The purpose of this Exegetical Word Study and Commentary is to aid those wishing to study God's Word for themselves without just taking what others say, believe, think, or feel. This work is based upon the objective truth of God s Word. My Exegetical Word Study and Commentary is what I would consider a good starting point for those who wish to know what the Bible says for themselves. This study began as a result of my realizing that I needed to document my own word studies in detail for future use. I have been doing word studies for years to teach and preach, but I had not systematically saved all my background work. As a result I had to go back and do the research again. This book is the direct result of my desire to permanently document my studies.

    Now for the sake of those who have never done a word study, let me briefly share how I did this. First of all I used an Interlinear Greek/English New Testament to look at the various passages found in this work. From there, I then used an Analytical Greek Lexicon to find out what the root words were and to look at the various moods, tenses, nouns, cases, adjectives, direct articles, prepositions, voices, etc. After this I then used Greek-English Lexicons to get the basic word meanings. I then compared these meanings with those given in Expository and Theological Dictionaries, and published Greek Word Studies to compare what other's had written. I also used Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible to see how the same words were used elsewhere in the Bible. Now with all this said, what I attempted to do is to give the clearest meanings of each of the Greek terms used to describe the words found in the book of James. In most cases all the reference tools that I used only served to validate what each other had given for the meaning of the various Greek words. I did not include footnotes on the Greek Word Study section because of the space that would be required, and the overlapping of definitions from all the different sources (to whom do you give the credit if they all say about the same thing?). Therefore I acknowledge their work and contribution to my Exegetical Word Study and Commentary, and have listed them in the back of this book under "Greek References." All other materials that are used have been footnoted. It is also important to note that the meanings of many Greek words are determined by the context of a passage and not the other way around (just as it is with the English language). I also want to make the point that it is important to realize that there is more to studying God s Word than just doing Greek word studies.

    There are three important words we must memorize if we want to understand God's Word; context, context, and context. The context of a passage of Scripture is the rudder that steers the ship. It's when we don't put God's Word into its context that we find ourselves drifting here and there. This is why it's important that we have a basic understanding of hermeneutics. Charles Ryrie defines hermeneutics as, "The study of the principles of interpretation. Exegesis consists of the actual interpretation of the Bible, the bringing out of its meaning, while hermeneutics establishes the principle by which exegesis is practiced." ⁽¹⁾

    While the purpose of this book is not to teach hermeneutics, Christian's still need a basic understanding of its principles in order to fully understand what the Scriptures are teaching. Bible study is more than opening your Bible and sticking your finger on a verse and reading it (sad to say, but this is how many Christians read the Bible). When a person doesn't apply correct hermeneutics, they can force their own view or meaning into the Scriptures and totally miss what God intended for them to understand. In order to understand what the Bible teaches and how to apply what it says, I have followed the basic principles given by John Wycliffe:

"It shall Greatly Helpe Ye to Understande Scripture,
If Thou Mark
Not only What is Spoken or Written,
But of Whom,
And to Whom,
With what Words,
At what Time,
Where,
To what Intent,
With what Circumstances,
Considering what Goeth Before
And what Followeth."
John Wycliffe (1324-1384) ⁽²⁾

    I do not make any claims that this is a definitive work on the book of James, or that I am a Greek scholar, because I am not. I have simply attempted to understand what the Word of God teaches to the best of my abilities with the Holy Spirit's guidance. I hope that you will find this Exegetical Word Study and Commentary useful, and that it will encourage you to dig deeper into God's Word on your own.
 
 

  2.               3.
1:9. Let the brother [adelphos {ad-el-fos': n, nom, m, sg}; from the same womb, brother, one of the same nation or nature, of equal rank

                                                                                     4.                         5.                6.                               7.
and dignity, an associate]of low degree [(tapeinos) tapeinos {tap-i-nos': adj, nom, m, sg}; base, cast down, humble, of low degree

(estate), lowly, the person in the valley place] rejoice[(kauchastho) kauchaomai {kow-khah'-om-ahee: v, imper, pres, mid/pass, dep, 3

per, sg}; make boast, glory, joy, rejoice] in that he is exalted [(upsei) upsos {hoop'-sos: n, dat, neut, sg}; dignity, be exalted, height, on

high, to put up on the mountain]:

1. Basic Theology, A popular Systematic Guide To Understanding Biblical Truth, by Charles C. Ryrie, p.110, Chariot Victor Publishing,  Colorado Springs CO., 1998

2. Creative Bible Study Methods, by Ray E. Baughman, pp.8-13, Shepherd Press, Birmingham AL., 1990

3. The Moody Handbook of Theology, by Paul Enns, pp.513-526, 634, Moody Press, Chicago IL., 1989

4. Generally based upon: The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, Wesley J. Perschbacher, Editor, Hendrickson Publishers, 1996