The fruit of righteousness ; an expression taken from the Old Testament; e.g. Proverbs 11:30 ; Amos 6:12 ; and occurring also in Philippians 1:1 ]. Of them that make peace. τοῖς ποιοῦσιν εἰρηνήν may be either This verse gives us St. James's version of the beatitude, "Blessed are the peacemakers ( μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηοποιοί )" ( Matthew 5:9 ). read more
And the fruit of righteousness - That which the righteousness here referred to produces, or that which is the effect of true religion. The meaning is, that righteousness or true religion produces certain results on the life like the effects of seed sown in good ground. Righteousness or true religion as certainly produces such effects, as seed that is sown produces a harvest.Is sown in peace - Is scattered over the world in a peaceful manner. That is, it is not done amidst contentions, and... read more
James 3:18. And the fruit of righteousness, &c. The principle productive of this righteousness, is sown, like good seed, in the peace of a believer’s mind, and brings forth a plentiful harvest of happiness, (which is the proper fruit of righteousness,) for them that make peace That labour to promote this pure and holy peace among all men. Or, the meaning may be, they that endeavour to make peace among men, (which is a fruit or work of righteousness,) do thereby sow to themselves in... read more
Spiritual and worldly wisdom (3:13-18)Christians must distinguish between spiritual wisdom and worldly wisdom. Some people are undoubtedly skilful in laying plans and using circumstances to achieve their goals, but their actions are often characterized by jealousy, selfishness and dishonesty. This is worldly wisdom. It comes not from God but from Satan, and results in wrong actions. It contrasts sharply with spiritual wisdom, which is characterized by humility and uprightness (13-16).In... read more
righteousness . App-191 . of = by, or for. No preposition. Dative case. read more
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace."Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God" (Matthew 5:9) is the beatitude James certainly had in mind here. As Dummelow expressed the thought, "The wise man is the peacemaker who sows good seed that in God's time will bear precious fruit."[43] The behavior in view here "is the result of true wisdom,"[44] to which this paragraph is entirely related. Barclay's discussion of that "wisdom" is very... read more
James 3:18. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace— "The word σπειρεται, rendered is sown, imports, says Parkhurst, the labour, attention, or pains employed upon any thing, whence are produced fruits or effects good or bad:" in which sense it must be understood in this place; as to sow fruit does not appear a very intelligible expression. The purport of this verse, says Dr. Heylin, is to shew what effect might be expected from a teacher endowed with the heavenly wisdom just before... read more
18. "The peaceable fruit of righteousness." He says "righteousness"; because it is itself the true wisdom. As in the case of the earthly wisdom, after the characteristic description came its results; so in this verse, in the case of the heavenly wisdom. There the results were present; here, future. fruit . . . sown—Compare Psalms 97:11; Isaiah 61:3, "trees of righteousness." Anticipatory, that is, the seed whose "fruit," namely, "righteousness," shall be ultimately reaped, is now "sown in... read more
B. Controlling the Mind 3:13-18As in the previous chapters, James began his discussion of human speech with a practical exhortation and continued to deal with increasingly basic issues. He spoke of the importance of controlling one’s mind next to enable his readers to understand how to control their tongues. Wisdom in the mind affects one’s use of his or her tongue. Note the key words "wise" and "wisdom" (James 3:13; James 3:17), which bracket the thought of this section, as well of the... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - James 3:17-18
True wisdom. These two verses exhibit, with much terseness and beauty, the features of the true or heavenly wisdom, i.e. the characteristic qualities of the state of mind, which is produced by a sincere reception of saving truth. The picture here presented forms a direct contrast to the description of false or earthly wisdom given in James 3:14-16 . I. THE NATURE OF TRUE WISDOM . ( James 3:17 ) In origin it is "from above." It is not the product of self-culture, but... read more