c τῷ κόσμῳ, πλουσίους ἐν πίστει, καὶ κληρονόμους τῆς βασιλείας, ἧς ἐπηγ c 1 Cor. 11. 22. γειλατο τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν; 6' ὑμεῖς δὲ ἠτιμάσατε τὸν πτωχόν. Οὐχὶ οἱ πλούσιοι καταδυναστεύουσιν ὑμῶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἕλκουσιν ὑμᾶς εἰς κριτήρια; d Lev. 19. 18. Matt. 22. 39. Mark 12. 31. Rom. 13. 8. 9. e Lev. 19. 15. & 16. 19. 7 Οὐκ αὐτοὶ βλασφημοῦσι τὸ καλὸν ὄνομα τὸ ἐπικληθὲν ἐφ ̓ ὑμᾶς ; d 8 4 Εἰ μέντοι νόμον τελεῖτε βασιλικὸν κατὰ τὴν γραφήν, ̓Αγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτὸν, καλῶς ποιεῖτε· 9 ° εἰ δὲ προσωποληπτεῖτε, ἁμαρτίαν © ει ἐργάζεσθε, ἐλεγχόμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ὡς παραβάται. f 10 Οστις γὰρ ὅλον τὸν νόμον τηρήσῃ, πταίσῃ δὲ ἐν ἑνὶ, γέγονε πάντων Mat. 5. 19, 27. ἔνοχος. 15 Ο γὰρ εἰπών, Μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, εἶπε καί, Μὴ φονεύσῃς· εἰ δὲ yàp Mǹ dè f Deut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10. δετος, 2015, 14. οὐ μοιχεύσεις, φονεύσεις δὲ, γέγονας παραβάτης νόμου. Deut. 5. 17. h ch 1. 25. h 12 * Οὕτω λαλεῖτε καὶ οὕτω ποιεῖτε, ὡς διὰ νόμου ἐλευθερίας μέλλοντες κρί features of this Epistle give to it a character of freshness, vigour, energy, earnestness, and sometimes of oratorical sublimity. τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ] those who are poor to the world, i. e. in the eyes of the world, opposed to rλovolous év ríOTEL, rich in faith. The dative кóouw is in A*, B, C*, N, and Vulg., and may be compared with its use in Acts vii. 20, àσreios TO Θεῷ, and Cor. x. 4, duvaтà т Oe, and so mihi in Horat. (1 Ep. xvi. 66), "liber mihi non erit unquam." Elz. has the getive ToU KÉO MOU TOÁTou. Cp. I Cor. i. 27. 6. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἡτιμάσατε τὸν πτωχόν] but ye dishonoured the poor man: Tòv πтwxóν, the poor man, as such, ye dishonoured him for his poverty. Cp. & λovσtos, i. 11; pauperem exhono. rástis." (Vulg.) àruά(w is more forcible than despise: it is to degrade from the condition of honour, which he has as a member of Christ, Who vouchsafed to wear the garb of poverty (2 Cor. viii. 9); and it is to reduce him to a state of ariula, as by an ignominious sentence of condemnation in a law-suit, and to disfranchise him of his Christian citizenship. ovxl oi rovσio] Do not the rich drag you into courts of justice? Do they not do this on account of your Christian profession, as if you were disturbers of the public peace? as the Jews did to St. Stephen at Jerusalem (Acts vii. 12); and to St. Paul at Thessalonica (Acts xvii. 5), and at Corinth (xviii. 12). Cp. Justin Martyr, Apol. i. c. 31. 7. Braopnuovσi] they blaspheme that Name; especially in their synagogues. Cp. Acts xxvi. 11, and note above on 1 Cor. xii. 3; and Justin Martyr, c. Tryph. c. 16, with Otto's note, p. 57. To kаλdv ovoμa] the glorious Name which was invoked over you: especially when ye were baptized into it (Matt. xxviii. 29); and which is invoked in all the benedictions which are pronounced over you in the holy offices of those religious assemblies, which you desecrate by unchristian partialities. Cp. Acts ix. 14. 21. Rom. x. 12. 1 Cor. i. 2. 1 Pet. i. 17. Clemens R. 1. 58, πάσῃ ψυχῇ ἐπικεκλημένῃ τὸ ἅγιον ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Name" is emphatically the Name of Christ, see 3 John 7. "The Some read ἐπικληθὲν ὄνομα ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, the name by which ye are called, and this sense is authorized by Hebrew use, Gen. xlviii. 16. 2 Sam. vi. 12. 1 Kings viii. 43; but the words Tika Acîodai dvoμa are often used in the sense of invoking a name in the LXX, and this sense seems preferable; and so Bede renders the words in his note on v. 5, "Nonne blasphemant bonum nomen quod invocatum est super vos?" Indeed, there appears to be a contrast between the blasphemy of that Name in the Jewish synagogues on the one side (1 Cor. xii. 3), and the invocation of it on the other, in the Christian ovvaywyal; and this sense is sanctioned by the sacred language of the Christian Church, applying the word niλnois to the act of solemn invocation of the Most Holy Name in her Liturgies. Bingham, Eccl. Ant. xv. 1. 8. ei μévtoi] if, however, ye are fulfilling the law (as ye imagine and profess that ye are doing), then, indeed, ye are doing well, but—. μévroi is adversative here, as usual. John iv. 27; vii. 13; xx. 5. 2 Tim. ii. 19. "Si tamen," Vulg. vóμov Baσixikóv] the law royal; either as given directly by the King, Christ, and as such distinguished from the Levitical Law, given by the ministry of the servant, Moses (Heb. iii. 5); or as being the first and great commandment, the sovereign law under which all other laws concerning moral duty to man are ranged, and from which they are derived. (Matt. xxii. 39, 40. Rom. xiii. 8-10.) Cp. Bp. Andrewes, iii. p. 111. Bp. Sanderson, ii. 276; iv. 153. Kaтà Thy Yрaphy] according to the Scripture. Lev. xix. 18. Matt. xxii. 39. 10. ὅστις γὰρ ὅλον τὸν νόμον τηρήση] for whosoever shall have kept the whole law (if this were possible), but have offended in one precept, has become guilty of all. Almighty God declared in the Levitical Law, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them." (Deut. xxvii. 26. Gal. iii. 10.) And though the rigour of this curse is now taken away by Christ, yet the obligation to obedience remains. See notes above on Gal. iii. 12; and on 2 Cor. v. 4. Whosoever, therefore, willingly and wilfully allows himself in the indulgence of any sin, which is the breach of God's law (Rom. iv. 15), is guilty of breaking the whole law of God. Although men may be diligent therefore in the observance of many portions of God's service, yet if they knowingly and deliberately neglect any other part of it, they virtually observe no part. The same God who gave one commandment, gave all; and whosoever breaks one wilfully, keeps none truly. Whoever allows himself in the breach of one part of the law, convicts himself of loving and serving himself, more than the Lawgiver. Whoever loves and prizes one of God's commandments, will love and prize all; for real obedience is grounded in love to Him Whom we obey; and whoever disobeys Him wilfully and habitually in one respect, proves that he does not really love God; and therefore his observance of other parts of God's Law is not grounded on a right foundation, it is not true obedience, and so he is guilty of all, and therefore cannot expect a reward from God for obedience, Who will give a crown of glory to them, and them only, who love Him (i. 12), and who prove their love by obedience. John xiv. 15. On this text the reader may compare S. Augustine's Epistle above quoted (who understands the word évì, one, as applicable to the one law, that of love) with the remarks of Bp. Bull, Harmon. Apostol. Diss. ii. ch. vii., and Dean Jackson on the Creed, bk. iv. ch. v., and bk. xi. ch. xxx. and ch. xxxiii. The connexion of the Apostle's reasoning is this: he had blamed them for partiality with regard to God's children, their own brethren, in their acts of religion; he had shown them that such acts of partiality were inconsistent with the royal law of brotherly love, and he now censures them for partiality with respect to God's precepts, and warns them, that however careful they might be in their own devotional exercises in those public religious assemblies (cp. i. 27), and however scrupulous they might be in the observance of other parts of Christian duty, yet by such acts of partiality they are guilty of sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors (v. 9), and vitiate all their other works, and show that those works are built on a wrong foundation, and not on love to God; and that they violate the whole law by this wilful violation of one part, especially so fundamental a part as that of love. This declaration would have had a peculiar pertinency for the Jewish Christians, who were in danger of being led astray by the errors of Pharisaic teachers, who were accustomed to inquire, "Which is the great commandment in the Law?" and who imagined that if a man took pains to observe some portion, especially the ceremonial portion of the Law, he might safely indulge himself in the neglect of others, and in the commission of acts contrary to the spirit and letter of the Law. See above on Matt. xxii. 23. 36, and xxiii. 13, and cp. Bp. Bull (Harm. Apost. Diss. ii. chap. xvi.), and Dr. Pococke (on Hosea xiv. 2), who recite the rabbinical saying, that "God gave so many commandments, in order that by doing any of them they might be saved," in opposition to what St. James teaches, that by wilfully breaking any of them, they are guilty of the breach of all. νεσθαι· 13 1 κρίσεως. ' ἡ γὰρ κρίσις ἀνέλεος τῷ μὴ ποιήσαντι ἔλεος· κατακαυχᾶται ἔλεος – Matt. 6. 15. & 18. 35, & 25. 41, 42. Luke 16. 25. k Matt. 7. 26. ch. 1. 23. 1 Luke 3. 11. 1 John 3. 17. m 1 John 3. 16 18. 14 * Τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τὶς ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ ; μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν ; 15 1 ̓Εὰν δὲ ἀδελφὸς ἢ ἀδελφὴ γυμνοὶ ὑπάρχωσι, καὶ λειπόμενοι ὦσι τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς, 16 m εἴπῃ δέ τις αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν, Υπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ, θερμαίνεσθε καὶ χορτάζεσθε, μὴ δῶτε δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος, τί τὸ ὄφελος ; 17 οὕτω καὶ ἡ πίστις, ἐὰν μὴ ἔχῃ ἔργα, νεκρά ἐστι καθ' ἑαυτήν. 18 η ̓Αλλ ̓ ἐρεῖ τις, Σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις, κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω· δεῖξόν μοι τὴν Hot 17 πίστιν σου χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων, κἀγὼ δείξω σοι ἐκ τῶν ἔργων μου τὴν πίστιν. 19 ° Σὺ πιστεύεις ὅτι εἷς ὁ Θεός ἐστι ; Καλῶς ποιεῖς· καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύ- ο Μαΐΐ. 8. 29. ουσι, καὶ φρίσσουσι. n 12. outw λaλeîte] so speak ye, and so do ye, as being to be judged by the law of liberty; which has made you all dear children and brethren in Christ (i. 25), and therefore by love serve one another (Gal. v. 13), and prove, by obedience, your love to Him Who redeemed you by His own blood, from bondage into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. (Rom. viii. 21.) 13. yàp kplois] for the judgment (observe the article ), i. e. the future judgment, will be without mercy to him who did not show mercy; mercy glorieth against judgment; triumphs over it. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Matt. v. 7). See iii. 14, and the Parable of the Heavenly King, Who, when His servant had nothing wherewith to pay, freely forgave the debt of the 10,000 talents, and thus set an example to His servants how they are to deal with their fellow-servants, namely, in such a spirit, that mercy may triumph over sternness and severity; and also gave a warning of the woe which will overtake them if they are not merciful to others, as He has been merciful to them. (Matt. xviii. 23-35). Elz. has kal before KaTakaνXâтaι, but it is not in B, C, G, H. Cp. i. 27. Some Expositors understand this sentence as declaring that mercy shown on man's side to his brother man, has power to triumph over, and disarm, the justice of God. See Augustine in Ps. cxliii., and so Chrysostom in an eloquent passage cited here in the Calena, p. 13: "Mercy is dear to God, and intercedes for the sinner, and breaks his chains, and dissipates the darkness, and quenches the fire of hell, and destroys the worm, and rescues from the gnashing of teeth. To her the gates of heaven are opened. She is the queen of virtues, and makes men like to God, for it is written, Be ye merciful as your Father also is merciful' (Luke vi. 36). She has silver wings like the dove, and feathers of gold, and soars aloft, and is clothed with divine glory, and stands by the throne of God; when we are in danger of being condemned, she rises up and pleads for us, and covers us with her defence, and enfolds us in her wings. God loves mercy more than sacrifice." (Matt. ix. 13.) The lines of Shakspeare on the quality of Mercy (Merchant of Venice, act iv. sc. 1) may have been suggested by this passage of St. James. Cp. Bp. Andrewes, iii. 152; v. 3. On the form avíλews see Winer, § 16, p. 91. These words ἡ γὰρ κρίσις—ἔλεος are quoted by S. Hippolytus de Consummatione Sæculi, c. 47. 14. Tí Tò õpeλos] What is the profit, my brethren, if a man say that he has faith, but have not works? can his faith (ʼn Tloris) save him? Can a mere speculative belief, apart from the good works which are the natural fruit of faith, save him? St. James had been showing above, that external acts of worship (Opnokeía), unaccompanied with works of charity, are of no avail; and that love and holiness constitute the religion which God requires (i. 27), and that acts of partiality toward the rich, for the sake of worldly advantage to ourselves, and of disdain of our poorer brethren, especially in religious respects, are infractions of God's Law, as a whole, and cannot be compensated by any obedience to single precepts of it. He now proceeds to show that professions of faith, distinguished from religious practice, are null; and thus he counteracts and corrects the erroneous notion prevalent among Jews and Jewish Christians, that they might be justified in God's sight by superiority of religious knowledge and theoretic belief. The error, with which St. James had to contend, is thus described by Tertullian (de Poenit. c. 5): "Some persons imagine that they have God, if they receive Him in heart and mind, and do little for Him in act; and that therefore they may commit sin, without doing violence to faith and fear; or, in other words, that they may commit adulteries, and yet be chaste, and may poison their parents, and yet be pious! At the same rate they who commit sin and yet are godly, may also be cast into hell and n ch. 3. 13. 1 Thess. 1. 3-10. 0 Mark 1. 24. Acts xix. 15. yet be pardoned! But such minds as these are offshoots from the root of hypocrisy, and are sworn friends of the Evil One." Cp. S. Jerome (in Michæam iii. 5) inveighing against those who said, "If you have faith, it matters little what your life is." St. James in this Epistle is censuring those religionists who relied on faith, not bringing forth the fruit of good works. St. Paul in his Epistles to the Galatians and Romans, had corrected those who supposed that they could obtain justification from God by their own works, done by their own strength, irrespectively of the meritorious obedience and sufferings of Christ and the grace procured by Him, and independently of faith in His death as the sole efficient cause of man's justification with God. By a consideration of the different designs of these two Apostles, all difficulties in their respective statements may easily be cleared away. See above, Introduction to this Epistle, pp. 1-3, and to the Epistle to the Romans, pp. 298-303. 17. оÜтш Kai η wiσris] so also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself; it is dead, not only as regards the signs of external fruitfulness, but it is dead in itself. A tree in winter may not have signs of life, but is not dead in itself; it will put forth shoots and leaves in the spring. But faith has no winter: if it has not works, it has no life in it, and ought not to be called Faith, for (as Didymus says here) dead faith is no faith. Faith without works is dead; and works without faith are dead also. S. Cyril (in Conc. Ephes. p. 3, c. 43). There is opus fidei (says Bp. Andrewes, i. p. 194), the work of faith; fides quæ operatur, faith that worketh; that is St. Paul's faith (1 Thess. i. 3. Gal. v. 6); and faith that can show itself by working; that is St. James's faith (ii. 18). And without works it is but a dead faith, the carcase of faith; there is no spirit in it. No spirit, if no work; spectrum est, non spiritus: a flying shadow it is, a spirit it is not, if work it do not. Having wherewith to do good, if you do it not, talk not of faith, for you have no faith in you, if you have wherewith to show it and show it not. (Bp. Andrewes, v. 36.) 18. ἀλλ ̓ ἐρεῖ τις] Nay, some man will rightly say. ̓Αλλὰ means sanè, imò, and introduces a new and cumulative argument. 1 Cor. vi. 6. John viii. 26; xvi. 2. Acts xix. 2. Winer, pp. 392. 400. xwpis] apart from. So the best MSS. and Griesb., Scholz, Lach., Tisch., Alf.-Elz. has èk. 19. où TIOTEVELs] thou believest that God is one: thou hast more light and knowledge than the Heathen, who worship gods many and lords many (1 Cor. viii. 5), thou doest well, but this is not enough, for even the devils (even those false gods themselves which the heathen worship, 1 Cor. x. 20), they believe this, and show their belief by fearing Him; they believe and tremble. They said to Christ, "Art thou come to torment us before the time?" "I adjure Thee that Thou torment me not." “ I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God. Thou art Christ the Son of God" (Matt. viii. 29. Mark i. 24. 34; v. 7. Luke iv. 41), and thus they showed their fear and their belief. But (as Augustine well says in Joann. Tract. 29, and in Psalm. 130)," Aliud est credere Illi, aliud credere Illum, aliud credere in Illum. Credere Illi est credere verum esse quod loquitur; credere Illum est credere quòd Ipse sit Deus; sed credere in Illum est diligere Illum. Credere Ipsum esse Deum, hoc et dæmones potuerunt;" but to believe in God, this is what is done only by those who love God, and who are not only Christians in name, but in deed, and in life. See above on Matt. xviii. 6. For without love, faith is void. The only true faith is the faith which worketh by love (Gal. v. 6). The faith that is joined with love is the faith of Christians, but the faith that is without love is the faith of devils. An infidel who does not believe in Christ is not so far advanced in knowledge as the devils are. And they who believe Christ, but do not love Him, they fear the 20 Θέλεις δὲ γνῶναι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενὲ, ὅτι ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων νεκρά P. Gen. 22. 9 -12, ἐστιν ; 21 ν ̓Αβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ p 16-18. q Heb. 11. 17. r Gen. 15. 6. 2 Chron. 20. 7. Isa. 41. 8. Rom. 4. 3. Gal. 3. 6. s Josh. 2. 1. & 6. 23. Heb. 11. 31. r τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ; 22 4 Βλέπεις ὅτι ἡ πίστις συνήργει τοῖς eis 24 Ορᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον. 25. Ομοίως δὲ καὶ ̔Ραὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους, καὶ ἑτέρᾳ ὁδῷ ἐκβαλοῦσα ; " Faith is the root which turns the rain of grace into fruit. (Cp. Augustine in Ps. 139.) Faith cleaves to the soil of the soul, as a root which has received the shower of divine grace, in order that when it is tilled it may shoot forth branches and bear the fruit of good works. The root of righteousness does not grow from works; but the fruit of works grows from the root of righteousness, that is to say, from that root of righteousness whereby God accepts righteousness without work, namely, from Faith; see Origen in Rom. vol. iv. p. 523, cited by Bp. Beveridge (on Article xii." of Good Works "), who says, Though it be for our faith only, and not for our works that God accepts us, yet our works as well as faith are acceptable unto God, yea, and they necessarily spring out from a true and lively faith, so that it is as impossible there should be true faith without good works, as that there should be good works without true faith; for as without faith our works are bad, so without works our faith is dead. And therefore a true faith may be as evidently known by its works, as a tree is clearly discerned by its fruit. If I see fruit growing upon a tree, I know what tree it is, upon which such fruit grows. And so if I see how a man lives, I know how he believes. If his faith be good, his works cannot but be good too; and if his works be bad, his faith cannot but be bad too. For wheresoever there is a justifying faith there are also good works; and wheresoever there are no good works there is no justifying faith." This last statement needs some qualification. For suppose the case of a person who has been baptized, and has a lively faith and earnest resolve to serve God, and that he is suddenly taken away from this life, without having time to show his faith by his works. Or suppose the case of an infant dying after baptism. Then Faith saves. No man can do good works without Faith; but Faith without works saves a man, if God thinks fit to remove him out of this life, without giving him time for working, and if God knows that he would have worked, if he had had time for working. Indeed in such a case, Faith itself is work; according to our Lord's saying, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He sent (John vi. 28, 29). BC* have apyn here for vespa, which is in A, and X, and in G, I, and other good copies. 21. 'Aẞpadu] Abraham our father, was not he ustified by works, when he offered Isaac his son at the allar? On édikaiwon, was justified, see note above, Rom. iii. 26. Abraham, the Father of the faithful, united in his own person those qualities which were necessary to be commended both by St. James and by St. Paul (Rom. iv. 2-16). Abraham is cited by St. James as an example of practical faith, in opposition to the hollow conceits of those who imagined that knowledge would suffice, without the fruits of obedience. Abraham is also appealed to by St. Paul, as showing that faith in God, as the sole spring of all good, and firm reliance on His word, and entire self-devotion to His will, in contradistinction to any conceit of any thing in himself as enabling him to work, and entitling him to reward, is on man's side the cause of justification with God. The example of Abraham therefore stands forth in the Epistle of St. James, as a warning against a barren speculative faith; and is adduced by St. Paul as a protest against proud and presumptuous self-righteousness. This example of the Father of the Faithful is displayed by both these Apostles as an encouragement to that genuine Faith, which, forgetting and sacrificing self, and building on the foundation of God's Power, and Love, and Truth, and cleaving and clinging to that, rises up in the goodly superstructure of Obe dience, in a sober, righteous, and religious life, dedicated to His glory and service. "Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him for righteousness," but he proved his faith by his obedience when, having been commanded by God to slay his son, he offered him (avýveykev) at the altar. See Heb. xi. 17. It has been said by some modern interpreters that ȧvevéykas en To 0. does not mean having offered up at the altar, but simply having led up, brought up, to the altar; but such an interpretation weakens the sense; and the usage of the word in the N. T. (Heb. vii. 27; xiii. 15. 1 Pet. ii. 5), and the authority of the Ancient Versions,-Syriac, Vulgate, Ethiopic, and Arabic,confirm the interpretation adopted above, which is that of our Authorized Version. The preposition én with the accusative offers no difficulty. See Winer, § 49, 1. p. 362. 22. TíσTIS ovrhpyes] faith was working together with his works: his faith was itself a fellow-worker with his works. Faith is a worker and a work. John vi. 28, 29. Cp. Irenæus iv. 16. 2, citing these words to show that Justification is not to be had by observance of the ceremonial law. 24. pywv] Justification, pardon, acceptance with God spring out of works ( epywv). But these works themselves are k TioTews, they spring out of faith; as branches spring from their root; and as a stream springs out of its source. St. James does not deny that a man is justified by faith (dià mioTews), which is St. Paul's assertion (Rom. iii. 22), and which is never contravened in the least degree by St. James. But he asserts that a man is not justified ἐκ πίστεως μόνον, from out of faith only; that is, he affirms that Justification does not grow out of that kind of faith which does not work when it has the means of working, and which therefore does not deserve the name of faith,-being dead, v. 20. 26. See above, Introduction, pp. 1-3. 25. duolws dè kal 'Paáß] in like manner even Rahab, the harlot, was not she justified from out of works? In her case did not Justification grow out of works? Yes, certainly because they grew out of a lively faith in God, working by love to man, for she said, "I know that the Lord hath given you this land... therefore swear unto me that ye will save alive my father and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death." Josh. ii. 9-13. The word ropyn is applied to Rahab, as an "argumentum ad verecundiam." See above on Heb. xi. 31. To such religionists as those who are censured by St. James, the words of our Lord apply; Matt. xxi. 31, 32. St. James cites an example from Rahab a proselyte, such as were many in the dispersions to which he wrote. (Wetstein.) Rahab received the spies, who were sent before Joshua, the type of Jesus, and who were types of the Apostles of Christ, and she hearkened to their message, and sent them forth in speed (KBαAoûoa) by a cord, by another way (other than that by which they had come), viz., by the window, from which she tied the scarlet cord by which they were let down (Josh. ii. 15-18), and thus obtained deliverance for herself and family by her faith, when her city was destroyed. Thus she was an example very applicable to those whom St. James addressed, who, by receiving the Gospel preached by the Apostles, might escape the woes impending on Jerusalem, as she escaped those which fell upon Jericho (cp. Heb. xi. 31), and who would be overwhelmed in that destruction, if they neg. lected so great salvation. (Heb. ii. 3.) The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers to and corroborates the teaching of St. James the Bishop of Jerusalem; compare what is said of Abraham in Heb. xi. 17-19 with what is here said, v. 21, concerning the offering up of Isaac. Cp. below, iii. 18. 28 "Ωσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων νεκρά ἐστι. a III. 1 · Μὴ πολλοὶ διδάσκαλοι γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί μου, εἰδότες ὅτι μεῖζον κρίμα ληψόμεθα 2 πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες. b Εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνὴρ, δυνατὸς χαλιναγωγῆσαι καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα. 3· Εἰ δὲ τῶν ἵππων τοὺς χαλινοὺς εἰς τὰ στόματα βάλλομεν πρὸς τὸ πείθεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν, καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα αὐτῶν μετάγομεν. c Ps. 32, 9. d Ps. 12. 3, 4. & 73. 8, 9. & 15. e Prov. 15. 1. & 4 Ἰδοὺ καὶ τὰ πλοῖα, τηλικαῦτα ὄντα, καὶ ὑπὸ ἀνέμων σκληρῶν ἐλαυνόμενα, στην 12. 18. μετάγεται ὑπὸ ἐλαχίστου πηδαλίου, ὅπου ἂν ἡ ὁρμὴ τοῦ εὐθύνοντος βούληται· 5 4 οὕτω καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα μικρὸν μέλος ἐστὶ, καὶ μεγαλαυχεί. Ἰδοὺ ἡλίκον πῦρ ἡλίκην ύλην ἀνάπτει. e & 26. 20, 21. Isa. 30. 27. Matt. 15. 11, 18, 6° Καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα πῦρ, ὁ κόσμος τῆς 19. In many respects, the Epistle to the Hebrews illustrates and confirms this Epistle, and displays the unity of the teaching of its Author, and of St. James. Cp. Introduction, p. 3. Cн. III. 1. μoλλol didáσkaλoi] Become not ye many teachers: set not up yourselves for Teachers, without due call and mission. Such assumption of authority was a prevalent vice among the Jews, who loved to be called Rabbi, Rabbi (Matt. xxiii. 7), and affected to be teachers of the Law (1 Tim. i. 7), and were confident of their ability to be guides to the blind. (Rom. ii. 19.) Thence the contagion passed into the Church, and many, especially of the Jewish Christians, distracted the Church by diversity of psalms and doctrines (1 Cor. xiv. 26), and rent it into parties, which called themselves by names of different leaders. (1 Cor. i. 12.) Such were those whom St. James had censured at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts xv. 24), and who seem to have given out that they came from him, when they went down to Antioch and troubled the Church there. (Gal. ii. 12.) St. James in like manner, at the close of his Epistle, inculcates the obligation of maintaining a due respect for the office and persons of those who are regularly ordained to the work of the Christian Ministry, and of not intruding into their office, or of encouraging any who usurp it. "Is any one sick among you? let him send for the Elders of the Church," v. 14. On the necessity of a due mission, see Acts xix. 15. Rom. x. 15. Heb. v. 5. – μeîšov кpîμa λnyóμe0a] we shall receive greater condemnation, by setting ourselves up for Teachers. He says receive;" and again he says, "in many things we offend all," thus condescending to the infirmities of the weak, giving an example of that meekness and mildness of language which he commends (v. 2. 17, 18). So St. Paul; see on 1 Cor. vi. 12. 2. Tоλλà yàp Tтaίoμev åñavτes] for in many things we offend all. This avowal does not in any way invalidate the writer's claim to Inspiration. Moses " spake unadvisedly with his lips at the waters of strife. (Ps. cvi. 33.) St. Paul was betrayed into a hasty speech before the Sanhedrim. (Acts xxiii. 5.) St. Peter was condemned at Antioch because he walked not uprightly. (Gal. ii. 11-14.) But notwithstanding these human infirmities in the persons of those who were employed by God as instruments in writing the books of the Bible, there is no flaw or blemish in those Scriptures which the Holy Ghost wrote by their instrumentality, and which have been received by the Church of God as the Word, not of man, but of God. They had this treasure of Inspiration in earthen vessels, "in order that the excellency of the power of the Gospel might be seen to be not of man, but of God." 2 Cor. iv. 7. See above on Acts xv. 38; and on Gal. ii., note at end of chapter, sect. vi. El Tɩs ev Xóyw] if any man offend not in word he is a perfect man,- (tamim). These words (says Dr. Barrow in an excellent sermon on this text) assert that man, who offends not in speech, to be perfect, and they imply that we should strive to avoid offending therein; for to be perfect, and to go on to perfection, are precepts the observance whereof is incumbent on us. (Deut. xviii. 13. Matt. v. 48; xix. 21. Luke vi. 40. 2 Cor. xiii. 11. Heb. vi. 1.) To offend originally signifies to infringe, to stumble upon somewhat lying across our way, so as thereby to be cast down, or at least to be disordered in our posture, and stopped in our progress whence it is well transferred to our being through any incident temptation brought into sin, whereby a man is thrown down, or bowed from his upright state, and interrupted from prosecuting a steady course of piety and virtue. By an apposite manner of speaking (Ps. xxxvii. 23, 24), our tenor of life is called VOL. II.-PART IV. a way, our conversation walking, our actions steps, our observing good laws uprightness, our transgression of them tripping, faltering, falling. By not offending in word, we may then conceive to be understood such a constant restraint and such a careful guidance of our tongue, that it doth not transgress the rules prescribed by Divine law, or by good reason; that it thwarteth not the natural ends and proper uses for which it was framed, to which it is fitted; such as chiefly are promoting God's glory, our neighbour's benefit, and our own true welfare. By a perfect man is meant a person accomplished and complete, one of singular worth and integrity, who, as to the continual tenor of his life, is free from all notorious defects and heinous faults (Acts xiii. 22); like David, fulfilling all God's will, and having respect to all God's commandments (Ps. cxix. 6); like Zachary and Elizabeth, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke i. 6.) Thus was Noah (Gen. vi. 9), thus was Abraham, thus was Job perfect. (Job i. 1.) This is the notion of perfection in Holy Scripture: not an absolute exemption of all blemish of soul, or blame in life; for such a perfection is inconsistent with the nature and state of man here, where none with modesty or truth can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin (Prov. xx. 9); where every man must confess with Job, If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: If I say I am perfect, it shall prove me perverse. (Job ix. 20.) For there is not, as the preacher assures us, a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not (Eccles. vii. 20); and, In many things we offend all; that is, there is no man absolutely perfect: but if any man offend not in word (that is, if a man constantly govern his tongue well), that man is perfect perfect in such a kind and degree as human frailty doth admit; he is eminently good; he may be reasonably presumed upright and blameless in all the course of his practice; able, as it follows, to bridle the whole body, that is, qualified to order all his actions justly and wisely. So that in effect the words import this: that a constant governance of our speech according to duty and reason, is a high instance and a special argument of a thoroughly sincere and solid goodness. Dr. Barrow. 3. el dé] But if. So A, B, G, K, and Lach., Tisch., Alf., Winer, p. 528. C has toe. Elz. has idoù, behold. St. James follows up the metaphor of the preceding verse with an argument à fortiori. If we put bits into horses' mouths, we turn, not only their mouths, but also their whole body. We can rule irrational animals with a bit; how much more ought we to be able to govern ourselves! And if we rule our tongues, we do in fact govern the whole man; for the tongue is to man what a bit is to horses, and a rudder is to ships; it rules the whole; let it therefore be governed aright. 5. idoù hλíkov πup] behold, what a great forest (üλny, materiam) what a little fire makes to blaze! For ἡλίκον C**, G, K have ὀλίγον, a little; but ἡλίκον is in N, A**, B, C*, and Vulg., and is received by Lach., Tisch., and Alford, and so De Wette, Huther, and others. Cp. Theocrit. iv. 5, ὅσσιχόν ἐστι τὸ τύμμα, καὶ ἁλίκον ἄνδρα δαμάσει, and Seneca (Controv. v. 5), "quàm lenibus initiis quanta incendia oriantur." The word matter' in the English Version here, is only an adaptation of the Latin materies (üλn), wood, considered as fuel. The Vulgate has silvam. Cp. the use of the word 'matter' in Ecclus. xxviii. 10. The conflagration of a large forest even by a casual spark was not a rare event in the countries where the readers of this Epistle lived. See Wetstein, p. 670, citing Homer, Il. xi. 115. Plutarch, Sympos. viii. p. 730. Pindar, Pyth. iii. 66; to which may be added the poetical description in Virgil, Georgic ii. 303 : "Nam sæpe incautis pastoribus excidit ignis, E f Ps. 140. 3. ἀδικίας· ἡ γλῶσσα καθίσταται ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν ἡ σπιλοῦσα ὅλον τὸ σῶμα, καὶ φλογίζουσα τὸν τροχὸν τῆς γενέσεως, καὶ φλογιζομένη ὑπὸ τῆς γεέννης. 7 Πᾶσα γὰρ φύσις θηρίων τε καὶ πετεινῶν, ἑρπετῶν τε καὶ ἐναλίων, δαμάζεται καὶ δεδάμασται τῇ φύσει τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ· δ' τὴν δὲ γλῶσσαν οὐδεὶς δύναται g Gen. 1. 36. 27. ἀνθρώπων δαμάσαι· ἀκατάστατον κακὸν, μεστὴ ἰοῦ θανατηφόρου. 98 Εν αὐτῇ εὐλογοῦμεν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ καταρώμεθα τοὺς ἀνθρώ. 26, & 5. 1. & 9. 6. 1 Cor. 11. 7. Robora comprendit, frondesque elapsus in altas Incubuit, glomeratque ferens incendia ventus." 6. 8 Kóσμos Tĥs àdiкlas] that world of iniquity, that universe of mischief, as containing within it the elements of all mischief; as the World contains within itself mineral combustibles, and volcanic fires, and electric fluid, which may blaze forth into a conflagration. After adicías Elz. has ourws, thus: and this is sanctioned by the Syriac and Arabic Versions and by some Cursives; but it is not in A, B, C, K, and is rejected by Lach., Tisch., and Alford. The sense is as follows : ἡ γλῶσσα καθίσταται] the tongue makes itself in our members (acting in them as in an intestine war) the polluter of the whole body. The Apostle is reprobating, with holy indignation, the sin of those who abuse the tongue, "the best member that they have" (Ps. cviii. 1), and make it to be the worst, so as even to defile all" Corruptio optimi fit pessima." The word kalíorarai (as Huther observes) is used here as in iv. 4, exepòs Tou Deaû Kabioтaтai, makes himself an enemy of God. So the Tongue, by acting in the members, makes itself to be the defiler of the whole body. And this confusion takes place èv Toîs péλeow uv, which, as their name (uéxos) intimates, ought to move in harmonious melody and concert with each other; and so glorify their Maker. But the Tongue mars their music by its discord. It is even like an intestine Volcano: and sends forth a dark stream of lava, and a murky cloud of smoke, and a shower of ashes, and is thus a cause of pollution, sullying and staining, as with foul blots (σwiλoûσa), the beauty of all around it; and also, like a Volcano, it emits a flood of fire. See next note. φλογίζουσα τὸν τροχὸν τῆς γενέσεως] setting on fire the wheel of nature. On the accent of Tpoxòs see Winer, p. 51. The Tρoxds yevéoews is the wheel of nature, the orbis terrarum, the world itself, in its various revolutions; in which one generation follows another, and one season succeeds another; and 50 τροχός γενέσεως is used by Simplicius in Epictet. p. 94, and other like expressions in authors quoted here by Wetstein, p. 670. In a secondary sense, this Tpoxòs yevéσews is the wheel of human nature, of human life, of human society, which is compared to a wheel by Solomon (Eccl. xii. 6); and so Greg. Nazianz. (in Sentent. ap. A Lapide), and Silius Ital. iii. 6, "rota volvitur ævi," and Boethius (de Consol. ii. pr. 1), "hæc nostra vita est; rotam volubili orbe versamus." This wheel is ever rolling round, ever turning apace, whirling about, never continuing in one stay, seeking rest and finding none. So these words of the Apostle are expounded by Ecumen., Bede, and Bishop Andrewes, i. 361; ii. 294. 319. The functions of a wheel, set on fire by the internal friction of its own axis, are deranged; and so the organization of human Society is disturbed and destroyed by the intestine fire of the human Tongue; a fire which diffuses itself from the centre, and radiates forth to the circumference by all the spokes of slander and detraction, and involves the social framework in combustion and conflagration. This inner fire consumes every thing, and is itself kindled from hell-the lake of fire. And its punishment is accordingly. "What reward shall be given unto thee, O thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with hot burning coals" (coals of rethem. Ps. cxx. 2). The Rich Man in torment desires that "Lazarus may dip his finger in water and cool his tongue;" for he is tormented in a flame (Luke xvi. 24); and St. James says that the tongue is set on fire of hell. At the tables of the rich, men are often tempted to sins of the tongue, and tongues there set on fire of hell, may hereafter be scorched, and have no water to cool them. By the faculty of speech man is distinguished from the rest of creation: by it his thoughts are borne, as upon eagles' wings, to the remotest shores, and are carried to distant ages; by it they are endued with the attributes of omnipresence and immortality; by it men are reclaimed from savage ignorance; cities are built and peopled, laws promulgated, alliances formed, leagues made; by it men are excited to deeds of heroic valour, and to prefer eternity to time, and the good of their country to their own; through it the affairs of the world are transacted; it negotiates the traffic of commerce, and exchanges the produce of one soil and climate for that of another; it pleads the cause of the innocent, and checks the course of the oppressor; it gives vent to the tenderest emotions; it cheers the dreariness of life. By it virtuous deeds of men are proclaimed to the world with a trumpet's voice; by it the memory of the dead is kept alive in families. It is the teacher of arts and sciences, the interpreter of poetic visions, and of subtle theories of philosophy; it is the rudder and helm by which the state of the world is steered; it is the instrument by which the Gospel of Christ is preached to all nations, and the Scriptures sound in the ears of the Church, and the world unites in prayer and praise to the Giver of all good, and the chorus of Saints and Angels pours forth hallelujahs before His throne. Such being the prerogatives of speech, it is a heinous sin to pervert the heavenly faculty, to insult the name of the Giver Himself, or to injure man, made in the image of God. The true and slander, injurious to God's honour, the welfare of society, Christian will put away profane and impure language, calumny, and his own eternal salvation. He will abhor it worse than a pestilence; and will pray to Him from whom are the prepa rations of the heart, and who maketh the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind, who quickened the slow speech of His servant Moses, and put words of fire into his mouth, and whose Spirit on the Day of Pentecost descended in tongues of fire on the Apostles, and filled them with holy eloquence, so to direct his thoughts and words, that both now and hereafter they may ever sing His praise. 7. πᾶσα φύσις- δαμάζεται καὶ δεδάμασται] Every nature of wild beasts, &c., is being tamed, and hath been tamed, by the nature of man; the work of taming is being repeated often, and has been completed successfully. On the dative of the agent, τῇ φύσει τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ, see Winer, p. 196. Cp. below, v. 18, σπείρεται τοῖς ποιοῦσιν εἰρήνην. Observe the contrast between the puois of beasts and the pois of man. The one is made subordinate to the other by God. (Gen. i. 26. 28.) 8. τὴν δὲ γλῶσσαν οὐδεὶς δύναται ἀνθρώπων δαμάσαι] but the tongue can no man tame. No one among men can tame his own tongue; to do this work we require the grace of God (Augustine and Catena, p. 22); but St. James does not therefore excuse those who do not tame their tongues, for he says, "these things ought not so to be” (v. 10). Or the sense may be; Men can tame savage animals, but no one can tame the tongue of the slanderer, liar, and blasphemer; it is more furious than the wild beasts; they may be subdued and pacified, but not it; it is an evil which cannot be controlled (Petr. Damian. Epist. ii. 18), being full of deadly poison. The slanderer and liar "have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips." (Ps. cxl. 3.) Such was the tongue of Doeg the Edomite, of which the Psalmist speaks in that Psalm and in Ps. cxx. Cp. 1 Sam. xxii. 9-19. This interpretation (as Estius has observed) seems to offer the best solution of the Pelagian objections examined by Augus tine, De Nat. et Grat. c. 15. Both the above interpretations are specified by ancient Expositors, e. g. Bede, p. 184. akaтáσTaтov] not to be quieted, or composed. So A, N, and B, and Lach., Tisch., Alf. Elz. has ȧKaтáo Xeтov, uncontrollable. 9. ev auT] The whole course of nature is contravened and disturbed by sins of the Tongue. With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father: and this is the proper office of the Tongue, to praise God; and with it we curse men who have been made after the image of God. This unnatural inconsistency is censured Ps. 1. 16-20, "What hast thou to do to declare My statutes; whereas |