. 3, 
 KcoXvovToov ^apieiv, atre'x^ecjOai /Spco/juaTcov, where the opposite 
 KeXevovTOiv or some such verb must be borrowed from the preced- 
 ino- verb, '■''Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain Irom 
 meats." The sense of the passage under consideration will thus 
 be evident, and the teaching of the Apostle be harmonious 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 11 
 
 10 6 5e irXovaLos eV tyj raTreipaxrcL avTOv, 
 hri 0)9 avQo9 yopTov irapeXevaeraL. 
 
 11 avereiXe yap 6 tjXlos crvv tco KavacovL, 
 Koi i^rjpaue rov \6pT0v, 
 
 KCLL TO avOos avTOv i^eireae, 
 KcCi rj evTrpeTreia rov irpoawirov avrov dirooXeTO' 
 ovTco KaL 7rXovat09 ii' ral^ iropeiaLS avrov papav- 
 OrjaeraL. 
 
 10 But the rich man grieve in his humiliation, 
 Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 
 
 1 1 For the sun arose with the Simoom, 
 And withered the grass, 
 
 And the flower of it fell down, 
 
 And the grace of its appearance perished. 
 
 So the rich man also in his ways shall be blighted. 
 
 throughout. The lowly will rejoice in his elevation to Messianic 
 hopes and the coming kingdom, and the rich, the unbeliever, will 
 have cause for sorrow in the loss, as in the example of Dives in the 
 parable, of life and glory, and in expulsion from the inheritance 
 of the saints and from the glory of God. 
 
 ft)? av6o^ -^oprov irapeXevcreTai. There is often a similarity 
 traceable between St. James and St. Peter in their style and in 
 the figures employed. They were intimate fellow-apostles, hence 
 the unison of thought; both were of course familiar with the 
 writings of the Hebrew prophets, who furnished a common store- 
 house; and they were both apostles of the circumcision, hence 
 their field of work was the same. This illustration is common to 
 the two writers, see 1 Pet. i. 24. It is derived from Ps. ciii. 15, 
 16, and Is. xl. 6-8. 
 
 Ver. 11. averetXev jap 6 -^Xto?, the sun arose. This aorist is not 
 merely the aorist of narrative, expressive of an experience, which 
 is supported by frequent examples, but rather equivalent to the 
 prophetic preterite, so constantly met with in the Hebrew prophets. 
 The event predicted is regarded as being so certain of fuHihnent 
 that it is spoken of as already accomplished; thus in the original 
 passage, Is. xl. 7, from which this quotation is made we read, 
 Y'')i ^33 -i^'^-n l^2\ " withered is the grass, faded the flower." See 
 also Winer's Greek Grammar of the New Testament, p. 293. 
 
 With the Simoom, crvv rco KavacovL. Kavacov, from Kalco to bum, 
 may mean simply heat, the heat of the sun; but as the LXX., 
 
12 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 Aqinla, Symmaclius, and Theodotion have sometimes rendered 
 the Hebrew onp by this word, it most likely refers to the burning 
 desert-wind, which was suffocating to animals and blighting to 
 vegetation. The sun is here said to arise accompanied by the hot 
 wind, it set in with the sun-rise. DHp is properly the east wind, 
 the quarter from which this destructive blast came. We meet 
 with the word in Matt. xx. 12, where the dissatisfied labourers 
 urge that they have borne ro ^dpoq Tr}<? rjfiepa^; Kal rov Kavacova; 
 the position of the word here, and the use of the article seem 
 intended to separate it from the preceding subject (see Middleton 
 on the Greek Article). The climax too which was evidently in 
 the minds of the murmurers is thus evident: "who have borne 
 the burden of the day and the Simoom." The same meaning is 
 doubtless intended in the other passage where the word occurs, 
 Luke xii. 55 : koI orav Notov Trveovra, Xeyere ore Kavawv earai, 
 " and when (ye see) the south wind blow, ye say there will be a 
 Simoom." Tliis at first sight might seem contradictory to what 
 has been said above, that the Hebrew word signifies the east wind, 
 but in many passages the LXX. translated DHp by JV6to9, and for 
 this reason, that in Egypt, where that translation was made, the 
 south wind liad the same character that the east wind had in 
 Judaea; hence the word came into general use for a hot wind, the 
 character of the wind more than the quarter from which it blew 
 being intended to be brought into prominence. It would seem 
 not unlikely that Jonah, chap, iv., was the basis of much of this 
 passage ; the sacred writers are often in the habit of turning off at 
 a word; some phrase or figure has been employed which is found 
 in an ancient Scripture, this suggests a line of thought, and the 
 original passage and the train of ideas it has awakened will be 
 found to run in parallels. Thus St. James having mentioned the 
 waves of sea tossed by the wind is reminded of Jonah's storm ; 
 then the man of two purposes reflects the wavering prophet; then 
 the sun arising with the vehement east wind (see Jonah iv. 8), 
 which withers the gourd (palma Cliristi), is all but reproduced 
 verbatim by our author. ]\Jany of these subterranean coinci- 
 dences have been traced, and they seem to bind and unite together 
 the sacred writers as a body corporate, and their writings as one 
 whole and consistent testimony. 
 
 evirpeireLa, grace. The LXX. in Is. xl. 6, and St. Peter in his 
 first Epistle, chap. i. 24, have So^a for the Hebrew ^D^, a word 
 which, like our English " grace," has the double meaning of 
 moral and physical beauty. evTrpeireca is only found here in the 
 New Testament. 
 
 In his ways, iv rat? Tropecat'i, his courses. The idea suggested 
 by this word is that of (apparent) progress, as the grape buds, 
 and blossoms, and promises fruitfulness, but is suddenly blighted 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 13 
 
 12 MaKapios aurjp 09 virofxeveL ireipaaixov 
 OTL 80KI/JL09 yevofxevos 
 
 XrjfjL-^erai tov (TTe(f)avov tt}^ C^V^y 
 ov eiryy/eLXaTO T019 ayairwaLV avTOv. 
 
 13 Mri^ei^ Treipa^o/mepo^ Xeyerco, 
 
 Utl ttTTo TOV Ueov Treipa^ofjiaf 
 o yap Oeo9 airelpaaTos iart KaKcoj/, 
 ireupa^eL 8e avros ovSeua. 
 
 12 Blessed is the man who is enduring temptation; 
 Because after becoming approved, 
 
 He shall receive the crown of life, 
 
 Which He promised to them that love Him. 
 
 13 Let no one when tempted, say, 
 "From God I am tempted;" 
 
 For God is unskilled in evil things, 
 And it is not He that tempteth any one. 
 
 and destroyed; so the rich man in his progress, though it seems 
 so prosperous, shall be cut off and perish. The Alexandrine MS. 
 in this place reads Trop/at?, a word which is nowhere found in 
 Greek literature ; Erasmus and Luther regarded it as equivalent 
 to 6V7ropLai<;, "in his prosperity or wealth." It is needless to add 
 that the authority of MSS. determines the usual reading to be the 
 correct one. 
 
 Ver. 12. This verse re-introduces the tempted man in a higher 
 state of perfection. In the opening of the Epistle the falling into 
 the midst of trials is spoken of as a blessing, if such an experience 
 proved to be a test of his faith, that produced a patient endurance 
 of the trials. In resuming the subject after a digression, St. James 
 starts from the point he had already reached, and represents the 
 tried one as enduring the temptation, and then proceeds to show 
 the blessedness of such an one, for after being tested and approved 
 he shall receive the crown of life : crown is here a symbolical way 
 of expressing reward, the reward of eternal life. The genitive is 
 one of apposition, the crown which consists in the life, the life 
 which is contrasted with the fading flower, the figure of the rich 
 man who has perished. 
 
 Ver. 13. When tempted, 7reipa^6/ji€vo<;. The reference must be, 
 beyond doubt, made to the •jreipao-fioi, spoken of already: this 
 shows that these temptations must be of an evil character, inas- 
 
14 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 much as they did not and could not proceed from God ; aizo 
 denoting the source and origin. God overrules temptation, makes 
 it subservient to the good of the tempted saint, and if we may so 
 express it, like the wise physician compels even poisons when 
 infused into the cup to minister to the health of the patient ; but 
 no temptation is fabricated by God, hence we infer that the 
 temptations spoken of here diflfer entirely from the case of 
 Abraham's trial, of which we read in Gen. xxii. 1, "God did 
 tempt Abraham;" God put the patriarch to the test, to see if he 
 would obey Him to the last degree. The verb Treipd^eLV is simply 
 to put to the test or proof, the context must decide whether the 
 test is to be taken in a good or a bad sense. In the New Testa- 
 ment as Avell as the Old it is employed in the former sense : thus 
 in Heb. xi. 17, where the instance referred to above is cited, we 
 read, 'AjSpaa/x rreLpa^oiJbevo<i. See also 2 Cor. xiii. 5, eavroixi 
 Treipd^ere el eare ev ry irLarei; and Rev. ii. 2, eTreipaaa^ toi'9 
 \ijovTa<; eavrov<; dTroarokovi : but here it is used in the bad 
 sense, to tempt or lure to evil. 
 
 From God. 'Atto in such a connection denotes the source from 
 which the subject spoken of arises, and we are emphatically warned 
 not to refer the origin of our temptations to God. In the follow- 
 ing verse utto is used in the same sense, showing that our tempta- 
 tions arise from our own lust. In both these places the Sinaitic 
 MS. reads vtto, which implies the direct agent, but the reading 
 aTTo is to be preferred ; the ordinary punctuation by putting a 
 comma after irupd^eTat makes dirb to depend upon the participles 
 i^eXKOfievo^ and Be\ea^6fxevo<;, but the dependence of diro in the 
 13th verse upon TreLpd^o/xai, is sufficient proof that the same con- 
 nection exists here also. 
 
 Unskilled in evil things, dTreLpaaTc; KaKwv. There is no small 
 difficulty in interpreting these words. In the first place direipa- 
 aro'i is a late form of d7relpaT0<;, which signifies either ine.v- 
 perienced of, or untried: this is the only place in which it is found 
 in the New Testament. The Syriac Version understands it in a 
 passive sense, "God cannot be tempted." But the ^thiopic takes 
 it in an active sense, as intentator, "tempter;" and kukmv is 
 regarded as masculine, "God is not the tempter of evil men." In 
 such a case as this the context has no small share in settling the 
 question. We have a prohibition not to refer our temptations to 
 God ; the next clause which contains this word shows the 
 impossibility of temptation arising from God, inasmuch as He 
 has no skill or experience in evil things, and the following clause 
 states the resulting fact that He tempts no man: this seems to 
 be the connection. The ordinary interpretation that God is un- 
 tempted of evil is contrary to the use of the word, introduces 
 a truism that is irrelevant, and gives no reason for the prohibi- 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 15 
 
 15 elra rj eTnOv/JLLa avWa^ovaa tikt€l dfjuapTiav 
 1] 81 dfxapTLa diroTeXecrOeiaa dnroKveL dcxvarov. 
 
 16 Mr] irXavdaOe, d8eX(f)0L fiov dya7n]T0L. 
 
 14 Bat each one is tempted fi'om his own hist, 
 Being drawn away and enticed by a bait. 
 
 15 Then lust having conceived bringeth forth sin, 
 And sin being accomplished, breedeth death ; 
 
 16 Do not be-Ied-astray, my beloved brethren. 
 
 tion, although the causal particle yap demands that a reason 
 should be assigned for the statement made in the clause which 
 precedes it. 
 
 And it is not He that tempteth anyone^ ireipa^ei he avjo'^ ovSevd. 
 The point here specially urged is, as stated in the preceding note, 
 that although these temptations abound, and the man of God has 
 to do battle with them, yet they do not proceed from God ; He 
 is not the author of them. The translation of the text, though 
 slightly paraphrastic, endeavours to bring out this force of avr6<;. 
 
 Ver. 14. This verse describes the true source and origin of 
 temptation, the Ihla iircdv/jiia of each man, his own particular 
 lust, his own idiosyncrasy in evil desires. 
 
 Ver. 15. The key-passage to the striking metaphors Avhich 
 follow appears to be Prov. vii. 10-27, where the harlot is repre- 
 sented in the act of ensnaring the thoughtless youth. In vv. 21, 
 22 he is pictured as forced and led away, corresponding to i^eX- 
 /c6/Aevo<?; in vv. 16-21 the process of enticement is delineated, 
 corresponding to 8e\ea^6/jievo<; ; and the sin and death that result 
 from his folly are described in vv. 22, 27. Here eiriOvixLa is 
 almost personified ; it seizes the man, drags him out of his right 
 course, lures him on to seduction ; the consent of the mind and 
 the iTTidufxia of the Hesh are united ; lust becomes pregnant witli 
 sin and in due course gives birth to the evil oflfspring", which 
 coming to maturity breeds death, eternal death : lust and hell are 
 grandparent and grandchild. 
 
 Ver. 16. It has been much debated whether the words which 
 compose this verse conclude the previous paragraph or commence 
 the next one, or form a connecting link between them. Believing, 
 
16 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 17 Uacra hoais ayaOr], 
 Koi TTav Scoprjfjia reXeiov 
 avwOev ian Kara^alvov 
 dwo Tov irarpos rwv (pcoroov, 
 Trap CO ovK eut TrapaXXayr), 
 rj rpoTTTJS' dTToaKLaap-a. 
 
 17 Every good act-of-giving, 
 And every perfect gift, 
 
 Is from above descending, 
 
 From the Father of Light, 
 
 With whom there existeth no change, 
 
 Or of declension a shadow. 
 
 as stated above, that the passage in Proverbs forms the foundation 
 of this passage, we find the very lesson here enforced in v. 25, 
 " Go not astray in her paths;" these words wiU therefore most 
 naturally conclude the preceding paragraph with a forcible and 
 nervously expiessed application to his readers, Do not be led 
 astray by the lust that works in you, shun and resist the solicita- 
 tions of the courtezan ; " Vitanda est improba Siren." 
 
 Ver. 17. Having shown firstly, that God tempts no man, but 
 that temptations arise from the evil engendering of lust, which 
 propagates death, our author now proceeds to prove, that on the 
 contrary, all good descends upon us from God ; as on the one 
 hand sin breeds (diroKvei) in us death, so on the other hand God 
 begat {a7r€Kvr)a€v) us by the word of truth, u. 18 ; and as we 
 are warned not to go astray in the way that leads to death by 
 holding commerce with lust and procreating sin; so in v. 21 we 
 are exhorted to receive the implanted word, the good seed, which 
 gendereth to life, " which is able to save our souls." 
 
 Every good act-of-giving, and every perfect gift. S6cn<i and 
 Bcoprjfia are not easily distinguished in our language, the former 
 expresses the act of the giver, the latter the thing which he 
 gives. Some have supposed that a distinction is here intended 
 between smaller and greater gifts; the point seems rather to be 
 that the very wish to give and the putting forth of power to give 
 have their origin in our Father's heart, and every gift is dispensed 
 by his hands; hence the adjectives also are chosen with marvellous 
 propriety, the very motive in giving is good, ayadi], and the gift 
 which God confers is perfect, Tekeiov. 
 
 It is to be noted that this sentence forms an Hexameter verse: — 
 JJaaa hocra ayaOrj koI irav SdopTjfia Tekeiov. 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 17 
 
 The ccBsura after the first foot being lengthened by arsis. This 
 metrical distribution of the words was purely accidental there can 
 be little doubt. Similar examples of Hexameters are found, be- 
 sides the quotation in Tit. i. 12 from Epimenides, and the part of 
 Hexameter in Acts xvii. 18 from Aratus, in Heb. xii. 13: — 
 
 Kal rpoj^^bci'; 6p6a^ iroujaare Tot9 iroalv v/jlcov, 
 
 and in Rev. xix. 12: — 
 
 Kal eirl rrjv Ke^a\7]v avrov SiaStjfiaTa TroWd. 
 
 To these may be added the Trimeter Iambic in 1 Cor. xv. 33, 
 which is a quotation from the Thais of Menander : — 
 
 ^deipouaiv 7]drj ^prjad^ 6/u,i\iat KaKal, 
 
 where, however, the MSS. preserve the form ^prja-Td without 
 elision. Some approximations to rhythmical composition, more 
 or less forced, have been pointed out in other passages.* 
 
 T/ie Father of Light, rod irarpo'i row (pcorwv. The explana- 
 tions of this title of the Supreme Being are many and various: 
 the following are the chief: — 
 
 1 . (f)Q)T(ov lefers to the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate 
 of the high priest, by which God gave information of His will to 
 His people. Urim, Dmx, signifies lights. It might be thought 
 that rekeLov perfect in the last clause put the author in mind of 
 Thummim, ■perfections, and hence this reference to the Urim and 
 Thummim. 
 
 2. That all moral excellencies are denoted by this word. 
 
 3. That good and holy men who are spiritual luminaries are 
 intended. 
 
 4. That all spiritual light comes from God. 
 
 5. That natural light is referred to, the sun, moon, and stars, as 
 we read of them under this comprehensive name in Ps. cxxxv. 7, 
 ^(ora fiejdXa : see also Jer. iv. 23; LXX. 
 
 6. That the first creation of light. Gen. i. 3, was the thought 
 in the writer's mind, " God said. Let there be light; and there 
 was light." 
 
 Several of these interpretations are closely allied and interpene- 
 trate or overlap one another, it would be undesirable therefore to 
 narrow the title to any one special class of these figures. 
 
 Another explanation is possible: that tmv cjicorcov is equivalent 
 to T% 86^7]<?, chap. 11. 1, and as that phrase explains further who 
 the Lord Jesus Christ is, namely, the Shechi/wh, so here lights 
 would serve to show the attributes of the Father, God, who is 
 light, essentially, originally, perfectly. Thus viewed It would be 
 parallel to 4 Jno. I. 5, 6 ©eo? (^co? iariv. Or, again. Inasmuch 
 
 * On the subject of verses occurring in the Greek Testament see Winer's 
 Greek Grammar, pi). G62, ()G3. 
 
18 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 18 jSovXrjdeh aTreKvrjcrei' rjfxd^ Xoycp oKrjOeLaSy 
 
 els TO eivat yfids dirap^-qv nva twv avTOv KTiafxaTcov. 
 
 18 He willed .s<9, and begat us by the word of truth, 
 That we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 
 
 as St. Paul, Epli. i. 17, entitles God " the Father of the glory," 
 6 7raT')]p T?}? 8of>??, which is further explanatory of 6 0eo? rov 
 Kvpiov rjiu,b)V 'I'Tjaov Xpcarov, " The God of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." It is possible that cfxorcov is the plural of excellence or 
 majesty, and God is described as the Father of Him who came to 
 reveal Him, who himself declared, " I am the light (to c^w?) of 
 the world," Jno. viii. 12. In this case there would be a striking 
 connection between the good giving and the perfect gift of the 
 former clause and this, as God giving His only Son was the best 
 of giving and the best of gifts. It is difficult to make choice 
 among so many possible solutions ; the words that follow are also 
 capable of several meanings, so that they do not necessarily lead 
 us to any one conclusion. 
 
 No chny/ge, or of declension a shadoto. The notion of astrono- 
 mical terms in these words has been abandoned by the majority 
 of interpreters, but without sufficient reason. A comprehensive 
 figure capable of embracing many allusions is likely to awake in 
 a poetical mind, such as St. James evidently possessed, many 
 side-thoughts, and the fundamental idea first conceived would 
 be likely to attract to itself various after thoughts, suggested by 
 the terms employed. All light which we enjoy on earth is 
 subject to change, the alternating vicissitudes of day and night, 
 summer and winter, witness of mutability; this is a natural and 
 inherent law in the heavenly bodies, but not so with God, who is 
 light and the source of all light, both physical and spiritual; with 
 Him no such imperfection is inherent. "Evt is abbreviated for 
 eveart. The Sinaitic MS. reads simply iartv in this place, but 
 eve has both external and internal evidence in its favour. 
 
 Ver. 18. The connection between this and the former verses is 
 progressive. Every good gift comes from God, who is light and 
 the fountain of light ; He is subject to no change ; His purpose 
 knows no alteration ; He is not a man that He should repent ; 
 our very creation is the result of His fixed and unalterable will ; 
 He willed and then worked, or rather His will was His work ; 
 His " Let be" and " there was" are scarcely separable. 
 
 ^ov\r]dec<;, willing it: at the time of creation. This verb is 
 constantly employed by Homer of the will of the gods, because 
 with them will is effect. See Liddell and Scott's Lexicon. 
 
 direKvrjaev. Sin breeds {airoKvei) death, t?. 15. God begat us 
 by the word of truth to life. 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 19 
 
 Xoya aXrjdeiaq, bij the word of truth. The genitive of apposi- 
 tion, the word which is truth. This is one of those passages in 
 which it is difficult to determine whether the personal or the 
 written word is intended. The same difficulty exists in the two 
 passages which are most closely allied to this one. In Jno. 
 xvii. I" we read, 'Aylacrov avrou'i eV rfj akriOeia gov, 'O X0709 6 
 (Tb<i aXr)6eid icm, where, inasmuch as in chap. xiv. 6, our Lord 
 had declared iyco el/mi . . . rj a\7]deia, and Xoyo'i is so empha- 
 tically the title of the Lord in this Gospel, it is more probable 
 that He used this form of speech as a synonym for Himself: 
 " Sanctify them through thy truth (that is, through me), thy 
 word (that is myself, the manifestation of thee) is truth." So also 
 in 1 Pet. i. 22, Avayejevvrjfiivot Sia Xoyov ^c!)Vto<; &eov koX fievov- 
 T09. It is uncertain whether the begetment here spoken of is of 
 God through tlie personal Word or by the instrumentality of the 
 written or preached word. John i 12 seems to favour the view 
 of the personal Word, and to my mind settles the question : "Ocrot 
 Se eXa^ov avrov, ehcoKev auTOi<i i^ovcriav reicva ©eov yeveadat, 
 TOis TTiarevovaiv ei? to ovofJba avrov' dt ovk i^ al/Jidrcov, ovSe 6k 
 6ekrifiaT0<i aapK6<;, ovBe Ik d€Xrj/j,aTO<; dv8p6<;, dXX' i/c (^eov eyev- 
 V7]d7]crav, where the begetment of the saints from God is certainly 
 defined as being brought about by the power and authority of 
 the X6709 or Word, which forms the subject of the grand prefixce 
 of this Gospel. 
 
 The next question of importance in this clause is, Who are the 
 ?7//a9, who constituted the dirap')(rjv Tiva ? Inasmuch as St. James 
 was addressing Jews, it is impossible to shut out the reference to 
 their early selection from among the nations to be the chosen 
 people of God, and the depositaries of His word and promises. 
 The very mention of the paternity of God seems to have sug- 
 gested a remembrance of Lx. iv. 22 to the mind of the Apostle, 
 " Israel is my firstborn ;" this seems to be the key to the passage 
 before us. The reference to the call of Israel does not exclude, 
 but rather include, the Christian or spiritual begetment, in the 
 case of the believing portion of the Jews to whom he was 
 writing, as Christianity was the appointed ratification and fulfil- 
 ment of all the blessings and promises contained in, and shadowed 
 forth by, the earlier dispensation. 
 
 ^A'irap-x^t]v TLva, a land of Jirstfruits. The firstfruits of men, 
 cattle, and productions of the land were to be consecrated to God 
 by Israel, and in like manner God took the nation of Israel itself 
 as the firstfruits of the nations of the earth. It is worthy of note 
 that St. Paul in treating of the purposes of God concerning Israel 
 employs the same figure and the same word, though in a some- 
 what different connection, see Rom. xi. 16. 
 
 KTca-fxuTwv, creatures. From the very connection human 
 
 3* 
 
20 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 19 ' lorre, dd€X(f)OL fiov dyaTrrjToi, 
 
 ecTTco 8e Tra? dvOpoairos ra^vs els to aKOUcrai, 
 (SpaSvs eh TO XaXrjaai, ^pa8v9 eh opyqv. 
 
 19 Ye know this^ my beloved brethren, 
 But let every man be swift to hear, 
 Slow to speak, slow to wrath. 
 
 creatures must be signified, not the animal kingdom, iraaa rj 
 KTL(n<; has clearly the same reference to all mankind that are out- 
 side the Jewish pale in j\lark xvi. 15 ; Rom. viii. 22 ; Col. i. 23. 
 
 Ver. 19. "lare, ye hioxo (this). Tlie Received Text reads here 
 M(JT6 after K and l, MSS. of the ninth century, and the Syriac Ver- 
 sion, whereas the Alexandrine, Vatican, and the Codex Ephraemi 
 read tare ; the Sinaitic has ifcrra), which is afterwards corrected 
 into ccTTe; the Latin Vulgate also reads scitis: there can be little 
 doubt therefore that lare is tlie true reading, for as Dean Alford 
 has well argued, it would have been impossible for the easy 
 reading Mare to be altered into the difficult tare, whereas the 
 easier word might readily assume the place of the harder one. 
 There will then arise another question, whether tare is indicative 
 or imperative ? If the former it will refer to what precedes, and 
 form a connecting link between the two paragraphs. The Vul- 
 gate took this view. On the other hand the imperative would 
 relate to what follows ; this is favoured by the primary reading of 
 the Sinaitic MS., larco, " My beloved brethren, let every man 
 know this, and let him be," etc. : there is much to be advanced 
 on both sides. We have, however, two other instances of tare 
 in the New Testament, Eph. v. 5, where the ancient MSS. read 
 tare instead of the Received eare, and Heb. xii. 17; in both these 
 places the verb is indicative, hence it is a fair and probable con- 
 clusion that it is so here also. The argument of this passage will 
 then be, Ye know this, that we are a firstfruits of creation, but 
 let your knowledge of this privilege and blessing be manifest in 
 your character, according to the precepts that follow. It will be 
 observed that in the second clause 8e is inserted, which is not found 
 in the Received Text, but is found in this place in the Vatican and 
 Sinaitic ]\ISS., and an equivalent /cat in the Alexandrine; the 
 Vulgate also has autem, and the Syriac a similar connection. 
 
 Swift to hear, etc. Proverbial sayings of this kind were com- 
 mon amongst the Jews, both in Scripture and apocryphal 
 writings: see Prov. x. 19; xvii. 27, 28; Eccl. v. 2; Sirach v. 11. 
 " Swift to hear " is borrowed from the duty of the pupil, who 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 21 
 
 20 opyr] yap duSpos BiKaioavvrjv Oeov ovk epya^erat. 
 
 20 For the wrath of a man worketh not the righteousness 
 of God. 
 
 should be ready to drink in all that is delivered to him. " Slow 
 to speak " from the attitude of the teacher, who should be 
 deliberate in weighing well what he teaches. " Slow to wrath " 
 warns us against the excitement which is so often the companion 
 of debate, when we hear statements with which we cannot agree. 
 I cannot help thinking that the real point in this exhortation is, 
 that the nation of the Jews was at this time divided on the sub- 
 ject of the Messiah, whether Jesus was the Christ or not. This, 
 then, is the wise counsel of St. James based upon, and borrowed 
 from, the language of the schools of the Rabbis. You Jews, he 
 says, to his brethren in the flesh, are the firstfruits of God's 
 creation; you are aware of that. Remember, therefore, that it is 
 your duty to weigh and consider well the important question 
 now before you. Be swift to hear the evidence and arguments 
 which are adduced by the Christian teacher; slow to speak in 
 contradiction, and slow to wrath, slow to run into an excited 
 opposition to the doctrine and the preacher, faults most common 
 amongst the Jews at this period, as is everywhere evident in the 
 history of the New Testament. For the reason, see next verse. 
 
 Ver. 20. Fo7' the icrath of a man toorketh not the righteousness 
 of God. Wrath, op'^rj, is the feeling of wrath, the conception of 
 anger, the inner excitement of the mind ; dvfji6<i, akin to the 
 Latin fumus, the exhibition of wrath ; the former is the subter- 
 ranean wave, the latter the volcano in eruption. 
 
 Of a man, avSp6<i. The reference is to 7ra<; in the former 
 verse, not therefore man in general, though such a statement 
 would be equally true, but a man, the man in particular who 
 might be tempted to think otherwise. The choice of the word 
 dvr]p is probably intended to mark the self-assertion and presump- 
 tion of the individual who should fall into the mistake against 
 which St. James warns his readers. 3Ian is certainly not used 
 here with reference to his sex or age, i.e., in contradistinction to 
 woman or child, as Bengel, Lange, etc., hold. 
 
 Does not icork, ovk epyd^erat. This is the reading of the most 
 ancient MSS. instead of the Received KUTepydl^eTaL, the difterence 
 between the two is that the former represents the habit and con- 
 tinued practice, the latter the precise accomplishment ; the one is 
 more of a general, the other of a particular application. 
 
 The righteousness of God. There can be only one interpretation 
 
22 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 21 Alo airoOejJievoL iraaav pvirapLav Koi TreptcraeLai' 
 KaKLa9, 
 ev TrpavTYjTL de^aaOe rov efjL(f)VTOu Xoyov, 
 Tov bwafxevov auxjat ra9 "^vyas vp^cdv. 
 
 21 Wherefore putting off all filthiness and abundance of 
 malice, 
 In meekness receive the word that is sown, 
 Which is able to save your souls. 
 
 tenable here, the righteousness here spoken of cannot be God's 
 attribute of righteousness, neither can it be the forensic right- 
 eousness with which Christ justifies the believer, but can 
 only mean that which is righteous in the sight of God: Take 
 heed how ye hear the evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus of 
 Nazareth, be slow and deliberate in your judgment, let not any 
 inner feeling of anger or excitement hurry you on to rash words 
 in opposition, to contradict and blaspheme, for remember it is a 
 true proverb that, a man's wrath worketh not that which is ap- 
 proved as right in the sight of God. 
 
 Ver. 21. Aio, wherefore. This verse again exemplifies the 
 character of those to whom this Epistle was addressed, the 
 reference is plainly to the parable of the sower, Matt. xiii. In 
 that parable the process only of sowing the seed of the word is 
 described, and the fruitfulness or failure that followed ; the 
 means by which the glebe was prepared so as to render it 
 different from the wayside, the rocky ground and thorny patches 
 being pre-supposed. Here, on the contrary, this special prepara- 
 tory work of the Holy Ghost is insisted on, the harrow must be 
 applied, the land cleared of the rubbish, pviraplav, and of the 
 overgrowth, irepiacreLav, the refuse and weeds which vitiate the 
 soil. This purifying process having been accomplished, the 
 ground will be ready to receive the seed of the word which is 
 sown, €fjb(f)VTOV ; this word must not be rendered " engrafted," as 
 that is not the figure here employed. So do ye, St. James would 
 say, as wise husbandmen, cleanse your souls from the filthiness 
 and abundance of malice (/ca/ct'a? belongs to both the preceding 
 substantives) which naturally clings to the old man (see for a 
 parallel passage chap. iv. 8), and receive into your souls with meek- 
 ness the word which the Great Sower plants, the word that is 
 living and quickening, able to make wise unto salvation. The 
 conclusion we should arrive at from this allusion to the first 
 parable of our Lord is that those to whom St. James was writing 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 23 
 
 22 riveaOe 5e TroLy^Tcu Xoyov, 
 /cat /u,?; ixovov aKpoaraL, 
 TrapaXoyilofxevoL eavTovy. 
 
 22 But become ye doers of the word, 
 And not only hearers, 
 Deluding your own selves. 
 
 were in the same stage of spiritual experience as those whom the 
 Lord addressed, having no clear or settled views concerning the 
 character of IMessiah or His kingdom, and having not yet deter- 
 mined the question whether Jesus were the Christ or not; and 
 hence St. James echoes the words of his Master, that they should 
 receive the word into an honest and good heart, for sincerity of 
 purpose and holiness of heart are the lenses through which the 
 Spirit of God sends the pure ray of truth into the inner chamber 
 of the soul of man. See Introduction, To tohom was this 
 Epistle icritten ? 
 
 Some interpreters, among whom Bishop Wordsworth may be 
 numbered, press the radical meaning of e/ji<pVT0V in this place, 
 innate, to ev (pvaec, and explain it of the incarnate Word, which 
 was planted in our nature, Emmanuel, God with us ; or in the 
 other rarer sense of the word, engrafted, as the branch is engrafted 
 on the stock so Christ was engrafted in our nature. It has been 
 observed in the former note that it is impossible to separate the 
 idea of the personal Word from the written word in many passages, 
 the former so frequently involves the latter, in such passages 
 sometimes the one will be more emphasised than the other ; both 
 are included here, but the word, as brought to bear upon them by 
 exhortation and teaching, seems uppermost in the writer's mind. 
 
 Ver. 22. But become ye doers of the word. As in the parable of 
 the sower we read that those who received the seed into an 
 honest and good heart brought forth manitbld, hence we have 
 here also a parallel exhortation to fruitfulness, couched in the 
 words " Become doers of the word." 
 
 And not only hearers. The seed that fell on the wayside and 
 other sterile places met with no deep and true reception, so a 
 man may be a hearer of the word, but the truth may not pene- 
 trate down to his heart : this merely superficial hearing of the 
 Gospel will be of no avail, but rather prove a detriment, for the 
 man that places any reliance on such an external accident will 
 delude hiuiself The plea that Christ has taught in our streets, 
 and that we have eaten and drunk in His presence, will not 
 secure a sentence of approval in the last day. 
 
24 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 23 OTL el TL9 oLKpoarr)^ Xoyov icrri. 
 Kcu 01) iroLrjTrjg, 
 
 ovTOs eoLKev dpSpl Karavoovvri to irpocrcoirov 
 Trj9 yeveaecos' avrov iu ea-oirrpcp' 
 
 24 Karevorjae yap eavrou /cat aireXyXvOe, 
 Kol ev0€co9 iireXdOeTO birolos r]v. 
 
 23 Because if any one is a hearer of the word, 
 And is not a doer, 
 
 He is like a man considering the face 
 Of his nature in a mirror. 
 
 24 For he considered himself, and went away, 
 
 And straightway forgot what sort of man he was. 
 
 Ver. 23. Hereupon follows an illustration of the futility of 
 giving a passing hearing only to the Gospel, for the hearer but 
 non-doer, the unconverted and unfruitful man, resembles one who 
 looks at his face in a mirror ; nothing is so evanescent as the 
 impression made on our memory by our own features ; of course 
 the comparison is not to be pressed too closely, the general fact 
 that we are less acquainted with, and less retentive of, our own 
 appearance than that of others is all that is necessary for the pur- 
 pose of illustration. 
 
 The face of his nature, to TrpocrcoTTov tj}? yeveaeco'i avrov. That 
 is, the face with which he was born, Vulgate, nativitatis suce, 
 and hence the face which naturally distinguished him from other 
 men ; the word seems to point to the idiosyncrasy of each man's 
 physiognomy, which ought to make it more easy of remembrance; 
 avrov strengthens the emphasis of this reference. 
 
 iv iaoTTTpo), in a mirror, not a f/lass. Looking-glasses are of 
 modern date, probably not older than the thirteenth century. The 
 mirrors of the ancients were for the most part made of a mixture 
 of copper and tin, a compound metal which was susceptible of the 
 highest polish. 
 
 Ver. 24. Karevorjaev, d7re\i]\v9ev, iireXdOero. Mark the tenses : 
 he considered himself; the act done and over, he went away, and 
 continued away; he forgot, once for all. " We find neither 
 the aorists nor the perfect put for the present, but the case sup- 
 posed for illustration in v. 23 assumed as matter of fact, and the 
 Apostle falling into the strain of narration." Winer's Gk. Gram, 
 of New Test., p. 293. 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 25 
 
 25 6 8e 7rapaKvy^a9 els vofxov reXcLOv 
 Tov TrJ9 eXevdeplaf, 
 Kac irapafxeLvas, 
 
 ovK oLKpoarrj^ eTnXrjo'fJLOprjS' yevofxepos, 
 dXXa TTotrjTys epyov, 
 0VT09 fiaKapLos eV rry iroLi^aei avrov earai. 
 
 25 But he that inspected the perfect law 
 That pertaineth to liberty, 
 And continued there^ 
 
 And became not a hearer of forgetfulness, 
 But a doer of work, 
 This man blessed in his doing shall be. 
 
 Ver. 25. In this verse the figure contained in the preceding 
 verse is resolved ; the mirror is explained to be the perfect law, 
 that is to say, the new law of liberty or freedom from the yoke of 
 the Mosaic law; and the man that looks into the mirror is 
 described as bending down for the purpose of instituting a more 
 accurate observation. Moreover, he does not go away and forget, 
 but remains on tlie spot engaged in the examination. Such an 
 one is no longer a liearer characterized by forgetfulness, but a 
 doer of the work enjoined ; such an one the writer pronounces to 
 be blessed in such practice. 
 
 reXecov, perfect. The perfect law is further explained as rov 
 T)"]^ i\evdepia<i, that is to say, the law which belongs to liberty. 
 This law is not the Gospel in opposition to the law, as though 
 the Gospel were perfect and the law imperfect, but rather the law 
 which becomes perfect by the Gospel ; the law was a preparation 
 for the Gospel, the guide that led us to the school of Christ. (See 
 Gal. iii. 24.) This was the basis also of the Sermon on the 
 Mount. Paraphrastically, therefore, this phrase would read: The 
 law whose perfections are established and rendered manifest by 
 its development into the liberty which Christ has brought to 
 light in the Gospel. Law and Gospel are not antagonistic, but 
 both co-operate in their times and spheres for the instruction and 
 salvation of man. An excellent comment on this passage is, 
 " whose service is perfect freedom." Church of England Prayer 
 Book. 
 
 aKpoary]<i eTmfkriapbOvrj^; . . . TTotT^rr;? epyov. The former of 
 these is acknowledged to be a Hebrew genitive, a hearer marked 
 
26 ST. JAMES, I. 
 
 26 Mi TL9 SoKel dprfCTKog eivai, 
 
 /jLTj yoKivaycdyOiv yXcocraau avrov, 
 dXXa airaTCdV Kap^Lav avTOv, 
 TOVTOV fiaTaL09 r) OprjaKCia. 
 
 26 If any one thinketh he is rite-religious, 
 Though not bridling his tongue, 
 But deceiving his own heart, 
 This man's rite-religion is vain. 
 
 or characterized by forgetfulness, as Kpcral SiaXoyiafiMV Trovrjpoiv, 
 ''judges of evil thoughts," that is, characterized by evil thoughts, 
 chap. ii. 3. The latter, however, is regarded as simply a depen- 
 dent genitive, a doer of ivo7'k, but it is better to view it as 
 parallel in construction to the former, a doer characterized by 
 work. 
 
 TTOLijaei. The act of doing, the practice ; the performance of 
 the duties enjoined by the perfect law of liberty. 
 
 Ver. 26. 8ok€i, thiitls to himself, not appears to others. 
 
 6pr](TKo<; a rite-religious man, and dprjaKeia rite-religion. An 
 apology is almost demanded for the introduction of this compound 
 word. We have, however, no term in our language to express 
 the original, which refers to the outward circumstance of religious 
 profession, the ceremonial garb in which our faith is vested. 
 These words have been beautifully commented upon by Arch- 
 bishop Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament. The reference 
 is to the externals of religious worship, the cultus exterior, the 
 ceremonial, the ritual of worship. The noun and its cognate 
 verb are found in Wisdom xi. 16 ; xiv. 16, 18, 27, in connection 
 with idolatry. Philo has a passage very similar to our text : 
 6p7](7Kelav clvtI oacorrjTO'i r)>yov/j,euo<i. St. James throws into 
 contrast the old law with its gorgeous and imposing ex- 
 hibitions, with the humble simplicity of the Gospel, and the 
 self-denying duties it enjoins. If religion needs a ritual, an 
 outside by which its highest and holiest service may be made 
 manifest to the world, let all that is external be evidenced in 
 the visiting of orphans and widows in the hour of their woe 
 and want, and in a holy separation from the defilements of a 
 wicked world. 
 
 (MTj "^aXivajcoyMV yXcocraav auTov, not bridling his tongue. This 
 is anticipatory of the substance of the third chapter of this Epistle, 
 where the government of the tongue under the same figure is 
 more fully illustrated and enforced. 
 
ST. JAMES, I. 27 
 
 27 Opi]orK€ia KaOapa Kcd dfilai'TO^ 
 
 irapa tco Oeco Kai Trarpl aurrj i(TTLi>, 
 
 €7riaK€7rTea0aL op(f)auov9 kol XVP^^ ^'^ "^V ^^'■'^^^ avrcou, 
 
 aainXov eavTov Tiipeiu diro rou Koafiou. 
 
 27 Rite-religion pure and undefiled 
 With God the Father is this, 
 To visit orphans and widows in their tribulation, 
 Spotless himself to keep from the world. 
 
 Ver. 27. ra> %e(pKa\ Trarpl, literally, Him who is God caul Father. 
 The article referring to, and so uniting the reference in both 
 nouns to the same person, best rendered in idiomatic English 
 God the Father. Father is evidently inserted to bring out the 
 relation in which God stands to the fatherless and widows, see 
 Ps. Ixviii. 5. 
 
 As this represents the duty of the religious man to his neigh- 
 bour, so the next clause lays down his duty to himself, to keep 
 himself spotless fi'om the world. The figure here again is doubt- 
 less derived from the Jewish law ; the touch of the ceremonially 
 deliled, of a grave, a carcase, a bone, or an unclean animal, im- 
 parted pollution to a man, and he had to submit to a cleansing 
 process before he could join in the temple services or associate 
 with his brethren. The world is graphically pictured as a grave- 
 yard, a leper-house, a den of unclean beasts, through which the 
 believer must pick his way so carefully and circumspectly that he 
 may escape contact with the all-surrounding corruptions, and 
 come forth with his purity unsullied and unstained. 
 
28 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1 A8eK<^0L fiov, ixrj eV irpoo-coTToXTj/xxl/Lais 
 e^ere ttju ttlcttlu tov Kvpiov i]ix(dv Irjaov Xpiarov, 
 
 1 My brethren, do not with respect for appearances, 
 Hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Shechi- 
 nah. 
 
 Ver. 1. The transition to the following subject is suggested by 
 the remarks that have gone before concerning the outward forms 
 of religion. Qpr^aKeia reminded the writer of the synagogue and 
 its ritual ; and the picture just drawn of the true worshipper 
 visiting orphan children and widowed women suggested the 
 striking contrast to this, which was so often witnessed in the 
 congregations that assembled in the synagogues, the respect and 
 reverence servilely paid to tlie weakhy and well clothed, and the 
 disregard and all but disdain exhibited to the poor and meanly clad. 
 
 fjbT] . . . e^6T6, do not hold, etc. There are many difficulties in 
 this verse. It is clear from the next verse that the Jewish syna- 
 gogue, and not the upper chamber or Christian church, was the 
 scene of the impropriety which St. James so severely j-eprimands. 
 It would appear that the Jewish Christians attended the temple 
 service till the last, when they left the city before the final blow 
 destroyed the "beautiful house," and doubtless they also fre- 
 quented the synagogues, both in Judaea and also throughout the 
 dispersion. The sharp separation which took place between the 
 church and the synagogue had not yet arranged their respective 
 adherents into a recognised antagonism, hence we find in this 
 chapter Christian and non-Christian Jews addressed ; in what 
 sense then are we to understand, jjur] epj^ere, do not hold ? Some 
 have suggested that the sentence should be read interrogatively, 
 " do ye hold ? etc. Surely not. " Others have regarded e^^ere 
 as equivalent to Karey^ere, do not hold down, or suppress : the 
 meaning rather is, do not hold, i.e., ye cannot hold, etc. Consider- 
 ing the mixed character of the congregation addressed, it is better 
 to suppose that he had in his mind's eye both sections, the Jewish 
 and the Christian ; for the latter he would entertain a fear lest 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 29 
 
 they should be carried away by the influence of their superiors 
 in worldly wealth, see vv. 5-7 ; and for the former he would have 
 a word of reproof. If you are enquiring into the claims of Jesus 
 of" Nazareth, do not think you can embrace and hold that faith 
 and still continue to exercise so unjust and unkind a practice as 
 preference for the rich above the poor in God's house, where all 
 are equal. The words that follow show that they were specially 
 addressed who were the appointed officials of the synagogue, 
 whose duty it was to provide accommodation for the members of 
 the congregation: these must have been Jews and not Christians. 
 Hence it will appear that the dSekcpoi, /xov are brethren, as being of 
 the stock of Israel; the brotlierhood of Christianity lies in the back- 
 ground, to be appropriated by those who held the faith of Jesus 
 as the Christ; but the scene, the synagogue, and the thoroughly 
 Jewish character of the fault, the desiring the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues (see Matt, xxiii. 6), all prove that we are on Jewish ground. 
 
 iv TrpoacoTToXrj/jiylriaL'i, in respect for ajipearances. The well 
 known Hebrew phrase D'3Q ><t^J, which originally signified to 
 raise the face, and hence to shoiv kindness. In the Old Testament 
 the phrase is employed in a good sense. In later times it appears 
 to have changed its application, and to signify the partiality and 
 servile respect shown to a man's external circumstances. The 
 plural form of the word is usually explained of the difi^erent 
 modes in which this servility was paid and the frequency of such 
 occurrences. It is true, that in the Greek word, from the 
 necessity of the case, the plural part of the word belongs to the 
 respectiups, but in the Hebrew phrase it would belong to the 
 appearances ; as the Hebrew phrase would be that which would 
 at once be suggested to the Jewish readers, it would become the 
 rule whereby they would expound the Greek word. This appears 
 to be one out of many instances in which the original expression 
 must determine the exact sense of its translation into another 
 tongue ; the plural therefore does not imply the variety or the 
 frequency of the sin, but is the natural and necessary form of the 
 word, as there must be a plurality of appearances among men 
 before we can select some as objects of our respect, and this 
 adulation is not paid to one alone but to many. 
 
 rrjv iriariv rod Kvplov rjfiwv 'Irjaov Xpiarov tt}? So^t;?, the 
 faith of our Lord Jesus Clirist, the Shechinah. The faith of our 
 Lord, etc. This is the objective genitive, the faith concerning 
 our Lord, in other words, the Gospel of His revelation. 
 
 This is the only place in the body of the Epistle where our Lord 
 Jesus Christ is spoken of by name, and only one other example is 
 found, and that is in the superscription, see chap. i. L The com- 
 position of this whole sentence is important. Our Lord stands 
 first in the most emphatic position ; it contains a confession on 
 
30 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 2 lav yap elaeXOr) €19 crvvaywyijp vfxwv 
 durjp xP^^oSaKTvXios' eV eaOrjTL XafiTTpa, 
 elaeXOr] de Kal tttw^os ev pvirapa icrOrjrL, 
 
 2 For if there come into your synagogue 
 A man with a gold ring on his finger, in handsome 
 
 garb, 
 And there come in a poor man also in shabby garb, 
 
 the part of the writer, an exhortation to those whom he was 
 addressing to acknowledge Him also, and tliere is a declaration it 
 would seem in the words Xpiarov the Messiah, and rr}<i So^rj'i the 
 glory, that in Him was found a fulfilment of the hopes of Israel; 
 Jesus is at once the Messiah and the glory, 
 
 TTy? So^T]^. Various opinions have been held by a long list of 
 commentators concerning the construction of the sentence and the 
 meaning of this word. The Authorised Version makes the geni- 
 tive tt}? So^t;? depend upon Kvpi'ov, repeated from above, " the 
 Lord of glory." 
 
 ho^rj'i has been interpreted in the sense of opi7i{on, opinion 
 about the Lord, etc. 
 
 It has been connected with Xpiarov, the Christ uf glory, or the 
 glorious Messiah. 
 
 Again, it has been made dependent on T?;y iriarLv, and made 
 the governing word of rov Kvpiov, the faith of the glory of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, or, the faith of the glory, i.e., the glorious faith. 
 
 There can be little doubt that Bengel{vide Gnomon Novi Test.) 
 has proposed the most tenable view, because it may be illustrated 
 so abundantly from both the Old and New Testament Scriptures, 
 and is in accordance with Jewish tradition and expectations. 
 This construction makes Tri<i h6^r}<; to be in apposition to 'Irjaov 
 Xpi,crTov, the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory. The antithesis between 
 the apjyearances, TrpoacoTra, of men, and the visible glory, So^a, of 
 the Messiah must not pass unnoticed. For a further discussion 
 of this passage see Excursus, in the Appendix. 
 
 Ver. 2. crvva'yoi'yip. This word, as above remarked, proves 
 that the Jewish place of worship, and not that of the Christians 
 proper, is the scene of this impropriety. The use of eTrtcrvva'yo)- 
 y7]v in Heb. x. 25 being addressed to Jews also, as this Epistle 
 was, proves nothing to the contrary. The Christian assemblies 
 proper were called eKKXTjala, or the place of meeting was de- 
 signated by v7r€p(2ov, or simply ivrl ro avro. The Jewish 
 Christians at Jerusalem still frequented the temple, and those 
 among the dispersion the synagogues, hence there is no cause for 
 surprise in finding Christians mixed with unconverted Jews at 
 
ST. JAMES, 11. 31 
 
 3 /cat e7nl3Xe\l/rjT€ eiri tov (popouvra tyjv icrOrJTa rr)i> 
 Xa/jLTTpav, 
 Kcu eLTTrjre, " ^v kuOov code /caAco?," 
 Kol Tcp TTTOi^U) eLTrrjTe, " Sv o-rrjdi €K€L, 
 
 7) KaOoV VTTO TO VTTOTToSloP flOV'^^ 
 
 3 And ye look-with-respect-at him that wears the hand- 
 some garb, 
 And say, " Be thou seated here in honour; " 
 And to the poor man say, " Do thou stand there, 
 Or, be seated under my footstool," 
 
 this period in a common place of worship. The people sat in the 
 synagogue according to their social rank or trade, and St. James 
 fastens on this exhibition of pride on the part of the higher classes 
 as a ground of convincing them of sin and of violation of the spirit 
 of the law, which enjoined " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself" A further argument that the Jewish synagogue is 
 spoken of is, that we learn from the context that strangers came 
 in wlio were provided with seats that happened to be vacant. 
 This would occur constantly in the synagogue, but in the upper 
 chamber of the Christians it would be most unlikely that persons 
 of wealth and eminence, as here described, should thus freely 
 enter the congregation of the despised Nazarenes. A graphic 
 delineation follows of the casual worshippers, for casual they must 
 have been, as the regular comers would have their seats allotted 
 them. The one is wealthy and proud, the other poor and lowly; 
 the force of this contrast will appear the more when we remember 
 that the Christian portion of the Jewish community was chiefly 
 gathered out of the lower ranks in the social scale. The rich 
 man is described as having a gold ring or rings on his fingers,- for 
 it was a common custom to wear a number of these ornaments ; 
 he is clad also in handsome (\a/x7rpa) attire, literally shininq, 
 most likely with reference to the gloss of the texture of his 
 raiment ; and the poor man is represented as clothed in shabby 
 {pvTrapa) attire, most probably with reference to the soil con- 
 tracted in labour. 
 
 Ver. 3. ]\Lark again the pictorial character of the sequel : Ye 
 look, and that with respect, at {eTro^Xe-yjnjre) the man of wealth 
 and style, and say, Be thou seated here in a place of honour, wSe 
 KaXoi<i. This refers to the upper end of the building, where the 
 ark or chest which contained the law was placed. It was here 
 that the first seats in the synacjogue (TrpoiTOKadehpiai) stood, which 
 the Pharisees and Scribes desired to occupy, see Matt, xxiii, 6. 
 
32 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 4 ov SLeKplOrjre iu eavroLs, 
 
 KCLi eyeveaOe KpLTol SiaXoyLorfJicov irov-qpcdv ; 
 
 5 * AKovaare, aSeXcfyoL fiov dyaTrrjroL, 
 
 ovx 6 0€09 i^eXe^aro tov9 Trrw^^ouy rw Koafico, 
 7rXovaiov9 eV iriareL, kcCl KXrjpouo/jLov^ TrJ9 (SacriXeia^, 
 r]9 eTTTjyyeLXaTO tols ayaircocnu avTov ; 
 
 4 Are ye not making-distinctions amongst yourselves, 
 And become judges of wicked reasonings ? 
 
 5 Hearken ye, my beloved brethren, 
 
 Did not God elect the poor in the world. 
 To he rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom. 
 Which He promised to them that love Him. 
 
 Whereas there is no look of respect directed to the poor man, but 
 he is simply bidden to stand during service, at a distance, or if he 
 sit down, it is to be under the footstool of the officer who presides 
 over the arrangements of the synagogue. IMark the antithesis 
 between wSe and e'/cet, the liere of honour and the tliere of dis- 
 honour. The plan of the Christian church, it is said, was formed 
 on the original of the Jewish synagogue, and it is much to be 
 feared that the early Christians who met together on the footing 
 of equality in the name of one common Lord in the upper 
 chamber, when they adopted the architecture of the synagogue, 
 fell also into these abuses, which called forth from St. James this 
 well merited rebuke. 
 
 Ver. 4. SLaKpidrjre, do ye not make distinctions, etc. The 
 tense is aorist ; whenever you have acted as described above, did 
 you not then make distinctions between yourselves, etc. Of all 
 the various meanings of which this verb is capable, none is so 
 well suited to the context as this, when you showed respect to the 
 rich and disdain to the poor, did ye not make a distinction which 
 you ought not. There is evidently also a connection between 
 this verb and KpiTul, Judges, in the parallel clause, in 
 adjudging a distinction between fellow worshippers ye became 
 judqes of evil reasonings. hiaXcyiafiMv Trovrjpcov is like aKpoarri<i 
 i'7ri\r)<Tfiovy]<;, chap. i. 25, the genitive which explains the 
 character of the governing word, Judr/es characterized hi/ evil reason- 
 ings. It is not unlikely that the parable of the unjust judge, 6 
 Kpirrj'i T% ahiKim, Luke xviii. 6, the judge who was characterized 
 by injustice, who neglected the appeal of the poor widow, passed 
 through the mind of St. James as he was penning these words. 
 
 Ver. 5. efeXe'^aro /c.r.A.., elect, or cJwose out, the poor in the 
 world, etc. This seems to have characterized God's dealings in 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 33 
 
 6 ufteiy Se rjTLfxacraTe tov tttcd^ov. 
 
 ov\ ol TrXovcTLOL KaTaSvvaarevovaiif vficoi/, 
 Kol avTol eXKovaLV v/mas eh KpLTrjpia; 
 
 7 ovK avTol (3Xacr(f)r)iJL0va'L to KaXov ovojxa 
 TO eTTLKXrjdeu i(j) vfid?; 
 
 6 But ye dishonoured the poor man. 
 Do not tlie rich domineer over you ? 
 
 And is it not they that drag you to the law-courts ? 
 
 7 Is it not they that blaspheme the honourable name, 
 Which was invoked upon you ? 
 
 all ages. The Hebrews were fewer and feebler than all people, 
 yet He chose them in the prison-house of Egypt, and made them 
 heirs of the kingdoms of Canaan. This reference probably under- 
 , lies this passage, and suggests a tacit rebuke to the conduct he 
 has been reprehending, fhis is rendered the more likely from 
 the reading of the Alexandrine and Sinaitic MSS., iTrayyeXla'i 
 promise, instead of ^aaCK,e[a<i kingdom. The same mode of pro- 
 ceeding was evidenced in our Lord's choice of the Apostles when 
 inaugurating the new covenant. The moral of both dispensations 
 is, "God cliose the weak things of the earth to confound the 
 mighty." 
 
 The Tw Koajjiw must be correlative with iv iriarei, poor in the 
 (things of the) world, rich in faith. 
 
 Ver. 6. But ye dishonoured the poor man, i.e., the poor man 
 we saw treated with so much contempt in the synagogue. How 
 different were God's dealings with you I'rom your dealings with 
 your fellow creatures ! 
 
 A question of some difficulty and importance arises here : Who 
 are the " rich " who domineer over the people that St. James is 
 addressing, and who blaspheme the honourable name that had 
 been invoked on them? il^ey could not be Christian rich men; 
 this is utterly impossible, not only from this place, but also from 
 the way in which the " rich " are reprimanded in the first and 
 fifth chapters. Were they Gentiles or Jews then? For the 
 former, it may be advanced that our Lord, when speaking of the 
 tyranny of the Roman power (Matt. xx. 25) uses this word, olhare 
 on ol apyovTe<i roiv eOvwv KaTaKupievoucriv avrcov; if they were 
 Gentiles then tlie honourable name might refer to the profession 
 of the Jewish religion, as the Jews were defined as the nation on 
 whom "God's name was called," see Deut. xxviii. 10; 2 Chron. 
 
34 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 8 El fxevTOL vofiov reXelre ^aaiXiKov, 
 Kara Tr)V 'ypa(f)i]U, 
 
 * Aya7nri(T€L9 top ttXtjctlov aov coy creavTov^ 
 KoXws TTOLelre' 
 
 8 If surely ye perform the law of owr king 
 According to the Scripture, 
 " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," 
 Ye do well. 
 
 vii. 14, and they were held in contempt by the heathen. But 
 the " rich" here named must clearly be the same class as the man 
 with the gold ring and the fine apparel in the synagogue, and the 
 same with the " rich " who are described as a blighted flower, 
 chap. i. II, and bidden to weep and howl for the miseries that 
 were impending, chap. v. 1. These marks would scarcely be 
 appropriate to the Eoman rulers ; they would not attend the 
 synagogue service, and the day of Jerusalem's destruction would 
 rather be the period for their prosperity. It would seem then 
 that the "rich" were wealthy Jews (see notes on chap. i. 10), who 
 out of hatred to Christianity tyrannized over their brethren, and 
 dragged them into the justice courts. The honourable name 
 would then refer to the profession of Christianity, and the in- 
 vocation of the name upon them to the ordinance of baptism into 
 the name of the Lord. 
 
 Ver. 8. If surely, el fievroi. It is much disputed what the 
 connection is in this word. Some suppose an objection is raised 
 to the teaching of the preceding paragraph, as though St. James 
 had instructed them to despise the rich, or that his words might 
 be viewed as capable of such a construction, and that in this verse 
 he corrects this misapprehension of his words. Another opinion 
 is, that St. James is not replying to an objection already raised 
 against his teaching, but is guarding his expressions from a 
 wrong interpretation. 
 
 Again, it has been proposed to explain the passage thus : The 
 Jewish Christians boasted of the law, and to this feature the 
 fxevTOi indeed, refers, " If indeed ye fulfil," etc. 
 
 I should rather regard this and the following verses as a 
 summing up merely of the preceding arguments. There is no 
 objection to be met from an adversary, no fence to be set up to 
 guard or correct a previous statement, but a recapitulation of the 
 lesson enforced: You reverence the rich, you make distinctions 
 amongst yourselves in their favour and to the disparagement of 
 the poor, and that unrighteously, forgetting that God made choice 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 35 
 
 9 el Se TrpoacdTroXrjTrTetre, a/iapTiav ipyd^eaOe, 
 eX€y)(0/jL€uoi vtto tov i^ofiov coy irapa^aTai. 
 
 10 0(JTL9 yap oXov tov vofxov rrjpi^crrj, 
 TrraLo-T] Se ev evl, 
 yeyove iravrcov kvo^09. 
 
 9 But if ye respect-appearances, ye work sin, 
 Being convicted by the law as transgressors. 
 
 10 For whosoever the whole law shall have kept, 
 But stumbled in ono, particular^ 
 He has become guilty of all. 
 
 of the poor to be His people and inheritance, and that the rich are 
 your persecutors and blasphemers of your religion. If indeed, or 
 surely, instead of such practices ye fulfil the law, of our King, 
 " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," ye do well ; but if ye 
 respect external appearances, ye are working sin, being convicted 
 by that very law of which 1 am speaking as being transgressors. 
 
 Nofiov ^aaiXiKov. This phrase must either mean the chief of 
 all laws, i.e., that God's commands are paramount to all other 
 laws, or, which is far better, the law which belongs to and pro- 
 ceeds from the King, the King of Israel. Then the question 
 arises whether God the Father is intended by the king, or Christ 
 as the King of the Jews and Christians also ? I think the former, 
 not only because the words are addressed to the members of the 
 synagogue, but also from the Ilth verse, where the command- 
 ments contained in the law of Moses are specified. 
 
 In the reference to our Kincf there is a tacit reminder that 
 God was the common king over both rich and poor, and that 
 both are His subjects, hence all that are subjects are in that 
 respect equal, and all are neighbours to each other. 
 
 Ver. 9. But if ye respect appearances, ye loork sin, ipyd^eade. 
 This word combines the ideas of practice and perpetration, see 
 Matt. vii. 23. 
 
 eke'^'X^ofjievoi, convicted, proved to be guilty. 
 
 6y<i. The &)9 of reality, as being, and actually being, trans- 
 gressors. 
 
 Ver. 10. TJie wJiole laiv, oKov tov vofiov. All the command- 
 ments contained in the law. 
 
 But stumble in one particular, ev kvi (understand fiepet). 
 
 Guilty of all, irdvTwv 'ivoxo'i' The meaning is not, as the 
 following verse shows, that a man who breaks one commandment 
 
36 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 11 o yap eLircdv, Mrj /JLOL^evarj?, 
 eiire /cat, '^ Mrj (poi>€V(Tr)9'" 
 
 el Se ov fj.oi^€V€L9, (povevus 5e, 
 yeyovas 7rapa(3aT7]9 vofiov. 
 
 12 OvTco XaXelre kcu ovtco TroLelre, 
 
 (OS Sia uofjiov eXevOepias fxeXXovTes KpiveaOaL' 
 
 11 For He that said, " Commit no adultery," 
 Said also, " Murder not." 
 
 But if thou committest not adultery, but dost murder, 
 Thou hast become a transgressor of the law. 
 
 12 So speak ye, and so do, 
 
 As by the law of liberty going to be judged, 
 
 actually breaks all, the transgressor of the sixth commandment is 
 not necessarily the transgressor of the seventh, but the law is 
 viewed as a perfect circle, and if any point in its circumference is 
 ruptured the perfection of the figure is gone ; God's mind is one, 
 though recorded to us under ten heads or divisions ; in violating 
 one of these particular sections the sinner transgresses against the 
 whole system, the one revealed mind of God. This exposition 
 increases the heinousness of sin, and proves that what man 
 regards as little sins are not little in the sight of God, and by 
 interence sliows plainly that by the deeds of the law no flesh can 
 be justified. It is said that the Rabbis have a similar sentiment 
 to this, and from this source our author doubtless borrowed the 
 argument as well known amongst those to whom he was writing. 
 Rabbi Jochanan says of the thirty-nine precepts of Moses, " But 
 if a man does all, but leave out one, he is guilty of all and of 
 each." 
 
 Ver. 12. Having thus explained the strict letter of the law, 
 and how it involves the sinner in condemnation, he derives a 
 practical lesson: Speak and act so, that is, as you ought, seeing 
 ye are about to be judged by the law of liberty, hia vo/jlov e\eu- 
 depiwi. The law of liberty, what is this ? It is usually ex- 
 plained as meaning the Gospel, the law of liberty in contrast to 
 the law of works, but surely this would introduce a new element 
 into the argument. The whole discourse is upon the law of 
 Moses, and the transgression of its commandments by these 
 members of the synagogue. Surely w/^o? here must be the 
 same as v6fio<; in each of the preceding four verses. What then 
 can be the force of the explanatory genitive i\evdepia<i, of liberty? 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 37 
 
 13 7] yap KpLCTLg dueXeoy rS jmrj iroLrjaavTi eAeos" 
 KaraKav^oLTaL eXeos Kpiaeco^. 
 
 13 For the judgment shall be merciless 
 To him that did not mercy ; 
 Mercy glories over judgment. 
 
 This seems to refer to the purpose of God's law, which enjoined 
 love to our neighbour without respect of persons. This was 
 liberty, religious brotherhood amongst all classes; but by their 
 respect of persons they had introduced a bye-law of bondage, 
 which subjected class to class ; and this distinction depended not 
 on religious pre-eminence, but on the eartkhj accident of wealth, 
 the meanest ground on which to erect a system of servitude. 
 
 There is great point in this warning : Ye who have thus per- 
 verted a law which was designed to give freedom amongst 
 brethren into a code of tyranny and oppression, are on the 
 threshhold of being judged by the very law which ye have so 
 distorted. When we compare this and the following verse with 
 the early part of the fifth chapter, we cannot fail to see that the 
 day of vengeance on Jerusalem, which fell so heavily on the 
 Jews, was the judgment immediately before our writer's eyes. 
 
 Ver. 13. For the judgment, r] KplaL<;, xekvs back to the Kpi- 
 veaOaL of the previous verse : The judgment of which I speak 
 shall be without mercy, untempered, unassuaged, unaccompanied 
 by the considerations of mercy to him that did not practice 
 mercy. The aorist tense iroLrja-avri transfers the mind to the 
 period when the inquisition shall be made and the judgment 
 executed. 
 
 3Ierci/ glories againf<t judgment. What is the connection between 
 this clause and the former subject ? The Received Text unites 
 them by a kul, and the Alexandrine MS. and one of the cor- 
 rectors of the Sinaitic by a Se after KaTaKavxarai. The usual 
 mode of explaining these words is that judgment in the case of 
 the merciless shall" be merciless, yet in the case of the merciful 
 mercy glories against judgment, so as to ward off its stroke, and 
 deliver the merciful man, so that mercy does not fear judgment, 
 but rather glories against it and over it. The whole lesson 
 teaching us, in Bengel's words, that judgment shall be to every 
 one as every one shall have been. But this exposition seems to 
 bring in another subject, quite foreign to the writer's argument; 
 he is not treating of mercy or the merciful man, but of the unjust 
 man and of judgment. Surely, if the mode of deciding the ver- 
 dict of the merciful man had been intended, some mention of 
 that character would have found a place. It seems better to 
 
38 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 14 Tl to o(peXos, aSeXcfjOL fxov, 
 eau TTLCTTLV Xeyrj ns €X€lu, 
 epya be fxy exu ; 
 firj SvuaraL rj TriaTLS acocrai avrov; 
 
 14 What is the use, my brethren, 
 If any one saith he hath faith, 
 But hath not works ? 
 Can his faith save him ? 
 
 regard this clause as a sort of climax to the preceding statement: 
 You are about to be judged by the law which enjoins liberty, 
 and the judgment which will be passed by God according to that 
 law will be unaccompanied by mercy against the man that did 
 not show mercy, even though it is characteristic of God's mercy 
 to glory against judgment. His mercy often spares Avhen we 
 deserve the blow, but it shall not be so then. You have judged 
 and rejected others, you shall be judged and rejected yourselves. 
 As you have sown, so shall you reap. 
 
 Ver. 14. With this verse begins the passage which has ever 
 proved the Crux Interpretum. 
 
 Commentators not heeding the fact that this Epistle was 
 addressed to the twelve tribes of the dispersion of the Jews 
 as such; and starting with the foregone conclusion that not- 
 withstanding this superscription all who were addressed were 
 Christians in some degree or another, and shutting their eyes 
 to the awful state of immorality in which the rich and powerful 
 among them had fallen, or evading these evident tokens of non- 
 Christianity, settled it in their minds that tlie faith here spoken 
 of is the Christian faith, the faith of the Gospel, the faith in 
 Jesus Christ as the one atonement for sin, the faith in his justify- 
 ing righteousness; and consequently have been driven into a 
 wondrous variety of interpretations, each commentator exer- 
 cising his own theological or logical ingenuity to harmonize 
 the teaching of this paragraph with the doctrinal and dogmatic 
 statements laid down by St. Paul. 
 
 Some theologians, giving up the task of reconciliation of the twain 
 as hopeless, elected St. Paul to be in the right, and have all but 
 reviled the author of this Epistle, accusing him of ignorance, or 
 valuing his treatise as" one of straw." This was one way, at least, of 
 escaping the difficulty; others, with more reverence, taught that 
 St. Paul spoke of true and living faith, whereas St. James treated 
 of a dead and lifeless faith; others, again, that St. Paul had in his 
 mind the justification of man before God, but St. James the 
 justification of men in the sight of men; others, that there are 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 39 
 
 two kinds of, or two stages, in justification, the first is obtained 
 by faith without works, the second is the perfecting or completing 
 of that justification by works. Again, as some elevated St. Paul 
 to the scat of authority, and held that St. James must be recon- 
 ciled to him, so others, per contra, inverted this order by explain- 
 ing St. Paul by the definitions of St. James. Lastly, it is largely 
 held that St. Paul excepted against works done under the JMosaic 
 law as meritorious, but did not except from justification works of 
 Christian obedience. 
 
 The schoolmen taught that the faith of St. James was fides 
 viformis, and that of St. Fi\\i\ fides formata. 
 
 This is not the place to investigate the various tenets that have 
 been held on the important doctrine of justification by the various 
 churches and communities of Christendom, for although St. James' 
 teaching in this place has had a large share in the moulding or 
 modifying articles of faith on this subject, yet it is more than 
 doubtful whether his statements here have any more than a very 
 remote reference to the point at issue; the principle that he applied 
 to the members of the synagogue may be applied to the members 
 of the church, but the faith of the one and of the other are very 
 distinct. It will be enough to remind the reader that the whole 
 context which has led us up to this point is occupied on exclu- 
 sively Jewish ground, the synagogue is the scene, not the upper 
 chamber of the Christian congregation. The law not the Gospel 
 is the subject under discussion. There is no mention of sacrifice, 
 atonement, or any other standpoints of Christian dogma. The 
 confession of faith or creed with which this discussion on faith 
 and works is connected, is the Jewish creed that " God is one," 
 the well known SJima Israel, Deut. vi. 4. The parallel is not to 
 be found in the writings of St. Paul to Christian churches,^ but m 
 the preaching of John the Baptist to the Jews who canie forth to 
 hear him on° the banks of Jordan, and in the exposition of the 
 law unfolded by our Lord on the mount, and in the solenm 
 charge of St. Paul, when he deals with Judaism stilted on its 
 Abrahamic descent, " Thou that makest thy boast in the_ law, 
 through breaking the law dishonourest thou God." Rom. n. 23. 
 " For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers 
 of the law shall be justified." Rom. ii. 13. 
 
 It is observable at this point that St. James institutes a kind of 
 climax in his teaching. In chap. i. 27 he seems to refer to the 
 gorgeous ritual of the temple, and shows that the external wor- 
 ship is useless in itself unless it has spiritual accompaniments; the 
 outside of religion should be not show, but care for the afflicted, 
 and purity from the defilements of the world. In chap. ii. 1, 7, 
 he proceeds to teach them that the service in the synagogue was 
 also of no avail, if disfigured by partiality to the rich and 
 
40 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 15 kav Se a^eA^oy 77 d8eX(f)r) yv/xvol virap^wcn 
 Kai XeiTTOfxeuot Trjg i(pr]iui€pov rpo(f)7J9, 
 
 16 e'LTrr) Se rL9 avrols e^ vfxcou, 
 " YirayeTe iv elpr]vri, 
 OepfxaLveaOe kolL ^opra^eaOe,'' 
 
 fJUY] 8(OTe 5e avTols ra iTTLTrjSeLa tov aco/iaros, 
 
 Tl TO 6(f)€X09J 
 
 15 But if a brother or sister naked be, 
 And lacking their daily sustenance, 
 
 16 And some one of you say to them, 
 " Go away in peace 
 
 Warm yourselves and satisfy yourselves," 
 
 But ye do not give them the necessaries for their body. 
 
 What is the use ? 
 
 contempt for the poor. And in the passage we are now entering 
 upon, he further instructs them that even the orthodox faith 
 might be taught and received among them, but yet be dead and 
 inoperative. His object is to convince them that in all that 
 concerned their religion they had no matter of boasting in them- 
 selves, no merit before God, but contrariwise needed pardon for 
 the iniquities even of their holy things. 
 
 TL TO 6(f)e\o'i, What is the use? What is the profit or the good ? 
 What benefit can arise to the professor? 
 
 eav Xeyr} T19 ey^eiv^ if a man say, that is, makes a profession of 
 having faith. Tlie form of expression is evidently chosen with a 
 purpose to intimate that the man had not what he professed to have. 
 
 What is the faith here referred to? In this, the opening of the 
 subject, faith is introduced indefinitely, or its definition at 
 least is deferred till a later stage in the treatise. At the present 
 point all that is said is, that a man professes to have faith, or a 
 faith, but he has not works ; he says he has an inward and in- 
 visible disposition of mind, but he has no external and visible 
 evidences, which serve as proofs of the truth of his profession. 
 
 Can his faith, rj Trla-ra, the faith he says he has, save him, him 
 avTov, the supposed character? It is a mere figment of his fancy, 
 and not a living principle of power and reality. 
 
 Ver. 15. This verse introduces an illustration of the subject up 
 to the point at which the writer has arrived : If a person is in 
 want of ordinary necessaries, and one of you were to say kind 
 words and express good wishes for his welfare, making a profession 
 of benevolence, but not carrying the profession into practice, 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 41 
 
 17 ovTco KOLL rj TTiCTTif, iav fjLT) e)(r} epya, 
 veKpa IcTTL Kaff kavrrjv. 
 
 18 aAA' €pei Ti^, 
 
 '^ Sv TTLCTTIU €)(€lf KW/CO Cpya C^W 
 
 Sel^ou fxoL Trju ttlcttlu crov -)(a)p\s' tcou epycov, 
 Kayco Sel^co ctol e'/c twv epycou fiov Trjv 7rtaTii>.^' 
 
 19 av TTLareveLs on els Icttlv 6 Oeo9' 
 KaXws TTOLei^' 
 
 KOLL Ta 8at/jiouLa TnarevovaL, 
 Kol (jyplacrovaL. 
 
 1 7 So also your faith, if it have not works 
 Is dead by itself. 
 
 18 But some one will say, 
 
 " Thou faith hast, and I works have, 
 
 Show me thy faith apart from its works, 
 
 And I Avill show thee out of my works, the faith." 
 
 19 Thou believest that God is one. 
 Thou doest well. 
 
 Even the devils believe this^ 
 And shudder. 
 
 what would be the good of such frothy utterances ? So tlie faith, 
 the faith which the man who is the subject of this hypothesis 
 says he has, is dead by itself, furnishing no evidence, or 
 proof of its existence. It is like a man boasting of large posses- 
 sions but living in poverty and never producing a farthing to 
 public view; or as one who talks of his knowledge of music and 
 painting, and yet never touches the canvass or the chord. 
 
 Ver. 18. Here a further objection is raised to the man in error 
 by the introduction of another disputant on the scene, who, 
 admitting the possibility for argument's sake, of the separation 
 between faith and works, thus deals with the question: Thou, for 
 thy part, hast faith, and I, for my part, have works; shew me, 
 display and evidence to me thy faith separate from its works, the 
 works that belong to it. But such a process involves a patent im- 
 possibility; for even if a moral condition could exist without making 
 any manifestation, it could not be exhibited without a manifesta- 
 tion. And I, he continues, will show you the faith out of, as 
 evidenced and manifested by, my works; the articles are articles 
 of reference. 
 
 Ver. 19. ail 7riar€V€t<; otl et9 ^(JtIv o ©eo?. This is the pivot 
 
42 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 20 OeXeLf Se yuauai, co auOpcoire Keve, 
 
 OTL 7] TTLOrTLS XCOpl^ TCdV kpyCOV VEKpa €(TTLl>; 
 
 20 But art thou willing to know, empty man, 
 That thy faith apart from its works is dead ? 
 
 on which the whole interpretation of the passage turns. Faith 
 has hitherto been spoken of indefinitely ; we have been left in the 
 dark as yet as to the object to which the faith spoken of is 
 directed ; here, then, we have the definition. It is not Gospel 
 faith, it is not faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, in Flis blood and 
 righteousness ; we have no mention made of any of the distinctive 
 doctrines of Christianity, but the faith is defined and limited to 
 be that " God is one," the Sk'ma Israel, the one great article of 
 the Jewish creed to this very day ; the platform is not Christian 
 but essentially Jewish. Surely it is but missing the point of the 
 writer's argument to say this creed was common to both Jews 
 and Christians. It was so, and as such is well suited to the 
 purpose, according to our theory of this Epistle, that it was 
 addressed to Jews as Jews, and not to Christians as Christians. 
 The mixture of the latter with the former was an accident, and 
 hence they are often addressed and consoled, but the bulk of the 
 letter is directed against Jewish error. A definition of faith to a 
 Christian congregation would not have failed to have contained 
 some special reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, we 
 must remember that this is only one part of a consistent whole. 
 We have seen that this Epistle was addressed to the twelve tribes, 
 that the scene lay in the synagogue, the commandments quoted 
 are from the Jewish law, and now the very definition of faith is 
 emphatically the creed of Israel. 
 
 Thou doest zoell. There is no doubt about the correctness of 
 this creed, but if you stop at this point, you will fall far short of 
 salvation ; a barren belief in the unity of God, although it is a 
 Jewish boast against the Gentile world, is possessed by those 
 that are irremediably lost, for even the devils hold this article of 
 faith, and what is more, " shudder." This creed brings them 
 neither respite nor redemption, but rather adds to their terrors. 
 How like the old Hebrew prophets is this style of bitter irony; 
 how forcible and fearful the picture painted by these words: 
 " Even the devils believe this, and shudder," literally, their hair 
 stands on end icith terror. 
 
 Ver. 20. But art thou willing to knoio. 6eXei<;. This word 
 suggests the unwillingness of the man in error to see the true 
 force of the argument: Are you really willing and ready to 
 know, or is not your will perverse, and hence your judgment 
 wrong- ? 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 43 
 
 21 'AjSpaa/JL 6 TraTTjp r)ixwv 
 ovK €^ epywv edLKaicodrj, 
 aveveyKas IcraaK tov vlov avrov eVi to OvcnacTTrjpLov; 
 
 21 Abraham, our father, 
 
 Was not he by works justified 
 
 In oiFering-up Isaac his son on the altar ? 
 
 Empty, K6V6. Not only foolish, or void of sound sense, but 
 also with a certain amount of satire, empty of ivorks, void of fruit. 
 
 7} TTLcrri^. Not faith in the abstract, but the article refers to 
 the case of the man before us, this faith of which you speak, your 
 faith ; apart from its works (mark again the force of the article of 
 reference twv) is dead. 
 
 Dead, veKpd. There is some difference of opinion about the 
 reading in this place, the MS. B, and the first corrector of C read 
 ap'yr), unproductive, useless, idle, but the ordinary reading is found 
 in N, A, c, K, L; the Latin Vulgate also supports this, there can 
 be no doubt that this reading is therefore the best supported. 
 
 Ver. 21-23. Abraham our father. Mark here again the evi- 
 dence that this Epistle was addressed to Jews; compare Eom. 
 iv. 1, where St. Paul was addressing the Jewish portion of his 
 readers. 
 
 Justified by ivories. In order to see the force of this passage, 
 and the seeming opposition between it and the teaching of St. 
 Paul, it may be well to place them side by side : — 
 
 St. Paul, Rom. iv. 1-3. St. James ii. 21, 22. 
 
 " What shall we say then that "Was not Abraham our 
 
 Abraham our father, as pertain- father justified by works, when 
 
 ing to the flesh, hath found ? he offered Isaac his son upon 
 
 For if Abraham were justified the altar ? Thou seest how 
 
 by works, he hath whereof to his faith was co-operating with 
 
 glory; but not before God. For his works, and by his works his 
 
 what saith the Scripture ? faith was perfected." 
 Abraham believed God, and it 
 was counted unto him for 
 righteousness." 
 
 It is noticeable that the same example is brought before us by 
 the two writers, the very term Abraham our father is common to 
 them both ; the testimony of Scripture that Abraham believed God, 
 and it was counted to him for righteousness, is advanced by both 
 alike; the only difference seems to be that the standpoint of St. 
 Paul is the promise of the birth of Isaac, and that of St. James 
 
44 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 22 l3X€7r€L9 hn rj ttlo-tis (rvurjpyeL tol9 epyoLs avrov, 
 Koi eK Tcou epycou rj ttlcttls ireXeKoOr) j 
 
 23 Kol €7rXr)pco07] rj ypa(f)r) rj Xeyovcra, 
 '^ EirlcTTevae Se AjSpaa/JL rco OcS^ 
 KOL eXoyLcrOr) avrco els* dLKaioavprjp, 
 KOL ^lXos^ Oeov eKXyOrj. 
 
 22 Thou seest that his faith was co-operating with his 
 
 works, 
 And by his works his faith was perfected, 
 
 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, 
 " And Abraham believed God, 
 
 And it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 
 And the Friend of God he was called." 
 
 the offering of Isaac ; the argument and the illustration are so 
 nearly alike that we are puzzled at the apparent discrepancy of 
 the conclusion. But is there any real difference between them? 
 Both agree that Abraham's belief was counted for righteousness. 
 St. James adds that his faith co-operated with his works, and by 
 his works his faith was perfected, or brought to its proper end 
 and completion. St. Paul asserts that the patriarch was justified 
 by the unseen principle of faith ; St. James, by that principle as 
 evidenced and brought to full development in its fruits. The 
 former teaches that Abraham's works, as such, did not justify 
 him, but his faith; the latter, that his faith co-operated with his 
 works, and that the works were simply the perfection of his faith. 
 In both the vital force is the same, but in one it is treated in the 
 abstract, in the other in concrete. It must nevertheless be borne 
 in mind that the faith spoken of is the Jewish faith concerning 
 the unity of God, and not the Christian faith relating to atone- 
 ment and salvation by the Gospel of grace. 
 
 Ver. 23. eh hiKaLoavvr}v , for righteousness. The rendering of 
 npnv^, the ^ or et9, for, is expletive almost in our language. It 
 would be best left untranslated or represented by as. 
 
 Friend of God, (f)i\o<i Oeov. See 2 Chron. xx. 7, and Is. 
 xli. 8, where the participle active is used, and therefore the sense 
 would be a lover of God: see (f)lXo<i tov vv/jLcf)lov, 0/Xo9 tov 
 Koafiov, etc. This title of Abraham is common amongst the 
 Arabs to this day. 
 
ST. JAMES, II. 45 
 
 24 'Opdre on e^ epywv BiKaLovTai avOpwiros, 
 Kol ovK Ik TTLO-Tecdg fjiouou; 
 
 24 Behold ye, that by works a man is justified, 
 And not by faith only ! 
 
 Ver. 24. This verse forms a conclusion of the argument so far 
 as it is illustrated by the case of Abraham, but Abraham was called 
 and owned of God, and therefore to strengthen the position, 
 St. James adduces the example of a heathen woman, Kahab, a 
 harlot, TToppT]. This word is not to be understood in a figurative 
 sense as an idolatress, one guilty of spiritual fornication, that is, a 
 heathen, nor as a keeper of an inn or resting place for travellers, 
 but literally. It is remarkable that St. Paul, in writing to the 
 Hebrews (ibr we believe that Apostle to have been the author of 
 that Epistle), teaches that Rahab was saved by faith; here again 
 is the same apparent contradiction as above in the case of Abra- 
 ham, but as there St. Paul looked at the motive, the inner im- 
 pression on the secret springs of thought and will, and St. James 
 at the outward evidence of these invisible powers, so the two 
 writers pursue the same course respectively in treating of Rahab. 
 
 It must not be forgotten in reading this whole paragraph that 
 the key note is sounded in the nineteenth verse. The faith here 
 treated of is a bare belief that " God is one;" this is a definition 
 of Jewish faith. It is not enough to save a man. But although 
 the same argument might be applied to the Christian, yet we 
 contend that the writer is not speaking of Christian faith, but 
 Jewish faith. Even the illustrations he uses prove that his con- 
 cern was not with the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. Abra- 
 ham had received a promise that in " his seed all nations should 
 be blessed," and when called upon to offer his son on the altar, he 
 believed that God would still keep His word, even though it 
 were necessary for Him to raise Isaac from the dead. (See Heb. 
 xi. 19.) Abraham's faith was a reliance on God that He would 
 not forfeit His word. The same may be said of Rahab : she had 
 heard how God had destroyed Egypt and delivered Israel, and 
 she believed that God would also destroy Canaan, and so she 
 saved the spies. Thus neither in the definition of the faith here 
 spoken of, nor in the illustrations of that faith, have we any 
 mention made of the doctrines of the Gospel of the grace of God. 
 No word is found about the blood and righteousness of Christ. 
 Even in Heb. xi. all that St. Paul advances is that these saints of 
 old showed a spirit of trustfulness in God, and reliance on the 
 evidence which He furnished them ; and hence a lesson is derived 
 to ourselves who have full light and a perfect revelation. It is 
 true that by implication and inference the necessity of Christian 
 
46 ST. JAMES, II. 
 
 25 OfJiOLCos 5e Kcu 'Paa^ r) iropvr] 
 OVK i^ epycov iSiKaLcodr), 
 VTTode^afJLeuTj tov9 ayyeXov9, 
 Kal €Tepa oda iK^aXovaa; 
 
 26 coaTrep yap to acofxa )(copl9 Tn^ev/jLaros' v€Kpov icTTiv, 
 ovTco KOLL rj TTLCTTLf x^/olf T(ou epycou v€Kpa iari. 
 
 25 But likewise Rahab also the harlot, 
 Was not she by works justified, 
 
 In receiving-secretly the spies, 
 
 And by a different way dismissing them ? 
 
 26 For as the body apart from breath is dead, 
 So faith also apart from its works is dead. 
 
 faith producing Christian works, which no one would deny, is 
 enforced, only that is not the point here, the object of the writer 
 being: to convince his Jewish readers of their shortcomino;s, and 
 as the Baptist, when he bade the people bring forth fruit meet 
 for repentance, and as our Lord, when He preached the sermon 
 on the mount, raised the standard of the law to prove the sinful- 
 ness of man, so St. James shows the Jews, to whom he wrote, 
 that neither their ceremonial, nor their knowledge of the law, 
 nor their faith in one God, could save their souls. He was thus 
 driving them from self-trust, to the embracing of the life-giving 
 doctrines of the Gospel. 
 
 Ver. 25. The messengers, tov<; ayyekovi. In the parallel pas- 
 sage in the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 31) KaTaaK67rov<i, Sjjies, 
 Heb. D^^no, Josh. ii. 1. 
 
 VTToSe^afieur}. The preposition in composition suggests the 
 secrecy with which she received the spies, and that in eK^akovaa 
 the speed with which she dismissed them. 
 
 eTepa oSw, hy a different waij. They came in by the gate, they 
 were dispatched through a window in the wall. 
 
 Ver. 26. This verse seems to present no small difficulty, as we 
 should have expected that /of ^/t would have been represented by 
 breath, and ivorks by the bodij. This has been noticed by all 
 commentators. The comparison here is clearly not between the 
 body and faith, and breath and works in every point of view, but 
 only in this, that when we see a body, we know that it is alive 
 by its breathing; so when we see a man professing to have faith, 
 we discern its living reality by the visible exhibition of good 
 works. Breath here is viewed as the manifestation of life, not as 
 the cause. 
 
ST. JAIlIES, ni. 47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1 Mt] TToXXol SidacTKaXoL ylveaOe, d8€X(f)0L /xou, 
 elSoTCs^ OTL jxel^ov KpLfia Xy/mylro/xeOa' 
 
 2 TToXXa yap Trraiofjiei^ airaure?- 
 e'i Tiy iu Xoycp ov TTTaUi, 
 ovTos TeXeL09 avi)p, 
 
 Bvvaros \atXLvaywyr\a-ai kcll oXou to aw/xa. 
 
 1 Do not many of you become teachers, iny brethren, 
 Knowing that greater condemnation shall we receive. 
 
 2 For in many things stumble we all. 
 If any one in word stumbleth not, 
 He is a perfect man. 
 
 Able to bridle his whole body also. 
 
 Ver. 1. Do not many of you become teachers. Here, again, we 
 have tokens of the Jewish character of the persons addressed ; tlie 
 office of rabbi or teacher was one of great honour among them, 
 and consequently one much sought after. 
 
 We see this in the Gospel narrative, where our Lord reproves 
 them as loving to be called Rabbi, Rabbi, Matt, xxiii. 7. The 
 same features of self-sufficiency and arrogance are prominent in 
 the Judaizing teachers who disturbed the early church, as is clear 
 from many passages both in the Acts and Epistles. 
 
 Teachers not masters, in the modern sense of the word. Be- 
 come, not be: Do not introduce into- the church this fault that is 
 prevalent in the synagogue. The object of St. James in this 
 portion of his Epistle seems to be to convince the teachers of sin 
 in the performance of their official duties, as he had hitherto the 
 members' of the synagogue in their daily walk in life. 
 
 The sin of the teacher is more glaring, creates a greater scandal, 
 and is visited with severer punishment. How strikingly is this 
 implied in our Lord's words to Nicodemus, " Art thou a master 
 (6 8ihdaKa\o<;) of Israel and knowest not these things?" Jno. 
 iii. 10. 
 
 Ver. 2. In many things. TroXka is frequently used adverbially 
 
48 ST. JAMES, III. 
 
 3 I8e T(ov Ittttcov rovs \aXLvovs 
 els ra crTOfiara fiaXXofjcei^ 
 elf TO TreiOeaOai avrovs rj/JuUf 
 Acat oXou TO (Tcofxa avTCDv /jLeTayofxeu. 
 
 3 Lo ! the bits of horses, 
 Into their mouths we put, 
 That they should be obedient to us, 
 And their whole body we guide-about. 
 
 for ofte7i, but there seems to be a distinction drawn here between 
 the general faults of which all are guilty and the particular sin of 
 an unbridled tongue, this is supported by the Syriac and Vulgate. 
 
 We stumble, irTaio^ev, akin to TrLTrro), to fall, to stumble in 
 the path of duty. 
 
 All, airavre';. A comprehensive word ; cifxa iravre'i, all to- 
 gether. " There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good 
 and sinneth not." Eccles. vii. 20. But of all sins the most diffi- 
 cult to avoid and restrain are sins of the tongue, hence St. James 
 tells us that the man who stumbles not in word is a perfect man. 
 Perfect, reXeto? ; absolute perfection is not intended by this word, 
 but relative, the nearest approach to faultlessness is the man who 
 governs his tongue ; the truth of this is evident : speech is the 
 channel through which our thoughts find expression, the angry 
 feeling begets the angry utterance, and hence becomes known ; 
 the foul thought is published by the foul word ; the tongue is 
 the index of tlie whole man ; " out of the abundance of the heart 
 the mouth speaketh; " to keep the tongue in subjection is to hold 
 in control all the evil tossings and risings of the flood of iniquity 
 within us; the man who can bridle his tongue, as a practised 
 rider checks the restiveness of a fiery steed, can curb {x^XLvajco- 
 ^rja-ac) and direct the whole of his body ; the tongue is the 
 master-position, this secured, the mutiny of our members is under 
 our power. 
 
 Ver. 3. i8e, lo! Instead of iSe ^the MSS. a, b, k, l, read et 
 Be, but if, and {<, el Se rydp. The Vulgate also has si autem. On 
 the other hand c reads Ihe, and the Syriac, but lo! The authority, 
 therefore, for el he is preponderating ; moreover, it is the harder 
 reading, and therefore more likely to have been altered to an 
 easier one. Yet in a question of this kind the style of tlie writer 
 must have considerable weight in determining the question. St. 
 James, after the example of the old Hebrew prophets, continually 
 prefaces his illustrations and exhortations by tiiis interjectional 
 form: see vv. 4, 5 of this chapter, and chap. v. 4, 7, 9, 11. It is 
 
-ST. JAMES, III. 4i) 
 
 4 I8ov Kou ra irXola rrjXiKavTa oura, 
 Kol VTTO avejAWv (jKXripcoi^ eXavvofieva, 
 fxerayeTaL vtto IXay^iarov 7n]8aXtov, 
 OTTOV av 7] opfxi] Tov evOvvovTOs (SovXtjtul. 
 
 5 ovTco KOLL 1] yXwaaa fiLKpov fJceXo^ icrri, 
 Koi jxeyaXav^el. 
 
 I8oV rjXlKOU TTUp r]XlKTjV vX7]V avaTTTEf 
 
 4 Lo ! the ships also, so _o:reat as they are, 
 And by violent winds driven, 
 
 Are guided-about by a very little rudder, 
 Wherever the will of the helmsman desireth. 
 
 5 So the tongue also a little member is. 
 And boasteth greatly. 
 
 Lo ! how little a fire. 
 
 How great a forest kindleth ! 
 
 a strong arijument for this reading that the two illustrations that 
 follow immediately on this are introduced by Ihov. It is not at 
 all unlikely that the confusion in the readimr arose from an 
 itacism, a clerical error which is so frequent in ancient ]\1SS. 
 This mistake in vowels and diphthongs which have nearly the 
 same sound, arose either from the copyist writing from the dicta- 
 tion of a reader, or from a careless manner of pronouncing such 
 words, leading to an incorrect way of spelhng them. In die most 
 ancient ^ISS. the chief ziacwms were between t and et, at and e; 
 this would account for the doubt which hangs over this place: see 
 Scrivener's Introduction to the Criticism of the Neio Test., p. 10. 
 
 The three illustrations so poetically introduced give a sort of 
 popular explanation of the somewhat startling statement, that he 
 who governs his tongue is a perfect man; the small bit in the 
 mouth of the horse governs and guides his whole body; the little 
 rudder manages the whole ship, even when wind and wave con- 
 spire to drive the bark into rebellion ; the spark that accident lets 
 fall envelopes the wide forest in Hames. Such is the power of the 
 little tongue amongst the many members and the whole body of 
 man; if we control and curb it, all the tumult of passion will 
 be held in subjection, but if the bit be broken, the rudder im- 
 hinged, the spark dropt, the whole man will be the victim of his 
 own unbridled fury, and the fire will spread and embrace in its 
 destructive arms the whole circle of the society in which he moves. 
 
 Ver. 4. opfii] is the will manifested in action and clfort. 
 
 Ver. 5. IJoiv small, i)\lkov. The Received Text here reads 
 
 5 
 
50 ST. JAMES, III. 
 
 6 KOL Tj yXcocrcra irvp, 
 6 Koa-jxos Tr]9 dSiKLap. 
 
 r) yXcocraa KaOiaTaraL €V toIs /jLeXeatu Tjficoi', 
 rj cnriXovaa oXoi^ to aa/xa, 
 kolI (j)XoyL^ovaa tov rpo)(pv rrj^ yeveaecof, 
 KOL (f)XoyL^Ofxei>T] vtto rrj9 yeevvq^- 
 
 6 And the tongue is a fire, 
 The world of miquity the forest! 
 The tongue is constituted among our members, 
 The defiler of the whole body, 
 And inflamer of the orb of creation, 
 And inflamed by Gehenna. 
 
 oXlyov, little. The authority for this reading is A, the revise of 
 C; K, and L. Whereas rjXUov is found in a revised, b, x, and the 
 first hand of C ; the Vulgate quantus also supports this. r)X[Ko<i 
 refers to size, either how great or hoio small, according to the 
 requirements of the context. 
 
 Forest, vXrjv. The word matter, found in the English Version, 
 is borrowed from the Latin materies, which sometimes signifies 
 fuel; the literal rendering is far more graphic, as reminding the 
 reader of those sudden disasters that sometimes arise in hot 
 countries from the accidental spark falling on the dry herbage, 
 and extending to whole forests. 
 
 Ver. 6. And the tongue is the fire, the world of iniquity {the 
 forest). Both Wordsworth and Alford, together with most com- 
 mentators, render the article in 6 icoaixo^ by that, that world of 
 iniquity, in apposition to r) <yKoi(X(Ta, the tongue, in the former 
 clause. But as the article in rj jXayacra, the tongue, marks it as 
 the subject in its own clause, so it is more natural to regard the 
 article in o Koafxa as performing the same office in its clause. It 
 has however been already hinted at, chap. i. 9, that in Hebrew 
 parallelisms it often happens that one line of thought is stated 
 fully in one member, but in the following member or members of 
 the group the subject only is expressed, the predicate being in- 
 volved, and to be supplied from the preceding parallel clause. 
 Thus r] <yKo)aaa has for its predicate irvp expressed, but derived 
 from the sentence immediately preceding, so o KoaiJbo^ has for its 
 predicate vXr], derived from the preceding sentence, though not 
 expressed; thus the tongue corresponds with the spark, and the 
 world with the forest. This is the view adopted in the Syriac 
 Version, a high authority, as being in a tongue cognate with 
 Hebrew ; the translator has only slightly varied the metaphor by 
 
ST. JAMES, III. 51 
 
 changing it into a simile. Bishop Jebb in liis Sacred Literature^ 
 pp. 285-287, resists this construction as an innovation, and rejects 
 it on the ground of the demands of" the parallehsm, but althouo-h 
 the parallehsm is not preserved precisely in the same form, it is not 
 destroyed ; and it is a strong argument lor this mode of arrano-ino- 
 the parallels, that the article in o Koa/xo'? is properly accounted for. 
 As to the argument that it is strange that if this were the readinf , 
 copyists could, without an exception, have departed from it, is 
 beside the mark; it is not contended that the Greek text ever 
 read vXy, but that the nature of Hebrew parallehsm demands or 
 permits such a transference of a predicate from a preceding clause. 
 Before the second ?} ^Xwaaa the Received Text inserts oi/t&)9; 
 this is omitted in all the ancient MSS., the style is more nervous 
 and forcible without it. 
 
 KaOiararai, is constituted. This rendering is rather too strono-. 
 We have scarcely any word in our language that gives the exact 
 force ; Jias its place would probably be the nearest. 
 
 St. James proceeds to show the tremendous capabilities of the 
 tongue for evil. It bespatters with foul spots (cnTikovcra) our 
 whole body, and inflames the orb^ or, uni perse of creation. 
 
 T. rpoy^ov T. ^eveaew^. This expression has received a vast num- 
 ber of interpretations. A few may be named : the course of our life; 
 the term of our life; the succeedbiy generations of mankind; thus 
 the Syriac: another mode of expressing the ivhole body just men- 
 tioned; the ivorld at large, orbis terraram; or by change of 
 accent, Tp6y^o<i, the race of man. Classical usage and figures are 
 of little importance in helping us to decide a question like this. 
 An Old Testament passage must be sought for, as the whole basis 
 of thought and expression in the New Testament generally, and 
 very specially in this Epistle, is Hebrew. Such a passage is found 
 in Ps. Ixxvii. 19, in E.V. 18, " the voice of thy thunder was in 
 the heaven" E.V. 7j'?J3, literally, in the wheel. This passage 
 is, moreover, rendered by the LXX. (which is of great impor- 
 tance here) (^(ovrj t. ^povTr}<i crov ev t. Tpo^M. This ivheel or orb 
 it will be perceived is in contrast to the world and the earth, and 
 hence seems clearlv to denote the heavenly sphere or universe. I 
 am aware that many scholars of note disapprove of this interpreta- 
 tion. Some suggesting a rolling sound; this has the support of Aben- 
 Ezra, Maurer, Bottcher, etc.; others, as Hengstenberg, a whirl, 
 denoting the rapidity with which the thunder-peals follow on 
 each other; and others, as J. D. Michaelis and Ewald, a whirlwind. 
 But none of these explanations have better ground than the first 
 mentioned ; the comparison of the concave of heaven to a wheel 
 or orb, with its revolutions of day and night, seems the most 
 natural : this view was adopted by Kimchi. If this passage in 
 the psalm is the original ground of the phrase in St. James, and 
 
52 ST. JAMES, III. 
 
 7 iracra yap (pv(rL9 Orjplcou re koI irereLvcov, 
 epTrercop re kol evaXicov, 
 
 SapLa^eraL kol 8e8ap,acrTaL rr) (f)V(T€L Tjj avOpcdTnvr)' 
 
 8 Tr]V 8e yX'sxraav ovSels SvvaraL apdpcoTrcou Sa/jLaaar 
 OLKardaTaTov kukou pLecTTT] lov daparrjipopov. 
 
 7 For every nature both of wild-beasts and birds, 
 Both of reptiles, and sea-monsters, 
 
 Is being tamed and has been tamed by human nature. 
 
 8 But the tongue no one of men can tame, 
 It is a disorderly evil, full of deadly poison. 
 
 of this little doubt can be entertained, the figure presented to us 
 is that of the tongue, a central power, that defiles the whole body 
 of its possessor; but its danger does not end here, it sets on fire 
 the whole creation: as the little spark falling on the blades of 
 grass spreads the fire to the forest, and none can tell where the 
 conflagration will end, so the tongue, by emitting sparks of 
 wickedness, may involve the whole universe in disaster. This 
 explanation receives strength also from the statement that follows, 
 that the fire with which the tongue is kindled is derived from 
 Gehenna ; the hir/hcst and the lowest points in creation are thus 
 contrasted, the evil at the centre of the circle is diffused to the 
 most distant points in the circumference: " Set a watch, Lord, 
 before my mouth, keep the door of my lips." 
 
 Gehenna, D3n"''J, the valley of Hinnom. It was here that the 
 Jews sacrificed their children to jMoloch, and after it had been 
 polluted for this reason by Josiah, 2 Ki. xxiii. 10, it became the 
 place of refuse for Jerusalem. In consequence of tlie corruption 
 that was always festering there, and the fire that was ever kept 
 burning to consume the filth, this valley was regarded as a type 
 of the place of endless torment, and its name was transferred to 
 that dread abode. After the judgment of death, whether by 
 sword or stoning, had been passed on a criminal, the casting of 
 his carcase into the valley of Hinnom was regarded as the greatest 
 post-mortem dishonour: see jMatt. v. 22, 23. 
 
 Ver. 7. (fiuiTCi, nature. Not species, but the nature proper to 
 every creature, is now daily in course of being tamed, and has 
 long been so, by the superior nature that is proper to man ; yet 
 though man has this power over the wild creatures, he has not 
 control over his own tongue. 
 
 Ver. 8. dKardcrTaTov, unstable, restless. The Received Text 
 reads aKdayerov, micontrollahle. The former is the reading of the 
 more ancient Uncial MSS., and the latter of the more recent ones. 
 
ST. JAMES, III. 53 
 
 eV avTYj evXoyovfxeu tov KvpLOv kol irarepa, 
 KOLL eV avTY) KaTapcdjxeOa tov9 dudpco7rov9 
 T0V9 Ka6 bpoLWCTLv Oeou y^yovora^' 
 
 10 Ik tov auTov aTop.aT09 e^ep^erai evXoyla kol Kardpaf 
 01) XPV) d8eX(PoL fiov, Tavra ovtco yiveaOai. 
 
 11 p.r)TL 7] Tryyi] e'/c Tr]9 avrrjs oirrjs' 
 
 (3pV€L TO yXvKV KOL TO TTLKpOV ; 
 
 9 Therewith we bless the Lord and Father, 
 And therewith curse we men, 
 Who after the likeness of God are created. 
 
 10 From the same mouth proceeds blessing and curse ! 
 j\Iy brethren, these things ought not thus to happen. 
 
 11 Doth a spring from the same aperture 
 Emit the sweet and the bitter? 
 
 Full of deadly poison. This seems to bo a reference to Ps. 
 exxxix. 3, " the poison of asps is under their lips." Probably 
 both j^assages have their common origin in tlie history of the first 
 temjDtation and the serpent tempter. 
 
 Ver. 9. Tlie Lord, Kvpiov instead of Qeov, is the reading of the 
 most ancient MSS. 
 
 In the likeness of God. ]\Iark here again the reference to the 
 early part of Genesis i. 26, 27. 
 
 Ver. 10. XP^'h ^^ "^^y he worth noticing that this is the only 
 place in which this verb occurs in the New Testament. 
 
 The perversion of tlie use of the tongue is sharply rebuked by 
 exhibiting the unnaturalness of such a misappropriation of its 
 powers ; this is done by the parables of the Fountain and the 
 Fig-tree. These two comparisons teach each its own lesson ; the 
 former, the inconsistency and impossibility of the tongue uttering 
 both good and bad, as though it were actuated by two distinct 
 agencies ; " What communion hath light with darkness," 2 Cor. 
 vi. 14, contains a similar thought. Such a blending together 
 of opposites cannot exist. The latter, since the tongue is evil 
 (for the case of the wicked man's tongue only is under considera- 
 tion) : Do not suppose that the blessings'you pronounce upon God's 
 name, in the exercise of your forms of religious worship, are 
 acceptable to Him, for He will only receive a pure offering from 
 a pure source ; "Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of 
 
54 ST. JAMES. III. 
 
 12 /uirj Svi>aTai, a5eA0Oi fiov, avKrj iXata^ Troirjaai, 
 rj afjLTreXo^ crvKa; 
 
 ovre akvKOV yXvKV TroirjaaL vScop. 
 
 13 Ti9 ao(l)09 Koi i7rL(Trr}ficoi> ev vfxlv; 
 SeL^aTco e'/c ttJ9 KaXT]9 avaaTpocprj^ 
 TO. epya avTOV iu TrpavrrjTL ao^ias. 
 
 12 Can, my brethren, a fig-tree produce olives, 
 Or a vine, figs? 
 
 Neither (can it) salt-sweet water. 
 
 13 Who is there wise and understanding among you' 
 Let him show out of his good mode-of-life 
 
 His works in meekness of wisdom. 
 
 thistles?" Matt. vii. 16; and "a good man out of the good 
 treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man 
 out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things," Matt. xii. 35, 
 contain a parallel lesson to this figure. 
 
 Ver. 12. The Received Text has here ovtco<; ovhe^la Trrj'yrj, and 
 after c'lKvkov^ Kai. These words are not found in the most ancient 
 MSS.; but though probably not forming part of the original it is 
 a correct gloss, as by the parallelism we expect such a subject to 
 correspond with what goes before ; hence I should not conclude, 
 as most commentators, that oKvkov formed the subject with hvva- 
 Tai understood for the verb, " (Can) salt (water) bring forth 
 sweet water?" but the primary subject of the sentence is sustained 
 throughout ; the absence of the article with akvicbv also points in 
 the same direction (see also note on 6th verse); the omission of 
 the Kal adds great force to the figure " salt-sweet," an oxymoron. 
 The terseness of the expression refers chiefly to the double pro- 
 duce supposed in v. 11, though it will be at once felt that the 
 other thought is not excluded but involved. 
 
 Ver. 13. Who is there wise and understanding. The former 
 aocbo'; refers to the general ability, the latter iincnriiJiwv to the 
 particular application of that ability. The interrogative form, 
 "Who is?" suggests the thought. If there is any one among 
 you of this character, then let him manifest his wisdom in 
 meekness. 
 
ST. JAMES. Iir. 55 
 
 14 €L Se QXOV TTLKpOV ^X^TE 
 
 Kcu eplOeiau iv ty) KapSia vficov, 
 
 fxr] KaraKavxaaOe kol \j/ev8ea6€ Kara Trj9 aXyOeia?. 
 
 15 OvK ecFTLV avTT] r) (ro(j)La avwOev KarepxofMevr], 
 aXX' iiriyeLO^, xf/vxiKr), SaLfioutcoSrj^. 
 
 16 OTTOV yap ^r;Aoy /cat eptOeia, 
 
 €K€L aKaraaTaa-ia kol irav (pavXou irpayfia. 
 
 17 7] Se aucodei' (ro(f)La irpcdTov p,ev ayvi) lariv, 
 eneLTa elprji'iKy), eTneiKy^, evireidi^^, 
 
 fiea-Tr) iXeov^ kol Kapircov ayaOwv, 
 
 dSiaKpLTOS' aVVTTOKpLTO^. 
 
 14 But if bitter jealousy ye have, 
 And selfishness in your heart, 
 
 Do not boast or lie against the truth. 
 
 15 This is not the wisdom from above descending, 
 But is earthly, animal, devilish. 
 
 16 For where there 25 jealousy and selfishness. 
 There there is disorder and every naughty deed. 
 
 17 But the wisdom from above, firstly indeed is pure, 
 Secondly is peaceful, kind, readily-obeying, 
 
 Full of mercy and good fruits. 
 Making-no-distinctions, void-of-hypocrisy. 
 
 Ver. 14. ipideiav, selfishness. This word is derived from 
 eptdo^, a hired labourer, and hence means self-seeking, greed, 
 selfishness. In Rom. ii. 8 it is found, as here, in connection with 
 opposition to the truth. 
 
 Ver. 15. ■xlrvxi'Kih animal. A most difficult word to render in 
 our language, as we have no proper equivalent. It really signifies 
 pertaining to the soul, soulish. The use here seems to picture to 
 us the soiil or anima of man left in its fallen state, with its affec- 
 tions and appetites fixed on the lower world, degraded to the 
 level of the beasts : hence this wisdom is spoken of as earthly, as 
 opposed to heavenly, animal, as opposed to spiritual, and devilish, 
 as opposed to divine. For a full discussion of the i/ru;:^?;, see 
 Delitzsch's Biblical Psychology. 
 
 Ver. 16. Mark the reference in aKaTaaTaaia, disorder, to the 
 8th verse, where the tongue is called aKardaTarov KaKov, a dis- 
 orderly evil. 
 
 Ver. 17. e'jnaKi]<;, hind, from et'/co?, reasonable. A beautiful 
 
56 ST. JAMES, III. 
 
 18 KapiTos Se diKaLOorvur]s iv ^'i-pV^l} (nrelpeTaL 
 T0L9 TTOLOvaLv elprjvrjv. 
 
 18 And the fruit of righteousness in peace is sown 
 By the producers of peace. 
 
 word, which perhaps would be best paraphrased in our language 
 by, though having right, not insisting on that right : see Aristotle's 
 Ethics, V. 14 ; and for a pleasant account of the word, Trench's 
 Synonyms of the New Testament. 
 
 evireiOr')';, readily obeying. The disposition that submits where 
 it ought, when it ought, and to whom it ought, is represented in 
 this word, rather than a susceptibility of persuasion. The Vul- 
 gate renders by suadibilis, which is rather the mark of a weak 
 than of an humble mind. 
 
 aSLCLKptra. Not as E.V., tvithout partiality, which is not 
 sufficiently pointed ; nor loithout doubting, as Alford ; but re- 
 ferring to the distinctions that these Jews were in the habit of 
 making between the rich and the poor, see chap. ii. 4. The wis- 
 dom from above teaches us not to respect persons, but to be 
 equitable and kind to all alike. 
 
 awTTOKptTCi, ivithout hypocrisy. These qualities above named 
 must not be a semblance but a fact, the heavenly wisdom is truth- 
 ful and wears no mask. 
 
 Ver. 18. There is some difficulty in tracing the exact line of 
 thought in this verse. To clear the ground, it may be concluded 
 that T. TTOLova-LV is the dative of the agent. Then, perhaps, it has 
 not been sufficiently considered that the phrase Troielv elprjvrjv is 
 borrowed from the produce of nature, the peace being regarded 
 as the fruit yielded; it is the ns nC'I? of Hebrew, see v. 12. 
 Next, that Kapiro'^ hiKaioavvr]<i is the genitive of apposition, i.e., 
 fruit which is righteousness. The idea then evolved is. The fruit, 
 namely righteousness, is sown in peace by the producers of peace, 
 that is, those who produce peace, as trees do their fruit, sow the 
 fruit of righteousness in peace ; they commit the harvest of good 
 seed to good ground again, peace in peace, so that each harvest 
 becomes the seed-crop of another, an ever accumulating store, a 
 reflexive blessing to themselves, and a benefit even extending to 
 others. 
 
ST. JAMES, IV. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1 IloOev TToXe/jLOL kou TToOev fia)(aL eV v/u-'ii'; 
 ovK iurevOeu, e'/c tcoi^ rjSovcoi^ vjxcov 
 
 Tcov arpaTevo/Jieucou ev tol9 fxeXeaiv v/j.coi'; 
 
 2 iTnOvixelrey kou ovk e^^ere* 
 
 (fyovevere kou ^yXovre, kol ov Svi/aaOe €7rLTV)(^e?i>- 
 fjLu^eaOe kou TroXefielre ovk e3(ere, 
 dia TO 111] alreicrOaL v/jlo.^' 
 
 1 Whence are wars, and whence strifes among you? 
 Are they not from hence, from your pleasures, 
 That wage-warfare in your members ? 
 
 2 Ye lust, and ye have not ; 
 
 Ye murder and envy and cannot obtain, 
 Ye fight and war, ye have not, 
 Because of your not asking. 
 
 Ver. 1. St. James in this paragraph turns upon the ungodly 
 Jews, the unconverted, the selfish and rebellious, and rebukes 
 them with all the energy and severity of the ancient Hebrew 
 prophets, whose language and poetic style he most strikingly 
 adopts. How any one in reading such a passage as this can 
 suppose that the writer was addressing members of the Christian 
 church at such an early period of its existence, even if the date is 
 fixed at the latest possible point, it is difficult to imagine. The 
 state of the Corinthian church, which is sometimes adduced as a 
 parallel, is not at all similar: see Introduction, To ivhom was this 
 Epistle addressed. The state of the Jewish people in the period 
 between the crucifixion of our Lord and the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, as detailed by Josephus, is the best comment on this portion 
 of the Epistle. 
 
 TTodev is repeated before fxd^ac in X, A, B, C. 
 
 Ver. 2. (povevere, ye murder. In consequence of commentators 
 failing to perceive that this Epistle is addressed to the twelve tribes, 
 that is to Jews, and determining that it was an Epistle addressed to 
 
58 ST. JAMES, IV. 
 
 3 air€LT€, Kol ov XajuL^auere^ 
 8lotl KaKcos alrelade, 
 
 Iva Iv TaL9 rjSovoLS' vfJiwv 8a7rai>r)(rr)Te. 
 
 4 /xoi^aA/^ey, ovk olSare otl rj (jf)iA/a rod Koafxov 
 e^^yoa rov Oeov eariu; 
 
 09 CLV ovv (SovXrjOr] (f)LXo9 elvac tou KOdfiov, 
 €\6p09 Tov Oeov KadtaraTai. 
 
 3 Ye aslv, and ye have not, 
 Because ye ask wickedly, 
 
 To squander in your pleasures. 
 
 4 Adulteresses! 
 
 Know ye not that the love for the world 
 
 Is hatred against-God? 
 
 Whoso therefore prefers to be a lover of the world 
 
 A hater of God is constituted. 
 
 Christians as such, great difficulty has always been felt in ac- 
 countinsr for this fearful charge, that those to whom St. James 
 was writing were not unfrequently guilty of murder, hence all 
 sorts of evasions of the plain and literal meaning of the word have 
 been invented, such as murder in thought, coveting even to death, 
 etc. ; and lastly, some have even proposed to read (pOovelre, ye 
 envy, although there is not a manuscript, uncial or cursive, that 
 authorises such a reading ; but if we admit that St. James was 
 writing to the Jews, as such, composed of imbelievers, as well as 
 believers, in the Messiahship of Jesus, all is clear; this part of his 
 Epistle will refer entirely to the former section, and the sins 
 which he charges them with, it is well known, were of daily 
 occurrence. 
 
 Ye fight and war, i.e., with one another, or against the ruling 
 authorities ; most likely St. James had in his mind's eye the 
 struggles of the faction of the Zealots ; yet you do not obtain 
 what you desire ; you omit the duty of prayer, of asking for what 
 you want from the only source from whence it can come. But 
 perhaps you plead that you do ask, yet you do not receive, be- 
 cause you ask wickedly, with an evil purpose, that you may 
 squander it in the enjoyment of your carnal pleasures. 
 
 Ver. 4. In the Received Text this verse begins with Moi-x^ol 
 Kai, adulterers and, etc., but the ancient MSS., N, A, B, omit 
 these words ; the Syriac and Vulgate Versions have only adulteri. 
 
ST. JAMES, IV. 59 
 
 5 7} 8oK€LT€ OTL K€VU)9 1] ypa<prj Xeyei, 
 " IIpo9 (bOovov eTTLTroOei 
 TO TTvevjJLa o KaTcpKiaev €P tj/jliu; 
 
 5 Think ye, that the Scripture vainly saith, 
 " The spirit that He made-to-clwell in us 
 With jealousy desireth us?'' 
 
 The insertion of the words, which appear first in a revision of N, 
 in K and L, and in the Philoxenian Version, is an attempt to 
 explain a nervous poetical figure in a prosaic form. No compari- 
 son is more frequent in Scripture, or more familiar to ourselves 
 through that source, than that marriage " signifies unto us the 
 mystical union that is between Christ and his church." See for 
 some examples Ps. xhv. ; Is. liv. 5 ; Jer. ii. 2 ; iii. 14 ; Rom. 
 vii. 4 ; 2 Cor. xi. 2 ; Eph. v. 22-33. And the turning aside of 
 the people of God to idolatry, false doctrine, or evil practice is 
 portrayed by the rupture and profanation of the marriage vow. 
 See Hosea throughout; Jer. iii. 1-11; Ezek. xvi. throughout. 
 Our Lord takes up the old Hebrew strain, and rings its awful 
 echoes in the ears of the unbeheving sign-seekers, " an evil and 
 adulterous (/ioixa^t?) generation." Matt. xii. 37 ; ]\Iark viii. 38 ; 
 compare also 2 Pet. ii. 14 and Rev. ii. 4. 
 
 rov Koa-fiov and t. Qeov are genitives of the object. 
 
 ^ovK7]dfi, has a ivish, and consequently makes a choice between 
 God and the world. 
 
 KadiaraTaL, see chap. iii. 6, settles doion to be, becomes, takes 
 his stand as. 
 
 Ver. 5. ]\Iany difficulties exist in this verse; the first task will 
 be to settle the reading ; the Received Text is KarwKrjaev, dwelt, 
 and so the Vulgate habitat, but KarcpKiaev, He made to dwell^h 
 the reading of K, a, b, which is doubtless the best reading. The 
 next question that meets us is, Is Xeiyei used intransitively, " Are 
 ye of opinion that the Scripture speaks in vain ? and so does the 
 following sentence form a separate question ? or does rj rypa(f)r] 
 Xeyet, introduce the following sentence in the form of a quota- 
 tion ? The ordinary use of Xeyei and the phrase v jpa(f)r) Xeyei 
 determine the question in favour of the transitive use, and therefore 
 the following sentence will be the object of the verb. 
 
 Next, who is the to Trvevfxa ? This is at once answered if the 
 reading KaTWKia-ev is accepted, tlte Spirit of God. 
 
 What then is the meaning of Trpo? ^dovov ? This will 
 readily appear when we consider the figure introduced at the 
 
60 ST. JAMES, IV. 
 
 Slo Xeyei, 
 
 " Oeos V7r€pr](pai/0LS' avTiTaaaeraL, 
 
 TaireLVOLs Se Sldcoo-L ^apLv. 
 
 7 Y'JVOTayr]Te ovv tco Oeco. 
 duTL(rT7]T€ Se TO) SluISoXm Kol (j)ev^eTaL d(f) vpi(cv' 
 
 6 But greater grace the Scripture giveth, 
 Because it saitli : 
 
 " God haughty men opposeth, 
 But to humble men giveth grace." 
 
 7 Submit ye then to God, 
 
 But withstand the devil, and he shall flee from 3^ou ; 
 
 commencement of this paragraph. St. James has apostrophized 
 the Jews whom he was addressing as " adulteresses," and just 
 as in the passages cited in the foregoing note, we find the Lord 
 inviting the erring wife back again to allegiance and love, so St. 
 James reminds them that though they had gone astray from God, 
 yet the Spirit which God had made to dwell among Ins people 
 desired them with jealousy ; God, the jealous God, who " will 
 not give His glory to another," saw the idolatry of His people, 
 and longed to lead them back again. 
 
 Our last enquiry is. Are we to regard the sentence as a direct 
 or a general quotation ? Here, again, opinions are as numerous 
 as the commentators themselves ; probably that view is to be 
 preferred that makes the sentence a compound of several well 
 known passages, which describe the jealousy of God over His 
 people, and His right to their obedience and love from the fact 
 that He dwelt among them. 
 
 Ver. 6. hiZcoaiv, giveth. The subject of this verb may be God, 
 as the Author of Scripture, or the Spirit, which He gave His 
 people, who is the Inspirer of Scripture, or, which is gram- 
 matically most probable, ?} 7/>a^?; in the former verse is carried 
 on ; the sense is practically the same. The quotation that fol- 
 lows, which is found also in 1 Pet. v. 5, is probably taken from 
 Prov. iii. 34 ; the same thought is found frequently in Scrip- 
 ture : see for examples Job xxii. 29 ; Ps. cxxxviii. 6 ; Matt, 
 xxiii. 12, etc. 
 
ST. JAMES, IV. 61 
 
 8 eyylcrare rco Oeco, kou iyyiel vjiiv. 
 KaOapiaare ^elpa^, afiaprcoXoL, 
 Kca ayvlaare KapSia^, 8i\l/v)(^0L. 
 
 9 TaXai7r(opy](TaTe Kai TrevOi^aare kou KXavcrare' 
 6 yeAco? Vjxcov el^ 7rev6o9 iJLeTaaTpa(Pi]TO)y 
 
 KOU rj yapa els KaTrjcpeiau. 
 
 8 Draw nigh to God, and He shall draw nigli you, 
 Cleanse your hands, sinners, 
 
 And purify your hearts, double-minded. 
 
 9 Be weighed-down, and mourn and wail ; 
 Let your laughter to mournhig be turned. 
 And your joy into dejection. 
 
 Ver. 8. Cleanse i/our hands. This refers to " ye will," and 
 " purify your hearts" to " ye lust" of verse 2. 
 
 hiy^vy^ot, douhle-mlnded. The reference is here again to the 
 main figure of this paragraph. These spiritual adulterers pro- 
 fessed to love God and serve Him, and yet were slaves to the 
 vilest and worst sins; they were trying to effect the impossibility, 
 the serving of God and mammon: compare Ps. xii. 2, and the 
 Hebrew phrase n^l D^3, " with a heart and a heart." This whole 
 passage while denouncing sin in the strongest terms, yet incul- 
 cates, and urges to, repentance. God's reproofs are always con- 
 servative; the purpose of our Father in His chastisements is 
 corrective. These haughty sinners must be humbled, these mur- 
 derers must wash away their guilty stains, and then they should 
 find grace, and pardon, and exaltation. They had tried to attain 
 a crown without a cross by sinful ambition, and had failed ; now 
 let them repent in dust and ashes, and God would give them a 
 crown through the cross. 
 
 Ver. 9. ToXciiTrcop/jaaTe, be loeiylied doicii. The radix of this 
 word is TXrjfjLt, rXdw, hence the idea suggested is the burden of 
 sin and a consciousness of that burden: the thought is Hebrew. 
 Sin was regarded by the Israelite as a load, a grievous load too 
 heavy to bear, and forgiveness was conceived of as the lifting up 
 of the load, hence the phrase py Nti'J, Is. xxxiii. 24, and compare 
 Ps. xxxii. 1 ; hence I apprehend our Lord's evangelical office was 
 so fitly described as the Lamb of God who takes away 6 aipcov 
 Ti)V ufiaprlav, the lifter up and remover of the intolerable burden. 
 The same thought underlies his well known and precious invita- 
 tion, " Come unto me, all that labour and are heavy laden," 
 
62 ST. JAMES. IV. 
 
 10 Ta7reLi>co0r]T€ iucoTnou Kvplov, 
 Kou vyj/cocreL vfxas. 
 
 11 Mr] KaraXaXeiTe dXXrjXcoi', ddeXipor 
 
 6 KaraXaXcov dSeXipov rj Kpiucou tov d8eX(f)ou avrov, 
 KaraXaXel vofiov, kol Kplvei vojxov 
 el Se uo/jLOv KpiveL^, 
 
 OVK el TTOLTJTTjS VOpOV, (xXXu KpLTYj^. 
 
 10 Be humbled in the sight of the Lord, 
 And He will exalt you. 
 
 1 1 Speak not against each other, brethren, 
 
 He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his 
 
 brother, 
 Speaketh against the law and judgeth the law; 
 But if the law thou judgest, 
 Thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 
 
 TrefpopTca-fieuoc, Matt. xi. 28. ]\Iark the climax in this verse, the 
 oppression of guilt, the sorrow for guilt, and the exhibition of 
 their sorrow. 
 
 KaT7](f)6iav, the casting doum of the eyes^ the mark of peni- 
 tence: see the description of the tax-gatherer in the temple, 
 Luke xviii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 11. Some difficulty has been found in St. James here 
 caUincr those whom he addreesed as " brethren," whereas just 
 above he had designated them as "adulteresses," as sinners, and 
 double-minded. The difficulty, however, vanishes when we 
 remember that he was not addressing them as Christian brethren, 
 but Jewish brethren; the relationship was national, no more. 
 There is also another point of view from which this mode of 
 address may Le regarded : the title " brethren " does not so much 
 relate to them with reference to himself, but to them with re- 
 ference to themselves and the connection in which they stood to 
 each other. The word " brethren " would emphatically remind 
 them how deeply they violated the ties of brotherhood by their 
 unbrotherly judgment and slander of each other. It is as if he 
 said. Speak not against one another, inasmuch as ye are brethren. 
 This is clear from the following part of this verse. So far from 
 this being a milder mode of expression than the epithets used 
 before, the reproof is enhanced and the guilt made more manifest 
 by a word which reminds them of a natural duty, and that duty 
 neglected and abandoned. See, for a similar force of the word. 
 
ST. JAMES, IV. 63 
 
 12 eiy eanu 6 vo/xoOeTys' kolI KpLT-qs, 
 6 ^vvafxevos awaai kul airoXecraL' 
 (TV de TL9 et 6 Kptvcdv Tov TrXrjCTLOv ; 
 
 13 'Aye vvv ol Xeyovre^, 
 
 ** S-qfiepov 7] avptov iropevaopeda eh rrjuSe ryu ttoXlv, 
 KOLL Trouiaojxev eKel eviavTov eW, 
 Kol ifMiropevaro/jLeda, kol Kepbi-jcropev. 
 
 12 One is the law-giver and judge, 
 AVho is able to save and to destroy ; 
 
 But who art thou that judgest tliy neighbour? 
 
 13 Come now, ye that say, 
 
 To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city here, 
 And spend there a year, and trade and gain. 
 
 Luke XV. 32. The meaning of" this verse seems to be this, You 
 are all brethren under the same law, if any one of you presume 
 to pass judgment on another, that man usurps the place of the law, 
 and thus instead of obeying the law which governs all alike, is 
 condemned of setting himself up against its jurisdiction. 
 
 Ver. 12. There is one and only one who combines in Himself 
 the offices both of lawgiver and judge {koI KpLrr]<i is added in 
 N, A, B, and Vulgate), of laying down what is law, and seeing to 
 the measure of obedience that is rendered to its demands by every 
 one of His subjects. 
 
 Who is able to save and to destroy. See Matt. x. 28. This 
 evidently points to the future awards of life and death: compare 
 2 Cor. V. 10. 
 
 IVlio art thou that judgest thy neighbour? The Received Text 
 reads here, o? Kplvei^ rov erepov, who art judging the other one., 
 but X, A, B have 6 Kpivwv rov irXi^aiov ; the former would imply 
 the act simply, the latter the habit and (self-constituted) office of 
 the judge. 
 
 Ver. 13. Another class of spiritual adulterers now presents 
 itself to the writer's mind: Come now (vvv), it is the time that I 
 should administer a rebuke to you also who form your plans as 
 though you had a lease of your life, and utterly disregard the 
 overruling providence of God. 
 
 To-day or to-morroio. The reading i] seems preferable to Kal; 
 X and B adopt the former, followed by the Vulgate and Syriac ; 
 A the latter. The former describes the careless security of the 
 
64 ST. JAMES, IV. 
 
 14 oLTLveg ovk eTrlcTTaade to ttj? avptov 
 TTola r) ^0)7] vfjLcop; 
 
 [oLTfus' yap icrre) r] vrpo^ oXiyov (fjatvo/Jievrj, 
 eireLTa kcu d(f)ai'L^ofJLei>rj' 
 
 14 And yet ye know not the hap of the morrow; 
 For what is your life ? 
 
 (For ye are a vapour) that for a little Avhile appear.eth, 
 Then disappeareth also. 
 
 speaker, To-day we will do this, or if we should find it will suit 
 us best, to-morrow. The latter, the presumed certainty of life ; 
 The going to this city will take two days, to-day and to-morrow 
 we will execute the journey. 
 
 This city, rt]vhe rrjv ttoXlv ; this city here. Generally explained 
 to be the city under the speaker's consideration ; but if we 
 remember that St. James was at Jerusalem, and that he was 
 writing from that place to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, he 
 would naturally be putting himself in their position, purposing to 
 come up to this city where he dwelt, for the prosecution of their 
 business; the doom which he knew to be impending over the 
 city would add to the uncertainty of their plans and the folly of 
 their boastings. 
 
 Spend a year. Almost equivalent to our common phrase, 
 " make a year of it." This suggests the thought that the sup- 
 posed speakers promised themselves many years of life, health, 
 and prosperity : compare Is. Ivi. 12, and the parable in St. Luke 
 xii. 16-21. 
 
 eva is omitted in N, and B, and Vulgate. 
 
 Great varieties are found in the form of the verbs in this verse, 
 the difference consisting in the choice between o and w, that is, 
 between the future indicative and the aorist subjunctive. In the 
 former case Ave have the self reliant determination of the speakers 
 brought out most forcibly. This reading in all the verbs is best. 
 Out of the four verbs n has 1, 3, 4 in the future indicative and 2 
 in the aorist subjunctive ; A has 1, 2 in the aorist subjunctive and 
 3, 4 in the future indicative ; B has all four in the future indica- 
 tive. The Vulgate also has the future throughout. 
 
 Ver. 14. omz^e?, and yet ye. Containing a delicate irony: Ye 
 who settle on your plans thus are ignorant of what will happen 
 on the morrow. 
 
 TO rf;? avpiov, the of the morroiv. The ellipsis may be filled up 
 with such words as circumstances, misfortunes, evils, incidents, or 
 the like. 
 
ST. JAMES, IV. 65 
 
 15 dvTL TOv Xeyeiv ufxay, 
 
 " '£lau 6 KvpL09 OeX^crrjy kol ^rjaofxev, 
 KOI TTOLrjcro/jLeu tovto i] ^Kelvo. 
 
 16 vvv Se Kav)(aade iu rah oXa^oveiaL^ vfxa>i>' 
 iraaa Kav^rjai^ TOLavrr] irovi'jpa eanv. 
 
 17 €l8oTL oi)V KokoV TTOLelv, 
 
 Kca /x?; iroLovvTL, 
 afxapTLa avrw iaTiv. 
 
 15 Instead of your saying, 
 
 " If the Lord will, we shall both live, 
 And do this or that." 
 
 16 But now ye boast in your vauntings; 
 Every such boasting is wicked. 
 
 17 To the man therefore that knows to do good, 
 And yet doeth it not. 
 
 Sin to him there is. 
 
 (ar/At? yap eVre.) There is a great variety in the readings of this 
 place : N omits the words altogether ; A reads earat, which some 
 think the same, by a frequent clerical error, as eVre, but the future 
 was more likely intended to convey a prediction of their being 
 suddenly cut off in the impending disaster of Jerusalem, compare 
 chap. V. 1-3 ; B has ecrre, ye are a vapour, not their life only but 
 themselves, compare chap. i. 10 ; 1 Pet. i. 24. The Vulgate sup- 
 ports the common reading, the Syriac that of B. 
 
 7] (^aivojjbevrj, a^avi^. Mark the use of the article with parti- 
 ciple, showing the nature of such a vapour. The reading of Kai 
 instead of he in the last clause is attested by N, A, b, and the 
 Vulgate. 
 
 Ver. 15. The reading of the future indicative in the verbs 
 t,^ao/jbev, TToLtja-o/jbev, instead of the aorlst subjective, Is found 
 in N, A, B ; the Vulgate supposes the idv to have been repeated, 
 " Si Dominus voluerlt; et ; si vixerimus, faciemus hoc." 
 
 Ver. 17. The force of this closing moral seems to be this: You 
 know, if you will but ponder on the subject, the uncertainty of 
 life, and your entire dependence on the providence of God, and 
 yet ye vaunt as though all things were in your own power, and 
 at your own disposal. You know what is right and yet do wrong, 
 and so are convicted of sin. 
 
66 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1 Aye vvv OL TrXovaLOL, 
 KXavcrare oKoXv^ovTe^ 
 
 eTTL Tat9 TaXatTTcoplaL^ v/xcov rotty i'7Tepy(OfxevaL9. 
 
 2 6 7rXovT09 Vfjucov aiarjTre, 
 
 KOLL ra t/xarfa vjxwv ar]To(3po:)Ta yeyovdv 
 
 1 Come now, ye rich men, 
 Weep ye and howl 
 
 At your woe-burdens that are coming on. 
 
 2 Your riches are rotted, 
 
 And your garments become moth-eaten. 
 
 Ver. 1. a'/e vvv. The vvv is emphatic, as in chap. iv. 13, 
 " Now it is time you should weep," etc. Probably the text in 
 St. James' mind was Is. xiii. 6, where the prophet denounces the 
 judgments that should be executed in the day of the Lord ; the 
 parallelism between these utterances of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment prophets is unmistakable, compare verse 8. 
 
 irXovcnoL, rich. See note on chap. i. 9. 
 
 Ta\aL7rcopLaL<;, woe-burdens. See chap. iv. 9. There he bade 
 them be weighed down, raXaiTrcDp^aare, with penitential sorrow, 
 to mourn and wail, KKuvaa-re. It would seem that with pro- 
 phetic eye he foresaw they would not listen to the warning voice, 
 and So with piercing irony he reverts to the charge he had given 
 them, and takes up the very words he had uttered before : Ye 
 would not bend under the burden of penitence, but a burden of 
 woe shall weigh you down and crush you. Ye would not wail 
 for sin, but ye shall for suffering. Ye would not mourn and sigh 
 for your iniquities, but ye shall howl in your despair and de- 
 struction. 
 
 rat? eVep., that are coming on (you). The rapidly approaching 
 ruin of Jerusalem, and the sufferings of the Jewish people 
 throughout the world, as foretold by our Lord, were here before 
 the writer's mind. 
 
 Ver. 2. 6 ttXovto?. This passage is evidently built upon our Lord's 
 words, JMatt. vi. 19, 20: They would lay up treasure on the earth 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 67 
 
 3 6 ^pv(ro9 Vficou Kou 6 apyvpo9 KaTLCorat, 
 Kat o ioy avTCdv el^ fxapTvpiov vjxiv earai, 
 KaL (f)ay€TaL ra^ aapKa? v/jlcou 6)^ irvp' 
 edrjoravpLcraTe €U ea^arai^ rj/mepaL?. 
 
 4 l8ov 6 fXLa6o9 Tcoi> ipyuTCDU 
 
 Tcctu apL-qaavrcdV ray ^copas vpLoiiV^ 
 
 6 d(f)vaT€prjfX€i'09 oi(f) v/jlcoi', Kpa^er 
 
 Kcd al (Soal tcov Oepiaaurcou 
 
 els Ta (hra Kvpiov ^afSacod elaeXrjXvOaaiu^ 
 
 3 Your gold and silver are rusted, 
 
 And their rust for witness against you shall be, 
 And shall eat your flesh like fire, 
 Ye stored-up in the last days. 
 
 4 Lo ! the wages of the workmen 
 That mowed your fields, 
 
 Which is held back froiii them by you, clamoureth ; 
 
 And the cries of the reapers 
 
 Into the ears of Jehovah Sabaoth have entered. 
 
 instead of in heaven, and lo, the treasure itself is fading and 
 perishing under the blight of a curse. Mark the perfects aearjTrev 
 and ^iyovev, the prophetic preterite so frequent in the Old Testa- 
 ment predictions. God's purposes, though future in their execu- 
 tion, are so certain that they are spoken of in the past tense. 
 
 Ver. 3. 6 ')(pva6<i. It is advanced that gold is not subject to the 
 action of rust, hence various ways of explaining this passage have 
 been invented, such as a moral sense of the word " rusted :" in 
 God's sight your gold is corroded ; or a material explanation, such 
 as, the vessels referred to were of base metal, gilt with gold only. 
 But prophetic declamation not unfrequently delights in such 
 rebukes as involve the unexpected or impossible ; the very im- 
 possibility according to man's mind heightens the picture, and shows 
 how dim the gold has become, how reprobate the silver, and how 
 unlooked for, and consequently severe, the punishment. 
 
 (ftdyeTUL. The Hellenistic form of the future (par/ijaeTai. See 
 Luke xiv. 15; xvii. 8 ; Jno. ii. 17; Rev. xvii. 16. 
 
 eV, in the last days. Not against, or for, but that particular 
 period, when earthly wealth can be of no profit. 
 
 Ver. 4. a^' vfioiv. A difficulty has been found in the use of this 
 preposition. Some grammarians, refusing to allow that diro can 
 be employed in any sense as an equivalent for viro, connect the 
 preposition with the following word Kpd^ei, crieth out from you, 
 
68 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 5 iTpv(f)T](TaT€ eVt rrjs' y^9, koll ia7raTaXr]o-aT€' 
 idpexj/are ra^ KapSla^ vfiwv ev rjfJi^pr] a(f)ay}]9. 
 
 5 Ye lived-deliciously in the land, and wantoned ; 
 Ye fed-up your hearts in a day of slaughter. 
 
 that is, from the treasury where you have secured the ill-gotten gain ; 
 crietk out f 07' judgment. Others regard the preposition as denoting 
 that the act 2:>roceeded from these men, and that the act is fairly 
 represented by awo. See Luke ix. 22. This is perhaps the best 
 explanation. See Winer's Gk. Gram., p. 389, Note. The Sinaitic 
 MS. reads here d(j)ucrTeprjnevo<; in place of the Received aTrecrr. 
 
 Kvptov ^al3aa>9, the Lord, i.e., Jehovah Sabaoth. The 
 Hebrew word Sabaoth is retained here as in Rom. ix. 29 ; in 
 the latter it is in a direct quotation; in St. James probably in a 
 reference to Mai. iii. 15. 
 
 There is great difficulty in explaining this word, though it is 
 famihar to us in the Old Testament under the translation 
 " Hosts." (1) It may be that all created worlds, the armies of the 
 skies, are intended ; this is clearly the case where the word occurs 
 for the first time. Gen. ii. 1. (2) It may refer to the armies of 
 Israel which are called nin'' msnv, " the hosts of the Lord," Ex. 
 xii. 4L (3) It may comprehend both; in the sense that what- 
 ever things are created, whatever powers there be, whether in 
 heaven or earth, material or immaterial, angelic or human, Jeho- 
 vah is God of them all. In all these cases the phrase niX2V nin'' is 
 explained to be equivalent to nixav "rhu nin'', " Jehovah God of 
 hosts." (4) It is, however, far more likely that this word is a title 
 of Jehovah, placed in apposition, explanatory of the executive 
 omnipotency of the Divine Being. As Elohim represents the 
 source and seat of omnipotence, so Sabaoth represents all the 
 manifestations of the majesty and mightiness of God, It is to be 
 noticed that this title of God, Jehovah Sabaoth, Lord of Hosts, 
 is not found in the books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, or Ruth. It 
 appears first in the books of Samuel; it does not occur in Eze- 
 kiel; it is abundantly frequent in the Jehovistic psalms and the 
 minor prophets. 
 
 St. James evidently employs the phrase in this place to remind 
 them of the power of God whom they were provoking, and of 
 the executive character of that power. The passage to which he 
 refers, indeed almost quotes, is Mai. iii. 15, as observed by 
 Bishop Wordsworth, where the Lo7'd of Hosts is spoken of as 
 coining to judgment against those that oppress the hireling in his 
 xoages; the passage is rendered by the LXX., toi/? airoa-Tepovvra^ 
 fitadbv ixtaOuirov. 
 
 Ver. 5. St. James' words here are of a highly tragical character, 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 69 
 
 and therefore the sentences are brief, abrupt, concise, and broken; 
 the graphic metaphor reminds us in style of the outpourings of 
 flosea. The difficulty here, as in other examples of the same 
 kind of composition, is to catch the logical relation of the thoughts 
 expressed, and trace out the consecutiveness of the clauses. He 
 had charged them with laying up riches in flic last daijs. There 
 his purpose was to point out their folly with reference to the 
 time in which they were engaged in their ungodly gain. Now 
 he proceeds to show ivhere they were doing this, in the land., the 
 land of Israel, which was on the very point of being given over 
 to the avenger. In the former chapter the visiting of the city by 
 the rich for the purposes of gain has been adverted to, now he 
 supposes them upon the spot, and the day of vengeance at hand. 
 Jerusalem was the central spot on which the thunderbolt was 
 about to fall that would paralyze all Israel, Hebrews and Hellen- 
 ists. As a matter of history it is well known that vast numbers 
 of the dispersion were involved in the catastrophe of the holy 
 city. This passage, however, though addressed to, and by direct 
 implication comprising the dispersion, yet evidently conveys a 
 prophetic warning and denunciation against the whole family of 
 Israel, on whom the judgment was about to descend. 
 
 eTpvcf)y]aaTe. This word describes the luxury and carnal 
 delights in which they revelled ; iaTraTaXijaare, the squandering 
 and dissolute expenditure by which this selfish indulgence was 
 gratified. 
 
 The interpretation of the following words is attended with 
 some difficulty. Some interpreters take a(f)ayrj<; in the sense of 
 sacrifice^ and explain the meaning to be that these devoted ones 
 feasted and rejoiced as though it were a day of religious obser- 
 vance and festivity. Others, explaining acpayrj^ as skmghter, 
 think that such a day is described as that of Nabal's feast, 
 1 Sam. xxv. ; see v.W; or such as that depicted in the parable of 
 the marriage feast, " My oxen and my fatlings are killed," Matt, 
 xxii. 4. This seems to be the view of the Syriac Version. 
 
 These interpretations are to a great extent based on the 
 Received Text, which inserts ft)? before eV, but this particle of 
 comparison is not found in X, a, and b, or the Vulgate, The 
 nervous and unconnected sentences must not lead us to suppose 
 that there is no link between the thoughts expressed. It would 
 seem that St. James employs here a biting satire : In these last 
 days, in this devoted land ye feed up your hearts, but it is a day 
 of slaughter; " the days of vengeance," when ye shall fall by the 
 edge of the sword : compare Jer. xii. 3 ; xxv. 34. The ren- 
 dering of the Vulgate seems to favour this interpretation, " in die 
 occisionis." The next sentence reminds us of the mad cry of the 
 crucifiers of Christ, " His blood be on us and on our children," 
 
70 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 6 KarediKaaare, icpopevaare rov AiKaiov' 
 ovK avTLTaacreTaL vjjllv. 
 
 6 Ye condemned, ye murdered the Just One, 
 He is not opposing you. 
 
 Why is this doom awaiting you, why ? Ye condemned, ye 
 murdered the Just One; therefore all this is coming on you. 
 
 He is not opipodng you. You are left to yourselves, to fill up 
 the measure of your iniquities, but when the cup is full, then the 
 judgment will fall upon you. 
 
 Ver. 6. Tov AUaiov, the Just One. There can be no doubt that 
 the Messiah is referred to under this well known title. David, 
 in Ps. xxxiv. 19, had prophesied about the trials and deliverance 
 of the Righteous One., pn^*, where the reference to our Lord is 
 made clear by the following verse, " He keepeth all his bones, 
 not one of them is broken," which was so signally fulfilled at the 
 crucifixion, see Jno. xix. 36. Isaiah, chap. liii. 11, entitles 
 Messiah the ^'■Righteous Servant" of the Lord. In Jer. xxiii. 6 
 He is called " Jehovah our Righteousness,^^ and the same title is 
 repeated in chap, xxxiii. 16; the " she shall be called" should be 
 in our language it, referring to " the branch of righteousness," 
 regarded as a composite feminine subject; for, though riDV branch 
 is masculine, npT^ ingJiteousness is feminine, and hence the whole 
 phrase is viewed so, and thus the two passages will be really at 
 one in their reference to the comino: Kintr. In the New Testa- 
 ment the epithet St/caio?, righteous ox just, seems to have been a 
 familiar synonym of the ]\Iessiah. The centurion at the foot of 
 the cross evidently employed it in this meaning, for according to 
 St. Luke xxiii. 47 he cried, "Ovra)<i 6 avOpcdiro'^ o5to9 S/«atoi? riv, 
 truly this man was Just, used as a proper name, or almost so; 
 whereas, according to St. Matthew's account, his confession was, 
 " this man was the Son of God." In the Acts we frequently 
 meet with this title : see chap. iii. 10 ; vii. 52. This is an im- 
 portant text, as the Jews are there charged with being the mur- 
 derers, <f)ov€t'i, of the Just One; the very sin that is charged on 
 them here, and the same words are employed : see again Acts 
 xxii. 14; 1 Pet. iii. 18; 1 Jno. ii. 1. In the two last named 
 texts the word is used as a proper name without the article as 
 here. Probably St. James made choice of this title to bring this 
 attribute of our Lord into sharp contradistinction to their injus- 
 tice in wronging the labourer of his hire, at the same time 
 remindino; them that thouo-h the Lord did not interfere with this 
 generation which was given over to destruction, yet He was, and 
 would prove eventually, the " Kighteous Judge." See Hosea 
 iv. 17 ; Matt, xxiii. 32-38. 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 71 
 
 7 MaKpoOv/JL-^(TaT€ OVUf d8€X(f)0i, 
 
 eojy Trjs^ irapovaia^ tov JCvplov. 
 
 ISov 6 yecopyos' €/c<5e^erai toi' Ttp^LOv KapTrov rrjp yrj^, 
 
 /jLaKpodvp.coi> eV avTco, 
 
 €0)9 XajSrj (yeroi^) TTpcoLfXOi' koll 6y\np,ov' 
 
 8 /jLaKpoOu fir) (rare koll v/ulel^, 
 (TTripi^are ra^ KapSla^ vp-cov, 
 
 OTL r) Trapovaia tov Kvptov r)yyLK€. 
 
 7 Be-long-patient therefore, brethren, 
 Until the presence of the Lord. 
 
 Lo ! the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the land, 
 
 Being long patient over it, 
 
 Until it receive (rain) the early and latter. 
 
 8 Be ye also long-patient. 
 Fortify your hearts, 
 
 Because the presence of the Lord is nigh. 
 
 Ver. 7. St. James here turns from the unbelieving section of 
 his readers to those that believed and had accepted Jesus as their 
 Messiah, and were expecting His prophecies to be fulfilled. 
 
 Long -patience^ the grace of self-restraint based upon faith and 
 hope, and the assurance that God will avenge His own elect. 
 This curb upon the outburstings of a rebellious impetuosity, and 
 check to the frettings of anxiety, is constantly insisted on in Holy 
 Writ. 
 
 ovv^ therefore. Seeing that the cries of the oppressed have 
 entered into the ears of the Lord, seeing that the condemnation 
 of your enemies lingereth not, have you, brethren, my brethren, 
 both in the flesh and in the Lord, long patience up to the time 
 which is the expectation and object of longing of the believers in 
 the Gospel, the personal advent and presence of the Lord, the Lord 
 Jesus. O Kvpto<i is the frequent title of our Lord in the New 
 Testament. In this Epistle it is so used in chap. i. 1 ; ii. L 
 
 7rapov(rLa<i. Not merely coming, but actual personal presence. 
 The reiijn of righteousness and truth in the ajje to come will not 
 consist in a spiritual influence shed abroad by an unseen power as 
 now, but in the visible glory of the King of kings, dispensing 
 His laws and scattering His blessings over a regenerate and re- 
 joicing world. St. James, like the rest of the inspired writers, 
 speaks of the winding up of God's dealings with mankind and 
 
72 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 the establishment of the kingdom to come as near at hand. This 
 is perfectly consistent. Our Lord told His disciples that none 
 knew that day, neither man nor angel, nor was it a part of the 
 commission He had received to impart the exact dates of times 
 and seasons : see Mark xiii. 32. After His resurrection He 
 replied to His inquisitive disciples that it was not theirs to know 
 the times or the seasons which the Father had put in His own 
 power: see Acts i. 7. And throughout St. Paul's Epistles we 
 trace the evidences of the same retention of the great secret, for 
 the apostle always speaks of the day as imminent, and of the 
 quick at the return of Jesus Christ as " we which are alive." 
 
 How far in the midst of this unrevealed mystery the inspired 
 writers in their own minds associated or dissociated the final 
 judgment with or from, the destruction of Jerusalem, it may 
 be difficult to say. The type and antitype might form one 
 common completion, or one be held to be, as it is in fact, a prelude 
 to the other, or a promissory fulfilment of an event, which 
 will only be fully exhausted when time shall give place to 
 eternity. 
 
 6 ^e(op^6<;. As our Lord, the Great Teacher, constantly bor- 
 rowed illustrations of the work of grace from the teachings of 
 Nature, so St. James abounds in pictures painted from the same 
 original ; the withering grass, the surging sea, the gushing foun- 
 tain, the olive and fig trees, the land, the rain, furnish material 
 for the exposition of doctrine or duty. Here the husbandman 
 appears upon the scene, he has sown his seed, it is precious and 
 valuable, he waits and watches through its various stages of 
 growth, his patient expectation of hope rests on the harvest day; 
 the graphic pen delineates him as though he were standing over 
 his corn-fields, and exercising an intent and patient gaze upon 
 the rising crop until it should receive those great necessaries to 
 fertility, the early and the latter rain. /capTro? is the best subject 
 for Xd^rj. 
 
 i^Rain) the earlij and the latter. There is a peculiar variety of 
 readings in this passage. The Received Text, which has verov 
 before Trpcoi/jiov, is supported by a, k, l, and the Syriac ; B, and 
 the Vulgate omit the word, and s has Kapirov, fruit, instead of 
 verov, rain. The early rain, the mv of the Old Testament, fell 
 in the autumn, and by softening and fertilizing the soil rendered 
 it fit for the reception of the seed. The latter rain, tJ'lp^O, fell in 
 the spring, perfecting the full development of the corn. The in- 
 terval which seems to have occurred between the two rain-seasons, 
 and to be predicted as to occur again in the future, is not now 
 marked by any regular cessation of downfall, but the whole 
 period from October to March is characterized by stormy weather 
 in greater or less degree. 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 73 
 
 9 Mr] areva^ere Kar dXXrjXcoif^ a5eA0o/, 
 'lua fit] KpiOrjre' 
 
 IdoV O KpLTl]9 irpO TCOU OvpCOV e(TTr]K€P. 
 
 10 ' Y7ro8€iyp.a Aa/Sere a5eA0o/ fiov ttjs KaKOTradela^, 
 KOL rrjs' fiaKpoOvfiLa^y 
 
 T0V9 7rpo(Pr]Ta9 o'l iXaXr](Tai> tco ovofiaTL Kvpiov, 
 
 11 Ibov p.aKap'L^ofX€V tov9 viroixeivavTa^. 
 Tr]v v7ropiovi]v Icol3 yKovo-are, 
 
 KOL TO reAoy Kvptov ei^ere, 
 
 OTL 7roXva7rXay)(uo9 eartv 6 Kvpi09 kou OLKTipjJLcoi'. 
 
 9 Complain not against one another, brethren, 
 That ye be not judged; 
 Lo ! the judge before the doors standeth. 
 
 10 ^5 example take, my brethren, of sore-suffering and 
 
 long-patience. 
 The prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord. 
 
 11 Lo! we deem them blessed that endured. 
 The endurance of Job ye heard of, 
 
 And the end of the Lord ye saw 
 
 That very-tender-hearted is the Lord and merciful. 
 
 Ver. 9. We are here reminded of the sermon on the mount, 
 Matt. vii. 1, to which this Epistle bears a striking resemblance in 
 many places. This passage appears also to give a further expan- 
 sion to chap. iv. 1 ; there the speaking evil of one another is con- 
 demned, here the grumbling and complaining against one another. 
 
 Kpcdfjre is the reading of X, A, B. 
 
 Ver. 10. St. James now turns to another argument, to enforce 
 the duty of patient endurance, namely, the ills and woes to which 
 their forefathers, the prophets, had been subjected. We cannot 
 but call to mind the words of our blessed Lord as recorded in 
 Matt, xxiii. 29-39, words so applicable to the oppressors of this 
 period. St. Stephen's speech before the Sanhedrim, Acts. vii. 52, 
 forms a connecting link between the utterances of our Lord and 
 these words of St. James: You are, says he, the rightful and 
 legitimate successors of these servants of the Most High, in- 
 heritors of their graces, their calling, their sufferings, and their 
 hopes. " Stemmata quid faciunt," Juvenal might say. Sat. viii. 1, 
 but the remembrance of such a pedigree would nerve to the 
 suffering of sorrows, and give assurance of the crown in reversion. 
 
 Ver. IL vTrofieivavTWi, that endured. This is the readinjy 
 
74. ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 of X, A, B ; of the Syriac and the Vulgate, qui siistinuerunt, and 
 is preferable to the reading of the Received Text, viroixevovTa^, 
 that endure. The connection between this clause and the follow- 
 ing one is rendered more clear: "We deem them blessed that 
 endured ; " and out of this company of confessors we single Job 
 as a type of the class who suffered and yet were saved. We 
 canonize these worthies of old time; let then their example be a 
 strength to us in the hour of our trial and temptation. We are 
 forcibly reminded again of the sermon on the mount, Matt. v. 
 11, 12, where the persecution of the prophets is instanced, as in 
 this place, to encourage and console those that are persecuted for 
 Christ's sake. 
 
 Two questions of some interest may receive some amount of light 
 from this reference to the patriarch Job in this place. It has been 
 constantly held by orthodox interpreters that the mention of Job 
 in our Epistle, and in the 14th chapter of Ezekiel, establishes the 
 fact of his real historical existence, and refutes the theory of his 
 mythical character and fabulous existence, as taught first by Samuel 
 Bar Nachman and Hai Gaon, and perhaps Maimonides, amongst 
 the Jews, and followed by many Christian commentators : but, 
 secondly, the antiquity of Job and the date of his history (a sub- 
 ject which has been even more vigorously disputed) may be remotely 
 referred to and probably elucidated. St. James, in treating of a 
 class, and in exhibiting an example of that class, would most 
 likely select the^rs^ instance that held a prominent place in the 
 pages of the Bible. Surely, if Job had lived in the days of the 
 captivity, as Umbreit and others teach, he would not have been so 
 fitted for our author's purpose, as many others besides them had 
 passed through the same waters of affliction and had reached the 
 same shore of safety. The same remark is applicable to the theory 
 of Ewald and Renan, that Job flourished in the time of Manasseh. 
 Perhaps the most popular opinion at the present day is that 
 espoused by the learned pen of Professor Delitzsch, that this book 
 is the product of the Solomonic period. Without entering on 
 the arguments adduced from the wisdom-character of the book, 
 we may say that David would have furnished St. James with an 
 equally good example to illustrate his teaching ; we are thus 
 pushed back to the earliest days of Hebrew history, and whether 
 we adopt the belief that the book of the great sufferer was edited 
 by Moses, as the Talmud teaches, as Origen and Jerome held, and 
 as in modern times has been elaborated by Professor Lee, or 
 whether we entertain the opinion that this chronicle was the actual 
 writing of Job himself, as Schultens believes, or was the com- 
 pilation of Elihu from the facts his eyes witnessed, we may at all 
 events find some ground for assigning the remotest date to the 
 lifetime of the patriarch from the circumstance that St. James 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 75 
 
 made choice of him to represent the fatherhood of the suffering, as 
 St. Paul did Abraham to represent the fatherhood of the faithful. 
 
 eiSere, ye saw. The Alexandrine MS. reads here tSere, the 
 imperative mood, which is favoured by Alford, Lange, and others, 
 but the received reading has the support of N, B, the Syriac, and 
 the Vulgate ; the sense is more natural and connected, and the 
 imperative at the end of the sentence would be, to say the least, 
 out of its proper place. 
 
 The end of the Lord, to Te\o<; Kvpiou. The almost universally 
 adopted explanation of these words is, the end which the Lord 
 gave Job, that is, prosperity, after all his troubles, making 
 Kvpiov the genitive of the cause. The older interpretation is, 
 however, much to be preferred, which makes the end, to Te\o<;, 
 to refer to the completed work and sufferings of the Lord Him- 
 self, for (1) Tov Kvpiov has only just dropped from the writer's 
 pen, t?. 7, as a title of the Lord Jesr*s, and therefore it is but con- 
 sistent the same title should have here the same attribution. 
 (2) In y. 11 the context speaks of those who endured in the 
 plural, whereas if the whole illustration refers to Job only, we 
 have but one example of the enduring. (3) The end endured 
 by the Lord would properly be set in opposition to the charge 
 contained in the 6th verse of the Jews having condemned and 
 murdered the Just One. (4) Christ's mercy was especially mani- 
 fested in His sufferings endured for us: see 1 Pet. ii. 19-25 for 
 an expansion of the teaching of this- passage; hence the following 
 clause will harmonize witli this interpretation. (5) Lastly, if 
 viewed chronologically all will fall into order : Job was the first 
 great sufferer, himself a type, in his humiliation, sufferings, and 
 triumph ; Christ was the last great sufferer, the antitype stooping 
 from heaven, bearing the cross, and exalted to glory. Between 
 the type and the antitype is included the whole race of those who 
 have endured and prevailed. The word reXo?, end, must not be 
 limited to our familiar use of the word as denoting finality, ter- 
 mination, etc., but in connection with St. James' use of the 
 kindred adjective and verb as implying completion, fulfihnent, 
 viz., of Christ's work and office and ministry on earth ; all these 
 were marked with suffering and patient abiding under afflictions. 
 Hence we cannot doubt that St. James here, like St. Peter in the 
 parallel passage referred to above, sets before us the Divine 
 exemplar as the great model for our imitation. 
 
 iToXvaTTXcvyxyo'i. This word is not found anywhere else. 
 €vo-7r\ay^vo<i is used by St. Paul, Eph. iv. 32, and by St. Peter, 
 1 Pet. iii. 8. irokvaifK. is evidently a literal rendering of the 
 Hebrew IDrrm, great in mera/, and affords a beautiful iUustration 
 of the elasticity of the Greek language to compound in one word 
 a great wealth of thought. 
 
76 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 12 IIpo TrauTcof de, a5eA0oi /jlov, /jlt] o/jLvvere 
 
 fx-qre tov ovpavov, jxyjre rrjv yrjv, firjre aXXou riva 
 
 OpKOV 
 
 rjTCO de vfxwv to vai, vai, /cat to ov, ov' 
 Lva firj VTTO Kptaiv irecrriTe. 
 
 13 KaKOTTaOel tl9 eV vp.lv ; Trpoa-ev^eadco' 
 evOvpLel TL^; yj/aXXeTco. 
 
 12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, 
 Either by the heaven or the earth, or any other oath, 
 But let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, 
 
 That under judgment ye fall not. 
 
 13 In sore-suffering-is any one among you? let him pray. 
 Rejoicing is any one? let him sing-praise. 
 
 Ver. 12. St. James here proceeds to give a few final exhortations 
 which he felt were necessary for those whom he was addressing. In 
 the first injunction, " swear not," we are carried back once more 
 to the sermon on the mount, JMatt. v. 34, 35, where the same 
 command is given almost verbatim. It would seem that this 
 dehortation was suggested by the natural tendency of man to 
 break out under provocation and ill-treatment ; the following 
 verse evidently refers back to the 10th verse, so that it is impos- 
 sible to suppose, as some commentators do, that there is no con- 
 nection between this verse and the preceding context. 
 
 This swearing comprises not only imprecatory language, but 
 also that strange medley of oaths which the Jews, it would appear 
 from the more diffuse passage in St. Matthew, were in the habit 
 of using, a habit still in painful prevalence among that nation. 
 It has been observed by a host of commentators on these two 
 passages that swearing in the name of God is not mentioned, nor 
 are judicial oaths forbidden, see Art. XXXIX. of the Church of 
 England. It is the rash invocation of some created object, and 
 therefore involves idolatry. Every oath must be based upon an 
 appeal to the Great Infallible, and consequently creature-oaths are 
 a violation of the first and great commandment. 
 
 vTrb KpLcriv. This is the reading of ^?, A, B, Syriac, and Vul- 
 gate, which is far preferable to the reading of the Received Text, 
 et9 vTTOKpicnv. 
 
 Ver. 13. KaKOTTaOel. This returns to the subject of sore- 
 suffering he has been already treating of above. Our afilictions 
 and persecutions should not produce in us the bitter fruits of 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 77 
 
 14 daOevel tl^ ev v/jui/ ; 
 
 TrpocTKaXeaaadco Toys' Trpea^vrepovs TrJ9 eKKXrjaias, 
 
 Kol irpocrev^acrOcdcrav eir avrou, 
 
 dXelxl/auTes avTov iXalco Iv rco ovojiarL rov Kvpiov. 
 
 14 In sickness-is any one among you? 
 
 Let him call to him the elders of the church, 
 
 And let them pray over him, 
 
 Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 
 
 dejection and despair, much less of passion and swearing, but lead 
 us to the cross in prayer for ourselves, that we may have grace to 
 bear the burden, and that God in His own good time, when His 
 purposes of chastisement are perfected, would lighten and remove 
 the pressure ; and for our enemies, that God would have mercy 
 upon them, and " turn their hearts." 
 
 Is any one rejoicing? let him sing praise. ylrdWetv primarily 
 signifies to pull or twang with the fingers, hence to play on a 
 stringed instrument, as a harp, etc. ; afterwards it was used of 
 singing an accompaniment to a harp; the cognate noun ■\\raX[jb6<i 
 has passed through the same stages, and finally given us psalm. 
 St. James here gives directions to true and consistent Christians 
 in all ages. Our joy is not to be manifested in worldly revelling 
 and carnal licentiousness, but in praising God for his goodness, 
 and so making each season of joy a prelude of our heavenly occu- 
 pation, where endless joy will call forth endless praise. 
 
 Ver. 14. This verse has a special interest belonging to it, 
 which would never have existed had not the Church of Kome 
 founded mainly upon this basis the sacrament of extreme unction. 
 The best way of investigating the question will be to examine 
 fairly and faithfully what is the literal and plain teaching of the 
 words before us, and then state what is the doctrine and practice 
 of the Roman Catholic Church on this subject. 
 
 The central point is the sick man. St. James teaches that it is 
 his duty to call to him the elders of the church; these, doubtless, 
 were the recognized ministers of the Gospel. See especially the 
 use of this word in the closely allied Epistle of St. Peter, 1 Pet. 
 V. 1-5. It may be an open question whether the plural is here 
 to be enforced, and that, so to speak, a rubric is laid down direct- 
 ing the presence of more than one elder, that the joint prayer 
 might be lifted up for a blessing. 
 
 Tf/9 iKK\r]aia<i, of course, means that particular portion of the 
 one church of which the patient was a member. In that early- 
 day there was no schism in the body. 
 
78 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 15 Kou rj €V)(rj rrjg TrlaTeco^ acoaeL top KafxvovTa, 
 Kol iyepel avrov 6 Kvpios' 
 Kav afiaprlas y 7r€7roLr]K(09, 
 acfieOrjaeTaL avTw. 
 
 15 And their prayer of faith shall save the sufferer, 
 And the Lord shall raise him up ; 
 And if he be having committed sins, 
 Forgiveness shall be granted him. 
 
 When come to the sick man, their duty was to pray over the 
 sufferer, this is clearly the force of eVi here ; leaning over him they 
 were to raise the prayer of intercession on his behalf With this 
 outpouring of prayer is united an action, " anointing him with olive- 
 oil in the name of the Lord." To what purpose was this? There 
 are two passages in the New Testament which lend their aid to 
 throw light on this question. St. Mark, vi. 13, relates the 
 mission of the twelve, and they are stated to have "anointed with 
 oil many that were sick and healed them." The other passage is 
 Luke X. 34, where we find the good Samaritan pouring on the 
 wounds of the imfortunate traveller oil and wine. Nothing can 
 be more evident than that the wine was employed medicinally, to 
 wash out the corruption and prevent mortification, and the oil 
 was applied to mollify the wound, to keep out the air, and pro- 
 mote healing. In both passages oil is a remedial agent; this 
 is also mentioned by Isaiah, i. 6, and ancient physicians and 
 writers, it is needless to say, prescribe or mention the applica- 
 tion of oil as a healing medicine, not only for wounds but for 
 other ailments. There can be no doubt that the prescription 
 before us has the same purpose. Thus viewed, St. James enjoins 
 the elders to use the prayer of faith, and at the same time to 
 employ the means, the ordinary means, of medical science and 
 treatment. The whole process was to be performed in the name 
 of the Lord, their trust was to be placed, not in the instru- 
 mentality employed, but in the Lord. No means can be salutary 
 unless He vouchsafes the blessing. 
 
 Ver. 15. The prayer of faith, rj ev^V '^V'* ''"tcrTew?, brings before 
 us an additional feature. At this period of Christianity miraculous 
 powers were dispensed to the church; "gifts of healing" are 
 enumerated amongst these by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xii. 9. The prayer 
 of faith is the prayer that springs from the inner and inspired 
 assurance that the miracle will be wrought. We are next told 
 that this prayer of faith shall save the sick, acoaei ; this salvation 
 in its first aspect refers certainly to the body of the sufferer : see 
 for such use of the cognate verb, Matt. ix. 22 ; Mark vi. 56, etc. 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 79 
 
 It is worthy of our notice that the success of the administration 
 is not attributed to the oil, but to the prayer of faith as the 
 instrument, and to the Lord as the real agent, " the Lord shall 
 raise him up." The text continues, " and if he be having com- 
 mitted sins," 7] TreTTocrjKco'i ; the form of the expression seems to 
 imply that the visitation of sickness was consequent upon sin, and 
 therefore in the healing of the body there was involved also a 
 healing of the soul. As when our Lord said to the palsied, " Thy 
 sins are forgiven thee;" and afterwards argued with the Phari- 
 sees, " Which is the easier, to say. Thy sins are forgiven thee, or 
 to say, Rise up and walk ? but that ye may know that the Son 
 of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, he said unto the 
 sick of the palsy, I say unto thee. Arise, and take up thy couch, 
 and go into thine house," Luke v. 20-24, thus showing by 
 the outward evidence of restoration to health the inner and in- 
 visible miracle of pardon and salvation. So here the prayer of 
 faith shall be accepted for his bodily disease, and also for his soul's 
 malady, " the Lord shall raise him up . . . remission shall be his." 
 
 Notwithstanding this evident meaning of the passage, these 
 words have been laid as the foun'dation of the practice of ex- 
 treme unction in the Church of Eome, which ordinance is num- 
 bered amongst her seven sacraments. It is most probable that 
 while the gifts of healing were continued to the church of Christ 
 the outward application of oil was employed as an outward sign 
 and means whereby health might be restored, but such medicinal 
 use was had recourse to for the express' purpose of recoveriiiff the 
 patient ; the a-coaet in our passage is sufficient to prove this. It 
 is the prayer of faith that shall restore the sufferer. The teach- 
 ing of the Church of Rome is quite opposed to this ; the 
 ordinance is held to be of an entirely spiritual character as a 
 benefit to the soul ; indeed, so far from being viewed as a healing 
 agency, it is never administered till all hopes of amendment have 
 vanished, and the sick man is in the very article of death, and no 
 food is permitted to be received after the rite ; the oil used is con- 
 secrated by a bishop, and the form of administration is the appli- 
 cation of the oil to the five senses of the sufferer, with the words, 
 " Per hanc sacram unctionem, et suam piissimam misericordiam 
 indulgcat tibi Deus quicquid peccasti, per visum, auditum, olfac- 
 tum, gustum, et tactum," the word proper to each sense being 
 uttered as the organ of each sense is anointed. 
 
 There is very slight foundation for this practice. No writer 
 of antiquity mentions it. We search in vain till we come to the 
 fifth century before we find any notice of this ordinance ; the 
 first mention of it is in a letter of Pope Innocent I. to Decentius, 
 Bishop of Eugubium ; the question that had been proposed for 
 solution was whether the sick might be anointed with the oil of 
 
80 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 chrism, and whether the bishop might perform that office. To 
 which he repHed that the words of St. James in this place apply 
 to the faithful who are sick, and that they may be anointed with 
 the chrism, and that this may be used not only by priests, but by all 
 Christians, both for themselves and their friends, and that the 
 bishop who made the chrism might as a matter of course use it. 
 
 It is observable that the oil here referred to was not the 
 ordinary oil-olive now in use in the Church of Rome, but the 
 oil of chrism, which from early times, it is well known, was in 
 use in connection with baptism, confirmation, and ordination ; 
 and that if this chrism had been from the first employed in 
 extreme unction no bishop would have had occasion to write to 
 another bishop such a letter of inquiry, and that no bishop would 
 have made such a reply, as all sacramental rites legitimately 
 established must have been well known among the higher clergy, 
 to say the least. The conceded use of the chrism for private use 
 by the laity is a corollary proof of the association of its use with 
 medicinal treatment. No further reference to this subject is 
 found for a long interval. The ritual lore of the succeeding cen- 
 turies contains no evidence in favour of this rite. The deaths of 
 saints, when related, are not stated to have been comforted with 
 this viaticum, but by that of the Eucharist. 
 
 It has been alleged that the Sacramentary of Gregory, a.d. 590, 
 contained an office for this ordinance, but this assertion is without 
 foimdation in fact. Daniel in his Codex Liturgiciis, says distinctly 
 that the old MSS. of the Gregorian Sacramentary do not contain 
 the services for unction. The first j\lS. that has anything of this 
 sort is ascribed to the ninth or tenth century, and seems to have 
 belonged to a monastery in Rheims. Another, that belonged to 
 a monastery at Corbei, was said to contain nothing that did not 
 belong to Gregory, and was published by the Benedictines as the 
 genuine work of that author, but Daniel says, " multa continet 
 quffi Gregorium auctorem nequaquam agnoscunt," Vol L, 9, 309. 
 
 The custom, to whatever extent it prevailed, which seems to 
 have been very circumscribed, appears to have retained its 
 original character of materia medica, it was not till the twelfth 
 century that it was called or treated as extrema unctio. Seven 
 centuries passed away between Innocent I. and his namesake the 
 third at that period before mention is made of the rite in a sacra- 
 mental character. The failure of the process to restore bodily 
 health doubtless prompted the teaching that it healed the soul ; 
 the oil was applied at this mediaeval period to the portions of the 
 body that were afflicted by the disease; after this had obtained 
 for a while, the schoolmen dogmatized on the subject, and the 
 Council of Florence, A.D. 1439, established the rite, and the 
 Council of Trent, a.d. 1551, passed four canons to ratify its 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 81 
 
 16 ^ E^oixoXoyelaOe ovv dXXrjXotf Ta9 a^aprlas, 
 Kou ev)(eade virep dXX^XcoL', oirois laOrjre. 
 TToXv L(r)(V€L 8er](Tt^ SiKalov ivcpyov/JLevr]. 
 
 16 Confess therefore to one another your sins, 
 And pray for one another to be lieaiecl, 
 Of much avail is the entreaty of a righteous man 
 when it is energized. 
 
 sacramental character. The Greek Church retains the custom 
 of anointing, but does not regard it as a sacrament, but as medi- 
 cinal treatment for the body. The first Prayer Book of Edward 
 VI. retained the form and permitted the use of unction, if the 
 patient desired its administration, with prayer for pardon of sin 
 and recovery to bodily health. All the subsequent Prayer Books 
 of the Enghsh Church omit the practice altogether. 
 
 Ver. 16. This verse again has been rendered celebrated by the 
 superstition built upon it by the Church of Rome. The most 
 ancient MSS. insert ovv, therefore; this evidently connects this 
 injunction with the preceding sentence, to which it is parallel. 
 The sick man is there represented as possibly suffering on account 
 of some sin he had comaiitted, the forgiveness of which should be 
 conferred together with the restoration of his bodily health. 
 " Therefore, confess your trespasses one to another, and pray," 
 etc. Here is a reference to the " prayer of faith." " That ye 
 may be healed:" this is parallel to "the Lord shall raise him 
 up;" and here, probably, we catch the clue to the solution of the 
 difficult word ivepyov/jLevr). The prayer of faith sprung from an 
 inward energy imparted by the Spirit of God (see below), and so 
 St. James reminds them, as a ground why they should pray for 
 one another, especially in times of sickness and danger of death, 
 that the petition of a just man has much influence when it is 
 energized or inwrought by the Spirit. 
 
 Perhaps nothing is so solacing to the troubled mind as reveal- 
 ing the source of sorrow to another. To impart to another the 
 sins we have committed, the infirmities that depress us, or the 
 painful experiences we have struggled through, relieves the heart 
 of a sore load, and often lifts the latchet of the door of hope; and 
 this source of spiritual edification, as is so often the case in 
 the Romish system, has been seized upon and perverted by that 
 church. To enforce as compulsory that which is essentially 
 voluntary robs it of all benefit, and indeed substitutes another 
 rite in the place of the original. It is needless to add that the 
 dictating, prompting, and suggesting of sin in the Romish 
 
 7 
 
82 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 confessional is most revolting to moral feeling and subversive of 
 inner purity, and utterly alien to the object in view in the passage 
 under our consideration. 
 
 ivepyovfievT). The interpretations of this word are manifold. 
 They may be summarily divided into two classes: (1) those that 
 make the participle middle, and (2) those that make it pas- 
 sive. The Authorized Version renders it effectual; it may be 
 a matter of doubt whether this means rendered, or, found to 
 he effectual, by its success, or simply, energetic, forceful, fervent, 
 earnest. Thus the word would be equivalent to ivepy)]'?, ener- 
 getic, but this is certainly not definite enough, nor consistent with 
 the use of the word. 
 
 Of those who regard the form as middle, some think the energy 
 of the person praying, in seeking to bring about the object of his 
 prayer, is intended ; others, that inward working so as to in- 
 fluence the life, and produce the fruits of holiness, is the purport 
 of this participle. \Vhile it is admitted that the most frequent 
 use of this verb in the New Testament is middle, yet there is no 
 reason why it should not be used passively, and this will certainly 
 be the more fitting and suitable form in this place, when all the 
 features of the context and the subject treated of are taken into 
 consideration. The prayer in the last verse is a prayer of faith 
 that sliall receive an answer, the healing of the sick man is of 
 a miraculous character; the general ev^eade virep aXkrfkoiv of this 
 verse partakes of the same character, the object of healing being 
 the same. So here the special Seijaa must be classed under the 
 same head, as a petition for miraculous interposition. But it is 
 evident tliat in the exercise of miraculous gifts there was not 
 unrestricted expenditure of power, but the Spirit who imparted 
 to the disciples "the discernment of spirits" gave them a moni- 
 tion where and when to put forth the Divine gift ; so the 
 prayer or petition which accompanied the act would be a divinely 
 inspired and energized appeal to God, so that it is best to regard 
 this word in that light, a prayer inwrought by the Spirit of 
 God. The position of the participle at the end of the clause is 
 not intended, as some commentators of great note hold, to carry 
 out the verb layyei as if the sentence ran. The prayer of a 
 righteous man has influence and is energetic, but is rather placed 
 tliere as an emphatically enunciated condition on which the pre- 
 valence of the prayer is grounded. The petition must be taught 
 by the Holy Ghost, and when so it has prevalence. The next 
 verse adduces an instance in which the condition here laid down 
 was exemplified. 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 83 
 
 17 HXias avdpwiTO^ rjv ofioiOTraOrj^ rjfXLv, 
 Kol Trpocrev^rj TrpoaTjv^aro rou /xtj ^pe^ar 
 Kcu ovK e^pe^ev iirl rrjs^ y?;? ivLavrovs rpel^ kou 
 ixr)va9 €^. 
 
 17 Elijah was a man of like feelings as ourselves, 
 And in prayer he prayed that it should not rain, 
 And it rained not upon the land three years and 
 six months. 
 
 Ver. 17. Prayer when energized by the Spirit of God is effec- 
 tual. Take for a well known example of this truth the prayer 
 of Elijah, first that it should not rain, and afterwards that the 
 drought should be removed. That prayer was taught and inspired 
 by the Holy Spirit, and see how successful it was in the result. 
 
 6/u,ocoTradt]<;. Elijah was of like passions and infirmities as 
 ourselves. The weak side of the prophet, the old Adam of his 
 heart came out when, after the performance of the great miracle 
 on mount Carmel, he fled into the wilderness from the face of 
 Jezebel, and in the midst of bitter lamentations requested that he 
 might die: see 1 Ki. xix. 
 
 TTpoaevx^fi 7rpo(Tr]v^aro, prayed in prayer. The well known 
 Hebraism; compare Liike xxii. 15; Acts i v. 17: at the same 
 time, the emphasis points to the ivep^^ovixevT] above. We are not 
 told in so many words in the Old Testament narrative that 
 Elijah thus prayed, but the fact seems to be suggested by the 
 preface to the drought, " There shall be no dew nor rain but 
 according to my word," 1 Ki. xvii. 1 ; and still more plainly 
 after the drought by the account given in chap, xviii. 42, that 
 " he went to the top of Carmel, and cast himself down upon the 
 earth, and put his face between his knees;" and his faith and 
 expectation of an answer are evident from the following words, 
 that he sent his servant seven times to see if the cloud were rising 
 above the distant horizon. 
 
 Three years and six inontlLS. The period is remarkable as 
 being the same mentioned in Kev. xi. 3-6, the space of time 
 during which the two witnesses shall exercise their ministry, to 
 whom " power shall be given to shut heaven that it rain not in 
 the days of their prophecy." This is not the place to enter on 
 the question whether Elijah will be one of these witnesses, but 
 the coincidence is noteworthy. Some difficulty has been found 
 in reconciling this period of three years and a half with 1 Ki. 
 xviii. 1, where it would appear that the drought foretold by 
 Elijah terminated in the third year of its duration. It is usual to 
 
84 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 18 KoiX iraXiv Trpoarjv^aro, 
 Koi o ovpauo9 verou edcoKe^ 
 
 /cat rj yrj e^Xaarrjae rov Kapirov avrfj^- 
 
 19 A8eX(f)0L fjLOv, kav tl9 iv vpAV, 
 TrXai^rjdr) airo rrjs' dXydeiay, 
 KOi iTnarpeyp^Tj tl9 avroi>, 
 
 18 And again he prayed, 
 And the heaven gave rain, 
 
 And the land produced her fruit. 
 
 19 My brethren, if any one among you 
 Is led astray from the truth, 
 
 And any one convert him ; 
 
 explain this seeming discrepancy by reckoning this date from the 
 coramencement of his sojourn with the widow of Zarephath ; but 
 it is more satisfactory and natural, as the same period is given in 
 Luke iv. 25, and in the Jewish tract Jalcut iSimeoni, to take the 
 three years and a half as the period during which no rain fell, 
 but inasmuch as a whole year would pass before the drought 
 would produce famine in the land, the writer of 1 Kings speaks 
 of the third year after the actual famine had set in. 
 
 If any one among you he led-astray (jiKavrjO^^ the passive force 
 is to be retained as showing pressure from without, see chap. i. 16), 
 from the faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and so become apostate. 
 Such is the force of this passage. 
 
 Ver. 19. T^9 aK7]9eid<i. Not abstract truth merely, nor even 
 Gospel truth, but (see chap. i. 18 and note there) the truth, that 
 is, the Lord Jesus Christ, who called Himself by this name, Jno. 
 xiv. 6. He is the Amen, see Is. Ixv. 16 ; Rev. iii. 14, the one 
 and only revealer of the Father to mankind. There is a strong 
 emphasis on this whole passage. The Jew stood in special 
 danger of apostacy. Jews and Christians alike held the law 
 and the prophets as a revelation from God ; the Christians 
 believed that Christ brought a further and final revelation. 
 Under persecution for the Gospel's sake, the Jew might be 
 tempted to retire to the common ground admitted by both 
 parties, and reject the evangelical development ; this would 
 involve open apostacy and eternal ruin. Hence we find our 
 Lord uttering the most solemn warnings against this grievous 
 fall. Matt. xii. 32 : see also Heb. vi. 4-6 ; 2 Pet. ii. 1 ; 1 Jno. 
 v. 16. 
 
ST. JAMES, V. 86 
 
 20 yLuco(TK€T(o OTL 6 e7naTpey\ra9 a/iaprcoXov 
 €K 7rXavr]9 oSov avrov, 
 acoaet \I/V)(rji' €k Oavarov^ 
 Kcu KaXv^eL ttXyjOo^ afxapncav. 
 
 EniETOAH lAKOBOr. 
 
 20 Let him know that he that converts a sinner 
 From the error of his way, 
 Shall save a soul from death, 
 And shall cover a multitude of sins. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 
 
 Ver. 20. r^ivoicrKeTU), let him know (the Vatican MS. here 
 reads fytvcocrKeTe, know ye, but X, A, Syriac, and Vulgate, support 
 the received reading), that he that is made instrumental in 
 bringing back the sinner from the error of his way shall save a 
 soul from apostacy, which must end in eternal death. 
 
 And shall cover a multitude of sins. A question has arisen, 
 whose sins sliall be covered, those of the converter or of the 
 converted ? The Church of Rome holds the former ; the Syriac 
 among ancient versions, Erasmus, at the time of the Reformation, 
 and Whitby and Hammond, and others, among writers of our 
 Church adopt the same view. A deeper insight into the 
 passage will, however, show that the opposite reference is the one 
 intended ; that not only shall the converter instrumentally save a 
 soul from death, but also cover a multitude of sins which the 
 converted had already committed, and a multitude of sins which 
 in the future he would have committed if he had remained in 
 his apostacy would be averted and avoided. The Hebrew 
 thought connected with "covering sins" was that of atonement. 
 The original passage on which this is grounded is Prov. x. 12, 
 "Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all sins;" where 
 the antithesis between the effects of hatred and those of love 
 proves that the sins that love covers are those of the sinner and 
 not of the loving one. It is of course easy to deny the reference 
 to this passage, as some have done, on quite insufficient grounds, 
 but such a denial is no proof There are, moreover, two passages 
 in the New Testament which corroborate this conclusion, 1 Pet. • 
 iv. 8, where the same text from Proverbs is cited more fully than 
 in this place, " Before all things having love towards each other 
 intense, for love covers a multitude of sins." The close similitude 
 that exists between the Epistles of St. James and St. Peter will 
 account for their use of the same passage, and the sense in which 
 
86 ST. JAMES, V. 
 
 they employ the ancient proverb will be closely allied. In the latter 
 there can exist no donbt that mutual love will produce mutual 
 forbearance. Our author seems to superadd a higher thought : the 
 greatest love you can show to a man trembling on the brink of 
 apostacy is to wrestle with him and turn him from his error to 
 the Lord, and in so doing you will hide his sins, as was repre- 
 sented in the Levitical blood-sprinkling, from the searching eye 
 of God. It may be noted that both St. James and St. Peter 
 make their quotation from the Hebrew text, and not from the 
 LXX., which in this place is not only paraphrastic, but in- 
 correct. 
 
 The second passage which confirms this interpretation is in St. 
 Paul's essay on love, 1 Cor. xiii. 7, where he says that love iravra 
 aTeyei., covereth all things. It is quite admitted that crre'yet, 
 may have the translation beareth as in E.V., but it is far 
 better to translate with Bengel, Schleusner, and others, covereth., as 
 the Trdvra vTrojuevet which follows fully expresses the features of 
 forbearance and endurance. There is little doubt that St. Paul had 
 in his mind the same fundamental passage in the Book of Proverbs. 
 The notion o^ Jides formata in the Tridentine system of justifica- 
 tion, it is superfluous to add, is quite out of place in connection 
 with this text, as that doctrine has no support here. The work 
 of the teacher is to bring the sinner to Jesus, and His cross, and 
 His finished offering will cover all the sins of the sinner. Thus 
 the doctrine of the atonement, and not of human merit, closes 
 this Epistle. 
 
 For the subscription see remarks in the Introduction. 
 
ST. JAMES. 87 
 
 EXCURSUS ON THE GLORY. 
 (Chapter II. 1.) 
 
 1133, So^a, Shechinah. The word " glory " has a 
 lengthy pedigree, it enlightens the dim distance of the 
 remotest past and kindles a torch in the still remoter 
 future. We must associate with this word some sister 
 terms which may severally serve either as the envelope 
 to conceal the nucleus of light, or as the vehicle of its 
 manifestation ; as the casket to conceal, or the setting to 
 exhibit the gem. Such words as pK* to dwell or taber- 
 nacle^ and py cloudy will readily occur, as being frequently 
 and intimately connected with the " glory " of God. 
 We must not permit the ethical use of this word glory 
 to supplant the material sense : the glory of which we 
 are treating is not the tribute paid to the Almighty by 
 His creatures, as when we ascribe praise in the well 
 known doxology of the Christian church, " Glory be to 
 the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost." 
 Such an application of the term is rather the result of 
 our apprehending the objective nature of the glory, and 
 a reflex expression of our subjective sense of wonder 
 and adoration ; but the primary use of the word is ex- 
 pressive of manifested majesty^ see Gen. xlv. 13, where 
 it is employed in a striking type of the Messiah. In 
 
88 ST. V JAMES. 
 
 Ex. xvi. 10, the " glory " is the revealing medium of 
 Deity ; and ever after it served as the visible token of the 
 Divine presence in connection with the tabernacle and 
 temple, till the period of the Babylonish captivity ; and 
 in prophetic visions, as in Is. vi. 3 ; Ezek. i. 28, etc., 
 it was the recognized means of Divine manifestation. 
 Moreover, the " glory " was so identified with the presence 
 of God, a presence so mysteriously essential, that it seems 
 to have been an integral off-ray of the Divine Entity, or 
 a transubstantiation of Deity into material light, for we 
 find the word used as a synonym of God in Ps. cvi. 20 ; 
 Jer. ii. 11. 
 
 When God created man. He created him " in his own 
 image, and after his likeness." The similitude consisting 
 in the complex constitution of man, spirit, soul, and body, 
 a trinity of integral parts in the unity of humanity, and 
 thus an imaging or mirroring of the Trinity of persons 
 in the unity of the Godhead. It is more than probable 
 that the Creator vested this facsimile of Himself with a 
 robe of His own glory, and when the fall ruptured the 
 bond of the covenant between man and his Maker, the 
 transgressors were deprived of the wedding garment 
 that had witnessed to their union with God, and when 
 bereft of the heavenly vestment " they knew that they 
 were naked." We may well picture to our minds our 
 first parents anticipating the cry of one of their sorrow- 
 in o" daughters, when the ark, that contained the symbol 
 of the Divine presence, was taken captive : " Ichabod, 
 the glory is departed," 1 Sam. iv. 21. 
 
 But be this as it may, the first occasion that we meet 
 with a definite and undisputed reference to the visible 
 glory of God is after the expulsion of Adam from the 
 
THE GLOEY. 89 
 
 paradise of Eden, Gen. iv. 24. We read there " He 
 made to tabernacle or dwell (psi'^i rendered in our version 
 'He placed,') cherubim, and the flame of a sword that 
 revolved, to guard the way of the tree of life ; " this 
 verb pK', to tabernacle^ here first found in connection 
 with the mysterious fire, became afterwards the base of 
 the well known word Shechinah, i.e.^ the tahernacling^ by 
 which the later Hebrews called the visible glory of God. 
 The cherubim appear as the guards of the glory ; and 
 this is their office throughout the whole of the Old 
 Testament dispensation, whether the original beino-s 
 were seen in vision, or their representations were sculp- 
 tured or embroidered among the symbols of the Levitical 
 ceremonial, namely, to ward off the profane from the 
 presence of the glory, and to guard its holiness inviolate ; 
 but when the hour of redemption is perfected, in Rev. v. 
 9, 10 we read, according to the testimony of the Sinaitic 
 and Alexandrine MSS., that the " living creatures " 
 who have kept their ward while sin separated between 
 the sinner and God, now that sin is atoned for and 
 restoration established, sheathe the sword unscabbarded 
 so long, and herald, as ushers at the court of a great 
 king, the saved into the presence of the glory. The 
 condition of man being changed, the office of the 
 cherubim is changed also. 
 
 The next passage that supplies matter of interest in 
 relation to this subject is Gen. ix. 27. Noah is pro- 
 nouncing prophetic blessing on his two reverential sons, 
 Shem and Japheth, and saith, " God shall enlaro-e 
 Japheth, and he shall dwell (or tabernacle, p:i"i) in the 
 tents of Shem." It is a question whether God or Japlteth 
 is the subject of the verb " shall dwell : " the popular 
 
90 ST. JAMES. 
 
 view is doubtless the latter, that Japheth by community 
 of religious privileges shall dwell in the tents of Shem, 
 but most Jewish interpreters favour the former con- 
 struction ; thus the Targum of Onkelos renders the 
 passage, " His Shechinah shall abide in the dwelling of 
 Shem :" Philo Judseus comments thus : " We may now 
 consider who it is who Noah prays may dwell in the 
 tents of Shem, for he does not say very clearly ; one 
 may affirm that he means the Lord of the universe," etc. 
 The B^reshith Rahha says : " The Shechinah dwells only 
 in the tents of Shem." Among the fathers Theodoret 
 followed in the same opinion, and many modern critics 
 have endorsed the same interpretation. This is not the 
 place to discuss the merits of the question, but the above 
 named authorities, and others that might be added, are 
 weighty ; and we shall see, as we progress, that Scripture 
 will furnish us with parallel passages, if not with direct 
 references, to this prophecy thus interpreted. Electing 
 this view of the patriarch's benediction, we have gained 
 a further step in our inquiry, that the visible glory of 
 God, the manifestation of Deity on earth, would find its 
 shrine among the posterity of Shem. Consistently at 
 least with this exposition we trace the fact that the 
 glory-presence is limited to the Hebrew section of the 
 race of Shem, and this high prerogative throughout the 
 domain of revelation defines the distinction between 
 Israel and the Gentiles: the glory of God is always 
 spoken of as dwelling in the midst of the former, and its 
 rays or reflected light giving shine to the latter. 
 
 The next passage which bears forcibly on our subject 
 is Ex. iii., where a distinct revelation of the glory-presence 
 was vouchsafed to Moses in the burning bush. The 
 
THE GLORY. 91 
 
 'busily njD, is found under this name only in this place and 
 Deut. xxxiii. 16, of which more hereafter. The usual 
 interpretation of the mystery of that " great sight " in 
 Horeb, supported by commentators of note, may be thus 
 summarised : the bush is the common thorn or bramble, 
 the lowliest and meanest of the trees of the wilderness, 
 a type of Israel now in Egypt in humiliation ; the flame 
 burning, a symbol of persecution and tribulation, such 
 as they were then undergoing in the land of the stranger ; 
 the bush not being consumed, notwithstanding the heat 
 of the fire, a token and earnest that the interposition of 
 Providence should prove a preservative to the seed of 
 Abraham in all their afflictions for evermore. 
 
 But is there not a grander truth here evidenced than 
 even this? AVe must call to mind that the time of the 
 promise was now come, that Moses was commanded to 
 recall to their memory the almost forgotten name of 
 Jehovah, and to explain the mystery of its meaning. 
 The "coming one," the great Redeemer promised at the 
 fall, whom Eve vainly hoped would be her firstborn, 
 whose presence was covenanted in the tents of Shem, 
 now appeared as the well-known Angel of Jehovah, and 
 claimed to be the " I am who am," the " coming one " as 
 well as "from everlasting." The revelation made in 
 this vision was not the depression of Israel on the one 
 hand, or simply their preservation in the midst of 
 dangers on the other, but rather the proof that the 
 glory-presence was still with Israel, and a renewal of 
 the ancient promise that it should abide with them for 
 ever. This will be more apparent when we examine the 
 word bush hjd. It has been satisfactorily established by 
 recent investigation that this tree was one of the acacia 
 
92 ST. JAMES. 
 
 ofenus, and that s'neh was a Hebrew form of the 
 Egyptian name by which it was known, sant or sont. 
 The regular Hebrew name, found frequently in other 
 places, was shittah or shittim tree. Now, it is remarkable 
 as beaTing on the question, that the wood of the shittim 
 tree was used as the material to construct the frame- 
 work of the tabernacle in which afterwards dwelt the 
 glory-presence, and more especially was the inner 
 substance of the ark of the covenant, on the lid or 
 mercy-seat of which that glory-presence rested. 
 
 This interpretation will be the more evident when we 
 compare Deut. xxxiii. 16 : Moses, when breathing his 
 parting blessing on the posterity of Joseph, speaks of 
 " the good will of him that dwelt in the bush," where, 
 as we have already observed, the only other example of 
 this word seneh^ is found. He uses the Egyptian word 
 in connection with Joseph, who had been the lord ol 
 Egypt, so that the reference to the burning busli in Horeb 
 is clearly established ; and further, the word " dwelt " 
 is '33L", the special word that is cognate with the glory- 
 presence, the Shechinah, which was there revealed. 
 
 This association of the glory with the bush at once 
 brings before our minds the subject to which we have 
 already alluded, the tabernacle and the Divine presence 
 that dwelt therein. The first place in Holy Writ where 
 this sacred tent is named is worthy of notice. In Ex. 
 XXV. 8, 9 we read, " And let them make me a sanctuary, 
 that I may dwell among them, according to all that I 
 shew thee, after the pattern of the tahernacle.'^ In this 
 passage we find the Verb pK> expressing the mode of the 
 Divine habitation among His people, and pcj'o, a noun 
 from the same root, used for the tabernacle ; so that if 
 
THE GLORY. 93 
 
 we read, " That I may tabernacle among them, according 
 to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the taber- 
 nacle ; " the force of the original will be manifest. 
 
 This building was also called a tent, "pnx, or house^ 
 rr-n, or palace, ^^^^, all which denote the occupation of 
 the Divine presence. We need not expatiate on the 
 arrangements of the sacred building : it is well known 
 that the innermost recess, the Holy of Holies, contained 
 an ark made of shittim wood overlaid with gold, inside 
 this chest were deposited the tables of the law, in the 
 Divine manuscript, and on the lid, called the mercy- 
 seat, rested the glory-presence, overshadowed by the 
 cherubim : hence arose the epithet of Deity, " thou that 
 dwellest between the cherubim ; " and the phrase found 
 in Heb. ix. 5, "the cherubim of glory." The general 
 name of this cathedral of the wilderness was the 
 " tabernacle of the congregation." The impression 
 made on the ordinary reader by this translation must 
 almost necessarily be that this tent was the gathering 
 place of the various tribes of Israel, who met there for 
 worship, the congregation being composed of men and 
 men only ; but if we turn to the fundamental passage, 
 Ex. xxix. 42, we shall find a very different account 
 given of the purport of this erection : " the tabernacle of 
 the congregation, where / will meet you, to speak unto 
 thee ; and there / will meet with the children of Israel." 
 When we call to mind that the words translated 
 "congregation," nyiD, and " I will meet," lyiK, are cognate, 
 kindred noun and verb, the meaning will be clear, the 
 tabernacle of the meeting place, where / will meet you. 
 This tent then was thus called because it was appointed 
 to be the centre where God would meet His people. 
 
94 - ST. JAMES. 
 
 We postpone further comment on this marvellous type 
 till we come to consider the teaching of Jno. i. 14, and 
 the connection of that passage with the subject before 
 us ; it will be sufficient at the present point in our 
 argument to call the reader's attention to the fact that 
 God had fixed a permanent settlement of the glory- 
 presence in the midst of the Hebrew nation, to be the 
 centre from which should issue forth His oracles, laws, 
 and judgments to the people, where also He would 
 meet them when they should assemble for worship, 
 sacrifice, and service. 
 
 Intimately connected with this, and identical with the 
 Shechinah, was the cloud, py, that assumed the form of 
 a pillar or column of nebula and fire. It would appear 
 from a comparison of the facts given in the sacred narra- 
 tive that the glory was encased in an envelope of mist ; 
 the Divine presence was veiled in a robe of cloud, so 
 that the light within was not always visible. This 
 ordinance was first established when Israel left Egypt 
 and essayed the passage of the Red Sea. It afterwards 
 became associated with the tabernacle, when that sacred 
 structure was erected, and in connection with it led the 
 march of the Israelites through the mazes of the wilder- 
 ness, during their pilgrimage to the land of Canaan ; it 
 served at once as a special token of God's presence with 
 His people, and also pointed out the way in which they 
 should go, when and where to halt, and when and whither 
 to depart ; for the movements of this glory-cloud were 
 extraordinary, when the host was to set forward, it 
 ascended like a column, and acted the part of a pioneer 
 to the pilgrim tribes ; at noon-time it would seem that 
 its crest dilated, and formed a covering or shield like an 
 
THE GLORY. 95 
 
 aurora over the host ; and when the time arrived to 
 pitch camp, the shaft descended upon the tabernacle, and 
 roofed in the sacred tent with an awning, and filled it 
 with the light of the glory-fire : see Ex. xl. 34, 38 ; 
 Num. ix. 15, 17 ; Ps. cv. 39. 
 
 We may now leave this earlier portion of the history of 
 God's ancient people, merely reminding the reader that the 
 pillar of the glory-cloud conducted the children of 
 Israel to the end of their journeyings, to the banks of 
 Jordan and the gates of Canaan, and that the Shechinah 
 doubtless remained surmounting the mercy-seat till the 
 tabernacle was merged into the temple of Solomon, when 
 we read that the glory again filled the house of the 
 Lord : see 1 Ki. viii. 10, 11 ; 2 Chron. v. 13, U. 
 
 We may pass by various and casual references to this 
 mode of the manifestation of Deity scattered up and 
 down the pages of the prophets, as our purpose is only 
 to fix upon those points in the Scripture testimony that 
 serve as links to form the chain of evidence. The next 
 period that presents features of interest is that of the 
 Babylonish captivity. We may with certainty conclude 
 that up to this time the Holy of Holies had retained the 
 treasure of the glory-presence, seen but once a year, 
 when the high priest entered that chamber of mystery, 
 even if then he dared, or were permitted, to gaze upon 
 the glory that dwelt between the cherubim. The light 
 that shone in that otherwise dark apartment would be 
 sufficient to convince him of its presence. But at the 
 crisis of which we are speaking the temple of Solomon 
 fell under the axes and hannners of Nebuchadnezzar ; 
 but what became of the ark of the covenant and its 
 mysterious surroundings? If we are to credit the 
 
96 ST. JAMES. 
 
 authority of the writer of the second book of Maccabees, 
 chap. ii. 5, 6, the material ark was secreted by Jeremiah 
 the prophet : " And when Jeremy came thither, he 
 found a hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and 
 the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the 
 door. And some of those that followed him came to 
 mark the way, but they could not find it." But what 
 became of the glory-presence, the Shechinah? This 
 question is answered in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. 
 The solution of this usually thought intricate and 
 difficult prophecy is in the removal and restoration of 
 the Shechinah. The first chapter reminds us forcibly 
 of the vestibule of the garden of Eden after the expulsion 
 of Adam. There is the " fire infolding itself, " or 
 "catching itself," nnp'pnD, a striking parallel to the 
 nDsnnon of Gen. iii. 24. There are also the four living 
 creatures, identical doubtless with the cherub-guards of 
 paradise, whose appearance was like living coals of fire, 
 and like the appearance of lamps ; but in this place the 
 cherubim are accompanied by a chariot with complicated 
 wheels that seem to be inspired by an indwelling, 
 guiding, and dynamic spirit. And for what purpose 
 was this heavenly vehicle prepared, we may naturally 
 enquire. The tenth chapter informs us that it was for 
 the conveyance of the glory. In the fourth verse the 
 glory fills the house and court, in the eighteenth verse 
 it departs from the threshhold and stands above the 
 cherubim, and then they lift up their wings and mount 
 up from the earth. Thus the glory-presence departed 
 from the temple. 
 
 Further, in chap. xi. 22, 23, a vision is seen of the 
 Shechinah leaving the city^ " Then did the cherubim lift 
 
THE GLOEY. y7 
 
 up their wings, and the wheels beside them ; and the 
 glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the 
 glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the c%, 
 and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side 
 of the city." After this follows the roll written within 
 and without with lamentations and mourning and woe, 
 descriptive of the sufferings of Israel during the times of 
 Gentile domination ; but when the cup of deadly wine is 
 drained, and her warfare is accomplished, we witness, in 
 chap, xliii. 2, 7, the return of the glory-presence to the 
 temple^ " And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel 
 came from the way of the east ; and his voice was like 
 the noise of many waters : and the earth shined with his 
 glory. And it was according to the appearance of the 
 vision which I saw, according to the vision that I saw 
 when I came to destroy the city : and the visions were 
 like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell 
 upon my face. And the glory of the Lord came into 
 the house by the way of the gate, whose prospect is 
 toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and 
 brought me into the inner court ; and behold the glory 
 of the Lord filled the house. And I heard him speaking 
 unto me out of the house : and the man stood by me. 
 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my 
 throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I 
 will dwell (ptJ>N) in the midst of the children of Israel 
 for ever ; " and henceforth and for ever we hail the city 
 as Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah is there, chap, xlviii. 35. 
 From this testimony of Ezekiel we learn two things: 
 firstly, that when the Gentiles desolated Jerusalem, and 
 destroyed the "beautiful house," the glory-presence 
 departed from Israel; first it vacated the temple, then 
 
98 ST. JAMES. 
 
 the city; and secondly, that when the Messiah shall 
 come to reign, and His banished ones shall be gathered 
 to Him, then shall the glory also return, and be no more 
 taken away from them, 
 
 A few of the prophecies that were uttered after the 
 departure of the Shechinah may serve to show what the 
 Jewish hopes at that period were relative to the restora- 
 tion of the Shechinah. 
 
 There may be doubts entertained as to the period 
 when Ps. Ixxxv. was composed : this song of the sons of 
 Korah may have been uttered in the time of David, 
 when he fled before Absalom, and returned in triumph to 
 his home; or the circumstances connected with the 
 Egyptian invasion in the reign of Rehoboam may have 
 furnished the subject matter of this graceful hymn; or, 
 as perhaps is more generally held, it was composed after 
 the Babylonish captivity in the time of Nehemiah, when 
 the refugees bewailed their desolated land, their ruined 
 temple, and above all the withdrawal of the glory that 
 had had its residence in the Holy of Holies. At what- 
 ever period in the history of Israel this psalm originated, 
 the purport of the implied prophecy in the tenth verse, 
 "that glory may dwell (nna pB'S) in our land," is clear 
 and unmistakable, namely, that it was the purpose of 
 God, and the hope of His people, that in the future age 
 the Shechinah should dwell in the midst of Israel. 
 
 In the second chapter of Haggai we have a striking 
 prophecy of the second temple. We may well call up 
 before our imagination the elders, who had seen the 
 former house, weeping at the comparatively poor pre- 
 parations that were being made for the erection of the 
 new edifice, and may hear the cheering words of the 
 
THE GLORY. 99 
 
 prophet, as he testified by the spirit of prophecy, "I will 
 fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah Sabaoth," v, 7 ; 
 and again, " the glory of this latter house shall be 
 greater than of the former," v. 9. The reference in 
 these words must evidently be to the Shechinah which 
 had dwelt in the ancient temple, but whose absence was 
 so deeply regretted in the modern building; and the 
 prediction which pointed to the coming Messiah, who 
 should bring the glory back again, was calculated to 
 encourage the hopes of the recently restored exiles. 
 
 One more prophecy of this class will be sufficient for 
 our purpose. 
 
 In the second chapter of Zechariah we find a lengthy 
 description of the advent of the Messiah, the terms of 
 which more especially delineate the second coming and 
 the glory that shall follow. In the fifth verse (Hebrew, 
 V. d) Jehovah declares, "I will be the glory in the 
 midst of her:" and in the eighth verse (Hebrew, v. 12), 
 " For thus saith Jehovah Sabaoth, After the glory hath 
 he sent me unto the nations that spoiled you;" where 
 "after the glory" when taken in connection with v. 5 
 quoted above, must mean after the glory is come. Again 
 in the tenth verse (Hebrew, v. 15), " Lo, I come, and I 
 will dwell ("TiJatJ'i) in the midst of thee," a declaration 
 repeated in the next verse. From which we gather a 
 well defined promise that the lost Shechinah should be 
 restored to the people of Israel again in some way, which 
 should transcend, and even eclipse in the brilliancy of 
 its epiphany, the glory-presence that tabernacled in the 
 wilderness tent and the Solomonic temple. 
 
 Our next task will be to show what opinions the 
 Jewish teachers entertained upon this subject during the 
 
100 ST. JAMES. 
 
 period that intervened between the closing of the Old 
 Testament canon and the coming of our Lord. It is 
 well known that the word Shechinah is not found in the 
 Old Testament Scriptures, but had its rise in the period 
 that was subsequent to the Babylonish captivity. This 
 was also the age in which the Targums became 
 necessary, through the change that took place in the 
 vernacular language of the Jews, the Hebrew giving 
 way to the Chaldee. The Targums of Onkelos and 
 Jonathan, which have come down to us, doubtless 
 embody much of the ancient lore that then first began 
 to be stored up by the members of the Great Synagogue. 
 In these Targums it is the constant habit of the inter- 
 preters to represent the Person of the Deity by this 
 word Shechinah. Thus, to give examples bearing on 
 some of the passages we have had occasion to quote, Ex. 
 XXV. 8, " Let them make me a sanctuary that I may 
 dwell among them," is rendered in the Targum of 
 Onkelos, "I will make my Shechinah to dwell among 
 them." Hence it became a settled belief among the 
 Jews, based upon the undoubted warranty of Holy 
 Writ, and correctly explained in these documents, that 
 Messiah should restore to Israel the long lost Shechinah, 
 the glory-presence, whose tabernacling among them 
 distinguished them from all other nations of the earth. 
 To illustrate this article of their creed, it will suffice 
 to refer to Zech. ii. 10, quoted above, which is thus 
 paraphrased, " I will be revealed, and will make my 
 Shechinah to dwell in the midst of thee." The hope of 
 the Jew was the recovery of the treasure that was gone. 
 The age to come, the time of the Messiah, was at hand. 
 He should bring the Shechinah back again, and be 
 
THE GLOEY. 101 
 
 the revealer of God in the midst of His people Israel for 
 ever. 
 
 If we prosecute our inquiry at a subsequent period in 
 Jewish history we find that the book Sohar even 
 identifies the Shechinah with the Son of God, for 
 commenting on the second psalm Simeon Ben Jochai 
 says, " The Lord of the serving angels, the Son of the 
 Highest, the Son of the Holy One, blessed be He, yea, 
 the Shechinah." And again he writes, " God said. 
 Faithful Shepherd ! verily Thou art my Son, yea, the 
 Shechinah." And Rabbi Menachem of Recanati re- 
 cognizes the Angel of Jehovah in the pillar of fire and 
 cloud : " And likewise our Rabbles of blessed memory 
 have said, that the Shechinah of the Lord went down 
 with them to the sea; hence it is said. The Angel, who 
 is God, removed (Ex. xiv. 19). If this Angel is the 
 Shechinah, then it (the Shechinah) is called Angel, and 
 the Prince of the world, because the government is 
 placed in His hands." * 
 
 We now proceed to examine what evidence the New 
 Testament furnishes to corroborate this creed of Israel, 
 and what fulfilment its pages reveal of the realization of 
 their hopes. St. Luke has handed down in his Gospel 
 certain particulars relative to the surroundings of the 
 birth and infancy of our Lord. Among these deeply 
 interesting notes we read, in chap. ii. 8, 9, the narrative 
 of the appearance of the angel to the shepherds, who 
 were keeping watch in the fields of Bethlehem on the 
 night when Messiah was born. And it is significant 
 that the Evangelist should record the fact that on that 
 memorable night, when prophecy was fulfilled, and the 
 
 * See Pauli's Great Mystery, pp. 67, 93, 94. 
 
102 ST. JAMES. 
 
 covenant-oath between God and His people remembered, 
 " the glory of the Lord shone round about them :" with 
 the birth of Messiah the long absent glory returned. 
 But further on in the same chapter an account is given 
 us of the incidents that occurred when the infant Saviour 
 was presented in the temple. Foremost in the scene we 
 see the aged Simeon embracing the holy Babe in his 
 arms, and hear his inspired lips pouring out his " Nunc 
 dimittis," in which the Saviour is entitled the Light of 
 the Gentiles and the glory of His people Israel, the 
 Shechinah that should dwell in the midst of Israel for 
 ever, and whose rays should beam forth and illumine all 
 the nations of the earth. 
 
 Intimately connected with this utterance of St. Simeon 
 is the teaching of St. John, in his Gospel, chap. i. 14, a 
 passage notable for its definite and dogmatic teaching 
 concerning the deity and humanity of the Messiah. We 
 have already referred to the typical teaching of the 
 tabernacle and the indwelling glory, it will be necessary 
 to investigate that subject further in connection with 
 the passage now under consideration. The holy tent 
 was a " building made with hands," the materials were 
 earthly, the builders men, its pillars, stakes and sockets, 
 its curtains, and its shittira-wood and gold, all proclaimed 
 it "an earthly house of a tabernacle." Into this recep- 
 tacle the glory of God descended, and the Shechinah 
 fixed its habitation there, so that this earthly tabernacle 
 became the presence chamber of Jehovah; the edifice 
 was human, but the tenant was divine. St. John, 
 fastening on these striking characteristics of the type, 
 expounds their mystical teaching by pointing to the 
 antitype, and presents us with the solution of the 
 
THE GLORY. 103 
 
 enigma in the union of the divine and human natures in 
 the one person of our Lord Jesus Christ. " The Word 
 became flesh and tabernacled in us, and we gazed upon 
 his (jlory as being that of the only begotten from the 
 Father." The Word, we are taught, made His tent in 
 our nature. By a noteworthy coincidence the very 
 word for tent in Greek {aK7]v/]) contains tlie consonants, 
 the true skeletons of words, which are of the same value 
 as those which form the word Shechinali in Hebrew. 
 Both came, doubtless, from some primaeval word, which 
 was the common property of mankind, before dialectical 
 varieties arose, and the human race was broken up into 
 families, and emigration from the ancestral liome dis- 
 persed men over wider areas of the globe. 
 
 The habitation of Deity was in our humanity, "in 
 us." The human nature of our Lord was formed in the 
 womb of the Virgin Mary ; it was Adam's nature, our 
 nature, but without sin. With this nature the Word, 
 the Wisdom, the Glory of God was invested and united. 
 Li the person of Jesus Christ therefore the divine and 
 human meet together ; the Godhead and the manhood 
 were not confounded the one with the other, but were 
 joined together in everlasting oneness of person, never 
 to be severed: and thus He is the antitype of the 
 tabernacle of the meeting place. Such as the glory was 
 to the tabernacle such is the deity of Christ to His 
 humanity, such as the tabernacle was to the glory such 
 is His humanity to His deity ; " perfect God and perfect 
 man :" " God over all," yet " bone of our bone and 
 flesh of our flesh;" and under the veil of that flesh 
 we gaze upon the glory of the Father manifested in His 
 only begotten Son incarnate. Messiah is the Shechinah ! 
 
104 ST. JAMES. 
 
 We have seen already that in the pillar of cloud and 
 fire that marched before the Israelitish pilgrims in the 
 desert, the enfolded light would sometimes burst 
 through the nebula which encased it, and then it was 
 said, "the glory of the Lord appeared." So it would 
 seem that at the transfiguration the deity of our Lord 
 shone through the veil of His humanity, the brilliancy 
 of the gem penetrated the envelope of the casket, and 
 " his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was 
 white as the . light," Matt. xvii. 2. St. Luke has 
 preserved to us the subject of the conversation that 
 engrossed Moses and Elijah who appeared in glory with 
 the Lord, "they spake of his decease,^^ e^oSov, His exodus, 
 " which He was about to fulfil at Jerusalem," Luke ix. 
 31. The word at once identified the glory of the trans- 
 figuration with the glory of the pillar that pioneered the 
 path of Israel out of the land of Egypt. The hearing 
 of this word, and the sight of the symbol of the old 
 covenant, and the return of the Shechinah, it would 
 appear, immediately brought the history of the wilder- 
 ness period to the mind of the Apostles who witnessed 
 this epiphany, for Peter exclaimed, and the words are 
 very significant, " Let us make here three tabernacles,^' 
 V. 33, where the reference to the " tabernacle of the 
 congregation " is unquestionable. St. Luke, moreover, 
 in describing the transfiguration, employs a more definite 
 word for " as the light," «? to c/xw?, of St. Matthew. He 
 tells us that "his raiment was white and glistering," v. 29, 
 i^aarpdirToov, " flashing like lightning," a word which we 
 cannot fail to see connects the features of the transfigura- 
 tion with the " appearance of the glory " as seen in the 
 visions of Ezekiel already referred to, and carries us 
 
THE GLOEY. 105 
 
 forward to the glory of the second advent, which shall be 
 "as the lightning which cometh out of the east and 
 shineth even unto the west," Matt. xxiv. 27. 
 
 It is deserving our notice in connection with this 
 word that in two out of the three narratives given us of 
 the conversion of St. Paul, the verb irepiaa-rpd'TTTeiv is 
 used to describe the glory-flash that witnessed to the 
 Divine presence: see Acts ix. 3; xxii. 6; and the 
 subsequent blindness of the convert is attributed to the 
 
 sight of the glory ^ airo S6^r)<i tov (/)&)TO<f iKelvov. 
 
 Again, at the ascension of our Lord, when He was 
 taken up into glory, the evangelist St. Luke, who gives 
 us a two-fold account of this magnificent winding up of 
 the Redeemer's ministry on earth, informs us that while 
 He was engaged in the act of blessing his disciples, " he 
 was parted from them, and a cloud received him out of 
 their sight:" see Luke xxiv. 51; Acts i. 9. Thus as 
 the cloud had hovered round and embraced the Divine 
 presence in the pillar that pioneered the highway in 
 the wilderness to Canaan, so the cloud received the 
 incarnate glory as He marched into the heavenly Canaan 
 to point the way to His pilgrim saints, and to prepare 
 the place for their everlasting habitation. 
 
 And as we thus see the glory was evidently associated 
 with the birth at Bethlehem and the ascension at 
 Bethany: with the entrance of the Saviour into the 
 world and His departure from it : so we cannot fail to 
 trace the Shechinah in the star that led the Magi to the 
 infant King of the Jews ; for no star of distant systems, 
 or sister planet of our own, could have directed the 
 pilgrims from their own country to Judaea, much less 
 from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and stand "over the 
 
106 ST. JAMES. 
 
 place where the young child was." This hope of Israel 
 also, the return of the Shechinah, was uppermost in the 
 minds of the Pharisees and scribes, when they came to 
 our Lord, apparently on more than one occasion (Matt. 
 xii. 38 ; xvi. 1 ; see also 1 Cor. i, 22), and demanded 
 of Him a sign from heaven ; and as in their unbelief of 
 His miracles they asked for the Shechinah as a proof of 
 His Messiahship from the height above. He gave them 
 a proof from the depths beneath in predicting, and after- 
 wards fulfilling. His antitypal relation to Jonas the 
 prophet. It was the Shechinah also that appeared on 
 the day of Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire, 
 which betokened the presence of the Holy Ghost ; the 
 word Sta/Mept^ofMevat signifying not "cloven" in them- 
 selves, but separated and distributed from a central 
 glory-light. Acts ii. 3. 
 
 It will be beyond our purpose, however, to trace all the 
 passages, scattered throughout the writings of the New 
 Testament, in which "the glory," under that name or 
 its synonyms, occurs, interesting as such a task would 
 be, as afi'ording corroborative testimony to the views 
 hitherto advanced; for although it cannot be denied 
 that the word is not unfrequently met with in its 
 ethical sense, as a synonym for superlative honour, yet 
 there is an abundance of instances in which the word 
 occurs definitive of Christophany. Thus, if we compare 
 Acts vii. 2, where St. Stephen speaks of God as "the 
 God of the glory," 6 ©eo? t?}? 80^779, with Eph. i. 17, 
 where St. Paul employs the phrase " the Father of the 
 glory," 6 Trarrjp t?}? S6^r]<;, in parallel with " the God of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ," and again, in 1 Cor. ii. 8, 
 entitles Him whom the rulers crucified as " the Lord of 
 
THE GLOEY. 107 
 
 the glory," tov Kvptov t?}<? 86^^, we cannot fail to see the 
 correspondence between the glory and the Lord; a 
 correlation which St. James assumes almost to establish 
 an identity between the glory and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as Simeon had done at the presentation in the 
 temple, and as St. Paul describes the Son as aTravyaafj^a Trj<i 
 S6^??9, " a ray emitted from the glory," Heb. i. 3. 
 
 The frequent use of this word in the writings of the 
 great Apostle may probably be attributed to the 
 impression made upon him by the glory-flash at his 
 conversion, an impression that could never be obliterated 
 from his memory, and of which he probably bore lasting 
 traces in an enfeebled eyesight ; a conclusion naturally 
 suggested by his closing reminder to the members of 
 the Galatian church, who had questioned his apostleship, 
 " See ye with how large characters, tttjXUok; rypd/j./jLaa-iv, I 
 write to you with my own hand," Gal. vi. 11 ; and in v. 
 17 he gives us the apparent reason for this necessity as 
 well as proof of his having seen the risen Lord, " Hence- 
 forth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the 
 marks (ra arvyixara) of the Lord Jesus," that is, the 
 marks fixed on me when I saw His glory. 
 
 Yet this frequent use of the word by St. Paul is not 
 confined to one period of its history, or one phase of its 
 meaning; we find it referring to the literal Shechinah 
 in the temple in Rom. ix. 4, where, in enumerating the 
 special prerogatives of Israel, he includes in the catalogue 
 " the glory," r] ho^a. In Heb. i. 3 this word is associated 
 in the dignity of defining the process of the eternal 
 generation of the Son ; and it frequently presents itself 
 as the climax of all our hopes in unfolding the everlast- 
 ing condition of the saints in the kingdom that is to 
 
108 ST. JAMES. 
 
 be revealed. In connection with this final state of 
 blessedness we are reminded of the manifestations of 
 the glory in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 We have already had our attention called to the pre- 
 diction that "as the lightning cometh out of the east 
 and shineth unto the west, so shall the coming of the 
 Son of man be," Matt. xxiv. 27. And it is further 
 noticeable that all the pictures which the Lord portrayed 
 beforehand with the pencil of prophecy are lighted up 
 with the glory, "the Son of man shall come in the glory 
 of his Father," Matt. xvi. 27 ; " he shall be seated on 
 the throne of his glory," Matt. xix. 28 ; xxv. 31 : and 
 believers are taught to look for " the blessed hope and 
 epiphany of the glory, eTTKpdveiav t^9 So^^t;?, of Jesus 
 Christ, our great God and Saviour," Tit. ii. 13. This is 
 so familiar a truth that there is no necessity to dwell 
 longer on the predicted fact that the Lord when He 
 returns " the second time without sin unto salvation " 
 will appear in glory ; but this glory is held out to man- 
 kind as the great prize, which is at once the gift of 
 Christ and yet the object in hope of which we are to 
 struggle and suffer. Under this head we may classify 
 such phrases as "the gospel of the glory," and "the 
 knowledge of the glory," 2 Cor. iv. 4, 6. The glory 
 that enlightened the face of Moses when he came down 
 from the mount was transient, and he put a veil over 
 his countenance that the people might not see the time 
 of its extinguishment; but the Gospel reveals a glory 
 that is not transient, and God shines in the hearts of 
 His people for the purpose of shedding the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Such 
 is the present privilege ; and the future is spoken of in 
 
THE GLOEY. 109 
 
 the same chapter, v. 17, in one of the finest examples of 
 inspired rhetoric : " For the present lightness of our 
 tribulation works out for us in excess unto excess an 
 eternal weight of glory ^^^ where, by combining " weight " 
 (^dpo<;) with "glory" (So^?;?), St. Paul alludes to the 
 double meaning of the original Hebrew word nna, weight 
 and glory. Similarly in the Epistle to the Ephesians, 
 chap. i. 18, the Apostle speaks of their being enlightened 
 in the eyes of their heart to know what the hope is 
 which the calling of God gives, and what the wealth of 
 the glory which taking them for His inheritance imparts : 
 see also Kom. v. 2; viii. 18. 
 
 These features of the future state naturally lead us 
 to the consideration of the resurrection body and its 
 surroundings, a subject at once of the deepest mystery 
 and interest. 
 
 If the " glory " be the manifestation of God, an 
 emanation of His essence, a necessary adjunct of His 
 being, or a symbol of His presence, if it be a correct 
 conclusion that Adam before the fall was clothed with 
 this robe, the panoply that invested him with im- 
 mortality, if the glory-presence were the source of 
 preservation to Israel in the wilderness, and the assurance 
 of divine protection while it dwelt in the temple, if when 
 the glory departed the people were given over into the 
 hand of the enemy, if the same glory-presence taber- 
 nacled in the Word made flesh, if at the transfiguration 
 it shone through the vestment of the flesh of Christ, as 
 the fire through the cloudy pillar, if the same vehicle of 
 glory-cloud, as the chariot and horses of heaven, bore 
 up the risen and ascending Lord to the right hand of 
 the Father, and if the same glory is to be the sign of 
 
110 ST. JAMES. 
 
 the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, flashing 
 as lio^htninof from the east even to the west, then we 
 cannot fail to recognize that the glory has no small 
 share in the restitution of all things; and some passages 
 will assume a new force, such as 2 Thes. ii. 14, where 
 we read of God's calling us by the Gospel "to the 
 acquisition of the glory (ek TrepLTroirja-tv 86^179) of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," and Col. iii. 4, "when Christ shall be 
 manifested, our life, then shall ye be manifested with 
 him in glory;" and the prayer of our Lord will present a 
 more tangible form, Jno. xvii. 22, "I have given them 
 the glory which thou hast given me," and the type of 
 the transfiguration will reveal further glimpses into the 
 mysteries of the future state, when we regard Moses 
 and Elijah, who appeared in glory, ot 6(})6evT6<; iv Bo^rj, 
 Luke ix. 31, as representatives of the risen church in 
 the resurrection state. 
 
 We turn now to the celebrated essay on the resur- 
 rection by St. Paul in 1 Cor. xv. 
 
 The first feature that strikes us in connection with 
 our subject is the illustration of the resurrection body 
 which he finds in the grain that is sown, and the 
 harvest that springs from it after its death and burial in 
 the soil. He calls the seed-corn " a bare, naked, grain," 
 yvfxvov KOKKov, V. 37, and adds " God gives it a body," 
 V. 38. Further, in contrasting the condition of the 
 corpse, when committed to the earth, with that of the 
 resurrection body, he says, " It is sown in dishonour, it 
 is raised in glory" v. 43. Without pressing the word 
 too much in this place we pass on to the contrast 
 between the tAvo federal heads, Adam and Christ, " the 
 first man is of the earth, made of clay ; the second man. 
 
THE GLOEY. Ill 
 
 the Lord from heaven," v. 47. And further, "as we 
 bore the image of the one of clay, we shall bear the 
 image also of the heavenly one," v. 49. And in un- 
 folding the mystery he defines its operations, " For this 
 corruptible must put on, invest itself with, ivBvaaa6ai^ 
 incorruptibility, and this mortal put on immortality. 
 But when this corruptible has put on incorruptibility, 
 and this mortal put on immortality, then shall the word 
 that is written come to pass. Death is swallowed up in 
 victory," vv. 53, 54. 
 
 The change effected by the miracle of the resurrection 
 is described as an investing or clothing upon of the body, 
 the arraying of it in a robe (and mark that this verb is 
 used four times in this passage), just as the dry grain is 
 invested with a new and glorious form, when after decay 
 and transmutation in the soil it yields a harvest to the 
 reaper. But this subject receives further expansion in 
 the fifth chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 The passages will be fresh in the memory which have 
 been cited from the fourth chapter of this Epistle, that 
 contrast the abiding glory attendant on the Gospel with 
 the evanescent glory that accompanied the giving of the 
 law, and the comfortable assurance that reminds us that 
 an excessive and eternal weight of glory will more than 
 compensate us for our present tribulations. Carrying 
 on the thought suggested by the "glory," the Apostle 
 continues in the fifth chapter, " For we know that if 
 our earthly tabernacle-house were taken down, we have 
 in the heavens a building from God, a house not made 
 with hands, eternal. For also in this we groan, longing 
 to put on over this {eirevhvaaadat) our dwelling-place 
 {olKr)rripiov) which \^ from heaven," vv. 1, 2; and in v. 3 
 
112 ST. JAMES. 
 
 asserts the possession of this clothing {ivSvad/xevoi,)^ and 
 that we shall not be found naked (yvfivol), with evident 
 reference to the bare or naked seed, (yvjxvov kSkkov of 1 Cor. 
 XV. 37, which represented the mortal body; and in v. 4, 
 "For also we who are in the tabernacle (^.6., in the 
 present body) groan, being burdened because we do not 
 
 wish to put off {eKhvaaaOai)^ but io put Oil OVer {iirevSvaaa-- 
 
 Oul)^ that the mortal may be swallowed up by the life," 
 where it must be noticed that the future condition of 
 the resurrection body is described as a building from 
 God, €K Oeov, V. 1, and as a dwelling-place frojn heaven, 
 olKr]Ti]pLov TO i^ ovpavov, V. 2. Moreover, it will have been 
 noticed that the mode in which we shall be made 
 possessors of this covering is defined twice, vv. 2, 4, by 
 a yet stronger word than that used in the first Epistle, 
 and in v. 3 of this chapter, the preposition eVt being 
 added to the former ivSvaaa-Oai, a clothing over aiid 
 above; the figures grouped together suggest at once 
 a house and a garment, the former showing its per- 
 manency, the latter its nearness and intimacy and 
 all but unity with the wearer, "the mortal shall be 
 swallowed up by the life." How exactly all this de- 
 scription corresponds with the glory-robe which our 
 first parents lost at the fall ; with the vesture of 
 Jesus, which sparkled as though embroidered with 
 lightning on the mount of transfiguration, while the 
 train rested on and enveloped Moses and Elijah who 
 appeared in glory ; and with the glory in which the Lord 
 shall appear when He returns from heaven, and with 
 which He hath promised to invest His people ! 
 
 Further corroboration arises from the pages of the 
 Apocalypse: we read, chap. xxi. 2, 3, that the holy 
 
THE GLOEY. 113 
 
 city, the habitation of the saved, was seen descending 
 from heaven, and the seer heard a voice, " Lo ! the 
 tabernacle (o-/c7;i/>/) of God is with men, and he shall 
 tabernacle {aKrivwaei) with them, and they shall be his 
 people, and God-with-them {i.e.^ Immanuel) himself shall 
 be their God." Here then is the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise of God and the expectation of His people, the 
 Shechinah, the glory-presence, shall be with us for ever 
 associated with Immanuel; and vv. 23, 24 afford us still 
 clearer evidence, if possible, " And the city has no need 
 of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine on her, for 
 the glory of God enlightens her and the Lamb is her 
 torch^ and the nations shall walk by means of her 
 liMit." * 
 
 Thus also a satisfactory explanation may be given to 
 certain passages which seem to involve a contradiction 
 with others that treat of kindred subjects. We are told 
 that in this present dispensation we are the temple of 
 God, see Jno. xiv. 17; xvii. 23; 1 Cor. iii. 16; vi. 19; 
 2 Cor. vi. 16; Eph. ii. 21, 22, etc.; and St. Paul writes 
 to the Colossians, chap, i. 27, that God willed to make 
 known what is the riches of the glory conferred by this 
 mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you^ the 
 hope of the glory. Christ dwells in believers now, our 
 body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, but what is meant 
 by Christ being in us the hope of the glory? Our 
 blessed Lord furnished the solution in His dedication 
 prayer; for not only did He make petition for His 
 people, " I in them and thou in me, that they may be 
 made perfect in one," Jno. xvii. 23, but He also prayed, 
 " As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
 
 * bui roil cjjoiTos is the reading o( n, a, etc. 
 
114 ST. JAMES. 
 
 may be one in us," v. 21. We have here a clear state- 
 ment that not only does Christ dwell in us, but also 
 that we dwell in Him. But the visions of the Apocalypse 
 make this revelation still plainer: in chap, xxi., which 
 gives a glowing sketch of the new Jerusalem, we read 
 in V. 22, "I saw no temple therein." At first this 
 announcement seems startling, as a city on earth without 
 a temple would be to the believer a wilderness, even 
 though its walls were of jasper and its pavements of 
 gold ; but this seeming deficiency is more than com- 
 pensated when we learn from the next clause, "the 
 Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of 
 it." Here then it is plainly said that in the glorified 
 state God and the Lamb are the temple of the saved. 
 During this dispensation Christ finds His temple and 
 tabernacle in us, but then we shall find our temple and 
 tabernacle in Him for ever ; and thus in this heavenly 
 and inconceivable habitation of man with the Most 
 High, we see the children of the resurrection, the 
 church of the glorified, like Moses and Elijah at the 
 transfiguration, who appeared in glory vested with the 
 Divine manifestation, "filled up into all the fulness 
 of God," Eph. iii. 19. At that time the assurance 
 which -St. Paul gave the Philippians, chap. iii. 20, 
 21, will find a literal fulfilment: "For our common- 
 wealth subsists in heaven, from which we also await 
 the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour, who shall trans- 
 form the body of our humiliation to be conformed to 
 the body of His glory ^ "We shall be like him, 
 for we shall see him as he is," 1 Jno. iii. 2. The 
 church of the saved collectively, and our resurrection 
 bodies individually, will be arrayed with the Shechinah, 
 
THE GLOEY. 115 
 
 and robed in the " exceeding white " raiment of trans- 
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 the king of Babylon, was expected by the Jews to return 
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 made flesh. Hence that He who is described as being from 
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 St. James, chap. ii. 1, the Lord Jesus Christ, t?"}? So^y^?, 
 the Shechinah ; that at the second advent the glory which 
 was hidden under " the veil, that is to say, his flesh," 
 shall be manifested to all, repelling, as in the day of 
 Israel's deliverance from Egypt, all the enemies of tlie 
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 saved, the vestment that shall cover the ransomed, the 
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 Old Testament History. 
 
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AID^ TO THE STUDY 
 
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 " Even on a cursory examination, the value of the 
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 Syriac Eeadmg Lessons. 
 
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 Syriac New Testament, with a Literal English Translation. 
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Aids to the Stiuhj of the Neio Testament Scriptures. 
 
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 Historic Evidence of the New Testament, 
 
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 Textual Criticism of the New Testament, for English 
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 It has been thought desirable in a matter of such 
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Aids to the Study of the Neio Testament Scriptures. 
 
 Indications of the presence or absence of the Greek 
 article. Emphatic ])ronouns marked. Eevised refer- 
 ences ; and other features. 
 By Thomas Newberry. 
 
 Cloth boards 
 
 Extra Cloth 
 
 Tlie Emphasised Xew Testament : 
 
 Newly translated, from the Text of Treadles, and 
 critically emphasised according to the logical idiom of the 
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 "The Emphasised New Testament" is marked by 
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 1. It distinguishes all emphatic words. 
 
 2. It shows every recurrence of the Greek Article, 
 whether translated or not. 
 
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 4. It endeavours to render theological and ecclesi- 
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 5. It is an entirely Independent Translation, formed 
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 6. It has been faithfully executed from the Text of 
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 7. It contains an Introduction treating of Em- 
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 8. It has occasional brief suggestive Notes. 
 
 " Designed for the private use of studious readers, 
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 Not only is the emphatic effect of that arrangement 
 uniformly marked in this Translation by careful undee- 
 scoEiNG, but as much of the emi)hatic idiom itself is 
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 appreciation." The Introduction discusses, not only the 
 Laws of " Emphasis," but also " The Power of the 
 Greek Article," and " The Forces of the various Tenses," 
 — to all of which careful regard has been paid by the 
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 discover for himself many valuable hints conveyed by 
 the Emphasised Text 
 By Joseph B. Eotherham. 
 
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Aids to the Study of the New Testament Scriptures. 
 
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 Small Quarto, Cloth 
 
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 How to Learn to Kead the Greek Xew Testament. 
 
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 The Gospel according to St. Matthew, Greek and 
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 Quarto, Cloth 
 
 New Testament History. 
 
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 The Epistle of St. James. 
 
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 Fruits of the New Testament Revision. 
 
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MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Archaic Classics. Assyrian Grammar. 
 
 An Elementary Grammar and Readinf^ Book of tlae 
 Assyrian Language, in the Cuneiform Cliaracter : con- 
 taining the most complete Syllabary yet extant, and 
 which will serve also as a Vocabulary of both Accadiau 
 and Assyrian. 
 By Rev.' A. H. Sayce, M.A. 
 
 Quarto, Cloth 
 
 Archaic Classics. Egyptian Grammar. 
 
 An Elementai'y Manual of the Egyptian Language -. 
 with an interlineary Reading Book : in the Hieroglyi)hic 
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 Part I. Grammar. 
 By P. le Page Eenouf, F.R.S.L. 
 
 Quarto, Cloth 
 
 Part II. Reading Book. S/wrtI// to follow. 
 
 Archaic Classics. Exercise Sheets. 
 
 These Sheets have been prepared to enable the 
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 On Writing Paper . . . . . . . . each 
 
 Eecords of the Past. Vols. I.-VI. Being English 
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 S. Birch, LL.D. 
 
 Eecords of the Past. Vol. L Assyrian Texts, 1. 
 
 COXTENTS : — 
 
 Inscription of Rimmon-Nirari ; Monolith Inscrip- 
 tion of Samas-Rimmon; Babylonian Exorcisms; Private 
 Will of Sennacherib ; Assyrian Private Contract Tab- 
 lets; Assyrian Astronomical Tablets; Assyrian Calendar; 
 Tables of Assyrian Weights and Measures. By Rev. 
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Miscellaneous. 
 
 Inscription of Kliammurabi ; Bellino's Cylinder of 
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 of the Descent of Ishtar". By H. Fox Talbot, F.E.S. 
 
 Annals of Assurbanipal (Cylinder A). By George 
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 Behistun Inscription of Darius. By Sir Henry 
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 Lists of further Texts, Ass.yrian and Egyptian. 
 Selected by George Smith and P. Le Page Eenouf. 
 
 Crown octavo, Cloth 
 
 Kecords of the Past. Vol. 11. Egyptian Texts, 1. 
 
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 Inscription of Una; Statistical Tablet; Tablet 
 of Thothmes III. ; Battle of Megiddo ; Inscription of 
 of Amen-em-heb. By S. Birch, LL.D. 
 
 Instructions of Amenemhat. By G. Maspero. 
 
 The Wars of Barneses II. with the Khita. By 
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BAGSTER'S POLYGLOT BIBLES. (See ovct-.J 
 
 Practical religion. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS, IIL 
 
 Confidence in Christ alone. 
 
 11 And that every tongue should con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is Lord," to the 
 glory of God the Fatlier. 
 
 12 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have 
 always obeyed, not as in my presence 
 only, but now much more in my absence, 
 work "^ out your own salvation with fear ' 
 and trembling: 
 
 13 For it is God' which workcth in 
 you both to will and to do of his good 
 pleasure. 
 
 14 Do all things without munnurings* 
 and disputings ; ' 
 
 15 'I'iiat ye may be blameless and 
 Charmless, tlie sons" of God, without 
 
 A. D. 64. 
 
 a John 13.13. 
 
 Ko. 14. 9. 
 6 Ac. 23. 0. 
 C Ac. 22. 3, i. 
 
 Ga. 1.13,14. 
 d I'r. 10. Hi. 
 
 Jno.6.27..29 
 
 He. 4. 11. 
 
 2 l'e.l..'i..IO. 
 c Bp. G. o. 
 /Lu. l.G. 
 (/ He. 13. 21. 
 A Mat. 13.44. 
 ils. 53. 11. 
 
 that he hath whereof he might trust in 
 the flesli, I more : 
 
 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the 
 stock of Israel, of tlie tribe of Benjamin, 
 an Hebrew of the llebix'ws; as touching 
 tlie law, a PJiarisee; ' 
 
 6 Concerning zeal,' persecuting tlie 
 churcli; touclung the righteousness which 
 is in the law, blameless./ 
 
 7 But wliat filings were gain to me, 
 those I counted loss* for Christ. 
 
 8 Yea, doubtless, and I count all tilings 
 but loss, for ' the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Chi'ist Jesus my Lord : for wlioin 
 I liave" sulfered tlie lo.^s of all things, 
 
 dung, that I may 
 
 Practical rdii;ion. 
 
 rniLIPPIANS, HI. 
 
 Confidence in Christ alone. 
 
 11 And(;ia( every tonpiio should confess 
 that .Jesus Christ ia Lord," to the glory 
 of Ood the Kather. 
 
 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have 
 always obeyed, not as in my presence 
 only, but now much more in my absence, 
 work' out your own salvation with i fear I 
 
 A. D. 64. 
 
 a Jn". \X 13. 
 
 Ro. 14. 9. 
 b Ac. 23. 6. 
 c Ju". 6. •27: 
 
 rraclical reUghn. PHILIPPIANS, 
 
 11 And that every tongue should con- ^. D. 64 
 fess that J c**us Christ is Lord, " to the 
 glory of God the F.ilhcr. 
 
 12 Wherefore, rny belove<l, 05 ye hnve 
 nlwnys obeyed, nut ns in my presence, 
 only, but now much more in my absence, 
 worit rfout your own salvation with fear ' 
 and trembling; 
 
 13 For it is God g which wovkcth in 
 you both to will and to do of Ids good 
 pleasure. 
 
 H Do nil things without murmuiings * 
 and disputinirs:' 
 
 III. 
 
 /Ln- 1. 6. 
 
 „ He, 13 21. 
 ye may be blameless and ^M.,i.l3,44. 
 the sons " of God, without i is. .S3 11. 
 the midst of a croolied " .and ; Je.9.23.24. 
 .lion, among whom y yc shine 1 .'no. 17. 3. 
 lights P in the world ; | 1 Cu. 2. 2. 
 
 16 Holding forth the word oflifc ; that i * lCo.10.10. 
 may rejoice in the day of Christ, that , ' *^'J; •'^■j \ 
 have not run in vain, ' neither laboured 
 
 B harm! 
 rebuke. 
 
 per 
 
 Yea, and if I be 5 offered t upon the 
 fice and service of your faith, I joy, 
 rejoice with you alL 
 
 — *' ,me cause also do ye joy. 
 
 18 F 
 and rej 
 
 19 {But I trust in the Lord J 
 send Timotheus '" shonly unto yc 
 1 also m.ay be of good comfort, \ 
 
 nded. 
 
 20 For 1 have no man •Jliki 
 who will naturally care for you: 
 
 II For all seek their own, JiDot the 
 things which are Jesus Christ's. 
 
 22 But ye know the proof of him, that, 
 as a son witli the father, he hath served 
 M ith me in the pospel. 
 
 23 Him therefore I hope to send pre- 
 sently, so soon as 1 shall see how it will go 
 with me. 
 
 21 But ^ I trust in the Lord that I also 
 myself shall come shortly. 
 
 25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send 
 to you Epaphroditus, /my bl-othcr, and 
 companion in labour, and fellow-soldier,^ 
 but your messenger, and he that minis- 
 tered to my wants. 
 
 26 For he longed after you all, and was 
 full of heaviness, because that ye had 
 hcal-d that he had been sick. 
 
 27 For indeed he was sick ni^h nnto 
 death: but God had mercy on him; and 
 not on him only, but on me also, lest I 
 Bhoald have sorrow ui)on sorrow. 
 
 28 I sent him therefore the more care- 
 fully, that, when ye see him af;ain, ye 
 may rejoice, and that 1 may be the less 
 sorrowful. 
 
 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord 
 with all gladness: and dhold such in 
 reputation: 
 
 30 Because for the work of Christ h( 
 was nigh unto dcatll, not regarding his 
 life, t to supply your lack of service 
 toward mc. 
 
 CHAP, ri 
 Jc IN ALLY, my brethrei., rejoice " In the 
 Lord. To write thesame"' thingstoyo 
 '- indeed w not grievous, but for y 
 
 i2Co 1I.2S 
 
 Ho. 1. 17. 
 
 3.21.22. 
 
 1 Co. 9.26. 
 
 ''fJlh. 
 I 2 Ti. 4. 6. 
 1 Pe. 4. 13. 
 Ac. 26. 7. 
 
 > 1 Til, 3. 2. 
 ■He. J2.23. 
 
 J Gi. 6. IG, 
 i I Th. 1. 6. 
 i 1 Pe. 5.3, 
 /Ga. 1. 7. 
 
 6. 12 
 
 m2Cn.ll.l5 
 
 2 Pe.2, 1, 
 
 n 1 Ti. 6. 5, 
 
 .F.o.2.1 
 i He. 9 
 
 11 I 
 
 nfe. 
 
 workers, beware of [he * concision. 
 
 3 F'or we are " the <nrcumcisiori, which jjij^eio.i i 
 worship God in the iinrit, and rejoice In Re. 22.1 
 Christ .lesus, and nave no confidence in jyPs.l 19.1 15 
 the flesh: .... - 
 
 4 Though I might nlsohaTeconfideneel R» 2 2S.29 
 in the tleeh. If any other man thinketh — m 
 
 I 142 
 
 that he hath whereof ho might ti^ust iu 
 the flesh, I more : 
 
 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the 
 stock of Israel, of the tribe of fionjamin, 
 an Hebrew of the Ilebrews; as touching 
 the law, a Pharisee;* 
 
 6 Concerning zeal, ' persocutinp the 
 1 ess which 
 
 in to mo, 
 
 all things 
 he know- 
 for whom 
 U things, 
 hat 1 m.ay 
 
 ot h.aving 
 his of the 
 the faith 
 hich is of 
 
 he power 
 ellowship 
 formablo 
 
 tain unto 
 
 attained, 
 t I follow 
 that for 
 of Christ 
 
 f to have 
 / do, for- 
 e behind, 
 sc things 
 
 k for the 
 in Christ 
 
 as bo per- 
 if in any 
 od J shall 
 
 have al- 
 thc same 
 
 gother of 
 so as yo 
 
 have told 
 weeping, 
 cross of 
 
 hose God 
 s in their 
 gs.) 
 heaven ; 
 r the Sa- 
 
 vile body, 
 unto his 
 working 
 
 ubduc all 
 
 Confidence in Christ alone. 
 that he h.lth whereof he might trust iu 
 the flesh, I more : 
 
 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the 
 stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjanibi, 
 an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touchbig 
 the law, a Pharisee ; 4 
 
 6 Concerning zeal, ^ persecuting the 
 church ; touching the lighteousness which 
 is in the law, blameless. / 
 
 7 But what things were gain to me, 
 those I counted loss A for Christ, 
 
 8 Yea, doubtless, and 1 count all things 
 btit loss, for i the excellency of the know- 
 ledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for whom 
 
 suffered the loss of all things, 
 and do count them but dung, that I may 
 in Christ, 
 
 9 And be found in him, not having 
 iue own 1 righteousness, which is of the 
 
 law, but that which is through the faith 
 of Christ, the righteousness '' which is ot 
 God by faith : 
 
 10 1 hat I may know him, and the power 
 of his resuiTection, and the " fellowship 
 of his sufferings, being made conformable 
 unto his death ; 
 
 11 If by any means I might *" attain 
 imto the resurrection of the dead. 
 
 12 Not as though I had already at- 
 tained, either were already perfect : ■'but 
 
 follow after, if that 1 may apprehend 
 that for which also 1 am apprehended of 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have 
 apprehended: but this one thing / do, 
 forgetting = those things which are be- 
 hind, and reaching fortli unto those things 
 
 hich are before, 
 
 14 I press " toward the mark for the 
 rize of the high tt calling of God in 
 
 thrist Jesas. 
 
 15 Let us therefore, as many .ts be per- 
 fect, li be thus * minded : and if in any 
 tiling ye be otherwise minded, God shall 
 reveal even this unto you. 
 
 16 Nevertheless, wnereto we have al- 
 ready attained, let us walk by the same 
 rule, h let us mind the same thing. 
 
 17 Brethren, be followers i together of 
 me, and mark them whidi walk so as ye 
 have us * for an ensaniple. 
 
 18 (For many walk, of whom I have 
 told 3'ou often, and now tell you even 
 weeping, tl'at tiify arc the enemies' of 
 the cross of Christ ; 
 
 19 Whose end "' is destruction, whose 
 God " is their belly, and u/msc glory " w 
 in their shame, who mind earthly (liings. ) 
 
 from whence olso we look ¥ for the tjo- 
 vioiir, the Lord Jesus ChiTSt; 
 
 21 Who shall change ^ our vile body, 
 that it may be fasliioned like unto h'is 
 glorious boiiy, according to the working* 
 whereby he is able even " to subdue all 
 things unto himself 
 
 CHAP, IV. 
 ThERF.FORE, my brethren dearly be. 
 loved and longed for, my joy and crown, 
 so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly 
 beloved, 
 
 2 1 beseech Eundias, and beseech Syn- 
 t\*che, that they be of the same mind in 
 the Lord. 
 
 3 And I entreat thee also, true yoke- 
 fellox, help those women which laboured 
 
 early be- 
 d crown, 
 my dearly 
 
 eechSj-n- 
 mind' in 
 
 nie yoke- 
 hiboiired 
 acntaUo, 
 rs, whoHO 
 
 r in the book of life. 
 
 n hun, not having 
 ss, wliicli is of the 
 through the faitli 
 iiess "■ which is of 
 
 m, and tlie power 
 d the " fellowsliip 
 ade conformable 
 
 s I might" attain 
 lie dead. 
 
 d ah-eady attain. 
 V perfect:* but I 
 [ may appreliend 
 m apprehended of 
 
 unt not myself to 
 t this one thing I 
 things whicli are 
 forth imto tliose 
 
 the mark for the 
 calhng of God in 
 
 s many as bo per- 
 ed: and if in any 
 minded, God shall 
 
 creto we have al- 
 walk by the same 
 me thing, 
 wers' together of 
 ch walk so as ye 
 
 , of whom I have 
 now tell you even 
 e the enemies ' of 
 
 estruction, whose 
 nd whose glory" is 
 earthly things.) 
 nf is in heaven; 
 look « for the Sa- 
 Christ; 
 
 ge"" our vile body, 
 ned like unto liis 
 g to the working » 
 en" to subdue all 
 
 R IV. 
 
 y brethren, dearly 
 d for, my joy and 
 st in the Lord, my 
 
 and beseecli Sjti- 
 the same mind in 
 
 ee also, true yoke- 
 n which laboured 
 itii Clement also, 
 labourers whose 
 life. 
 

 
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