Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
15. when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ] The image suggested in the previous verse is developed with an almost startling boldness. The will that yields to desire in so doing engenders evil. And as from that fatal embrace, there comes first the conception and then the birth of sin. But sin also grows; it has its infancy of purpose and its maturity of act; and so the parable is continued. Sin, in its turn, grows up, and by its union with the will becomes the mother of a yet more terrible offspring, and that offspring is Death, the loss of the true life of the soul, which consists in its capacity for knowing God. The second of the two words rendered “bringeth forth” (better, perhaps, engendereth) differs from the first, and seems, as a less common word, to have been used for extraordinary or monstrous births (such e. g. as a woman’s bearing four or five children), and so is appropriate here. The word occurs again in Jas 1:18, where see note. In looking at the allegory as a whole we note: (1) its agreement as to the relation of sin and death, with the teaching of St Paul (Rom 5:12); (2) its resemblance to like allegories in the literature of other nations, as in the well-known Choice of Hercules that bears the name of Prodicus, in which Pleasure appears with the garb and allurements of a harlot; (3) its expansion in the marvellous allegory of Sin and Death in Milton’s Paradise Lost (B. II. 745 814), where Satan represents Intellect and Will opposed to God, Sin its offspring, self-generated, and Death the fruit of the union of Mind and Will with Sin. In the incestuous union of Sin and Death that follows and in its horrid progeny, Milton seems to have sought to shadow forth the shame and foulness and misery in which even the fairest forms of sin finally issue.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then when lust hath conceived – Compare Job 15:35. The allusion here is obvious. The meaning is, when the desire which we have naturally is quickened, or made to act, the result is that sin is produced. As our desires of good lie in the mind by nature, as our propensities exist as they were created, they cannot be regarded as sin, or treated as such; but when they are indulged, when plans of gratification are formed, when they are developed in actual life, the effect is sin. In the mere desire of good, of happiness, of food, of raiment, there is no sin; it becomes sin when indulged in an improper manner, and when it leads us to seek that which is forbidden – to invade the rights of others, or in any way to violate the laws of God. The Rabbis have a metaphor which strongly expresses the general sense of this passage – Evil concupiscence is at the beginning like the thread of a spiders web; afterwards it is like a cart rope. Sanhedrin, fol. 99.
It bringeth forth sin – The result is sin – open, actual sin. When that which is conceived in the heart is matured, it is seen to be sin. The design of all this is to show that sin is not to be traced to God, but to man himself; and in order to this, the apostle says that there is enough in the heart of man to account for all actual sin, without supposing that it is caused by God. The solution which he gives is, that there are certain propensities in man which, when they are suffered to act themselves out, will account for all the sin in the world. In regard to those native propensities themselves, he does not say whether he regards them as sinful and blameworthy or not; and the probability is, that he did not design to enter into a formal examination, or to make a formal statement, of the nature of these propensities themselves. He looked at man as he is as a creature of God – as endowed with certain animal propensities – as seen, in fact, to have strong passions by nature; and he showed that there was enough in him to account for the existence of sin, without bringing in the agency of God, or charging it on him.
In reference to those propensities, it may be observed that there are two kinds, either of which may account for the existence of sin, but which are frequently both combined. There are, first, our natural propensities; those which we have as men, as endowed with an animal nature, as having constitutional desires to be gratified, and wants to be supplied. Such Adam had in innocence; such the Saviour had; and such are to be regarded as in no respect in themselves sinful and wrong. Yet they may, in our case, as they did in Adam, lead us to sin, because, under their strong influence, we may be led to desire that which is forbidden, or which belongs to another. But there are, secondly, the propensities and inclinations which we have as the result of the fall, and which are evil in their nature and tendency; which as a matter of course, and especially when combined with the former, lead to open transgression. It is not always easy to separate these, and in fact they are often combined in producing the actual guilt of the world. It often requires a close analysis of a mans own mind to detect these different ingredients in his conduct, and the one often gets the credit of the other. The apostle James seems to have looked at it as a simple matter of fact, with a common sense view, by saying that there were desires ( epithumias) in a mans own mind which would account for all the actual sin in the world, without charging it on God. Of the truth of this, no one can entertain a doubt. – (See the supplementary note above at Jam 1:14.)
And sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death – The result of sin when it is fully carried out, is death – death in all forms. The idea is, that death, in whatever form it exists, is to be traced to sin, and that sin will naturally and regularly produce it. There is a strong similarity between this declaration and that of the apostle Paul Rom 6:21-23; and it is probable that James had that passage in his mind. See the sentiment illustrated in the notes at that passage, and Rom 5:12 note. Any one who indulges in a sinful thought or corrupt desire, should reflect that it may end in death – death temporal and eternal. Its natural tendency will be to produce such a death. This reflection should induce us to check an evil thought or desire at the beginning. Not for one moment should we indulge in it, for soon it may secure the mastery and be beyond our control; and the end may be seen in the grave, and the awful world of woe.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. When lust hath conceived] When the evil propensity works unchecked, it bringeth forth sin-the evil act between the parties is perpetrated.
And sin, when it is finished] When this breach of the law of God and of innocence has been a sufficient time completed, it bringeth forth death-the spurious offspring is the fruit of the criminal connection, and the evidence of that death or punishment due to the transgressors.
Any person acquainted with the import of the verbs , , and , will see that this is the metaphor, and that I have not exhausted it. signifies concipio sobolem, quae comprehenditur utero; concipio foetum; – , pario, genero, efficio; – ex et , praegnans sum, in utero gero. Verbum proprium praegnantium, quae foetum maturum emittunt. Interdum etiam gignendi notionem habet.-MAIUS, Obser. Sacr., vol. ii., page 184. Kypke and Schleusner.
Sin is a small matter in its commencement; but by indulgence it grows great, and multiplies itself beyond all calculation. To use the rabbinical metaphor lately adduced, it is, in the commencement, like the thread of a spider’s web-almost imperceptible through its extreme tenuity or fineness, and as easily broken, for it is as yet but a simple irregular imagination; afterwards it becomes like a cart rope-it has, by being indulged produced strong desire and delight; next consent; then, time, place, and opportunity serving, that which was conceived in the mind, and finished in that purpose, is consummated by act.
“The soul, which the Greek philosophers considered as the seat of the appetites and passions, is called by Philo , the female part of our nature; and the spirit , the male part. In allusion to this notion, James represents men’s lust as a harlot; which entices their understanding and will into its impure embraces, and from that conjunction conceives sin. Sin, being brought forth, immediately acts, and is nourished by frequent repetition, till at length it gains such strength that in its turn it begets death. This is the true genealogy of sin and death. Lust is the mother of sin, and sin the mother of death, and the sinner the parent of both.” See Macknight.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then when lust hath conceived; lust (compared to a harlot) may be said to conceive, when the heart is pleased with the motion, and yields some consent to it.
It bringeth forth sin; the birth of sin may be the complete consent of the will to it, or the outward act of it.
And sin; actual sin, the fruit and product of original.
When it is finished; sin is finished, when it is not only committed, but continued in, as the way and course of a mans life.
Bringeth forth death; not only temporal, but eternal. Or we may thus take the order and progress of sin: the first indeliberate motion of lust, is the temptation or bait, which by its pleasantness enticeth, and by its vehemency draws the heart after it (as the harlot, Pro 7:21, with the flattering of her lips forced the young man, telling him of the pleasure he should enjoy, Jam 1:14,16-18, and then he goes after her, Jam 1:22); the hearts lingering about and being entangled with the delightful motion of lust, is its committing folly with it; when the full consent is joined, lust hath conceived; when the outward act is performed, sin is brought forth; and when sin is finished in a settled course, it brings forth death; which, though every sin do in the merit of it, yet sin only finished doth in the event.
Objection. Doth not this imply lust, and its first motions, not to be sin?
Answer. No: for;
1. The least motions of it are forbidden, Mat 5:28; Rom 7:7.
2. It is contrary to the law and Spirit of God, Rom 7:23,25; Ga 5:16,17.
3. It is the fountain of impurity, and therefore is itself impure, Job 14:4; Mat 7:15,16; Jas 3:11.
4. Evil thoughts defile a man, Mat 15:19; Act 8:22.
Objection. How is lust said here to bring forth sin, when, Rom 7:8, sin is said to work lust?
Answer. James calls the corrupt principle itself lust, and the actings of it, sin; whereas Paul calls the same principle sin, and the actings of it lust. And so both are true, lust, as a root, brings forth the acts of sin as its fruits; and sin as a root, brings forth actual lusts, as its fruits.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. The guilty union iscommitted by the will embracing the temptress. “Lust,” theharlot, then, “brings forth sin,” namely, of that kind towhich the temptation inclines. Then the particular sin (so theGreek implies), “when it is completed, brings forthdeath,” with which it was all along pregnant [ALFORD].This “death” stands in striking contrast to the “crownof life” (Jas 1:12)which “patience” or endurance ends in, when it hasits “perfect work” (Jas1:4). He who will fight Satan with Satan’s own weapons, must notwonder if he finds himself overmatched. Nip sin in the bud of lust.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then when lust hath conceived,…. A proposal of pleasure or profit being made, agreeable to lust, or the principle of corrupt nature, sinful man is pleased with it; and instead of resisting and rejecting the motion made, he admits of it, and receives it, and cherishes it in his mind; he dallies and plays with it; he dwells upon it in his thoughts, and hides it under his tongue, and in his heart, as a sweet morsel, and forsakes it not, but contrives ways and means how to bring it about; and this is lust’s conceiving. The figure is used in Ps 7:14 on which Kimchi, a Jewish commentator, has this note;
“he (the psalmist) compares the thoughts of the heart
, “to a conception”, and when they go out in word, this is “travail”, and in work or act, this is “bringing forth”.”
And so it follows here,
it bringeth forth sin; into act, not only by consenting to it, but by performing it:
and sin, when it is finished: being solicited, is agreed to, and actually committed:
bringeth forth death; as the first sin of man brought death into the world, brought a spiritual death, or moral death upon man, subjected him to a corporeal death, and made him liable to an eternal one; so every sin is deserving of death, death is the just wages of it; yea, even the motions of sin work in men to bring forth fruit unto death. Something like these several gradual steps, in which sin proceeds, is observed by the Jews, and expressed in much the like language, in allegorizing the case of Lot, and his two daughters i;
“the concupiscent soul (or “lust”) stirs up the evil figment, and imagines by it, and it cleaves to every evil imagination, , “until it conceives a little”, and produces in the heart of man the evil thought, and cleaves to it; and as yet it is in his heart, and is not “finished” to do it, until this desire or lust stirs up the strength of the body, first to cleave to the evil figment, and then , “sin is finished”; as it is said, Ge 19:36.”
i Midrash Haneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 67. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Then (). The next step.
The lust ( ). Note article, the lust (verse 14) which one has.
When it hath conceived (). Second aorist active participle of , old word to grasp together, in hostile sense (Ac 26:21), in friendly sense of help (Php 4:3), in technical sense of a woman taking a man’s seed in conception (Lu 1:24), here also of lust (as a woman), “having conceived.” The will yields to lust and conception takes place.
Beareth sin ( ). Present active indicative of to bring forth as a mother or fruit from seed, old verb, often in N.T., here only in James. Sin is the union of the will with lust. See Ps 7:14 for this same metaphor.
The sin ( ). The article refers to just mentioned.
When it is full-grown (). First aorist passive participle of , old compound verb with perfective use of , in N.T. only here and Lu 13:32. It does not mean “full-grown” like , but rather completeness of parts or functions as opposed to rudimentary state (Hort) like the winged insect in contrast with the chrysalis or grub (Plato). The sin at birth is fully equipped for its career (Rom 6:6; Col 3:5).
Bringeth forth death ( ). Late compound ( to be pregnant, perfective use of ) to give birth to, of animals and women, for normal birth (papyrus example) and abnormal birth (Hort). A medical word (Ropes) rather than a literary one like . The child of lust is sin, of sin is death, powerful figure of abortion. The child is dead at birth. For death as the fruit of sin see Rom 6:21-23; Rom 8:6. “The birth of death follows of necessity when one sin is fully formed” (Hort).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The lust. Note the article, omitted in A. V. The peculiar lust of his own.
Hath conceived [] . Lit., having conceived.
Bringeth forth [] . Metaphor of the mother. Rev. beareth.
When it is finished [] . Better, Rev., when it is full grown. Not when the course of a sinful life is completed; but when sin has reached its full development.
Bringeth forth [] . A different verb from the preceding, bringeth forth. Rev. has rendered tiktei, beareth, in order to avoid the repetition of bringeth forth. The verb is used by James only, here and at ver. 18. The image is interpreted in two ways. Either (1) Sin, figured as female, is already pregnant with death and, when full grown, bringeth forth death (so Rev., and the majority of commentators). “The harlot, Lust, draws away and entices the man. The guilty union is committed by the will embracing the temptress : the consequence is that she beareth sin…. Then the sin, that particular sin, when grown up, herself, as if all along pregnant with it, bringeth forth death” (Alford). Or (2) Sin, figured as male, when it has reached maturity, becomes the begetter of death. So the Vulgate, generat, and Wyc., gendereth. I am inclined to prefer this, since the other seems somewhat forced. It has the high endorsement of Bishop Lightfoot. There is a suggestive parallel passage in the “Agamemnon” of Aeschylus, 751 – 771 :
“There is a saying old, Uttered in ancient days, That human bliss, full grown, Genders, and dies not childless : And, for the coming race, Springs woe insatiate from prosperity. But I alone Cherish within my breast another thought. The impious deed Begets a numerous brood alike in kind; While households ruled by right inflexible Blossom with offspring fair. Insolence old In men depraved begetteth insolence, Which springs afresh from time to time As comes the day of doom, and fresh creates In Ate’s dismal halls Fierce wrath from light, Unhallowed Daring, fiend invincible, Unconquered, with its parents ‘ likeness stamped.”
The magnificent passage in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” 2, 760 – 801, is elaborated from these verses of James.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) The term lust conceived (conscio) is from Latin and (Gk. sellabousa) refers to the flesh desire of the male and female as the flagellation of male and female reproductive sperm and egg join to produce a sinful creature. (Psa 51:5).
2) Every person has death “in him” from conception and birth. Death is only the fruit of the old, conceived nature, mature or full grown, 1Co 15:56, Rom 5:14; Rom 5:21; Heb 9:27-28.
3) Here, lust that leads to conception, is not sin, within sacred matrimony, but the fruit, creature produced in conception, is a sin creature, – See Heb 13:4; Psa 51:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15 Then when lust hath conceived. He first calls that lust which is not any kind of evil affection or desire, but that which is the fountain of all evil affections; by which, as he shews, are conceived vicious broods, which at length break forth into sins. It seems, however, improper, and not according to the usage of Scripture, to restrict the word sin to outward works, as though indeed lust itself were not a sin, and as though corrupt desires, remaining closed up within and suppressed, were not so many sins. But as the use of a word is various, there is nothing unreasonable if it be taken here, as in many other places, for actual sin.
And the Papists ignorantly lay hold on this passage, and seek to prove from it that vicious, yea, filthy, wicked, and the most abominable lusts are not sins, provided there is no assent; for James does not shew when sin begins to be born, so as to be sin, and so accounted by God, but when it breaks forth. For he proceeds gradually and shews that the consummation of sin is eternal death, and that sin arises from depraved desires, and that these depraved desires or affections have their root in lust. It hence follows that men gather fruit in eternal perdition, and fruit which they have procured for themselves.
By perfected sin, therefore, I understand, not any one act of sin perpetrated, but the completed course of sinning. For though death is merited by every sin whatever, yet it is said to be the reward of an ungodly and wicked life. Hence is the dotage of those confuted who conclude from these words, that sin is not mortal until it breaks forth, as they say, into an external act. Nor is this what James treats of; but his object was only this, to teach that there is in us the root of our own destruction.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) Then when lust have conceived. . . .Then come the downward steps of ruinLust, having conceived, bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. The image well depicts the repellent subject. The small beginning, from some vain delight or worldly lust and pleasure; next from the vile embrace, as of an harlotsin, growing in all its rank luxuriance, until it bear and engender, horribly, of itself, its deadly child. The word of parturition is frightful in the sense it would convey, as of some monstrous deformity, a hideous progeny ten-fold more cursed than its begetter.
The one effect of sin, more especially that of the flesh here alluded to, must be Death. The act itself is mortiferous, the result inevitable; just as much so, and as naturally, as the work of poison on the body. There are antidotes for both, but they must be given in time; the door of mercy stands not always open, nor will the fountain opened . . . for sin and uncleanness (Zec. 13:1) flow on for ever. Because, says the Wisdom of God (Pro. 1:24-26), I have called, and ye refused . . . I also will laugh at your calamity. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and their paymaster is the devil.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Conceived Lust, by consent of will, becomes a harlot mother; she bringeth forth sin; sin, when finished by the free volition, becomes guilt, and guilt is death. Death is the grandchild of lust, or perverted susceptibility. Eternal death is the deepening and perpetuity of spiritual death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin, and the sin, when it is fullgrown (‘has come to completeness’), brings forth death.’
But sin does not stop there. Once lust has conceived and produced sin, that sin will grow within men and produce death. For once we have let sin in, it remains within and produces its own effect and we are never rid of it. So while response to testings and trials (‘peirasmoi’) might lead to receiving the crown of life, yielding to temptation (‘peirasmos’) to sin can only produce death. This is the story of sin. And it is one that can be laid at no other door than our own. Whatever the interference of others, even of Satan, man is thus ultimately responsible for his own sin.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jam 1:15. Then when lust hath conceived, &c. “For the gradation is much more swift and fatal than the generality of mankind are aware: lust having conceived, brings forth actual sin by a speedy birth, where perhaps the full indulgence of it was not intended; and sin, when it is finished, or perpetrated, is impregnated with death, and tends in its consequences to the final ruin both of body and soul.” According to this fine metaphorical genealogy, Concupiscence is the mother of sin, and sin is the mother of death. Milton seems evidently to have had his eye upon this passage in his famous allegorical description of sin and death: Par. Lost, book 2. 50: 727, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jas 1:15 . Continuing the image used in Jas 1:14 , James in this verse describes what is the fruit which proceeds from : Lust having conceived ( i.e. become pregnant) bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is completed bringeth forth death. The object of this representation is not to give a doctrine of sin, its origin and its end, but by indicating the fruit of , to demonstrate that it is not from God. By the result of , namely , is indicated as directly following upon it; forms the transition to it, which occurs by taking the will of man captive; it, as it were, becomes pregnant, so that it bears sin.
] corresponds to the Hebrew , which is uniformly in the LXX. translated by (Gen 4:5 ; Gen 4:17 ; Gen 30:17 , and other passages). By without the article, the fruit of , according to its quality, is indicated in an entirely general manner. Sin born by lust again carries in itself its own fruit ( ), which, having come to completion, ( ), is brought forth out of itself ( ). According to de Wette, by in the first clause is to be understood “the resolution or internal act,” but in the second clause ( ), “sin accomplished in the external act,” thus acts of sin. This, however, is incorrect, as (1) by the already mentioned is again taken up, and therefore must have the same meaning; and (2) cannot mean “sin accomplished.” [74] Wiesinger, with regard to , correctly observes: “ is sin, but whether the internal or external act is not stated;” yet added in the following clause shows that James considered as something gradually developed, for is not equivalent to (so that would be = , Baumgarten: “sin brought or produced into the world in such a manner”), but completed: thus . .=“ sin which has attained to its complete development. ” It is not entirely corresponding to the idea of James when Calvin (with whom most recent critics
Kern, Schneckenburger, Theile, Wiesinger, and others agree) explains it as “the entire sinful life” (non unum aliquod opus perpetratum, sed cursus peccandi completus; vita impia et scelerata). As James considers itself personified, it is when it has grown to such fulness of power that it rules man’s whole life. According to this idea, it is indeed correct when several interpreters explain . by adulta; thus Bouman: peccatum, quum ad adultam pervenit aetatem; yet, linguistically, this explanation is not to be justified, as is not equivalent to adolescere. The explanation given in the earlier edition of this commentary, that by is meant the act of sin, is erroneous, because such a limitation of the general idea is not indicated; on this account it is not correct to think on and as a single definite lust and sin.
Brckner considers the addition of is made only “in order that , which was at first represented as a child, might again be represented as a mother.” This, however, is incorrect; the origin and growth (or, more correctly, the completion) of sin by no means occur “in reality together at one moment;” sin bears death, which it carried in itself at the first, only when it is not interrupted in its development by a higher life-power, but has attained to its complete form.
By , by which James indicates the fruit of completed sin according to its nature, is to be understood, not only temporary death (Pott: homines peccando mortales factos esse omnes consentiunt N. T. scriptores), but, as the opposite of the which God has promised, and will give to them who love Him, eternal death; see Rom 6:23 : , , . If, therefore, nothing but is the end to which conducts, this cannot possibly have its reason in God, who works , and therefore it is absurd to say (Jas 1:13 ).
The expression (only here and in Jas 1:18 in the N. T.) is distinguished from only in this, that it indicates more definitely that from the beginning is pregnant with . By the explanation: meretur mortem (Bede, Laurentius, and others), a relation is introduced foreign to the context. On the mode of writing and , see Winer, p. 80 [E. T. 107]; Schirlitz, p. 184 f.
[74] De Wette incorrectly appeals to the expression in Plato, Gorg. p. 503 D, and , as there and are not similar, but different ideas. When Wiesinger, against the explanation of de Wette, says that indicates that “the will consents to the demand of the desire, which is the resolution or internal act,” it is, on the contrary, to be observed that these two are by no means identical, as the resolution is an act of the will, and thus is actually sin, whilst by is indicated a point preceding .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Ver. 15. When lust hath conceived ] As the plot of all diseases lies in the humours of the body; so of all sin, in the lust of the soul. There is in it a , a tacit consent, a seed plot of all sin. a The Papists say (but falsely) that it is the smallest of all sins, not deserving any more of God’s wrath than only a want of his beatific presence, and that too without any pain or sorrow of mind from the apprehension of so great a loss. There are also of ours that say, That it is not forbidden by the law; but sure we are, it is cursed and condemned (and therefore forbidden) by the law.
a Empedoclis vocabulum apud Aristot.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15 .] then lust having conceived, bringeth forth sin: and ( brings out the new subject) sin, when completed, bringeth forth death (it has been questioned whether is here in one, or in two senses. De Wette holds that the first is the purpose, or inner act, of sin, the carrying this out into an act, which act brings forth death, the wages of sin. But this is decidedly wrong. Wiesinger has disputed it, and insisted rightly that the inner act is the union of the will with the , the denoting extrusion into outward act: then the second , which Huther rightly maintains to be, not as Wiesinger, after Calvin, “cursus peccandi completus,” but the sinful act when brought to perfection in all its consequences, in a series of results following on one another and bringing a man under bondage to his sin, being thus perfected, brings forth eternal death. The imagery is throughout consistent. The harlot , and the man: the guilty union is committed by the will embracing the temptress: the consequence is that she , sin, in general, of some kind, of that kind to which the temptation inclines: then, , that particular sin, when grown up and mature, herself , ‘extrudit,’ as if all along pregnant with it, Death, the final result of sin. So that temptation to sin cannot be from God, while trial is from Him. The one, being , , , : the other, being . arising from , . The English reader will not fail to remember Milton’s sublime allegory in Paradise Lost, where Satan, by his own evil lust, brings forth sin: and then by an incestuous union with Sin (which doubtless may be said to lie here also in the background, no cause being assigned for the ) causes her to bring forth Death. As regards the single expressions, is a regular LXX formula for : cf. reff. Gen., also Gen 30:17 al. fr. , or (either is allowable, see Winer, 15) is found principally in later Greek: Wetst. gives examples from Maximus Tyr., Herodian, Lucian, Phlegon, all with this meaning.
For , cf. Polyb. ii. 58. 7, ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 1:15 . : continuing the description of the method of the working of . : With this idea of personification, cf. Zec 5:5-11 , where the woman “sitting in the midst of the ephah” is the personification of Wickedness; and for the metaphor see Psa 7:15 (Sept.), , . Since is represented as the parent of it can hardly be regarded as other than sinful itself; indeed, this seems to be taught in the Targum of Jonathan (a Targum which had received general recognition in Babylonia as early as the third century A.D., and whose elements therefore go back to a much earlier time) in the paraphrase of Isa 62:10 , where it says that the imagination of sin is sinful, cf. Jer. Targ. 1 to Deut. xxiii. 11; this is evidently the idea in the words before us. : this word does not occur elsewhere in the N.T., and only very rarely in the Septuagint, cf. Est 5:7Est 5:7 , (A reads .) ; 2Ma 15:39 . ; it refers here to sin in its full completeness, Vulg., cum consummatum fuerit . The passage recalls Rom 6:23 , . Mayor quotes the appropriate passage from Hermas, Mand. , iv. 2. , . Just as and belong together, and the latter testifies to the existence of the former, so and belong together, and the latter proves the existence of the former; see Jas 2:22 , . : only here and in Jas 1:18 in the N.T., it only occurs once in the Septuagint, 4Ma 15:17 , . : in Tanchuma, Bereshith , 8, it is taught that Adam’s sin was the means of death entering into the world, so that all generations to the end of time are subject to death; this teaching is, of course, found in both early and late Jewish literature; but it probably is not this to which reference is made in the passage before us. In seeking to realise what the writer meant by death here one recalls, in the first place, such passages as Rom 5:21 : As sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord; cf . Rom 6:21 , Rom 7:24 ; Joh 5:24 : He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgement, but hath passed out of death into life; cf . Joh 8:51-52 ; 1Jn 3:14 : We know that we have passed from death unto life : see also Rom 7:24 ; 2Co 1:9-10 ; 2Ti 1:10 ; and Jas 5:20 , shall save a soul from death ; it seems clear that in passages like these death is not used in its literal sense, and probably what underlies the use of the word is that which is more explicitly expressed in Rev 2:11 , He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death ; Rev 20:6 Over these the second death hath no power ; Rev 21:8 , But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death . But there is another set of passages in which death is used in its literal sense; these should be noted, for it is possible that they may throw light on the use of in the verse before us: Mat 16:28 , Verily I say unto you, there be some of them that stand here, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom , almost the identical words occur in Mar 9:1 ; Luk 9:27 ; the belief in the near advent of Christ witnessed to by such passages as 1Co 11:26 ; 2Th 2:1 , etc., shows that the possibility of not dying, in the literal sense of the word, was entertained; for those who were living would know that when Christ, who had overcome death, should be among them again, there could be no question of death. The belief in the abolition of death when the Messiah should come was held by Jews as well as by Christians, see e.g., Bereshith Rabba , chap. 26, Wajjira Rabba , chap. 30. The possibility may therefore be entertained that the writer of this Epistle is contemplating death in its literal sense, which those Christians will not escape in whom holds sway, but which they are able to escape if they remain faithful until the return of Christ; that this is expected in the near future is clear from Jas 5:7 , Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand . : i.e. , as regards the false teaching concerning the cause of sin in their hearts. The affectionate ending, “My beloved brethren” witnesses to the earnestness of the writer’s feelings.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
when lust, &c. = lust, having conceived.
sin. App-128.
finished = completely finished. Greek. apoteleo. Only here.
bringeth forth. Greek. apokueo. Only here and Jam 1:18.
death. See Rom 6:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15.] then lust having conceived, bringeth forth sin: and ( brings out the new subject) sin, when completed, bringeth forth death (it has been questioned whether is here in one, or in two senses. De Wette holds that the first is the purpose, or inner act, of sin,-the carrying this out into an act, which act brings forth death, the wages of sin. But this is decidedly wrong. Wiesinger has disputed it, and insisted rightly that the inner act is the union of the will with the , the denoting extrusion into outward act: then the second ,-which Huther rightly maintains to be, not as Wiesinger, after Calvin, cursus peccandi completus, but the sinful act when brought to perfection in all its consequences, in a series of results following on one another and bringing a man under bondage to his sin,-being thus perfected, brings forth eternal death. The imagery is throughout consistent. The harlot , and the man: the guilty union is committed by the will embracing the temptress: the consequence is that she , sin, in general, of some kind, of that kind to which the temptation inclines: then, , that particular sin, when grown up and mature,-herself , extrudit, as if all along pregnant with it, Death, the final result of sin. So that temptation to sin cannot be from God, while trial is from Him. The one, being , , , : the other, being . arising from , . The English reader will not fail to remember Miltons sublime allegory in Paradise Lost, where Satan, by his own evil lust, brings forth sin: and then by an incestuous union with Sin (which doubtless may be said to lie here also in the background, no cause being assigned for the ) causes her to bring forth Death. As regards the single expressions, is a regular LXX formula for : cf. reff. Gen., also Gen 30:17 al. fr. , or (either is allowable, see Winer, 15) is found principally in later Greek: Wetst. gives examples from Maximus Tyr., Herodian, Lucian, Phlegon,-all with this meaning.
For , cf. Polyb. ii. 58. 7, ).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Jam 1:15. , when it hath conceived) Sin arising from mans will.-, sin) The act of sin. It does not therefore follow that concupiscence of itself is not sin. He that begets man, is himself man.-, when it is finished) having attained its full-grown strength: and this quickly comes to pass.-, death) Sin from its birth is big with death.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
sin Sin.
(See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
when: Gen 3:6, Gen 4:5-8, Job 15:35, Psa 7:14, Isa 59:4, Mic 2:1-3, Mat 26:14, Mat 26:48-59, Act 5:1-3
when: Gen 2:17, Gen 3:17-19, Psa 9:17, Rom 5:12-21, Rom 6:21-23, Rev 20:14, Rev 20:15
Reciprocal: Gen 4:7 – sin Gen 8:21 – the imagination Jos 7:21 – took them 2Sa 11:3 – sent 2Sa 11:4 – he lay 1Ki 21:2 – Give me Job 15:12 – thine heart Job 31:1 – think Pro 4:23 – for Pro 6:25 – Lust Pro 9:17 – Stolen Isa 32:6 – and his heart Isa 33:11 – conceive Isa 55:7 – his thoughts Isa 59:13 – speaking Isa 65:2 – after Jer 17:9 – General Jer 22:17 – thine eyes Jer 31:30 – General Jer 44:25 – ye will Eze 11:21 – whose Eze 18:30 – so Zec 7:10 – imagine Mal 2:15 – take Mat 5:28 – That Mar 7:20 – General Mar 7:21 – out Act 5:4 – why Rom 6:12 – in the lusts Rom 6:23 – For the wages Rom 7:5 – did work Rom 7:8 – wrought Rom 8:6 – to be carnally minded Rom 8:13 – ye live Jam 5:20 – from death 1Jo 3:15 – hateth 1Jo 5:17 – and
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CONSEQUENCES OF SIN
Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Jam 1:15
It would be easy to draw a glaring and harrowing picture. I might take you to our abodes of infamy and wretchednessto our prisons and our hospitals; and to many a sick and dying bed. I might take you to our own streets, of a night, and to the crowded dens of drunkenness and debauchery! And I might tell you to read there what is sin! and its consequences! But it will be more practical to trace only some of the results of such sins as we know belong, the more closely, to ourselves.
I. Every allowed sin kills the power of the perception of truth.Sin weakens, and tends to destroy, every power we possess. Physical sin weakens physical strength. And both physical and mental sin weaken both mental and spiritual powers. And if the weakening process is allowed to go on, it will weaken till it kills! It will go on till it brings forth death!
II. One habitually allowed sin will deaden the grace both of the mind and the heart, till, by more and more withering processes, the grace of both will die! Why are so many young men and young women prone to infidelity? Why have they grown sceptical of old and familiar truthswhich were dear to their parents and were once dear to themselves? Look at their lives, their worldliness, their frivolity, their private habits, their secret or their open sins! There is the reason. Infidelity is a deadening thing. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth that death.
III. Sin is destructive of all pure love.A pure and chaste and holy love will not live long with any indulged evil passion! True love is too sacred a thing to stay in a breast with wrong deeds or wicked actions! The wrong love kills the good love. It brings forth death; and the good love dies.
IV. Sin will paralyse, if not the will, certainly the power, to live to any good purpose.The consciousness of sin will always come across his mind, when he is speaking, checking him, incapacitating him. Who am I to speak? I, who am living myself so sinfully! And that conviction will stop his mouth; it will make his words hollow. And men are keen judges of each other. They very soon discover what is unreal in all your fine talking. And can God bless any effort that such a man makes? He may speak as an angel; but God has not sent him. This sin will turn his most living words to death!
Illustration
Sin is not finished yet. All sin has in it a necessity to increase. Sin makes sin. One barrier broken down, the stream of evil rushes on with a greater force; and another barrier giving way, the current swells, till it scarcely knows a check. But what will sin finished be? What will it be when, stripped of its soft and beautiful colours, it stands out, without a mask, in its true and native form? What a monster will every, the least, sin look beside Perfect Holiness! It will need nothing more to make that sin eternal punishment! eternal death!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Jas 1:15. With the consummation of the evil design, that is, when it has accomplished its gratification the conception takes place. After the conception the next step is the bringing forth of the creature that was conceived. The name of the creature so conceived and brought forth is SIN. The final destiny of such a creature is death or separation from God. The way to avoid such a regrettable reproduction is for a man to resist all of the enticements as a virtuous woman should resist all who would lure her into a life of shame.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 1:15. Then. Now follows the genesis of sin.
when lust, evil desire, hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. Lust is here considered as a harlot who seduces the will, and sin is the consequence of this unhallowed alliance. Sin is the child of our corrupt passions; it has its origin in our evil desires; it is the outcome of inward depravity. First, there is evil desire in the heart, and then by the will yielding to that evil desire there is sin in the life.
and sin when it is finished, fully developed or matured. There is no distinction here between the internal and the external act; as if it were sin in the form of the external act which worketh death. St. James speaks of sin in general, whether in the heart or in the life. Sin may be developed in the heart as well as in the conduct.
bringeth forth, or begetteth, as the two verbs are different in the original, death. Lust is the mother of sin and death its progeny. (Cp. Miltons sublime allegory in Paradise Lost, Book ii. 745-814.) Death here does not denote only physical or temporal death, but, as the contrast is to the crown of life which God has promised to them that love Him, it must include eternal death. Cp. the statement of St. Paul: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Rom 11:23).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Sin, An Unwanted Offspring of Uncontrolled Lust
“Drawn away” and “enticed” come from fishing and hunting experiences. They picture one who is lured by the bait and hooked when he bites. God warned Cain, “And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” ( Gen 4:7 ). Wiersbe reminds us that it is the bait which keeps the animal from seeing the trap or the fish the hook. The attractive nature of sin also keeps us from seeing its consequences ( Gen 13:10-13 ; 2Sa 11:2-27 ; 2Sa 12:1-14 ). We must learn to resist its enticement. The wise man wrote, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent” ( Pro 1:10 ).
Lust and uncontrolled desire join and conceive an unwanted child called sin. Sin, like an unwanted child, is a direct result of our allowing our passions to run out of control. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death ( Jas 1:15 ; Rom 6:23 ). Thus, we have sin’s lineage.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Here we see that next step in the lust that has been set free, it conceives and brings forth sin. Sin in turn is another of those automated systems that brings forth death if not brought to its knees.
Did you get that? Did you see how quick this process can be stated? It isn’t a long drawn out process that takes days to come to pass; it is with the quickness of a jet, it is the quickness of a thought or two. Lust is where we must stop the process – before sin develops.
I trust that you catch the implication of these two verses. It is on our shoulders when we sin, because it our own decisions that cause our sin. We are the guilty one, not God, not the Devil, not the wife, not the lack of clothing, not the alcohol, not the alluring world, it is US. We do it to ourselves.
There is a Dr. Philism that I just love and it relates so well here. When someone has stepped off into adultery or some deep wrong, he often says, “You had to have seen that coming, it didn’t just “HAPPEN” – it took your involvement, it wasn’t a surprise. It wasn’t like “Oh, I hate it when that happens.”
I have mentioned in some of my studies that in past years when the mini skirt craze was in full swing, many people were condemning the young Christian ladies that were wearing them, even wearing them to church. This was a large problem for the speakers in churches; for they had to look out into the audience and assure that their glances weren’t from eyes to legs.
The young ladies often caught the brunt, but I always suggested that there were two other problems. One was at home when their husbands allowed them to put them on, and the other was in the men’s minds – this process of temptation to look, looking, lusting and fortunately for this problem most stopped at the lust stage, which if it went too far, according to the Lord was already sin in the case of mental adultery.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth {n) sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
(n) By sin, in this place, he means actual sin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The progress of temptation 1:15
Lust in this context is the desire to do, have, or be something apart from the will of God. Lust is covert, but sometimes it manifests itself overtly. If we do not check lust, it will lead to sin, and if we do not confess and forsake sin, it will lead to death (Rom 6:21-23; Rom 8:6). One commentator helpfully identified seven successive stages of temptation. [Note: Mayor, p. 198.]
"Sin is the result of the surrender of the will to the soliciting of epithymia [lust] instead of the guidance of reason." [Note: Ibid., p. 55.]
Lust can lead to physical death in a believer (1Jn 5:16), and it can lead to physical and spiritual death in a non-believer. James’ vivid illustration of the childbearing process graphically describes the cause and effect relationship of lust, sin, and death. God desires to lead us into the fullness of life (Jas 1:12), but if we respond improperly and give in to temptations we will not obtain the crown of life but death. "Death" in Jas 1:15 is the opposite of "life" in Jas 1:12. The ultimate outcome of capitulating to temptation is death (cf. Pro 10:27; Pro 11:19; Pro 12:28; Pro 13:14; and Pro 19:16), but the ultimate outcome of resisting it is the fullness of life (cf. Joh 10:10).
"This attention-getting imagery is designed to stop sinners in their tracks, seeing that death is the natural and terrible end of a life of sin, not just an occasional result for some sinners." [Note: Stulac, p. 56.]