Teks -- James 1:17 (NET)

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - Gift

Gift ( dosis )

- boon (dōrēma ). Both old substantives from the same original verb (didōmi ), to give. Dosis is the act of giving (ending ̇sis ), but sometimes by metonymy for the thing given like ktisis for ktisma (Col 1:15). But dōrēma (from dōreō , from dōron a gift) only means a gift, a benefaction (Rom 5:16). The contrast here argues for "giving"as the idea in dosis . Curiously enough there is a perfect hexameter line here:

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - pāsa do / sis aga / thē kai / pān dō / rēma te / leion . @@Such accidental rhythm occurs occasionally in many writers. Ropes (like Ewald and Mayor) argues for a quotation from an unknown source because of the poetical word dōrēma , but that is not conclusive. @@From above

pāsa do / sis aga / thē kai / pān dō / rēma te / leion . @@Such accidental rhythm occurs occasionally in many writers. Ropes (like Ewald and Mayor) argues for a quotation from an unknown source because of the poetical word dōrēma , but that is not conclusive. @@From above ( anōthen ).

That is, from heaven. Cf. Joh 3:31; Joh 19:11.

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - Coming down

Coming down ( katabainon ).

Present active neuter singular participle of katabainō agreeing with dōrēma , expanding and explaining anōthen (from above).

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - From the Father of lights

From the Father of lights ( apo tou patros tōn phōtōn ).

"Of the lights"(the heavenly bodies). For this use of patēr see Job 38:28 (Father of rain); 2Co 1:3; Eph 1:17. God is the Author of light and lights.

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - With whom

With whom ( par' hōi ).

For para (beside) with locative sense for standpoint of God see para tōi theōi (Mar 10:27; Rom 2:11; Rom 9:14; Eph 6:9.

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - Can be no

Can be no ( ouk eni ).

This old idiom (also in Gal 3:28; Col 3:11) may be merely the original form of en with recessive accent (Winer, Mayor) or a shortened form of enesti . The use of eni en in 1Co 6:5 argues for this view, as does the use of eine (einai ) in Modern Greek (Robertson, Grammar , p. 313).

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - Variation

Variation ( parallagē ).

Old word from parallassō , to make things alternate, here only in N.T. In Aristeas in sense of alternate stones in pavements. Dio Cassius has parallaxis without reference to the modern astronomical parallax, though James here is comparing God (Father of the lights) to the sun (Mal 4:2), which does have periodic variations.

Robertson: Jam 1:17 - Shadow that is cast by turning

Shadow that is cast by turning ( tropēs aposkiasma ).

Tropē is an old word for "turning"(from trepō to turn), here only in N.T. Aposkiasma is a late and rare word (aposkiasmos in Plutarch) from aposkiazō (apo , skia ) a shade cast by one object on another. It is not clear what the precise metaphor is, whether the shadow thrown on the dial (aposkiazō in Plato) or the borrowed light of the moon lost to us as it goes behind the earth. In fact, the text is by no means certain, for Aleph B papyrus of fourth century actually read hē tropēs aposkiasmatos (the variation of the turning of the shadow). Ropes argues strongly for this reading, and rather convincingly. At any rate there is no such periodic variation in God like that we see in the heavenly bodies.

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift

The first words of this verse form a hexameter line, thus:

Πᾶσα δό |σις ἀγα |θὴ καὶ | πᾶν δῶ |ρημα τέ |λειον .

Such verses, or parts of verses, occur occasionally in the New Testament. Sometimes they are quotations from the Greek poets; sometimes the writer's words unconsciously fall into metrical form. Poetical quotations are confined to Paul, Act 17:28; 1Co 15:33; Tit 1:12.

Every good gift and every perfect gift (see Greek above)

The statement that these gifts are from God is in pursuance of the idea that God does not tempt men to evil. The gifts of God are contrasted with the evil springing from man's lust. Two words are used for gifts. Δόσις occurs only here and Phi 4:15; there in an active sense; but here passive, as in Proverbs 21:14: (Sept.). Δῶρημα is found Rom 5:16. It enlarges slightly upon the other word in emphasizing the gift as free, large, full; an idea which is further developed in Jam 1:18, of hi s own will. The Rev., rather awkwardly, endeavors to bring out the distinction by the word boon, for which the American Revisers insist on retaining gift. Boon originally means a petition; favor being a secondary and later sense, as of something given in response to a petition. The word is of Scandinavian origin, and the meaning favor seems to indicate a confusion with the Latin bonus , good; French, bon .

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - Perfect

Perfect

Enlarges upon good, bringing out more distinctly the moral quality of the gift.

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - And cometh down

And cometh down ( καταβαῖνον )

A present participle, to be construed with ἄνωθεν ἐστιν , is from above. Lit., is coming down, from above. As usual, this union of the participle with the finite verb denotes something habitual. Render, descendeth from above. Compare Jam 3:15.

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - Father of lights

Father of lights ( τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτων )

Lit., the lights, by which are meant the heavenly bodies. Compare Psalms 135:7 (Sept.); and Jeremiah 4:23 (Sept.). God is called " the Father of the lights," as being their creator and maintainer. Compare Job 38:28; Psa 8:3; Amo 5:8.

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - Is

Is no variableness ( ἔνι )

Abbreviated from ἔνεστι , is in. Stronger than the simple is , and denoting inherence or indwell ing. Rev., can be.

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - Variableness

Variableness ( παραλλαγὴ )

Better, Rev., variation. The word is not used, as some suppose, in a technical, astronomical sense, which James' readers would not have understood, but in the simple sense of change in the degree or intensity of light, such as is manifested by the heavenly bodies. Compare Plato, " Republic," vii., 530: " Will he (the astronomer) not think that the heaven and the things in heaven are framed by the Creator in the most perfect manner? But when he reflects that the proportions of night and day, or of both, to the month, or of the month to the year, or of the other stars to these and to one another, are of the visible and material, he will never fall into the error of supposing that they are eternal and liable to no deviation (οὐδὲν παραλλάττειν ) - that would be monstrous."

Vincent: Jam 1:17 - Shadow of turning

Shadow of turning ( τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα )

This is popularly understood to mean that there is in God not the faintest hint or shade of change, like the phrase, a shadow of suspicion. But the Greek has no such idiom, and that is not James' meaning. Rev., rightly, renders, shadow that is cast by turning; referring still to the heavenly orbs, which cast shadows in their revolution, as when the moon turns her dark side to us, or the sun is eclipsed by the body of the moon.

Wesley: Jam 1:17 - No evil, but every good gift

Whatever tends to holiness.

Wesley: Jam 1:17 - And every perfect gift

Whatever tends to glory.

Wesley: Jam 1:17 - Descendeth from the Father of lights

The appellation of Father is here used with peculiar propriety. It follows, "he begat us." He is the Father of all light, material or spiritual, in the kingdom of grace and of glory.

Wesley: Jam 1:17 - With whom is no variableness

No change in his understanding.

Wesley: Jam 1:17 - Or shadow of turning

in his will. He infallibly discerns all good and evil; and invariably loves one, and hates the other. There is, in both the Greek words, a metaphor taken from the stars, particularly proper where the Father of lights is mentioned. Both are applicable to any celestial body, which has a daily vicissitude of day and night, and sometimes longer days, sometimes longer nights. In God is nothing of this kind. He is mere light. If there Is any such vicissitude, it is in ourselves, not in him.

JFB: Jam 1:17 - gift . . . gift

Not the same words in Greek: the first, the act of giving, or the gift in its initiatory stage; the second, the thing given, the boon, when perfected. As the "good gift" stands in contrast to "sin" in its initiatory stage (Jam 1:15), so the "perfect boon" is in contrast to "sin when it is finished," bringing forth death (2Pe 1:3).

JFB: Jam 1:17 - from above

(Compare Jam 3:15).

JFB: Jam 1:17 - Father of lights

Creator of the lights in heaven (compare Job 38:28 [ALFORD]; Gen 4:20-21; Heb 12:9). This accords with the reference to the changes in the light of the heavenly bodies alluded to in the end of the verse. Also, Father of the spiritual lights in the kingdom of grace and glory [BENGEL]. These were typified by the supernatural lights on the breastplate of the high priest, the Urim. As "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1Jo 1:5), He cannot in any way be the Author of sin (Jam 1:13), which is darkness (Joh 3:19).

JFB: Jam 1:17 - no variableness . . . shadow of turning

(Mal 3:6). None of the alternations of light and shadow which the physical "lights" undergo, and which even the spiritual lights are liable to, as compared with God. "Shadow of turning," literally, the dark "shadow-mark" cast from one of the heavenly bodies, arising from its "turning" or revolution, for example, when the moon is eclipsed by the shadow of the earth, and the sun by the body of the moon. BENGEL makes a climax, "no variation--not even the shadow of a turning"; the former denoting a change in the understanding; the latter, in the will.

Clarke: Jam 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above - Whatever is good is from God; whatever is evil is from man himself. As from the sun, which is the father or fountain of light, all light comes; so from God, who is the infinite Fountain, Father, and Source of good, all good comes. And whatever can be called good, or pure, or light, or excellence of any kind, must necessarily spring from him, as he is the only source of all goodness and perfection

Clarke: Jam 1:17 - With whom is no variableness

With whom is no variableness - The sun, the fountain of light to the whole of our system, may be obscured by clouds; or the different bodies which revolve round him, and particularly the earth, may from time to time suffer a diminution of his light by the intervention of other bodies eclipsing his splendor; and his apparent tropical variation, shadow of turning; when, for instance, in our winter, he has declined to the southern tropic, the tropic of Capricorn, so that our days are greatly shortened, and we suffer in consequence a great diminution both of light and heat. But there is nothing of this kind with God; he is never affected by the changes and chances to which mortal things are exposed. He occupies no one place in the universe; he fills the heavens and the earth, is everywhere present, sees all, pervades all, and shines upon all; dispenses his blessings equally to the universe; hates nothing that he has made; is loving to every man; and his tender mercies are over all his works: therefore he is not affected with evil, nor does he tempt, or influence to sin, any man. The sun, the source of light, rises and sets with a continual variety as to the times of both, and the length of the time in which, in the course of three hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes, and forty-eight seconds, it has its revolution through the ecliptic, or rather the earth has its revolution round the sun; and by which its light and heat are, to the inhabitants of the earth, either constantly increasing or decreasing: but God, the Creator and Preserver of all things, is eternally the same, dispensing his good and perfect gifts - his earthly and heavenly blessings, to all his creatures, ever unclouded in himself, and ever nilling Evil and willing Good. Men may hide themselves from his light by the works of darkness, as owls and bats hide themselves in dens and caves of the earth during the prevalency of the solar light: but his good will to his creatures is permanent; he wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may come unto him and live; and no man walks in wretchedness or misery but he who will not come unto God that he may have life. See diagram and notes at the end of this chapter.

Calvin: Jam 1:17 - NO PHRASE

This reasoning is far different from that of Plato, who maintained that no calamities are sent on men by God, because he is good; for though it is just that the crimes of men should be punished by God, yet it is not right, with regard to him, to regard among evils that punishment which he justly inflicts. Plato, indeed, was ignorant; but James, leaving to God his right and office of punishing, only removes blame from him. This passage teaches us, that we ought to be so affected by God’s innumerable blessings, which we daily receive from his hand, as to think of nothing but of his glory; and that we should abhor whatever comes to our mind, or is suggested by others, which is not compatible with his praise.

God is called the Father of lights, as possessing all excellency and the highest dignity. And when he immediately adds, that there is in him no shadow of turning, he continues the metaphor; so that we may not measure the brightness of God by the irradiation of the sun which appears to us. ¹⁰⁷

Defender: Jam 1:17 - Father of lights

God's first recorded words were "Let there be light" (Gen 1:3). He is the "Father of lights," but He did not create light, for "God is light" (1Jo 1:5) and is "dwelling in the light" (1Ti 6:16). In fact, He had to "create darkness" but only had to "form the light" (Isa 45:7). Scientifically speaking, as far as the physical creation is concerned, all matter is essentially energy in motion, and light is the most basic form of energy.

Defender: Jam 1:17 - no variableness

This attribute of the Father of lights - that is, no variableness - is suggested by the most basic and universal law of science, the law of conservation of energy. God can "form the light" into many different kinds of energy, but the total quantity is conserved, neither being augmented by creation nor decreased by annihilation. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it" (Ecc 3:14).

Defender: Jam 1:17 - shadow of turning

The word "turning" is from the Greek trope. When combined with the Greek for "in" (that is, en), it becomes entrope, which means in the Greek "confusion" or "shame." We get our English word entropy from this source, which thus literally means "in-turning." In science, any system which turns in on itself, without drawing on external sources of energy or information (in other words, a closed system), will experience an increase of entropy, or disorganization. This is, so far as all evidence goes, a universal principle of science and seems to reflect God's primeval curse on "the whole creation" (Rom 8:22). That is, even though all things are being conserved in quantity by God, they are deteriorating in quality, running down toward physical chaos and biological death. But God Himself, who imposed these laws on His creation, is not bound by them. There is not even a "shadow of turning" with Him."

TSK: Jam 1:17 - good // from the // no variableness

good : Jam 1:5, Jam 3:15, Jam 3:17; Gen 41:16, Gen 41:38, Gen 41:39; Exo 4:11, Exo 4:12, Exo 31:3-6, Exo 36:1, Exo 36:2; Num 11:17, Num 11:25; 1Ch 22:12, 1Ch 29:19; 2Ch 1:11, 2Ch 1:12; Pro 2:6; Isa 28:26; Dan 2:21, Dan 2:22, Dan 2:27-30; Mat 7:11, Mat 11:25, Mat 11:26, Mat 13:11, Mat 13:12; Luk 11:13; Joh 3:27; Act 5:31, Act 11:18; Rom 6:23, Rom 11:30, Rom 12:6-8; 1Co 4:7, 1Co 12:4-12; Eph 2:3-5, Eph 2:8, Eph 4:8-11; Phi 1:29; Tit 3:3-5; 1Jo 4:10, 1Jo 5:11, 1Jo 5:12

from the : Gen 1:2-5, Gen 1:14, Gen 1:15; Deu 4:19; Psa 19:1-8, Psa 84:11; Isa 45:7, Isa 60:19; Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12; 2Co 4:6; Eph 1:18; 1Jo 1:5; Rev 21:23, Rev 22:5

no variableness : Num 23:19; 1Sa 15:29; Psa 122:6; Isa 46:10; Mal 3:6; Rom 11:29; Heb 1:11, Heb 1:12, Heb 13:8

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Jam 1:17 - 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

Every good gift Greek, giving; and so it may be distinct from gift in the next clause; to show, that whereas men sometimes give good gifts in all evil way, and with an evil mind, God’ s giving, as well as gift, is always good; and therefore when we receive any thing of him, we should look not only to the thing itself, but to his bounty and goodness in giving it. Or, it may be rendered as our translators do, gift, and so the word is sometimes used by profane writer’ s themselves; and then, though it may be implied, that all good gifts, and of all kinds, of nature and of grace, are from God, yet the apostle’ s design in this place being to prove that God is not the author of sin, good gifts may most fairly be understood the best gifts, those of grace, (spiritual blessings, Eph 1:3 ), such being contrary to sin, and destructive of it, in one of which he instanceth, viz. regeneration, Jam 1:18 .

And every perfect gift the highest degree of good gifts, those that perfect us most; to intimate, that all the parts and steps of spiritual life, from the first beginning of grace in regeneration to the consummation of it in glory, are of God.

Is from above i.e. from heaven, Joh 3:27,31 ; and heaven is put for God that dwells there, Luk 15:21 .

And cometh down from the Father the Creator, Author, or First Cause, as Heb 12:9 ; it is spoken after the manner of the Hebrews: see Gen 4:20,21 .

Of lights God is the author of all perfection, and so of corporeal light; but here we are to understand spiritual light, the light of knowledge, faith, holiness, as opposed to the darkness of ignorance, unbelief, sin; of which he cannot be the author.

With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning: he here sets forth God as essentially and immutably good, and the Father of lights, by allusion to the sun, the fountain of corporeal light, and makes use of terms borrowed from astronomy. The sun, though it scattereth its beams every where, yet is not without its changes, parallaxes, and diversities of aspects, not only sometimes clear and sometimes eclipsed, but one while in the east, another in the south, then in the west; nor without its turnings in its annual course from tropic to tropic, (to which the Greek word here used seems to allude), its various accesses and recesses, by reason of which it casts different shadows: but God is always the same, like himself, constant in the emanations of his goodness, without casting any dark shadow of evil, which might infer a change in him.

Haydock: Jam 1:16-17 - Do not err

Do not err, nor deceive yourselves by yielding to temptation; beg God his supporting grace, for every good gift is from him. (Witham)

Gill: Jam 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift // and cometh down from the Father of lights // with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning

Every good gift and every perfect gift,.... Whether of nature, providence, or grace, and especially the latter; spiritual gifts given along with Christ, or spiritual blessings in him; every such gift is; as the Vulgate Latin version reads, the "best" gift; better than those which only relate to the present life: and is "perfect" such as the gifts of righteousness, remission of sins, adoption, regeneration, and eternal life. The Jews say ^k, that the good things of this world are not truly good, in comparison of the good things of the world to come, and are not גמור טוב, "a perfect good." And every such an one is from above; is not from a man's self, from the creature, or from below, but from heaven, and from God who dwells there:

and cometh down from the Father of lights; or author of lights; of all corporeal light; as the sun, moon, and stars; of all natural, rational, and moral light, in angels and men; of all spiritual light, or the light of grace in regenerate persons; and of eternal light, the light of glory in the spirits of just then made perfect:

with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning: as there is in that great luminary, the sun in the firmament, which has its parallaxes, eclipses, and turnings, and casts its shadow; it rises and sets, appears and disappears every day; and it comes out of one tropic, and enters into another at certain seasons of the year: but with God, who is light itself, and in him is no darkness at all, there is no change, nor anything like it; he is changeable in his nature, perfections, purposes, promises, and gifts; wherefore he being holy, cannot turn to that which is evil; nor can he, who is the fountain of light, be the cause of darkness, or admit of any in him; and since every good and perfect gift comes from him, evil cannot proceed from him, nor can he tempt any to it.