Tuesday, May 10, 2022

God Is ἀπείραστός (Apeirastos)-James 1:13

J.B. Mayor (The Epistle of James):

 

Ralph Earle (Word Meanings in the New Testament): [James] "1:13 Cannot Be Tempted The Greek says that God is apeirastos. This adjective (only here in NT) is compounded of the alpha-privative a-and the verb peirazō, “tempt” (which occurs three times in v. 13 and once in v. 14). Literally the statement is that God is 'untemptable' by evil."

Luke Timothy Johnson (James): "The reason God cannot be charged with tempting someone to evil is countered with respect to both terms. The first is taken up here: God is not tempted by evils. The translation depends almost entirely on what is demanded by the argument, for apeirastos is otherwise unattested before the NT. By etymology, the expression apeirastos kakon [macroncould equally mean "inexperienced in evils," or 'unless by evil people,' or 'incapable of being tempted by evils,' or even "ought not to be tested" (Davids, 'The Meaning,' 391). The basic point is clear enough: God has nothing to do with evil. The sentiment here is crisply stated by Sentences of Sextus, 30: God is 'the wise light that has no room for its opposite.'"

Martin Dibelius (James, page 92):

 








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