From: Stephen C. Carlson (scarlson@mindspring.com)
Date: Thu Jan 25 2001 - 20:23:14 EST
At 06:53 PM 1/25/01 -0500, Mark Wilson wrote:
>MHDEIS PEIRAZOMENOS LEGETW hOTI APO TOU QEOU PEIRAZOMAI
>hO GAR QEOS APEIRASTOS ESTI KAKWN
>PEIRAZEI DE AUTOS OUDENA
>
>James 1:13
>
>Is there any possible way of taking hO GAR QEOS APEIRASTOS ESTI KAKWN
>as part of what this individual is claiming (rather than a response to
>his/her claim)?
Actually, it is possible to take all of James 1:13
as part of what the individual is claiming.
This issue came up some time ago on B-Greek and a
lot of my ideas are derived from that discussion
(sorry, I don't remember who said what). One
of the things that seem strange to me is that
all the translations switch from "test" to
"tempt" in rendering PEIRAZW in James 1:13. Even
if PEIRAZW has the semantic range of "tempt" (which
James 1:14 might show or even have engendered), the
switch in meaning of PEIRAZW from "test" to "tempt"
is troublesome to me. There's nothing at v13 to
signal the change in meaning; v14 comes too late.
The obvious problem with "test" for PEIRAZW is in
James 1:13c--PEIRAZEI DE AUTOS OUDENA. This is
difficult to reconcile with Gen 22:1 hO QEOS EPEIRASE
TON ABRAAM (LXX). Thus, translators have almost
universally rendered PEIRAZEI here with the nuance
of temptation. James 1:14 (hEKASTOS DE PEIRAZETAI
hUPO THS IDIAS EPIQUMIAS) helps seal the deal.
I don't think it will to do to argue that James is
unaware of the OT; he does cite Lev 19:18 in 2:8.
The way of out this bind in adopting the sense "test"
for PEIRAZW and avoiding the difficulty of the statement
that God does not test people (when he did so in one of
the most memorable incidents in Genesis), I think, is
to extend the quotation of what no one should say (MHDEIS
... LEGETW) to include the problematic PEIRAZEI DE AUTOS
OUDENA. Thus, James is condemning the person that said
God tests no one.
This interpretation immediately creates a difficulty
in construing APO QEOU PEIRAZOMAI, because why would a
person blame God for testing and then proclaim that
God tests no one? The answer out of this difficulty
is the APO, which, in the standard translation, signifies
the agent when hUPO is more common and appropriate (cf.
Matt 4:1 PEIRASQHNAI hUPO TOU DIABOLOU). So, it would
not be too much of a stretch to render APO as a privative:
"apart from God I am being tested." I think this sense
is fine. James condemns the one who claims that God is
not with him when he is being tested, because God will
give wisdom to those who ask in times of trial (1:5).
What about James 1:14-15? I think that James is returning
to the theme of rich vs. poor (cf. vv9-11), reassuring the
member being tested by poverty and envious of the rich
that the rich too are being tested by their own desires.
So, perhaps James 1:12-14 ought to be rendered: "12 Blessed
is the man who withstands testing, because he has become worthy
to receive the crown of life that was promised to those who
love him. 13 Let no one who is being tested say "I am being
tested without God, since God is not to be tested by bad things,
and he himself tests no one." 14 But each who is being lured
and enticed is tested by their own desires ...
Any thoughts?
Stephen Carlson
--
Stephen C. Carlson mailto:scarlson@mindspring.com
Synoptic Problem Home Page http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/synopt/
"Poetry speaks of aspirations, and songs chant the words." Shujing 2.35
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