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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - James 4:7 - 4:7
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7. ὑποτάγητε οὖν τῷ θεῷ. Therefore, in this warfare, take God’s side, place yourself under Him as Captain. Polyb. uses οἱ ὑποταττόμενοι or ὑποτεταγμένοι for ‘subjects.’
The passage which follows is another example of regularly constructed Hebrew poetry.
ὑποτάγητε, ἀντίστητε κ.τ.λ. The aorist imperative denotes instantaneous, not continued action, and is therefore used in urgent entreaty or command; comp. the eager request, σῶσον, ἀπολλύμεθα, Mat 8:25, and the aorists in the Lord’s Prayer.
τῷ διαβέλψ. διάβολος is strictly a rendering of the Hebrew word שָׂטָן, of which Σατανᾶς is a transliteration, and means literally ‘an adversary,’ from διαβάλλειν and ἐνδιαβάλλειν, to meet, oppose: comp. Num 22:22 ἀνέστη ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ διαβαλεῖν al. ἐνδιαβάλλειν αὐτόν, and Num 22:32 ἐγὼ ἐξῆλθον εἰς διαβολήν σου, also Zec 3:1 καὶ ὁ διάβολος εἱστήκει ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀντικεῖσθαι αὐτῷ, where see the Hebr. text. To this original meaning of the word the classical force of διαβάλλειν and its derivatives added the ideas of (a) deceiving, (b) calumniating, (c) accusing. In Rev 20:2 we find both the Greek and Hebrew forms—ὄς ἐστιν διάβολος καὶ Σατανᾶς—a proof that the meanings of the two words, synonymous at first, had already been severed, and one among many instances of the influence of translation on religious ideas.
Comp. Eph 4:27 μηδὲ δίδοτε τόπον τῷ διαβόλῳ, and Eph 6:11 πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι ὑμᾶς στῆναι πρὸς τὰς μεθοδίας τοῦ διαβόλου, 1Pe 5:8 ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος … ᾦ ἁντίστητε στερεοὶ τῇ πίστει.