Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · James Capítulo 1

James 1:1. To the twelve tribes, &c.— It is well known, that the Jews were dispersed abroad, and to be found in great multitudes in almost all parts of the world, as well at the time of writing this epistle, as at present.It seems to be plainly deducible from this passage, that no entire tribes were lost in the captivity. The number of those who came back was registered by Ezra and Nehemiah; twelve goats were offered for a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. See Ezra 6:17; Ezra 8:35.

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James 1:2. Count it all joy— Under the law, great temporal blessings were promised to the people of God as long as they continued obedient, and terrible afflictions threatened if they were disobedient: but the Jews expected even far better temporal things under the Messiah; there was great occasion therefore to set the Jewish Christians right in this particular; for they were in general deeply tinctured with the national prejudices, and could not easily be reconciled to suffer for righteousness' sake; especially now that the Messiah was come,and they continued to believe in and obey him. Temptations are here put for trials and afflictions. The Jewish Christians about this time seem to have endured many hardships and persecutions through the enmity of the unbelieving Jews.

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James 1:3. The trying of your faith worketh patience— Produceth patience. Heylin. The word Δοκιμιον signifies proof or evidence, in most other authors: but still, as it denotes a proof given by trial, the meaning will be, "That proof or evidence which you give, (by undergoing trials or afflictions,) of your sincere adherence to the Christian faith, worketh patience."

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James 1:4. But let patience have her perfect work— "that it may rise to its highest improvements during this little space of time, in which alone you will have the opportunity of preparing for glory and promoting the interests of the church of Christ, that so you may be made perfect and complete, deficient in nothing; for the other graces of Christianity will generally shine brightest where patience is most conspicuous."

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James 1:5. If any of you lack wisdom— That is, wisdom in general. But if the word be particularly applied to sufferings and trials, as many commentators do apply it, the passage may be paraphrased thus: "But if any of you should be deficient in wisdom, or at a loss what method to take, or how to behave in a time of such general distress and perplexity, let him addresshimself by fervent prayer unto that gracious God, who is so ready to bestow liberally and bountifully on all men, and upbraideth no penitent person with his former abused favours. And whoever seeketh wisdom in that way, may be satisfied that he shall obtain it: for there is no manner of reason to call in question either the wisdom, the goodness, or the power of God."

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James 1:6. But let him ask in faith, &c.— "But then let him take care that he ask in steadyfaith, nothing wavering, nor divided by the desires of obtaining, and the fears of not obtaining, the grace he asks, or doubting of God's readiness to bestow it; for he that wavers, and has not a firm confidence in the Divine goodness and faithfulness, can have no other solid and substantial support; but is like a billow of the sea, driven on and tossed by the sea, in a restless and unsettled condition (Isaiah 57:20.) easily discomposed and agitated by every adverse blast, and in the greatest danger of being dashed to pieces." Mr. Saurin paraphrases the passage thus: "He ought not to resemble the waves of the sea, which seem to offer to the spectator who is upon the shore, the treasure with which they are charged; but soon plunge it into the abyss, from which it cannot be recovered." See Saurin's Serm. vol. 9: p. 438. He elsewhere paraphrases it, "Like a wave which moves on, and seems to come to the shore, but immediately returns with impetuosity into the gulph from whence it came." Vol. 5: p. 56, 57.

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James 1:8. A double-minded man is unstable— "He, whose schemes are divided between God and the world, and who cannot cheerfully and resolutely commit himself, in confidence of divine support, to be led whithersoever Providence shall please, is unsettled in all his ways: he will perpetually be running into inconsistencies of conduct; and these imperfect and undetermined impressions of religion which he feels, will serve rather to perplex and torment, than to guide and secure him." Moreover, he who desires the end, must desire, or at least fully acquiesce in, the necessary means; else he is double-minded. He would, and he would not.

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James 1:11. For the sun is no sooner risen, &c.— For the sun ariseth with burning heat; it withereth the grass; the flower thereof falleth; and all the beauty of its colour perisheth: Even so shall the rich man fade away in his course;— πορειαις αοτου ; in all the projects and pursuits in which he has been immersed.

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James 1:12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation— Happy is the man who persevereth under temptation, or trial; for, being approved, he shall receive, &c.

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James 1:13. St. James had said so much about the benefit of temptations, or trials, that he thought it necessary to guard his readers against so dangerous a mistake, as that of making God the author of sin, or ascribing temptations to him, as they signify "a seducing men to what is evil:" In that sense they proceed not from God, but from the lusts of men, which, if complied with, end in death, instead of bringing men to a crown of life. Though, therefore, trials may be ascribed to God, yet temptation, in the bad sense of the word, cannot by any means be ascribed to him. Sin and death proceed from the lusts and wickedness of men; but God is not the author of evil; on the contrary, He is, like the sun in the firmament, an universal Benefactor, and the author of all that is good: nay, he infinitely excels the sun, as not being subject to any change or variation.—The Jewish converts were by the divine benignity brought first into the Christian church; they therefore had peculiar reason to ascribe goodness unto God, and to obey readily the precepts of the gospel; governing their passions, bridling their tongues, manifesting their meekness and charity, and doing every thing which the Christian religion requires, through Divine grace. James 1:13-27.

Let no man say—I am tempted of God— See on Genesis 22:1.Exodus 15:25; Exodus 15:25; Exodus 16:4.Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:2. "There are two senses of the word temptation, says Dr. Heylin, according to the different ends proposed; the one for trial, the other for seduction: this last is here intended. As God, by virtue of his boundless knowledge and almighty power, is incapable of being tempted by evils, so likewise he is of such perfect rectitude and benevolence, that he tempteth not any man; that is, draws him not designedly into sin, nor lays him, in any imaginable circumstances, under a moral necessity of committing it."

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James 1:14. When he is drawn away of his own lust, &c.— "Drawn out of the water, and taken with the bait;" εξελκομενος και δελεαζομενος : in both these words there is an allusion to the catching a fish with a bait; and lusts, or sensual pleasures, are here represented as the bait with which wicked men are caught. Grotius observes, that the best Greek authors have used this phrase, "To be ensnared by the belly, and by fair words." Plato said, "That pleasure is the bait of evil;" to which Cicero alludes, when he says, "The divine Plato calls pleasure the bait of evil, because men are taken with it, as fishes are taken with a hook."—"Every man is tempted (in this bad sense of the word) by the innate weakness of his own nature, in concurrence with the circumstances of life in which he is placed, being allured by his own lusts; and for want of wisely and resolutely opposing the first rising of them, he is ensnared to the actual commission of sin."

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James 1:15. Then when lust hath conceived, &c.— "For the gradation is much more swift and fatal than the generality of mankind are aware: lust having conceived, brings forth actual sin by a speedy birth, where perhaps the full indulgence of it was not intended; and sin, when it is finished, or perpetrated, is impregnated with death, and tends in its consequences to the final ruin both of body and soul." According to this fine metaphorical genealogy, Concupiscence is the mother of sin, and sin is the mother of death. Milton seems evidently to have had his eye upon this passage in his famous allegorical description of sin and death: Par. Lost, book 2. 50: 727, &c.

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James 1:16. Do not err, &c.— Or, Be not deceived.

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James 1:17. Every good gift, &c.— The first part of this verse is in the Greek an hexameter, and possibly was quoted by St. James from some of the Greek poets. See Acts 17:28. 1 Corinthians 15:33.Titus 1:12; Titus 1:12. Father in this verse signifies author, or cause. Com. Genesis 4:20. Hebrews 12:9. The Father of Lights is here used agreeably to the astronomical metaphor which follows;—with whom there is no deviation, or tropical shadow—Light invariable, without any interposing shade, which is lengthened or shortened by the different distance of the sun, according to the common mode of expression. There is in these worlds, says Amory, an allusion to the heavenly bodies, and the benefits which we derive from them. The sun, moon, and stars, are greatly beneficial by their light, warmth, and influences, but not always beneficial: they rise and set to us; are sometimes nearer, at other times more distant; sometimes eclipsed, and often clouded. But the divine benignity is not subject to any such variations; it is always equally near, and equally communicative of its influences to proper objects; nor can any thing interpose between it and them: it is not the flush of good humour, which may be spent: it is not a great but limited treasury, which may be exhausted bylarge and continued communications. As God is ever unerringly wise, and unchangeably happy; as his power is infinite, and he is raised above the possibility of want or suffering; he will certainly always choose to do, what his wisdom determines best to be done; and as he ever deems the happiness of his creatures, who will accept of his mercy, to be the worthiest end, he will certainly be always disposed and delighted to promote that best end. The infinite communications of good, which he hath made already, instead of causing us to fear that his goodness may be exhausted, serve to prove it infinite, and therefore inexhaustible: they give, and they will give his faithful saints, to eternity, the most substantial reasons to expect from their Creator and Redeemer, all that can be expected from a Being infinitely wise, powerful, and benevolent.

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James 1:18. A kind of first-fruits, &c.— More excellent than others, and in a peculiar manner separated and consecrated to him. By κτισματων, creatures, the apostle here means the new creation; and he seems by the expression to allude to Jeremiah 2:3. See also Romans 11:16; Romans 16:5. As in Jam 1:15 we have the genealogy of sin and death, in this verse is the genealogy of the Christian life and happiness.

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James 1:19. Swift to hear, slow to speak— Agreeably to this inspired direction of the apostle, and the sentiments of the wisest of the Jews, the ancient philosophers have taken notice, that men have two ears, and but one tongue; that they should hear more than they speak: as also that the ears are continually open, ever ready to receive instruction; while the tongue is surrounded by a double row of teeth, to hedge it in, and keep it within proper bounds. But what the apostle seems peculiarly to refer to, was the temper of the Jews at this time, from which the Jewish Christians were not entirelyfree; that is, many of them were exceedingly impatient in hearing others, even when they were vindicating the ways of God; but very apt to assume authority to themselves, and to set up for doctors, rabbis, and teachers of others. See ch. James 3:1.Romans 2:17; Romans 2:17; Romans 2:29. Whereas it was their duty rather to be swift to hear the apostles, and such as were best acquainted with the nature of God and of Christianity; and slow to speak of such things themselves, especially before they had made themselves thorough masters of them.

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James 1:20. For the wrath of man worketh not, &c.— Multitudes of Christians, so called, seem either to have disbelieved this, or to have forgottenit; for how often have they attempted to bring others over, to what they have apprehended to be the truth of doctrine, or the right manner of worship, by using them ill, if they were not convinced, or did not readily comply?—whereas the wrath of one man can never enlighten the mind of another; it is reason and argument that must convince men's judgments, and bring them over to our sentiments. If we have power, our wrath may make them atheists and hypocrites, and force them to profess what they do not believe, and so produce sin and unrighteousness, instead of that righteousness which God requires. For religion is under Divine grace a matter of pure choice, and is not, cannot be acceptable to God, unless the heart and the tongue go together. Besides, the usual progress of wrath and ungovernable zeal ought to deter all conscientious persons from the beginnings of it; for he that will be angry at another because he differs from him, will be in great danger of speaking against him, and blasting his character; and, as one step commonly leads on to another, when he cannot overcome by arguments, the next thing will be to crush his adversary's opinion by force, if he either have power to do it himself, or can prevail upon the magistrate or the multitude to aid and assist him. All the persecutions in the Christian church have arisen in this manner; for, when lesser evils were insufficient for the conviction of obstinate heretics, it was necessary, upon the same principles, to have recourse to persecution. The reader will find abundant proof hereof by referring to almost any Century of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History.

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James 1:21. Superfluity of naughtiness— Vicious superfluity; every vice, and especiallyworldly cares or desires: these, if allowed in the mind, will, as weeds, choke up the good seed; which is the same as the engrafted word, immediately following. The word of God is frequently compared to a seed, or plant; particularly 1 Peter 1:23. 1 John 3:9.—In which sense it is here said to be εμφυτος, engrafted, or implanted in their minds. Ministers are said φυτευειν, to plant this word, 1Co 3:6-8 which bringeth forth fruit: Colossians 1:6. Mark 4:7-8. Further, as in the Greek writers, the word εμφυτον sometimes denotes what is innate, and sometimes what is thoroughly implanted or fixed in the mind; so here it implies, that the heavenly doctrine not only enters into the ears, but is so implanted in the soul by Divine grace, as to become, as it were, a second nature. Meekness in this verse stands opposed to wrath, condemned in James 1:19-20. See Parkhurst on the word Εμφυτος .

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James 1:22. Hearers only, deceiving, &c.— The Jews did indeed place much of their religion in going up at proper times to the synagogue to hear the law read; and there may possibly be an allusion to that disposition, The exact signification of the word παραλογιζομενοι, rendered deceiving, is, "imposing upon any, by a sophistical show of argument;" and here it is used with peculiar propriety. The Jews have a proverb, "That he who hears the law, and does not practise it, is like a man who ploughs and sows, but never reaps."

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James 1:23. Like unto a man beholding his natural face, &c.— By way of opposition to the moral temper and disposition of his mind;—which he is to view in the glass of the gospel, and carefully regulate thereby; James 1:25. Perhaps some of them pretended, that Abraham believed, and that was counted unto him for righteousness; and therefore there was no occasion that they should be doers of the word, seeing they believed it, and were very ready to hear it: (See ch. James 2:14, &c.) as too many professors do in these days, making the holy Jesus a minister of sin.

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James 1:25. But whoso looketh, &c.— Ο δε παρακυψας : He that hath bowed his head, or stooped down, more curiously to pry into any thing. The word is used concerning the disciples bowing down curiously and intensely to pry into our Lord's sepulchre, Luke 24:12. Joh 20:5; John 20:11. But the image which the apostle seems here to have had before his mind, most probably is the same with that expressed 1 Peter 1:12. Which things the angels desired to look into; παρακυψαι : In which expression there is a most plain reference to the posture of the two cherubims which stood over the ark of the covenant in the Jewish temple. See Exodus 25:20. St. James represents a zealous and sincere Christian as looking into the gospel, and searching curiously into it, that he may understand it, and through grace live accordingly; looking, in the same diligent and careful manner, as the cherubims were represented bowing down and looking into the ark: and this by way of opposition to the careless Christian, who is like a man that takes a transient view of his face in a mirror, and presently forgets what he saw, and turns his thoughts to something else. The happy effects of such a careful looking into the glass or mirror of the gospel, are beautifully represented, 2 Corinthians 3:18. By calling the gospel a perfect law, St. James seems to have insinuated to the Jewish Christians, that there was no necessity for them to add the observation of the law of Moses to that of the Christian law; the Christian law being perfect of itself, and without that addition: and by calling it the law of liberty, he seems also to have transiently hinted, thatthe ceremonial law was abolished by the coming of Christ, or that the Christian religion had set them free from any further obligation to that law. But these were ungrateful truths, against which they were so much prejudiced, that he could only insinuate them, unless he had an inclination to defeat the end of his writing to them. There is indeed another reason which may be alleged for the apostle's expression in this place; namely, that as the law was so burdensome a service, and treated men with such rigour, it produced a spirit of bondage; whereas the easy service and mild treatment of the gospel produces a spirit of love and filial freedom. This is a subject which St. Paul has frequently enlarged upon in his epistles.

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James 1:26. And bridleth not his tongue— Not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart. Bishop Butler. As if the apostle had said, "It is impossible that any man should so much as seem to be religious, if he does not at least think that he bridles his tongue; but if he deceive himself in this important branch of religion, he is deceived in the whole of it." And indeed, to many sins of the tongue are committed without any apprehension of their being evil, that this caution, and this remark for the explication of it, are of great importance; considering how little many professors seem to be aware of the great evil of bitterly reproaching their brethren on account of their religious differences; a sin, which the apostle seems to have had particularly in his view.

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