James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a (NRSV)
13 Who
is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are
done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy
and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.
15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly,
unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish
ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But
the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
4:1 Those conflicts and disputes among
you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at
war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you
commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in
disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You
ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get
on your pleasures.
7 Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw
near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 3:13-18 has
the theme of true wisdom. Although the community gathers in the name of Jesus,
their attitudes do not exhibit friendship with God. Their lives remain
ambiguous and lack consistency. They have converted, but need to keep winning
the spiritual battle through many conversions. The language or wisdom of the
world has written itself deeply into our hearts. We will not let go of it
easily.[1]
The wisdom of which the author speaks builds up the Christian community rather
than singles out individuals for envied attention, and nurturing Christian
communities is the overriding concern of the entire epistle. The epistle of
James owes much of its style and focus to Jewish wisdom tradition. In fact,
some would term James not as an epistle so much as a unique form of Christian
wisdom literature.[2]
James' affinity for wisdom sayings and emphasis on the role of wisdom in the
Christian life is evident in this text. Not only is defining wisdom itself the
subject of the text, but James' advice focuses on everyday matters and
applications -- yet another sign of traditional wisdom literature. James directs his words on wisdom toward
those who would be teachers in the Christian community -- those whose trade was
in their correct grasp of knowledge. At the very outset of his words to
teachers, James cautions that few could qualify, few could meet the strict
requirements demanded (James 3:1). Biblical wisdom is never mere speculative
thought or detached sophistry. Wisdom in the biblical tradition is always the
wisdom that embeds thoroughly in the practicalities of life, which includes,
inevitably, an ethical dimension. The purpose of wisdom is to learn how to
understand the world in its deepest aspects and, in so understanding, live in
accordance with those aspects. According to both Proverbs (8:22-31) and Job
(28:25-28), wisdom was present with God at creation, and so is a part of the
elemental nature of reality. The knowledge wisdom imparts is all-encompassing.
Yet, such wisdom is far from simplistic or superficial, for the discovery of
wisdom’s secrets demands diligent application and long experience. Wisdom is
the tree of life (Proverbs 3:18), and those who depart from wisdom do so at
their peril. When Paul speaks of Christ as the “wisdom of God” (I Corinthians
1:24), he hearkens to the tradition of Jesus as the Word/Logos of God, present
with God at the beginning of creation, and instrumental in creation’s being
(John 1:1). This mediating role of wisdom between God and humankind is not
without its ambivalent qualities, as the story of the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil makes clear (Genesis 3). Hatred blinds the soul in such a way
that one despises truth (Testament of Gad 3:3). Guard against jealousy and envy
and live out of the integrity of the heart (Testament of Simeon 4:5).
The
circumstances in which believers might feel deficient in wisdom are specific:
“whenever you face trials of any kind” (1:2). James does not point to specific
historical trials the community faces. However, the prominence they receive in
the epistle is one of the grounds on which scholars base their dating of the
work to a period when persecution of the Christians had become a reality (such
as Nero’s persecution after the fire of Rome in 64). James identifies wisdom
with adversity in the opening words of the epistle, linking wisdom with how
Christians are to experience suffering.
13 Who is wise
and understanding among you? See 1:5, where those who think they
lack wisdom are to ask of God, who gives wisdom generously. They may think they
lack wisdom in dealing with trials, which plays a prominent role in the letter,
even though the author provides no historical context for them. This proves to be a trick
question, in a sense, a rhetorical device, such as the lawyer in Luke 10:29
asking who is my neighbor, or the question of the crown in John 12:34, “Who is
the Son of Man?” If God is for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31) Where is
the one who is wise? (I Corinthians 1:20) Paul goes on to discuss wisdom in
that letter from a perspective similar to the perspective found in the letter
of James, namely, that “worldly” wisdom and the wisdom which is from God are
often antithetical, and the latter is often incomprehensible to the former.
Biblical wisdom is never mere speculative thought or detached sophistry. Wisdom
in the biblical tradition is always the wisdom that is embedded thoroughly in
the practicalities of life, which includes, inevitably, an ethical dimension.
The purpose of wisdom is to learn how to understand the world in its deepest
aspects and, in so understanding, live in accordance with those aspects. Show by your good life that you do your
good works with gentleness, a spirit
of humility or meekness, found also in 1:21, born of wisdom. A phrase found only here. The truly wise will reveal this
through good Christian behavior. 14 But if you have bitter envy
and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.[Many
of his readers go the direction of using wisdom to get success in society.] 15 Such wisdom does not come
down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. [Earthly
"wisdom" is sensual, even "animalistic" --everything that
is not spiritual. Earthly "wisdom" is inspired by demons, devilish --
everything that is not of God. James'
conviction that there is a discernable difference in spirit and origin between
human wisdom and "wisdom from above" is a concept drawn directly from
rabbinic wisdom literature. In that tradition, there are numerous references to
wisdom or teachings communicated directly to human beings by the angels of God.
In a wisdom commentary on Genesis, Rabbi Chiya states, "The wisdom from
above was in Adam more than in the supreme angels, and he knew all things"
(Zohar Yaluit Rubeni, fol.19). Likewise, the rabbis noted of Enoch "that
the angels were sent from heaven and taught him the wisdom that is from
above" (Zohar Chadesh, fol.35).] 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will
also be disorder [anarchy] and
wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is, which
has no ulterior motives and shows itself in certain behaviors, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing
to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or
hypocrisy. The antithesis between earthly and heavenly wisdom
continues. One of the most telling signs of genuine wisdom, James
insists, is gentleness -- or what we might better term "humility" or
even "meekness." Wisdom is not boastful about itself but serves
others humbly. Humility is the essence of humanity. Throughout James' discussion, there runs an
essential dichotomy between two worlds. Divinely inspired wisdom, on the other
hand, has no ulterior motives. It is "pure." As such, one
knows it through its
spread of peace, its gentle and yielding spirit, its merciful nature and the
tangibly good and fair results of its presence. The New Testament does not take this view
because it respects the state. The point
is that believers must not fill their minds with envy, bitterness, or filth. James’ own gift for
particularity and practicality leads him to cite the positive traits of genuine
wisdom that come from above. The list of qualities reminds us of Paul’s list of
the qualities of love in I Corinthians 13, such as patience, kindness, but not
envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude. Wisdom bears fruit that has the
spirit of intelligence, holiness, clarity, loving of the good, beneficent,
humane, free from anxiety (Wisdom 7:22-30). The fruit of the Spirit listed by
Paul is similar (Galatians 5:22-23). The connection between knowledge and right
behavior is clear. This heavenly wisdom has its root in the tradition of wisdom
as God’s eternal companion, found in Proverbs (2:6; 8:22-31) and especially in
the Deuterocanonical literature. 18 Further, a harvest of righteousness [II
Corinthians 9:10 and Philippians 1:11] is
sown in peace for those who make peace. James connects righteousness and
peace. The ultimate goal of a Christian community is not to be
"wise," but is to be so in peace that all might live in
righteousness.
James 4:1-3, 7-8a is part of a passage that extends to verse 12 that concerns
disunity among Christians. This text is a parenesis, or series of
admonitions. 1
What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it
not your passions that are at war in your members? War fills the inner life of the readers, so that what
has erupted in open fighting. 2
You desire and do not have, so you kill. Not only that, you covet and
cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war. This may refer to Christian
zealots in 66-70 AD involved in riots and ended up creating martyrs among the
people. Their efforts have not succeeded. More likely, the imagery of fighting
is a metaphor for the spiritual battle they face. You do not have, because you do not ask. They have these problems
because of a failure in their prayer. 3 You ask and do not receive,
because you ask wrongly, a phrase found only here, although Matthew 7:11 is similar, to spend it on your passions. “Pleasures” or “passions” usually have a negative connotation. He
states the reason for their error in praying. They are wrong in their prayers
because they focus upon the fulfillment of their selfish passions. Thus, their
prayer focuses on material things. The desire to receive in order to spend on
one’s own pleasures is the error.
In verses 7-8, we find the
appropriate response to those who have fallen victim of the false wisdom of the
world. 7 Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and he will
draw near to you. To attempt to follow the world and to follow God
simultaneously was an impossible desideratum in the minds of the biblical
writers, and the truly wise person knew which option was the only ultimately
viable one.
[1]
Luke Timothy Johnson, " James 3:13--4:10," The New Interpreter's
Bible. Vol. XII. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998, 212.
[2]
Sophia Law
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