The Pulpit Commentary — James — Section 37

writings, it seoms scarcely possible to resist faith save him 1 ro.tber, with R.V., that faith the impression tho.t St. Jo.mes is 11t.t11cking ('/1 ,r{<1•rn); the faith in question. the teaching, if not of St. Po.ul himself, at Vere. 15, 16.-Observe the practical chn- lea.et of tl10se who exaggerated 11nd perverted rncter of the illustration chosen, from worka it. But when we realize the fa.et thnt the of mercy (cf. eh. i. 27). 'D.<1, in vcr. Vi ro.ssago in Genesis wo.s o. common thesis in should be deleted (omitterl by B, C, K;; the schools of tho day, tho.t the meo.ning of also the disjunctive particle 6, 'at the com- faith wo.s variously expl11ined by the dis- mencement of the verse (with N, B). putants, tho.t diverse lessons were drawn Ver. 16.-Depart in peace (~1rii-y.-r, ,,, from it-then the case is o.ltered. The ,lp-firy); cf. Acts xvi. 36. Thie is some- Gentile apostle 11nd the Pharisaic rabbi thing quite different from the fulness of might both maintain the supremo.cy of faith our Lord's benediction, "Go into peace as the moans of so.lvation; but faith with (1/,ra-ye ,ls ,lp"11171v)" (Mark v. 34; cf. Luke St. Po.ul woe II very different thing from vii. 50 ; viii. 48). faith with Maimonides, for inato.nce. With Ver.17.-Being alone (1ta6' .!av-r-fiv); R.V., the one its prominent ide11 is II spiritual life, in itself. But the rendering of the A.V. with the other 11n orthodox creed; with the appears to be justified by the LXX. in Gen. one the guiding principle ia the individual xliii. 31, Ilapelh}lcav au-rqi µ.&v'I' 1tat av-ro,s conscience, with the other o.n external rule ICa:8' Ea:vTo6s, ,c.-r.>... of ordinances; with the one faith i~ allied Vere. 18, 19.-(2) Second point: Even the to liberty, with the other to bondage. Thus devils believe (1r,<1-re~av<1,). How worthless, it becomes II question whether St. James's then, must be faith (,r/<1-ris) 11lone I protest against reliBnce on faith o.lone ho.a Ver. 18.-Yea, a man may say (/r.M.' Ip,, any reference direct or indirect to St. Paul's .,...,). The objection in 1 Cor. xv. 35 is intro- language and teo.cbing. Whether, in fact, duced by precisely the same words. It is it is not aimed ago.inst an entirely different somewhat difficult to see their drift here, as type of religious feeling, 11go.inst the Phari- what follows cannot be an objection, for it saic spirit which rested satisfied with 11 is just the position which St. James himself barren orthodoxy fruitless in works of adopts. The formula must, therefore, be charity" (Lightfoot on' Galatians,' p. 164; taken as introducing the perfectly fair retort the whole essay should be carefully studied). to which the man who gives utterance to In favour of this view of the entire inde- the sentiments of ver. 16 lays himself open. pendence of the two writers, to which be Without thy works. Instead of X"'P" (~, A, inclines, Bishop Lightfoot urges: (a) That B, C, Latt., Syriac, Coptic), the Received the object of the much-vaunted faith of Text has the manifestly erroneous reading those against whom St. James writes is /,, (K, L), in which it ia happily not fol- "the fundamental maxim of the Law," lowed by the A.V. "Thou believest that God is one" (Deut. Ver. 19.-(1) "Thou believest that God vi. 4); not "the fundamental fact of the is one,'' R.V., reading "OTL eTs o eeos i,rnv: gospel," " Thou believest that God raised or (2) "Thou believest that there is one Christ from the dead" (Rom. x. 9). (b) God,'' A.V. and R.V. margin, reading •on That the whole tone of the Epistle recalls ,ls eebs l<1Tlv. The reading, and by conse- our Lord's denunciations of the scribes and quence the translation, must be considered Pb11riseee, and seeme directed against a somewb11t doubtful, as scarcely any two kindred epirit. To these we may odd: (c) uncials read the words in precisely the That the teaching of St. Po.ul 11nd St.Jamee so.me order. The illustration is taken from is combined by St. Clement of Rome (' Ep. the central comma.nd of the Old Testament ad Cor.,' c. xii.) in a manner which is con- (Deut. vi. 4), indicating that the case of clusive as to the fact that he was unaware Jews is under consideration. The following of any divergence of view between thorn, quotations from the Talmud will show the whether real or apparent. We conclude, importance attached by the Jews to this then, that the teaching of St. James has no command (Farrar,' Early De.ys,' etc., p. S:ci). direct rele.tion to that of St. Paul, and may It is said (' Bero.chotb,' fol. 13, 6) that who- well have been anterior in time to his ever in repeating it " prolongs the uttern.nc0 Epistles to the Romans nnd Galatians. of the word 'One,' shall have bis days a.11d (For the opposite view, see F11rro.r's 'Early years prolonged to him." Again we are Days of Cbrfatianity,' vol. ii. p. 79, where told the.t when Rabbi Akibah was martvretl an able discussion of the subjeot may be he died uttering this word " One: "· an,! found.) then came a. Bath Kol, which said," Blessetl Vere, 14-17.-(1) First point: F11ith art thou, Rabbi Akibah, for thy soul a.nd without works is equivalent to profession the word• One' left thy body together." without practice, and is therefore dead. Vers. 20-24.-(3) Third point: l'roor Ver. 14.-Omit the article (with B, C1), from the example of Abraham thot a. lllt1n and reo.d -rC iH/)tJ\os; so abo in ver. 16. Can ill justified by works l\Dd not by faith only. 32 THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. [ en. n. 1-2b.