The connection between the paragraph about wisdom (3:13-18) and the preceding discussion of the perils of the tongue is very close. James is still thinking of the men who supposed that they had true faith but who did not practice it; “men who supposed that they had a deeper wisdom and a larger knowledge than their brethren, and who were continually asserting their claim to be teachers” (Dale). But Hort considers the passage on the tongue a “long digression,” a view hardly tenable. These ambitious teachers had overlooked the havoc wrought by tongue (and pen).

James has given a needed warning about that phase of the subject and now turns to the subject matter itself. The ambitious teacher will do all the more harm if he is not merely a bungler of real wisdom but a disseminator of false wisdom. Already the air was full of all sorts of fads and fancies that appealed to the unthinking and the unwary. The Essenes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Epicureans, the Stoics, the Mithraists, the Gnostics, the Judaizers, the cult of emperor worship, with more or less distinctness were clamoring for a hearing. There were professional sophists who traveled over the country with patent solutions of all problems. Some appealed to the nervous or the neurotic, like Christian Science today; others to the ignorant, like Russellism or Mormonism. Paul will later discuss both speech and wisdom “as good things liable to grievous abuse” (Hort), in 1 Corinthians 1:5, 17; 2; and 3.

The Call for the Wise Man (3:13a)

“Who is wise and understanding among you?” The question does not mean that nobody is wise and understanding, but it calls a halt on the rush of volunteers who have apparently a superfluity of wisdom. An overplus of conceit is intolerable for normal persons. Job (12:2) has our sympathy when he retorts to his officious advisers: “No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.” Once more Job (28:12) asks: “But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” Here, as very often in the Old Testament, we have wisdom and understanding used together. God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding (1 Kings 4:29). “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; ... get understanding” (Prov. 4:7). In Psalm 107:43 we have the question: “Who is wise?” James is thoroughly acquainted with the wisdom literature of the Jews, both canonical and uncanonical, and is at home in the handling of this theme. His words are not many, but they carry much of depth and power.

Many of the professional wise men, then as now, were frauds who easily duped the gullible populace. They were magicians like Simon Magus, who gave it out that he was some great man, and the idle crowd took him at his high estimate of himself (Acts 8:9 ff.). Note also the cases of Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:6 ff.) and the Jewish exorcists (19:13 ff.). The success of these men is one of the most humiliating contemplations about our common humanity. Carlyle bluntly called most people fools. But there were really wise men then also, like the Magi and others, who sought light and truth. Oesterley thinks that James by this question appeals to the self-respect of his hearers, who are tired of men with “the lust of teaching and talking” (Plummer). James is still directing blows at sham religion, and there is ample cause for such attacks in all the ages. Hypocrisy flourishes in all ages and in all climes. This meanest of parasites has a marvelous vitality.

The combination of “wise” and “understanding” is not without point (cf. Deut. 4:6; Isa. 5:21). This is the only instance of the combination in the New Testament. In classic Greek the second word was used of a skilled or scientific person who had gained technical knowledge of a subject. It implies personal acquaintance and experience, not mere abstract knowledge or intellectual apprehension of the theory of a thing. It is book learning plus practical application, as opposed to one without this special training. Then the word for wise is given by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. I. v.) to mean “the understanding of things human and divine, and their causes.” It is the word found in the term “philosophy” and implies thoughtfulness, penetration, grasp of the relations of things, and the right use of one’s knowledge for the highest ends. There are learned fools, men who have a lumber of learning in their heads but in a disorderly jumble. In the use of James the only really wise man is he who places God in the center of his life, who serves Christ as Lord and Master, who keeps the intellect in subjection to the will of God.

There are plenty of ignorant fools also, men who have neither intellectual apprehension nor practical wisdom. It is hard to tell which is the sadder spectacle, the learned fool or the ignorant fool. But, certainly, a premium is not to be placed upon either class. Both classes of fools are to be kept out of the ranks of teachers and preachers if it can be done. Advice on all sorts of subjects is so plentiful that there seems to be an abundance of easygoing wisdom. But the world is still eager to listen to the true wise man if he can be found (cf. Van Dyke’s Other Wise Man). But the very reputation for wisdom may lead to posing as a wise man. James dares to challenge the candidates for teachers of wisdom in the churches. Is it not possible that not enough care is taken in the choice of teachers in the churches and the ordination of preachers of the gospel?

The Proof of the Wise Man (3:13b)

Wisdom is not a matter for mere technical inquiry. One has to stand an examination on wisdom; but it is that of life, unwritten and written—that of deeds, not of words. “Let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom.” This test of the wise man is put in a peculiarly Jacobean style. The very position of the word “show” is emphatic; it is the first word in the sentence. If one may use the vernacular, we are all “from Missouri” and “have to be shown” when it comes to each other’s wisdom. The test is the acid test of deeds, not words. We may quibble over words and talk like a wise man, but time will prove our words by our deeds.

One may speak like a wise man and in reality be the biggest sort of a fool, yea, a scoundrel. People have learned to discount mere talk when it stands alone. Just being a preacher is not enough. One must practice what he preaches. The Roman Catholic doctrine relieves the priest from the obligation to live the morality which he preaches, but surely that is a travesty on the ethics of Christianity. It is false ethics and false religion. People have a right to hold the preacher to the standard of the gospel, just as he has the right to urge upon them the highest ideals of conduct. There is a wonderful leveling process going on all the time. Lincoln said with rare wisdom that a man may fool all the people part of the time and some of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time.

The greatest asset that the preacher has, after all, is his life, a long life of piety and consecration. There is no answering that argument—“by his good life his works.” This is the only proof that counts in the long run. The King James Version has here “good conversation,” which was at one time good English (conversatio, conversari), originally one’s conduct or bearing (turning oneself about, the precise idea in the Greek word). But long ago the English confined the word to talk, perhaps because some people did little else but talk. But quaint English must give way to the modern preciseness of speech.

It is the beautiful manner of life that speaks the language of business today, the flower of a white life that adorns the profession of the service of Christ. But even so, it must be behavior that is sincere, that finds expression in acts, not mere external mannerisms, posing, attitudinizing, stage effect. Nothing is more repulsive than professional pietists who attract attention to themselves rather than to Christ the Lord. It is a case pre-eminently where actions speak louder than words and where words alone do more harm than good. Bengel puts it tersely: re potius quam verbis. In simple truth, the more a man says in claim of superior wisdom, the less he is credited with the possession of any wisdom.

But it is not merely a case of deeds versus words but also of “gentleness and modesty versus arrogance and passion” (Mayor), “in meekness of wisdom,” “with the modesty of wisdom” (Moffatt). Meekness was not ranked high among the Greeks. Aristotle (Eth. Nic. IV. v) considered it a second-rate virtue, “the mean between passionateness and impassionateness” (Plummer). Epictetus (bk. II, chap, i, § 36) says: “But think that thou art nobody and that thou knowest nothing.”

The Christian conception rests upon the idea in the Psalms that meekness is a favorite trait of the devout. “The meek will he guide in justice; and the meek will he teach his way” (25:9). “Jehovah upholdeth the meek” (147:6). In Sirach (3:18) we read: “The greater you are, the more you humble yourself.” But there is no word comparable to that of Jesus, who said of himself, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29), in his plea for men to come to him as teacher. It is an essential prerequisite in the teacher, else he is unapproachable and is aloof and cold. Jesus pronounced a Beatitude on the meek (Matt. 5:5), but he did more—he exemplified meekness in his life.

By meekness James does not mean effeminacy or weakness (any more than did Jesus). He does mean the absence of pretentiousness and wilfulness. Peter (1 Peter 3:15) uses the expression “with meekness and fear” for the spirit with which one is to defend the faith, the “reason concerning the hope that is in you.” There can be firmness and courage without bumptiousness and bigotry. There are frequent exhortations in the New Testament along this line (cf. Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:24; 1 Cor. 4:21). The wise man wears the crown of modesty. This spiritual paradox seems absurd to the merely worldly-wise.

The Disproof of the Wise Man (3:14)

“The possession of wisdom was made a claim to teachership” (Hort). So the absence of wisdom is a positive disqualification. One may, no doubt, possess wisdom and yet not be able to teach. But the lack of wisdom is itself a sufficient bar. The wrong spirit shows the lack of wisdom. “But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart,” what then? There were many controversialists who had both of these vices.

Jealousy is not evil per se. It wavers between the good and evil sense and in itself is merely zeal, which may be for good or ill. (For the good use see 2 Cor. 11:2; Gal. 1:14.) Sometimes this zeal was not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:2). Envy is distinguished from zeal (emulation) by Aristotle (Rhet. ii. 11. 1). But in the New Testament the bad sense of this word prevails (James 4:5; 1 Cor. 3:3; Gal. 5:20; Rom. 13:13), and it is listed with the works of the flesh. The bitterness of jealousy is only too well understood by those who give way to this petty vice. It tastes bitter, and the taste lasts a long time. Bitterness is itself punishment enough for the victims of the sin (Eph. 4:31).

The other word, “faction” or “party spirit,” has an uncertain etymology, probably from the word for hireling. At any rate, the word is soon applied to partisans who court and bribe adherents to their candidate. It presents the very quintessence of partisanship and of narrow-mindedness. This is not a mark of wisdom and is not a thing to boast of, at any rate. “Glory not” about it, “do not pride yourselves on that” (Moffatt). And yet this is precisely what many of the Jewish Christians were doing already. Thus they lied against the truth, were “false to the truth,” as Moffatt has it. Such partisan triumph is usually obtained by underhand methods and by the suppression of part of the truth. There is such a thing as “poisoned truth.” So partisan victory often leaves a bitter sting, because those in defeat know that an unfair advantage has been taken of them and of the truth of God.

It is clear that these opening chapters in the Epistle of James reveal a pitiful condition of controversy among some of the Jewish churches, such as Paul has to rebuke in Corinth later (cf. 1 Cor. 1-4). “The whole Christianity of many a devotee consists only, we may say, in a bitter contempt for the sins of sinners, in a proud and loveless contention with what it calls the wicked world” (Stier).

The point of James is precisely this. The very contentiousness which they regarded as supreme proof of their qualifications as exponents of the faith is here urged by James as absolute proof that they are disqualified for the position of teachers. Their bitterness makes it improper for them to talk about love and gentleness. Sometimes the very fierceness of one’s contention for orthodoxy drives some people into heresy. It is a sad outcome when one’s high and holy ambition to teach the things of Christ is frustrated by a Christless spirit of wrangling and personal abuse.

The Wisdom from Below (3:15 f.)

Wisdom is precisely what we all need and desire, but the bitter self-seeking partisans just described “do not cherish the truth except as a possession of their own, or a missile of their own” (Hort). “This wisdom,” claimed by the pompous bigots in verse 14, can only be so described in terms of courtesy or, more exactly, of irony. It is only wisdom so-called and is real folly. It is at best worldly wisdom, “earthly,” not merely in the sense of taking place on earth rather than in heaven (John 3:12) but with the earthly horizon and outlook as opposed to the heavenly, like those who mind earthly things (Phil. 3:19). Such a wisdom passes for “the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor. 1:20; 3:19) but is distinctly not “God’s wisdom,” “a wisdom not of this world” (1 Cor. 2:6 f.).

“This wisdom” is not merely earthly but does not come down from above, more exactly, “is not of a kind that cometh down” (Hort)—not such a wisdom, indeed, as God gives (James 1:5). It has the smell of earth in the evil sense of that term. It is not from above but in reality from below. Jesus said to the Pharisees: “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). The antithesis is complete both in origin and spirit. The axioms of the selfish, like “look out for Number One,” are the wisdom of the devil: “All that a man hath will he give for his life” (Job 2:4).

This selfish wisdom is merely that of the natural man, not a mark of the regenerate spirit. There is no single English word that properly renders this word. “Psychic” transliterates it but does not translate it. “Sensual” makes it too much a matter of the body, as does “fleshly,” like the Vulgate animalis. It does not appear in the Septuagint and only six times in the New Testament (James 3:15; Jude 19; 1 Cor. 2:14; 15:44, 46). The broad distinction between soul and body or mind and body (dichotomy) is not so hard to grasp, but the threefold division (trichotomy) into spirit, soul, and body, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, seems to place the psyche below the pneuma.[81]

It seems clear from 1 Corinthians 2:14 that the spiritual man is the regenerate man, while the natural man is the unregenerate man in his unsaved state of sin. So here, therefore, this earthly wisdom is that of the unregenerate man; it is not sanctified wisdom. He may not be carnal, the slave of the animal passions, but merely coldly unspiritual. Such a wisdom does not reach the higher levels of the man’s nature.

But it is still worse. Such a wisdom is demoniacal, devilish (diabolica, Vulgate), “in that it raised up the very devil in the hearts of both opposer and opposed” (Oesterley). It is wisdom such as that which demons have (Bengel), not such as God gives (1:5). It is the wisdom of those who do the will of the flesh (Eph. 2:2 f.), who follow the teaching of demons (1 Tim. 4:1). One is reminded of the words of Jesus in John 8:44: “Ye are of your father the devil.” “Thus the wisdom shared by demons answers to the faith shared by demons of 2:19” (Hort), the tongue set on fire by hell (3:6).

It is indeed a keen knowledge of human nature that James here reveals, but it is a sad indictment all the same. It reads like nature in the rough, red in tooth and claw, the law of the jungle, not the law of grace. It is Nietzsche’s superman, not the love that serves, that came to minister and not to be ministered unto. The might of right is not understood by those who hold that might is right. There is a new paganism today in Berlin, in Paris, in London, in New York. It is very subtle and very scornful of the pity of Jesus.

Red blood is a good thing, to be sure, so be it that it courses through a clean heart. The survival of the fittest is the law of nature, but fittest for what? The law of the wolves is to turn and devour the wolf that falls in the chase. The philosophy of Nietzsche is a bit more brutal in its plainness of speech than the wisdom of the world usually puts it. But even so, its demoniacal character stands out more sharply. “I want; therefore, I have the right to get.” This is the policy of aggression on the part of nations and individuals, of rogues and rapists, of grafters and white-slavers, of bank-looters and oppressors of labor.

The further comment of James elucidates his point: “For where jealousy and faction are (v. 14), there is confusion and every vile deed.” Jealousy and faction come from the devil. He sows suspicion in the churches, in the midst of families, in the hearts of those who let him in. James had already (3:8) accused the tongue of being a restless evil and (1:8) had spoken of the unstable man. God is not the God of confusion but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33), so that the factions in the churches cannot claim God as supporting them, any more than nations at war have the right to make flippant claims that God is on their side in a conflict.

Oesterley has a fine description of the spirit of the professional controversialist: “Acute argument, subtle distinctions, clever controversial methods which took small account of truth so long as a temporary point was gained, skilful dialectics, bitter sarcasms, the more enjoyed and triumphed in if the poisonous shaft came home and rankled in the breast of the opponent—in short, all those tricks of the unscrupulous controversialist, which are none the less contemptible for being clever—this was wisdom of a certain kind.” But in reality it left the way open for “every vile deed,” for the word here for “vile” means worthless, not immoral.

In the realm of morals what is merely indifferent soon gets to be bad. The Vulgate puts it omne opus pravum. So in John 3:20 we read: “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light.” Bugs and bats hate the light. There is a toboggan slide in sin. The easy way is the evil way. See per contra James 1:17. Anarchy brings moral chaos (Plummer) to the soul as to nations. The wiseacres of the world play havoc with the souls and bodies of men who follow their lead to hell. In every town there is a bunch of men who cling together in their evil life and profess a wisdom superior to that of the gospel. They know it is a lie, but they comfort each other and are too proud to break away from the gang. But the end will come. There are no happy old men save those that are Christians.

The Wisdom from Above (3:17)

There is wisdom from above, that is, from God, as James had already said (1:5). This is the true wisdom, God’s wisdom both in source and character. James had not, of course, seen Paul’s remarks on wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, if he wrote his epistle by A.D. 50. But he had full opportunity to be familiar with Proverbs, the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon. “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:6, AV). “Wisdom may praise herself, and glory in the midst of her people” (Sir. 24:1). “For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; and she also passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness. For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure effluence from the glory of the Almighty; therefore no defiled thing falls into her. For she is a reflection of the everlasting light, and an unspotted mirror of the efficiency of God, and image of his goodness” (Wisd. 7:24-26).

Once more: “For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above every position of stars, being compared with the light, she is found superior” (Wisd. 7:29). But while James is undoubtedly conversant with the wisdom literature of the Jews, he is no mere copyist. He has the Christian standpoint and makes his own contribution to the discussion of wisdom. His words are few, but they fit and strike right to the heart of the subject.

It is “first pure.” Purity is the inner characteristic of the wise. It is pretty nearly like the Latin purus (pure) and means not so much cleansed (cf. Matt. 5:8, “the pure in heart”) as a combination of this idea and consecration as holiness. It is thus free from stain or defilement of any kind (not merely sexual purity), like a ray of light, “in holiness and sincerity of God” (2 Cor. 1:12). Christ himself is called pure (1 John 3:3), the ideal toward which we are to strive. We must learn to put first things first. In wisdom purity of character and motive is absolutely essential at any cost.

“Then peaceable.” Important as peace is, purity is paramount. Peaceableness is, to be sure, the outer characteristic of wisdom, and if one has the bright light of inner wisdom, he will have it. But wisdom does not desire peace at any price or at the cost of purity. “All her paths are peace” (Prov. 3:17), and the chastening of God’s hand yields “peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:11). Plummer wisely notes that the order of James here is logical and not always strictly chronological.

One is not to compromise with evil and error, but all the same, if one is to have no peace till he has absolute purity of every sort in his environment, he must needs be always at war and never rest at all. An equation of common sense must, of course, be struck, though there is the constant temptation to get used to unpleasant surroundings and finally to make no protest at all. Plummer likewise observes that James places the emphasis on the spiritual and moral, not on the intellectual, just the opposite of modern ideals of culture and education. There is nothing in the position of James to justify the Spanish Inquisition, for instance. The persecutor has often consoled himself with the thought that he is doing his victim’s soul a real service by rescuing him from his error.

Certainly, if one is pure, it is easier for him to be peaceable, provided he also loves. “If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men” (Rom. 12:18). There is a great deal in the New Testament on the subject of peace. It is true that Jesus said, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34), when men are wedded to sin and can only be shaken loose by the sword of truth. But there are those who let the peace of God rule in their hearts as umpire (Col. 3:15). We are to pursue the things of peace (Rom. 14:19) as men of peace but not to be afraid to stand up for truth and righteousness (purity), even if we have to fight.

Then “gentle,” “forbearing” (Hort). The word is used by Thucydides (viii. 93) of men who will listen to reason, and (i. 76) of moderation, like the Latin clementia. Originally the word meant what was fitting, fair, reasonable, but it was also associated with the idea of yielding, “implying one who does not stand on his rights, but is ready to give way to the wishes of others” (Mayor). Matthew Arnold gathered the idea into his phrase “sweet reasonableness.” Aristotle (vi. 11) uses it of the forgiving man, one who does not stand on strict justice but who listens to merciful consideration. Certainly gentleness is the true mark of the gentleman who does not stickle over little points, who, in a word, is considerate.

The Christian wisdom, therefore, does not like to give pain. Paul makes an appeal “by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1). See also Acts 24:4; 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 3:2; 1 Peter 2:18 (gentle masters); and in particular, Philippians 4:5: “Let your forbearance be known unto all men.” It means the very essence of fairness as opposed to unreasonableness (Ps. Sol. 5:14). Compare Paul’s panegyric on love (1 Cor. 13).

It is also “easy to be entreated,” “conciliatory” (Moffatt). The word is a common one for military discipline (4 Macc. 8:6; Jos. War ii. 20,7), though it does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. As “gentle” refers usually to one in a superior position, so this word is used mainly of one in an inferior rank (Mayor). The good soldier is the one who has learned how to execute orders. Philo employs it as the opposite of the disobedient. It is tractabilis, not morosa. The Vulgate has suadibilis. It is a word in common use about children, pupils, all who obey laws. If preachers were always gentle, perhaps the church members would be more docile and teachable. This wisdom from above is suaviter in modo, fortiter in re.

It is also “full of mercy and good fruits.” This is just the reverse of the party feeling already condemned. Mercy is the active principle of compassionate love. One may note already 1:8, 27; 2:13 in contrast with 2:15. This wisdom bears good (“wholesome,” Moffatt) fruits, not mere leaves (empty boasting). The plural (fruits) shows that there is variety and abundance for all. It is not satisfied with abstract virtue but wishes to bless others.

This wisdom is likewise “without variance,” “unambiguous” (Moffatt). The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament and has puzzled translators a great deal. It is rendered “without wrangling,” “without judging,” “without partiality,” “without distinctions,” “undoubted,” “without feigning,” “without doubtfulness,” “undecided,” “unhesitating,” “unwavering,” “single-minded.” The Vulgate has non judicans.

Something can be said for all these renderings. The context must decide.[82] If one considers the use of the verb in James 1:6 and 2:4, probably the idea of decision is the true one here. It is wholehearted conviction, positiveness in adherence to the truth, single-minded devotion rather than the wavering indecision of false wisdom. It is Principal Forsyth’s idea of “Positive Preaching” for the modern mind.

It is finally “without hypocrisy,”[83] “straightforward” (Moffatt). Here there is no ambiguity as to the import of the word. It is not the hypocritical wisdom of earth, the spurious invitation, but the genuine article. It is sincere, “without show or pretence” (Mayor). The word is used of love (Rom. 12:9; 2 Cor. 6:6), of faith (1 Tim. 1:5), of brotherly love (1 Peter 1:22). The idea here concerns our relations with men as the preceding adjective outlined our attitude toward God (Hort). This wisdom has the ring of pure gold and passes at par value with all men. Surely such wisdom as this will always be in demand by modern men who love reality and hate pretense.

The Harvest of Righteousness (3:18)

In this verse James gathers up the sum and substance of all that he has had to say so far. He has just spoken of peace and of good fruits. He has been insisting on righteous deeds and not mere words, upon a live faith, not a dead creed. “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace.” “And the peacemakers who sow in peace reap righteousness” (Moffatt). The fruit is righteousness (genitive of apposition). The figure of sowing is common enough. It is the slow process of soil, seed, plant, blossom, fruit, harvest.

This is the life of piety (wisdom) that James lays before his readers. The phraseology occurs elsewhere (Psalm 1:3). Thus Proverbs 11:30: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.” So in Amos 6:12 we have “fruit of righteousness.” In the New Testament note Philippians 1:11, “filled with the fruits of righteousness,” and Hebrews 12:11, “peaceable fruit.” There is a difficulty here in the fact that the fruit instead of the seed is sown. But such a prolepsis of thought is not unknown, as in Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous.” The sower sows in peace, and the harvest of righteousness is gathered in peace. The peacemaker has the rainbow promise of his harvest in due time if he does not faint nor grow weary. “They who make peace show likeness to God, the great maker of peace” (Hort).