[b-greek] Re: James 1:13 from a new perspective

From: Jim West (jwest@highland.net)
Date: Thu Jan 25 2001 - 19:10:50 EST


At 06:53 PM 1/25/01 -0500, you wrote:

>Is there any possible way of taking hO GAR QEOS APEIRASTOS ESTI KAKWN
>as part of what this individual is claiming (rather than a response to
>his/her claim)?

interesting- but its sometimes hard to assign voice to an implied speaker or
debater without falling into the peril of eisegesis.

In any event-- yur suggestion is intriguing- but a little too intriguing.


>
>The main reason I ask is because I simply can not find any relevance
>to hO GAR QEOS APEIRASTOS ESTI KAKWN as a "response" to
>this individual's charge against the temptations he/she is obviously
>undergoing.

the phrase makes perfect sense in the greco-roman world though- where
philosophers and rabbis argued from greater to lesser. in fact, james is
merely using here the rabbinic method of argumentation wherein he states the
large truth-- God is not subject to temptation- THEREFORE- God does not
tempt anyone. The logic may escape modern readers but for first century
jews and pagans the logic is utterly flawless. to put it in other words-
God doesnt suffer temptation. because that is so, god is not involved in
any way with being tempted. if that is so God is utterly distant from
temptation. since that is is- god does not tempt folk- because he is
utterly distant from it. all of these intermediary steps are understood by
both james and his audience- so he merely states the first and last
propositions. i would add, be careful of infusing ancient texts with modern
philosophy else they become nonsense.

>PS: Does anyone know of any commentary that suggests this?

nope... cuz it just doesnt.


best to you,

jim

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jim West, ThD
Adjunct Professor of Bible, Quartz Hill School of Theology
Adjunct Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Hudson College

http://web.infoave.net/~jwest


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