17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness, and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

[and undefiled.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgeteth what manner of man he was.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (B)

(B) Ver. 9-27. Address to the differ ent classes of society, the rich and poor, upon their respective spiritual necessities.Christianity has, in one respect, a levelling tendency. It elevates the humble, and brings down the lofty, and both have reason to rejoice in these effects. "The brother of low degree, the servant and the slave,

will naturally rejoice in the liberty of the gospel, and in being raised to the rank of a child of God: but why should the rich rejoice in that he is made low? Plainly, because that without being humbled he cannot be saved. Even his prosperity will wither him, and in a time of trial and persecution he will fade away, like a tender

Ver. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift.The apostle here uses two different nouns, the former signifying simply a gift; the latter, a free gift: with the former he connects the adjective good, with the latter, perfect, or complete.

Ibid. From the Father of lights.-This undoubtedly refers literally to the sun; and the other terms, variableness (or parallax) and turning (tropic), are also astronomical terms, though not used in exactly the same sense as by modern philosophers. The first seems to denote the continually mutable and different situations in the heavens which the sun every day apparently observes. The second refers to the progress of the sun in his annual course, visibly turning back (as the word tropic imports), when it comes to the longest or the shortest day. The term shadow refers to the different manner in which the sun casts its shadow in different climates. God is subject to no such changes. See Orient. Lit. No. 1528.

Ver. 18. A kind of first-fruits.-The Jews were the first converts to Christianity.

Ver. 20. The wrath of man worketh not, &c.— The Jews were a very irritable people, and often mingled an angry spirit with their zeal, against which they are here guarded.

Ver.21. Wherefore lay apart, &c.-The allusion seems to be to decayed and filthy garments, fit only to be thrown away.Superfluity of naughtiness.

-The en

-Doddr. "overflowing of malignity." grafted word-The word of God, which is sometimes represented as seed sown (1 Peter i, 23; 1 John iii. 9), is here represented as a graft inserted. Compare John xv. 2, &c.

Ver. 23. His natural face.-The Greek means, literally, the face he was born with-unwashed and unadorned-In a glass-i e. a mirror, whether of metal or of glass; or perhaps rather a natural mirror-a limpid stream. It is well known, that the ancients not only washed, but painted their faces (or at least their eyes); but this verse seems to refer to a careless person, who looked cursorily at his face in a mirror, whether natural or artificial, but took no pains to mark its blemishes or defects.

Ver. 25. But whoso looketh-Mackn. "looketh narrowly." The word properly signifies to stoop down to examine an object attentively (as in 1 Pet.i. 10). So Eve laid her " down on the green bank" of a transparent lake, to view her own image. (Par. Lost, bk. iv. 457, &c.)-Into the perfect law of liberty-i. e. the gospel; into which, whoever looks attentively must see his blemishes and defects.

Ver. 27. Pure religion and undefiled.-Abp. Tillotson (whom Doddridge follows considers these terms as alluding to the qualities of a precious stone, "clear and without flaw, or cloud," as the technical term is.

plant before the burning sun. O how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the king dom of heaven! But blessed is the man that endureth trials and temptations, whereby his mind becomes humbled under the mighty hand of God, and his heart schooled in obedience to Jesus Christ; and when his trials are over, he shall receive that crown of everlasting life, which the Lord hath promised "to them that love him."

We have hinted at the extensive sense in which the word temptation is sometimes used, as applicable to every species of trial, and if we so understand it here, the sense of verse 12 harmonizes with that of verse 2. But, from verse 13, it here seems to have a particular reference to tempta tions to sin, which some were disposed to charge upon their Maker, for which the apostle severely reproves them. There are two classes of persons prone to do this: the one through speculative notions of necessity and fate, and the other from the predominance of their passions, which being derived from God, men are too apt to indulge, and then to say, "And why doth he yet find fault?" (Rom. ix. 19.)

The origin of evil, either in itself or in us, is a subject which perhaps no buman intellect can satisfactorily explain: two things alone seem certain; i. That no evil, natural or moral, can arise unknown to God, and without his permission; and, 2. That though natural evil may be inflicted by him as the punishment of moral,

moral evil itself, as it implies perversity of disposition, cannot originate with the divine Being, who is here, and throughout the sacred Scriptures, represented s the fountain of wisdom and of goodness. There is indeed a malevolent being, com monly called the Tempter; and he, as we well know, "walketh about seeking whom he may devour." (1 Pet. v. 8.) Bet much, we doubt not, is laid upon him of which he is not guilty: for, in innumera ble instances, man is ensnared by his own lusts, and becomes the victim of his depraved passions. Lust engendereth sin, and sin produceth death.

On the contrary, "all that comes from God is good and perfect." As the sun, his fairest created image, is the fountain of material light to us, so is God himself the fountain of wisdom, or intellectual light, to all the universe and not of light only, but of purity and benevolence also; for

every good and perfect gift cometh down from him." But whereas the material sun is subject to perpetual changes in his course, the Sun of Righteousness is subject to no variableness, "neither shadow of turning."

The apostle proceeds to warn the Christian Hebrews, regenerated by grace through the instrumentality of the divine word, against the indulgence of evil passions, wrath and bitterness, all filthiness and obscenity; and exhorts them to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only," the latter being the way awfully to deceive

CHAP. II. Ver. 1. The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.-Mackn." The faith of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ;" i. e. of his divine rank and character; or it may be a Hebraism for" the glorious faith," &c. Comp. 2 Cor. iii. 7-9. Ver. 2. Unto your assembly-Marg." synagogue."

With a gold ring-Mackn." With golden rings on his fingers."- -In goodly-Doddr. and Mackn. "splendid," &c.

Ver. 3. In a good place.-Marg."well, or seemly." Mackn." honourably."

Ver. 4. Are become judges of evil thoughts? — Mackn. "Judges possessed of evil thoughts;" that

is, as judges, they indulged evil thoughts against the poor. But Dr. Benson, who understands this, as we do, of worshipping assemblies, thinks the spos tle meant to reprove the Jews, as showing more regard to the souls of the rich than of the poor. Doddridge, however, renders this verse thus (oct ting the interrogation): "And distinguish net in yourselves: you even become judges who reasefi ill." But we prefer the more simple version of Mr. Wesley-" Ye distinguish not in yourselves, but are become evil-reasoning judges ;” í. e. yon judge érroneously.

Trecommended.

adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (C)

assembly here referred to? The original word is synagogue; and though that term may be used for any public assembly, yet we know that, in the Scriptures of both Testaments, a synagogue usually means a place of public worship. Because, however, the Jews often held Judicatures in their synagogues, for the trial of petty causes amongst themselves, it has been doubted which kind of assembly is here re ferred to. Hammond and Whitby, with many others, think the reference is to civil meetings. Here, Dr. Mucknight says, "your synagogue does not mean a Jewish synagogue, but the house or room in which Christians assembled for worship. And as the Jews held courts of judicature

divine Legislator-God.

Ver. 11 He that said.-Margin, "That (law) which said;"-both the law and the lawgiver are the same.

Ver. 12. The law of liberty-i. e. the gospel, in which sense James has already used the term repeatedly. See chap. i. 25; ii. 12. It is so called because it freed the Jews from the yoke of Moses, and it frees Christians from the slavery of sin.

Vet, 13. And mercy rejoiceth-Marg, "glorieth " -against-or triumphs over--judgment ; in favour of those who have showed mercy. The expression is clearly elliptical, and should in some such way be supplied.

Ver. 14. Can faith save him?-i. e. such a faith as produces no good works? Doddr. Mackn." Can (this) faith save him?

Faith without]

17 ¶ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

[works is dead. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

in their synagogues, and there also punished offenders by scourging (Matt. x. 17), it is probable that the first Christians, after their example, held courts for determining civil causes in the places where they assembled for public worship." As, however, the Doctor brings no proof of this, we venture to doubt the fact; and if the fact were proved, we should still doubt whether such were the meetings here intended. We think it much more probable, if not indeed certain, that the worshipping assemblies of these Jewish Christians are referred to by St. James; who appears to have been grieved and offended at witnessing the partiality shown, even on these solemn occasions, to the wealthy and the gay, however reprobate, and inimical to the principles of the gospel. If we might venture to suggest an apology for this partiality, which seems to have been carried to a great extreme, one would hope it might be done with a view to conciliate their enemies; but it certainly ought not to have been accompanied by marks of contempt toward their poor brethren.

Whether any hint night be borrowed from this admonition of St. James, for the better arrangement of seats in our churches and chapels, we presume not to say. If seats are to be sold or let, it seems perfectly equitable, that those who pay the most should have the best: yet we cannot but think it would much grieve an apostle, if such there were in the present day, to see the oldest, and confessedly the most pious persons in a Christian congregation, seated on benches in the aisles, while all

the best accommodations are preserved for persons of light and dubious, if not of profane character. This is not loving all our neighbours as ourselves. This is not according to the royal law of our divine Master, who always dealt out his blessings to the poor; and his reproofs and censures, with the utmost impartiality, to the rich and proud.

It should seem that these Jewish believers themselves were not altogether insensible to the impropriety of their con duct: yet, while they kept clear of the great transgressions; while they neither committed murder nor adultery, uor any of the great crimes reprobated by the Mosaic law-they seem to have thought but little of minor acts of partiality and injustice. They are exhorted, however, to look into the "law of liberty," that is, the Gospel, by which they must one day be judged; and there they would find, that justice to the poor, and mercy to the afflicted, are among the first and most prominent precepts of their royal Master. And mercy must not be evinced in a few kind words only, as "Be ye warmed," or "Be ye clothed;" but in substantial acts of kindness-commonly and properly called good works, which be considers quite as necessary to salvation as even Faith itself, though in a different way; for though works cannot justify of themselves before God, neither can an unproductive faith do this; for "faith without works is dead." But this doctrine will afford us matter for discussion in our next section on the remainder of this chapter.

Ver. 17. Being alone.-Marg. "By itself;" i. e. a dead body, without any vital principle. See verse 26.

Ver. 18. Without thy works.-The Margin says, "Some copies read, By thy works." So, Doddridge says, the most and best copies read, and therefore adopts it, as Dr. Mitl had done before. But, on the other hand, our textural translation has the authority of the Alexandrian and other MSS.-the Syriac,

Arabic, and Vulgate Versions; and is preferred by Hammond, Macknight, and others; and is, we think, more in the style of St. James, which is inclined to irony (as in ver. 16). It is a challenge to do what he knew impossible-to prove the exist ence of true faith without good works.

Ver. 19. The devils-(Gr. demons)—alsa heliero, and tremble.-See Matt. viii. 29,