But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and unpretentious.
Truth to Learn
Heavenly wisdom is “others” focused, not “self” focused.
Behind the Words
“First” is from the Greek word proton, meaning “first in importance, order, or time.”
The word translated “pure” is hagnos, which has the same root as hagios (holy). It means “freedom from defilements or impurities.” Therefore, it is often translated as innocent, clean, or pure.
Epeita is the word translated “then.” When combined with proton (mentioned above) it implies that everything else in this list comes after hagnos in importance, order, and time.
“Peaceable” is the Greek word, eirēnikos which means “pacific” or “relating to peace.”
The word translated “gentle” is epieikēs, which is made up of epi, meaning “over” and eikos, meaning “reasonable or fair.” Hence, this word means overly reasonable or overly fair. There really is no English word that fully expresses the meaning of this word, but the overriding idea is that of showing clemency mercy even when it is clearly undeserved.
“Compliant” is translated from eupaithēs, which is made up of eu, meaning “good” or “easy” and a form of peithō, meaning “to persuade.” So, literally this word means “easily persuaded.” Thus, it is translated “compliant.”
The word “impartial” is translated from adiakritos, which is made up of a, meaning “without” and a form of diakrinō, meaning “to distinguish or to judge.” Therefore, we see that this heavenly wisdom is not selfishly judgmental, but remains impartial.
The word “unpretentious” comes from the Greek word, anupokritos. This is made up of a or an, meaning “not or without” and hupokritos from which we get our English word “hypocrisy.” Hence this word means “without false pretense, unpretentious, or genuine.”
Meaning Explained
In contrast to the worldly wisdom that was spoken of in the previous few verses (with bitter envying and self-serving motives, causing confusion), James now describes what godly wisdom looks like. He tells us first of all, it is “first pure.” As explained above, this word means first essentially, that is, first in importance, order, and time. The other qualities of heavenly wisdom are secondary and necessarily follow from the quality of purity. Heavenly wisdom engenders peace, not strife. It is gentle and exceedingly reasonable. It is compliant, not argumentative. It is merciful, not vengeful. It produces good fruit, not rottenness. It is impartial, and it is sincere, without even a hint of pretense.
We can see from this list that heavenly wisdom is not focused on self, but on the good of others. This is essentially what Paul said in his letter to the Philippians:
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Philippians 2:3)
Application
Let’s remember this when we share the gospel with others. We should be sharing the Word with godly wisdom, not worldly wisdom, and godly wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, overly reasonable, and compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. In other words, it acts the same way that Jesus did.
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