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Jam_3:14. As meekness belongs to wisdom, so he who has in his heart ζῆλος πικρός and ἐριθεία boasts of wisdom without any right. As this was the case with his readers, James now directly addresses them: εἰ δὲ … ἔχετε ] To ζῆλος , zeal,—which is here, as frequently, used in a bad sense,—is added the adjective πικρός for the sake of strengthening it, perhaps with reference to Jam_3:11-12 (Grotius, Pott, Gebser).
ἐριθεία ] has in the N. T. the meaning controversial spirit, or, more definitely, partisanship; comp. Rom_2:8; 2Co_12:20 (see Meyer on both passages); Gal_5:20; Php_1:17; Php_2:3; in 2Co_12:20 and Gal_5:20 ζῆλοι and θυμοί are united together as plurals.
ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν ] in contrast with the word of his readers, boasting of their wisdom.
In the apodosis: μὴ κατακαυχᾶσθε καὶ ψεύδεσθε κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ] neither the first nor the second verb is to be converted into a participle; certainly κατα in the first verb refers to κατὰ τῆς ἀληθ ., and so far already contains the idea of lying, but James designed prominently to bring forward this, and therefore he adds καὶ ψεύδεσθε to κατακαυχᾶσθε . On κατακαυχᾶσθε , comp. chap. Jam_2:13 (see Winer, p. 417 [E. T. 590, note 1]). In κατακαυχᾶσθε the reference is to others, in ψεύδεσθε to one’s own conscience (Lange). In order to avoid the tautology in ψεύδεσθε and κατὰ τ . ἀληθείας , Wiesinger understands by ἀληθεία “truth in an objective Christian sense—the Christian truth, by the possession of which they fancied themselves σοφοί .”[183] But, on the contrary, it is to be considered that that which, logically considered, appears as mere tautology, receives another import, when not only the understanding but also the disposition is recognised as a factor of the construction; so it is here; compare, moreover, Isocrates, de pace, p. 165: διαψεύδεσθαι τῆς ἀληθείας .
[183] According to Lange, the theocratic truth is to be understood which the Jewish zealots professed to protect.