[B-Greek] Jam 1:13 APEIRASTOS 'unable to' or 'unable to be ~'

Oun Kwon kwonbbl at gmail.com
Wed Jul 4 21:05:00 EDT 2007


Jam 1:13

MHDEIS PEIRAZOMENOS LEGETW hOTI
<APO QEOU PERAZOMAI>:
hO GAR QEOS APEIRASTOS ESTIN KAKWN,
PERAZEI DE AUTOS OUDENA

APEIRASTOS occurs in N.T only once here.  Why it should be understood
as God 'being unable to be tempted/tested' (a passive  voice)?  With
this rendering (strange concept to me) as in all the translations I
know of, this makes the whole verse difficult to understand.
Commentaries do not help for clear exegesis on this verse.

I like to understand this word as God 'being unable to tempt' (active
voice); then the next clause reinstates the point  emphatically (God
Himself does not tempt/test anyone.)  Then  the whole v. 13 along with
the preceding verses  comes very natural. Other is 'God being
tested/tempted by means of evil' is a strange concept to me. [For this
expression  as in Mt 4:7  it is rendered as 'provoke' in Source.]

Why!  In Source, Ann Nyland gives an example of extra-biblical source
for this rare word, where it reads 'who puts no one through an
ordeal', the way I like to understand in the text of  James.

Note: She renders PEIRAZW 'put through ordeals' instead of
conventional 'tempt' 'test'.  I agree with her.

I would appreciate your comments.

Oun Kwon.



More information about the B-Greek mailing list