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Jam_1:26. Whilst James—in contrast to the hearers who fail in proof by works—will describe the true θρησκεία (Jam_1:27), he first refers to the false θρησκεία of those who—slothful in action—are ταχεῖς εἰς τὸ λαλήσαι (Jam_1:19). If any one thinks to serve God, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, his worship is vain.
εἴ τις δοκεῖ ] δοκεῖ here denotes (as in Mat_6:7; Mat_24:44; 1Co_3:18; otherwise in 1Co_7:40) the false opinion which one has of something; it is not = videtur (Calvin, Gataker, Theile, and others); Luther correctly translates: “if any one imagines.”
θρῆσκος εἶναι ] θρῆσκος , which elsewhere occurs neither in the N. T. nor in the classics (the substantive besides here and in Jam_1:27, in the N. T. in Col_2:18 and Act_26:5), is not equivalent to εὐσέβεια , inasmuch as it refers to external worship, the manifestation of εὐσέβεια , without, however, having in itself the secondary idea of mere externality. Incorrectly Theile = religiosus singulatim cujus nimia, nimis externa est religio, superstitiosus. In an arbitrary manner, Schneckenburger infers from the adjectives καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος (Jam_1:27) that it is here said of θρησκεία , quam in accurata lustrationum observatione constantem putabant Judaei ac Judaeochristiani,[106] of which there is no trace in the whole Epistle. The following words: μὴ χαλιναγωγῶν τὴν γλῶσσαν αὑτοῦ , indicate in what the θρησκεία of the readers consisted. It is incorrect, with Rosenmüller, Theile, and others, to supply exempli causa, and, as most interpreters do, to resolve the participle by although; James will blame those who reckon zeal in speaking as a sign of θρησκεία .[107] The verb χαλιναγωγεῖν , in the N. T. only in James, is also found in classical language only in the later classics; comp. the expression in Plato, de legg. ii.: ἀχάλινον κεκτημένοι τὸ στόμα .
By the second participial sentence: ἀλλὰ ἀπατῶν καρδίαν αὑτοῦ , James expresses his judgment—already indicated by the expression μὴ χαλιναγωγῶν —on the opinion of serving God by λαλεῖν ἐν ὀργῇ . Pott correctly: sc. eo quod nimian docendi licentiam et linguae extemperantiam pro vera θρησκείᾳ habet. The clause belongs not to the apodosis (Schneckenburger), but, as in form so in meaning, is closely connected with the preceding participle. The expression ἀπατᾷν καρδίαν αὑτοῦ corresponds to παραλογίζεσθαι ἑαυτόν (Jam_1:22), but is a stronger form, although it does not indicate only the consequence resulting from zeal (Lange); comp. Test. Napht. III. p. 665: μὴ σπουδάζετε … ἐν λόγοις κενοῖς ἀπατᾷν τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν . Erasmus incorrectly explains ἀπατᾷν by sinere aberrare. The apodosis, which emphatically begins with τούτου , declares that such a θρησκεία is not only without fruit (Baumgarten), but without actual contents, is thus foolish and vain, corresponding to the thought: ὀργὴ δικαιοσύνην Θεοῦ οὐ ( κατ ) εργάζεται (Jam_1:20).
[106] Some Catholic interpreters, Salmero, Paes, and others, refer the expression to the observance of the so-called consilia Christi, particularly to voluntary circumcision for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
[107] Rauch also thinks that “the participles must certainly be resolved by although;” but by this explanation all indication is wanting of that on which those blamed by James rest θρησκεία ; also what follows (ver. 27), where the nature of true θρησκεία is given, forms no appropriate antithesis to this verse. Brückner explains it: “whosoever seeks worship in striving by teaching to work on others;” here the participle is correctly resolved, but the full meaning is not given to the verb. Correctly Lange: “those who by their fanatical zeal wanted to make good their pretensions of being the true soldiers of God.”