Waldenstrom's Commentary

translated by Tommy Carlson

Dr. Paul Peter Waldenström based his comments on a Greek New Testament text that he translated into Swedish. Tommy Carlson has translated both the Biblical text and Waldenström’s comments from the Swedish text, 2nd Edition, 1892.

Verse 16 — Do not go astray,¹ my dear brothers.

1. Or, do not let anyone mislead you.

Verse 17 — Every good gift¹ and every present² is given from above by the Father of light,³ in whom there is no alteration or a shadow of change.⁴

1. James wants to point out that it is impossible for God to tempt anyone to evil. Every good gift comes from God, nothing evil.
2. Presents and gifts are expressions for the same thing. The word GIFT describes the gift as pure grace that comes without any merit of one’s own. It is GOOD and conveys the best for humankind; it is PERFECT without any shortcoming or possibility that it be created differently.
3. Father of the immense, brightly lit heavenly bodies. God is called their Father partly because they, as living lights, are copies of God. Light is a copy of goodness and purity.
4. A shadow is dependent and changes. The light from stars is subject to change. At times they shine very brightly, at times dimly and weakly, at times they grow dark because of their changing positions. With God, who is the Father of light, there is no such imperfection. Compare I John 1:5.

Verse 18 — By his own will,¹ he has created us² through the word of truth³ so that we may be like the first-fruits⁴ of God’s creation.⁵ (See John 1:13; I Cor. 4:15; I Peter 1:23, 25.)

1. Verbatim: Having wanted to.
2. The highest evidence of God’s goodness is that God has created us anew. This spiritual birth from above (John 3:50) is the greatest gift that can be given and has its foundation in God’s will (compare Eph. 1:5). But if God’s will is such, how can God tempt someone to sin?
3. That is to say, through the Gospel. See I Peter 1:23, 25.
4. The author refers to the rule in the Mosaic law, that every first thing including the first-fruit from the trees and the fields and the first born of people and animals belong to God. With the words US and WE the author means himself and the other believers in Israel. They are the first-fruit of Christ’s work of salvation. Salvation was preached to the Jews first (Romans 1:16). The first believers were Jews. See Matt. 10:6, 15:24. In Revelation 14:4 the same expression is used in another context.
5. That is to say, the believers are the new creations of God. See II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10, 4:24; Col. 3:10. The first among them are the believers of Israel. Some Bible scholars believe that James alludes to the creation of a new world (Matt. 19:28) and that the believers are the first created things of that new world. Compare Romans 8:19-22. This is not very probable.