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Important Terms. Two Terms to know: Positionally: A reference to one’s position in relationship to something else. Experientially: A reference to one’s experience in relationship to something else. Review of the Introduction to The Epistle of James.
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Important Terms Two Terms to know: • Positionally: A reference to one’s position in relationship to something else. • Experientially: A reference to one’s experience in relationship to something else.
Review of theIntroduction to The Epistle of James Author: GodWriter: James (brother of Jesus)Time Period: ~45-50 A.D.Written To: Believing Jews scattered from Jerusalem because of persecution.
Review of theIntroduction to The Epistle of James James deals with one topic which he addresses through four evidences. • True Spirituality: a. Faith in action. b. Self-Control. c. Unselfish, Generous, Impartial, Patient. d. Submits to God through Prayer. James teaches what True Spirituality means, and also teaches the mechanics needed in order to be “Truly Spiritual.”
Review of pistewV pistewV faith pistewVis a feminine noun which means, “complete dependency, based on response.” It identifies a relationship between two or more objects or persons in which one of the objects or persons is completely dependent upon the other for some thing or action. i.e.: Sitting in a chair.
Model of Humanity Model of Humanity which Christ showed. God (The Father) Initiates Mankind Responds
Review: Human Viewpoint vs. Divine Viewpoint Human Viewpoint (Sight-based): A process of thought or manner of thinking which is based on data perceived and developed by the human senses within the realms of this human world system. Divine Viewpoint (Faith-based): A process of thought or manner of thinking which is based upon dependence upon Spiritual Truth Doctrines of God’s World System.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) adelfoV o tapeinoV Brother of lowliness Lacks money, property, equity, etc… Considered to be at a disadvantage by Human Viewpoint because he lacks physical resources and social status. • plousioV The Rich Man Abundance of money, property, equity, etc… Considered to be at an advantage by Human Viewpoint because he possesses an abundance of physical resources and social status.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) “For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.” James 1:11
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) gar For James begins verse 11 with the post-positive logical conjunction gar (pronounced, “gahr”). It means “for” and serves as the logical explanation to his statement in verse 10 regarding the plousioV man.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) The plousioV man from verse 10: “And the rich (plousioV)man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.” The plousioV man is defined as one who possesses an abundance of physical and social resources. Resources which will fade away like flowering grass.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) gar For By connecting verse 10 with verse 11 through the logical conjunction gar, James is identifying the logic behind his statement that the plousioV man will pass away.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) aneteilen o hlioV sun twkauswni arises the sun with the burning heat aneteilen (pronounced, “ah-neh-tei-lehn”) means “to cause to come forth or arise.” It is a reference to the sun’s action of rising and the cause of the sun in rising to bring forth something as well. That something is twkauswni.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Look what happens to the flower of the grass: “For the sun rises with the burning heat…” twkauswni (pronounced, “tohkaus-oh-nee”) literally means, “the scorching.” It is a reference to the scorching and searing heat of the sun at its strongest time and season. Therefore, the reference is to the hottest time of the day, during the hottest time of the earth’s seasonal cycle around the sun. This is known to us as “summer.”
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai exhranen ton corton and it dried out the grass exhranen (pronounced, “ex-ae-rah-nehn”), means “become dried out.” Because the sun is the subject of this part of the verse, we know that the sun is the actor of the subject. exhranen is in the active voice, which means the sun performs the action to “become dried out.”
Voice in Koine Greek Voice is used in Koine Greek to express how the subject operates in relationship to the verb. There are three types of voice in Koine Greek: • Active Voice – the subject performs the action. • Middle Voice – the subject participates in the action. • Passive Voice – the subject is acted upon by the action. “exhranen” is in the active voice. This identifies the subject as “performing the action to become dried out.”
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai exhranen ton corton and it dried out the grass However, it is not the sun which is becoming dried out. Else, the passive voice would have been used. Rather, the sun is performing the action to dry something else out. Therefore, we turn to the accusative case in Koine Greek to discover what it is that sun is drying out.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai exhranen ton corton and it dried out the grass ton corton(pronounced, “ton cor-ton”) is in the accusative case. Therefore we are able to understand that the sun performs the action to dry out ton corton. We are familiar with ton corton from verse 10.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) The plousioV man from verse 10: “And the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass (corton) he will pass away.” toncorton is a reference to the green grass found in a grassy field. It is vibrant in life and color because it has the nutrients and water it needs to be healthy. We would think of Spring then, in order to adequately understand ton corton.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai exhranen ton corton and it dried out the grass Notice what type of imagery is being produced here. In verse 10, we have reference to Spring through the word corton. But then, ton cortonis dried out by the sun which brings with it its scorching heat during the Summer months. There is a transition from Spring to Summer which is made equivalent to the plousioV man’s characteristic of being plousioV. But wait, there’s more.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai to anqoVautou and the flower of it James completes the comparison by including the flower from verse 10 as well. However, he does not say the flower (anqoV, pronounced, “ahn-thos”) dries out from the sun. Instead James uses a different word to describe the death of the flower.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) to anqoVautouexepesen the flower of it falls off exepesen (pronounced, “ex-ehp-eh-sehn”) literally means, “to fall out of.” Since anqoV is the subject of this part of the verse (identified through the nominative form of anqoV), James is identifying that the anqoV falls out of the grass in which it is found.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) to anqoV the flower To anqoVwas seen in verse 10 as well. Remember, it refers to the blossom of the flower. When does the flower look its best? When it is in bloom of course. This again, creates the imagery of the springtime.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai h euprepeiatouproswpou and the beauty of its appearance The word for beauty is euprepeia (pronounced, “yoo-preh-pei-ah”). It means, “good appearance.” The blossoming flower is what we would identify as beautiful, because it is of good appearance. However, the translators let their literality slip a little in this part of the verse.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Kai h euprepeiatouproswpou and the beauty of its appearance The phrase, “touproswpou” (pronounced, “too pros-oh-poo”) literally means, “of the front part of the head.” Therefore the beauty of its flower is identified as being found in the face of the flower. Scripture holds truths which we take for granted. What is it about the flower which we find the most beautiful? The face, of course. Amazing.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) euprepeiatouproswpouautouapwleto beauty of the face of it is destroyed However, in our verse here, the beauty of the face of the flower is said to apwleto (pronounced, “ah-poh-leh-to”), which is a middle voice verb meaning, “to perish.” It carries with it notion of transition away from life to death. Thus, the beauty of the face of the flower which is once alive and beautiful is lost during the transition from the Spring to the Summer.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) outwVkai o plousioV In this way and the rich (man) What does this have to do with the plousioV man? James’ logical explanation for verse 10 is that the plousioV man will perish in the same, logical process. The use of kai (pronounced, “kai”) as an emphatic particle includes the plousioV man in the same fate as the flower of the grass.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) en taiVporeiaiVautoumaranqhsetai in the pursuits of him will fade away It is within the poreiaiV (pronounced, “por-ei-ais”) of the plousioV man that the he “will fade away.”
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) taiVporeiaiVautoumaranqhsetai the pursuits of him will fade away TaiVporeiaiV(pronounced, “taispor-ei-ais”) is a reference to the purposeful endeavors of the plousioV man to acquire for himself more physical and social resources upon which to rely. The phrase literally means, “the journeys.” It is in his journeys to acquire for himself more resources to rely upon that James says he will fade away.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) maranqhsetai will fade away The phrase, “will fade away” comes from the future passive indicative verb maranqhsetai (pronounced, “mahr-ahn-thae-seh-tai”). It literally means, “fade away.” It is difficult to abstractly think of a person as “fading away.”
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) However, in James’ divine analogy he identifies that the plousioV man fades away in the same manner in which the beauty of the flower’s face perishes because of the death of the grass in which it is found. And it is here where we discover the understand of the principle behind James’ comparison of the plousioV man to the blossoming flower of the green grassy fields.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) “For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.” Through his comparison, James identifies that those who rely upon physical and social resources (which includes their own self, skills, and abilities) fade away because they rely on things which are finite and not those things which are spiritual.
Trials & Tribulation (Part 10) Therefore, as believers who will face trials and tribulation upon the earth, we are wise to heed the warning found in James’ comparison of the flower to the plousioV man. Rely upon God for your resources; not your own resources, or those resources whether social or physical which you are able to acquire through journeys designed to do so. For if you are accomplishing the latter, then you will fade away as Scripture promises.
