Texts in Conversation
James says that God does not test anyone, which conflicts with the Greek Septuagint translation of Genesis 22, where God tests Abraham. Both use the same Greek verb for testing, yet present opposing claims. James either rejects that or is unaware of it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Genesis 22:1
Septuagint
1 And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Look! I am here. 2 And he said, Take your son, the beloved one, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of. 3 And Abraham rose up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and he took with him two servants, and Isaac his son, and having split wood for a whole burnt offering, he arose and departed, and came to the place of which God spoke to him,
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
James 1:13
New Testament
11 For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. 12 Happy is the one who endures testing because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
Date: 80–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Furthermore, in James 1:13 we discover the strange phrase, ([God] tests no one). What is strange about this is that the LXX of Genesis 22:1 contains the phrase, (God tested Abraham). While it is possible that James does not know the LXX, this particular verse is a good translation of the Hebrew, following the usual LXX practice of translating (to test), and thus there is no reason to believe that James would have translated the verse otherwise even if he were referring directly to the Hebrew text ..."
Peter H. Davids, “The Pseudepigrapha in the Catholic Epistles,” in The Pseudepigrapha and Early Biblical Interpretation, ed. James H. Charlesworth and Craig A. Evans, JSPSup 14 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1993), 229.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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