Does God Ever Test or Try Us? (James 1:13)

James 1:13 (SBLGNT): μηδεὶς πειραζόμενος λεγέτω ὅτι Ἀπὸ θεοῦ πειράζομαι· ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἀπείραστός ἐστιν κακῶν, πειράζει δὲ αὐτὸς οὐδένα.

It is certainly hard to settle all of the issues that arise when reading this verse, but maybe we can address the question posed in the title of this entry? Depending on what we mean by "test" or "try," it's possible that God sometimes tests/tries his servants, but James appears to ardently deny that Jehovah "tempts" his people or that God is the source of temptation or evil. A trial is an external tribulation that we encounter from the world or from Satan or maybe even from our fallen flesh, but temptations are internal, originating with one's own wrong desire (James 1:14-15).

James 1:13 begins with a situation where a Christian might be undergoing a test or temptation, and  he or she feels that God might be responsible for the situation (μηδεὶς πειραζόμενος λεγέτω ὅτι Ἀπὸ θεοῦ πειράζομαι). At this point, we probably think of Job's "friends" (comforters), who told him the root of his suffering could possibly be some sin he had committed. Of course, they were corrected by Jehovah himself, who said the friends did not speak truthfully concerning God as his servant Job had done (Job 42).

Looking to the Tanakh, one finds numerous cases where Jehovah God tests/tries his servants, but we must not confuse these instances with temptations. Additionally, the very cases I have in mind have all been understood in various ways by Jewish commentators. I cannot go too far down the "rabbit hole" now, but let's consider some Bible verses I have in mind.

Genesis 22:1-
καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα ὁ θεὸς ἐπείραζεν τὸν Αβρααμ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν Αβρααμ Αβρααμ ὁ δὲ εἶπεν ἰδοὺ ἐγώ.

Brenton translates this verse (in part): "God tempted Abraam"; NETS prefers "God tested Abraam." On the other hand, the work Jubilees attributes the temptation/testing to Satan. See the WB commentary for James.

The language in Judges 7:4 is a little different, but this account still has Jehovah testing his servants although I would not say he was tempting them: καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Γεδεων ἔτι ὁ λαὸς πολύς κατάγαγε αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ δοκιμῶ αὐτούς σοι ἐκεῗ καὶ ἔσται ὃν ἐὰν εἴπω πρὸς σέ οὗτος πορεύσεται μετὰ σοῦ αὐτὸς πορεύσεται μετὰ σοῦ καὶ ὃν ἐὰν εἴπω σοι ὅτι οὐ πορεύσεται μετὰ σοῦ αὐτὸς οὐ πορεύσεται μετὰ σοῦ.

The operative term here is δοκιμῶ. Brenton translates the passage: "And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people is yet numerous; bring them down to the water, and I will purge them there for thee: and it shall come to pass that of whomsoever I shall say to thee, This one shall go with thee, even he shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I shall say to thee, This one shall not go with thee, even he shall not go with thee."

δοκιμῶ is future active indicative first person singular of δοκιμάζω (test, prove, try, tempt, put to the proof, examine, etc.). Compare 1 Corinthians 3:13; 11:28; 2 Corinthians 8:8, 22; 13:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Timothy 3:10; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 John 4:1.

Susan Niditch offers these remarks in her OTL Judges commentary (page 94): "Vat reads, 'clear out,' a different verb than in v. 3 and one that in the passive can mean 'to be refined' or 'purified.' OL reads, 'test them to you there.' MT  uses a term for 'refine' (s>rp), frequently found in late biblical literature to describe God’s weeding out of evildoers. See Jer 6:29; Zech 13:9; Mal 3:2; Dan 12:10."

For a GNT reference to weeding out evildoers, see Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43.

Daniel I. Block (NA Commentary on Judges and Ruth) Discussing Judges 7:4:  "The NIV's translation of the verb as 'to test,' misinterprets it as synonymous with צָרַף used in Gen 22:1 and above in Judg 6:39. But צָרַף is a metallurgical term used of refining ore by removing the impurities. Cf. 17:4, where the participle of the same root denotes a [gold]smith."

One more verse I would like to consider is Deuteronomy 8:2 (LXX)-καὶ μνησθήσῃ πᾶσαν τὴν ὁδόν ἣν ἤγαγέν σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὅπως ἂν κακώσῃ σε καὶ ἐκπειράσῃ σε καὶ διαγνωσθῇ τὰ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου εἰ φυλάξῃ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ ἢ οὔ.

Brenton LXX: "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee in the wilderness, that he might afflict thee, and try thee, and that the things in thine heart might be made manifest, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no."

διαγνωσθῇ is the aorist passive subjunctive third person singular of διαγινώσκω (to distinguish, examine, inquire into). Compare Deuteronomy 8:15-16.

There have been different suggestions about what it means for God to try/test Israel in the wilderness, but it seems problematic to say that God caused their hunger or suffering to see the contents of their hearts. I would posit that God allowed Israel to experience hardships in the desert rather than argue that he caused their hunger to make them realize their dependence on him. Edward J. Wood takes this position in the Tyndale Commentary for the OT: he believes that God was the cause of Israel's hunger so that the nation might recognize the need to depend on God. Jeffrey Tigay (Deuteronomy, JPS Torah Commentary, page 92) takes a similar stance; he thinks Jehovah God made Israel hungry in order to discern the contents of their heart. While it is true that Jehovah was disciplining the seed of Abraham for a lack of faith displayed earlier, whether God was the immediate cause of their hunger is another question. In any event, it seems that God was training or trying Israel for forty years in the wilderness.

Other passages that deal with Jehovah testing his servants include: Exodus 15:25; Deuteronomy 13:3; Psalm 17:3; 26:2; 66:10; 105:19; 139:23-24; Isaiah 48:10; Jeremiah 6:29; 9:7. Compare 1 Corinthians 10:13.

As I said at the outset, one thing seems to be clear from the words of James 1:13: God is not the source of evil or temptation (Matthew 6:13). Murray J. Harris expresses matters this way:

In light of v. 13b (πειράζει δὲ αὐτὸς οὐδένα), it is appealing to regard ἀπὸ θεοῦ as equivalent to ὑπὸ θεοῦ (“I am being tempted by God,” NRSV, NASB², HCSB; or “God is tempting me,” NLT, NIV¹, 2) since ἀπό sometimes expresses agency with a passive verb (e.g., Acts 4:36, TR ὑπό; cf. Jannaris §1507, citing Jas 1:13). But elsewhere in James ἀπό expresses source (Jas 1:17; 5:4) or separation (Jas 1:27; 4:7; 5:19), so we should assume, not that here ἀπό = ὑπό, but rather that ἀπό probably has its most common nonspatial meaning—source or origin. But it is a case of “indirect origination” (BDAG 107b); Webster (152, citing Jas 1:13), less appropriately, calls this usage “subordinate agency.” Winer renders the phrase “ ‘I am tempted (through influences proceeding) from God’ ” (371 n.1). “The temptation is caused by God, though not actually carried out by God” (BDAG 107b). In this verse, then, James is affirming that God is never the originator of any enticement to do wrong, whether acting directly (Jas 1:13b) or indirectly (Jas 1:13a).

I like how Harris distances God from causing evil, but I would quibble with the BDAG statement that God causes the temptation. We must distinguish between trying and tempting in this matter.

In conclusion, Ben Witherington III appears to be on point when he states (Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Hebrews, James, and Jude):

James wishes to establish that it is quite inexcusable to make God the source of one’s temptations. Not only is God immune to temptation and thus he will never conceive or do evil, but also being perfectly good he will not tempt anyone. One might naturally expect the writer to go on and talk about Satan the tempter, but instead he places the responsibility for sin and its source on fallen human nature. James is not trying to tell us what the ultimate source of evil is, though he denies that it is God.