In his epistle, James recalls one of the key concepts of the Yahwist and, later, Jewish tradition: wisdom. Its meaning and content changed over time, but one thing remained constant...
In his epistle, James recalls one of the key concepts of the Yahwist and, later, Jewish tradition: wisdom. Its meaning and content changed over time, but one thing remained constant: among Semitic peoples in general and the Jews in particular, wisdom was never associated solely with theory, abstract thought, or abstract knowledge. Wisdom was always seen as something practical, more a skill or ability than theoretical knowledge. After the Babylonian exile, in the Second Temple period, what was meant above all was the skill of righteousness, the practice of spiritual life.
This may seem strange: how can we speak of a skill of righteousness if righteousness is not a human achievement at all, but God's gift? Yet the apostle clearly formulates one of the fundamental requirements of righteous living: a person's inner wholeness. The double-minded person is not firmly established on the path—“A person whose thoughts are divided is unsteady in all their ways”—this is James' central idea. Indeed, from the biblical authors' perspective, the soul is the stream of life given to us by God, which we direct and manage as we see fit. We dwell in it, and it dwells in us.
But we can live fully only when this stream flows in a single channel, without splitting into rivulets constantly threatening to run dry. What our life will be like depends on our spiritual condition, on how undivided our will is. It is in this context that James speaks of steadfastness (“patience”), acquired through trials (“temptations”). Faith is above all trust in God; it presupposes that our life is centered on God's presence, without which no communion with God is possible.
For communion with God to be truly uninterrupted, however, our will must be rooted in it, rather than being “tossed about” by every outside influence. This focusing of the will on the Presence develops as a practical skill through the trials a person undergoes, which distract them from what matters most. If, however, a person uses these trials to strengthen the skill of focusing their attention on God, the trials make them wise—in the sense of that practical wisdom which is the skill of communion with God, opening the path of righteousness to them.
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1:5 If any want - The connexion between the first and following verses, both here and in the fourth chapter, will be easily discerned by him who reads them, while he is suffering wrongfully. He will then readily perceive, why the apostle mentions all those various affections of the mind. Wisdom - To understand, whence and why temptations come, and how they are to be improved. Patience is in every pious man already. Let him exercise this, and ask for wisdom. The sum of wisdom, both in the temptation of poverty and of riches, is described in the ninth and tenth verses. Who giveth to all - That ask aright.And upbraideth not - Either with their past wickedness, or present unworthiness.