Толкование на Послание Иакова

Jacob 1:2. Have all joy, my brethren, whenever you fall into various temptations. Grief is an unbreakable bond, an increase in love, an awakening of heartfelt contrition and fear of God. Listen to the one who says: “If you begin to work for the Lord... prepare your soul for temptation” (Sir. 2:1). And Christ said: “You will be in a world of sorrow: but take heart” (John 16:33); again: “narrow is the gate, and strait is the way” (Matthew 7:14). You see, grief is praised everywhere, everywhere understood as necessary for us. If in external competitions without it no one receives a crown until he strengthens himself through labor, caution in food, observance of the law, vigilance, and the like, then much more here. Jacob 1:12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; having been skilled, he receives the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (Of course) sufficiently successful in enduring temptations with joy, so that the work may be tested and patience perfect; this is accomplished in itself, and not done through something else. Through another exhortation, he tries to persuade him to fulfill the task ahead, saying that he who has endured temptation is blessed according to the promise. He who competes so courageously will be an experienced man, experienced in everything. And to the one who has emerged as light from darkness, he will be given the crown of life, prepared by God for those who love Him. Thus, the one who endures temptation, despising labor and death itself, will receive the crown of eternal life. You ask, from what has God prepared crowns of life for those who love Him? What God has prepared for those who love Him, according to the greatness of the deity, is not subject to sight and hearing and cannot even come to the thought of man. Jacob 1:15. The same lust, when conceived, gives birth to sin, and the sin committed gives birth to death. When we commit sin, intoxicated with pleasure, we do not feel it. And when it happens and ends, especially when the pleasure fades, a bitter feeling takes possession of the heart. It’s different for women giving birth. For them, before childbirth, great tension and acute pain serve as the cause of suffering, and after childbirth - calm, since the newborn child represses the pain. But here it is not so: while we are thinking and busy with vicious thoughts, we are cheerful and rejoice; and when we give birth to an evil child, sin, then, seeing the shame of the one born, we are tormented, then we are tormented more severely than women giving birth. Therefore, I urge you not to accept, especially at the beginning, a spoiled wish; and even if they accepted it, the seed inside must be destroyed. And if we are careless before this, then the sin committed must be atone for through confession, tears and self-reproach; nothing is as fatal to sin as consciousness and condemnation. Jacob 1:27. For this faith is pure and undefiled before God and the Father, to visit the orphans and widows in their sorrows, [and] to keep itself undefiled from the world. That is: how we can become like God is through mercy and compassion. If we don’t have this, then we are deprived of everything. He did not say: if you fast, you will be like your Father; God doesn’t have anything like that, God doesn’t do it, so what? “Be merciful, like your Father who is in heaven” (ό ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς) (Luke 6:36). If you don't have this, then what do you have? “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). Jacob 2:1. My brethren, do not merely have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory. Why, he says, do you think a lot? Or why does someone else despise you? Aren't we all, big and small, one body? When in essence we are one and are members of a friend, then why are you insanely proud, why are you ashamed of your brother? Just as he is your member, so you are his, and therefore there is great equality. Jacob 2:4. And do not look into yourself and quickly judge evil thoughts. They should think the same thing about each other. A poor man has come, be attentive to him; do not attach great importance to wealth; in Christ there is no rich and poor. Therefore, do not be ashamed due to the external situation, but accept it out of inner faith. Jacob 2:5, 6. Hear, my beloved brother, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom he promised to those who love him? You are reproaching the beggar. And we, as if we have suffered a great insult, treat those who ask with such disdain, we turn away from them; you don't give something and you cause grief. Discipline, said Paul (2 Thess. 3:15), as brothers (ἀδελφούς) and do not revile as enemies (οὐχ ὑβρίζετε ώς ἐχθρούς) 1. He who admonishes his brother does not do this openly, does not show arrogance, but in private, with great attention, mourning and with tears in his eyes. So, we give from a brotherly soul, we teach from a brotherly disposition, not as those who grieve for the gift, but as those who lament that he has broken the commandment, contrary to the benefit. If by giving you insult, you spoil the pleasure of the gift. And if you don’t give and blaspheme, then what harm are you doing to that poor, unfortunate person! I came to you desiring to receive mercy; Having received a fatal blow, he left and cried more. If someone is forced by poverty to beg, and is insulted for begging, then see what the punishment is for the offender. He angers the one who created him. If He left him in poverty for your sake, so that you would help him, and you insult the poor (existent) for your benefit, then what foolishness is this, what ingratitude is this! Jacob 2:6, 7. Is it not the rich who force you and drag you to judgment? Do they not blaspheme the good name that is given to you? Endure covetousness with courage. They (covetous people) are destroying themselves, not you. You are deprived of property, and yourself of God’s favor and help; and he who is deprived of it, even if he possessed all the wealth of the universe, is the poorest of all. Jacob 2:12. Thus speak and do so, as if the law of the free has received judgment. It is better to frighten you with words so that you do not grieve in reality. Jacob 2:13. Mercy is praised in judgment. Mercy is a wonderful deed and protection (προστάτις) for those who practice it, pleasing to God and always near Him; when he wants, he easily asks for mercy, as long as we don’t commit injustice; but it is unfair when we do it from stolen property, as if it were pure; it gives great boldness to those who exercise it; it is necessary both for the offended - such is its power - and for those who have sinned. It breaks bonds, dispels darkness, extinguishes fire, kills the worm, removes the gnashing of teeth. For him, with great confidence, the gates of heaven open. (And after a few words). (It is) the queen who makes people like God. “Be ye,” he says, “merciful, as is your Father who is in heaven” (Luke 6:36). It is winged and light, has golden wings; its flight delights the angels. “The wing of a dove is covered with silver, and its interior is in the glitter of gold” (Ps. 67:14). Like a certain dove, the golden one is alive ( χρυσῆ καὶ ζῶσα), flying, having a pleasant appearance, there is nothing better than these eyes. But compared to him, the crow always looks up; The maiden has golden wings; dressed up; has a pleasant, meek face; she is mobile and light, standing at the royal throne. When we are subject to judgment, he suddenly appears and delivers us from punishment, covering us with wings; God wants her more than sacrifices. Jacob 2:17–19. Likewise, faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself. But someone says: you are the imam of faith, but I am the imam of deeds: show me your faith by your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe, for there is only one God: do good: and the demons believe and tremble. If someone believes correctly in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but does not lead a correct life, then he has no benefit from faith in salvation. Therefore, if it is said: “Behold... there is an eternal life, that they may know the one true God” (John 17:3), then we should not think that what has been said to us is enough for salvation, but purity of life and social relations is needed. Faith is a great and saving matter; without it it is impossible to be saved; but doing this alone is not enough, but a correct life is needed. Therefore, Paul exhorts those who have already been awarded the sacraments, saying: “let us strive (σπουδάσωμεν) 2 to enter into that rest” (Heb. 4:11), “let us strive,” he says, since faith is not enough, but it is necessary to add life and show great diligence. Great diligence is absolutely necessary to enter heaven. If those who endured so much in the desert were not worthy of land, if they could not receive land because they grumbled and because they committed adultery, then how will we be worthy of heaven, living indifferently and carelessly? Therefore, we need great diligence. And again: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). And it is true: just as a beautiful and flourishing body, if it has no strength, is like picturesque images, so is correct faith without works. Jacob 3:1. Do not be too many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we will receive greater condemnation. Since teaching without application to action is not only not useful, but also brings great harm and condemnation to those who spend their lives without attention, then, destroying the zeal of those who do not want to work, he forbids teaching to those who teach without carrying out their teaching in practice, and pronounces great condemnation. If this is not the case, (the one) is subject to punishment, just as the one who does not sin in deed and word of teaching is perfect; he can control the whole body. If he teaches this and defines faith in the right words along with bright deeds corresponding to faith, then he obviously bridles his body, not allowing it to observe love for the world. Jacob 3:5, 6. In the same way, the tongue is small and boasts of great things. Behold, the fire is small, [and] how great it burns things. And the tongue is fire, the babble of untruth. So watch your tongue more than a girl. The tongue is a royal horse. If you put the bit in him and teach him to walk straight, then the king will trust him and sit down. But if you leave it unbridled (and allow it) to rush and gallop, it will become a chariot of the devil and demons. Jacob 3:8. No one can tame a person’s tongue: evil cannot be restrained, it is filled with deadly poison. The tongue is a sharp sword; but we do not inflict wounds on others, but cut off our suppurations. Jacob 3:13. Whoever is wise and wicked in you, let him show his deeds in meekness and wisdom from a good life (έν πραΰτητι σοφίας). Let us cleanse the impurity from spiritual unions. Just as dirt and dust are in relation to the bodily ears, so everyday, immodest conversations, calculations of profits and growth, more than any dirt, make it difficult to hear the understanding, and not only make it difficult, but also make it unclean. Jacob 4:8, 9. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you: cleanse your hands, O sinners, correct your hearts, you who are double-minded: suffer and weep: 3 Let your laughter turn to weeping, and your joy to lamentation After committing a sin, he who turns to repentance deserves not sorrow, but bliss in the host of the righteous. Confess your sins first, in order to be justified (Isa. 43:26). And if, having committed a sin, he is not ashamed, then he is worthy of regret (and) not so much because he fell, but because the fallen one lies. And if lack of repentance for sin is bad, then what punishment does exaltation of sins deserve? If he who exalts himself in good deeds is not pure, then how can he who does this with sins receive forgiveness? Jacob 5:1–3. Come now, you rich people, weep and weep for the fierce sorrows that are coming upon you. Throw away your wealth, and destroy your garments with prayer. Your gold and silver are rusty. Let's turn to the narrow path. How long is the joy? How long will there be peace? Haven't you had enough of carelessness, laughter, and singing? There will be no more the same dishes, saturation, luxury, wealth, purchases and buildings. And what's the use? Death. And what's the end? Ash and ashes, coffin and worms. Jacob 5:5. Rejoice on earth, and rejoice: your hearts will be as fat as the day of slaughter. So what? Is luxury prohibited? And very much. How was it created for use? Just as bread was created, and immoderation was prohibited; and wine was created, but intemperance was not allowed. Commands us to avoid luxury, not as something unclean, but as something that weakens the soul due to immoderation. Every creation of God is good and nothing is rejected, being received with gratitude. Jacob 5:8. Therefore, be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawing near. (Speaks) about long-suffering in relation to each other, about patience in relation to outsiders. Someone is long-suffering to those from whom it is possible to defend himself; but tolerates those from whom one cannot defend oneself. Therefore, when applied to God, patience is never used, and long-suffering is repeated. Even if they seem abandoned here, they will enjoy great glory there. And if those who are exalted see those who stand near God punished, despised, and ridiculed by them, they will weep and weep when he brings to such glory the pitiful, the unfortunate, who suffered countless calamities and believed. Jacob 5:12. First of all, my brother, do not swear by heaven, or earth, or any other oath. How can one not (swear) if someone demands an oath and indicates the need for it? Let the fear of God be stronger than this necessity. If you refer to such reasons, you will not fulfill what is commanded. And regarding human laws, you will never dare to refer to this, and you will not say it, but willy-nilly you will agree with what is written. Or else, you will never submit to necessity. Anyone who has previously heard about the beatitudes and has disposed himself as Christ commanded will never, under any circumstances, submit to such a necessity, being conscientious and honest in everything. What is superfluous in the words: “her, her” and “neither, nor” (Matthew 5:37)? An oath is not for perjury; No one should know this perjury, because it is from the evil one, it is superfluous and even the opposite; excess and more is an oath. Jacob 5:17, 18. Elijah the man was not servile to us, and prayed with a prayer that there would be no rain, and that there should not be rain on the earth for three years and six months: and again he prayed, and the sky gave rain, and the earth vegetated its fruit. So that at least in this way, tormented by hunger, they hasten to the Lord, so that hunger becomes for them an incentive to salvation; nothing, he says, can teach, like hunger, that we, although taught in this way, should resort to the Creator. (And after a few words). The word of the prophet came out and immediately the air changed; the sky became copper, without changing its nature, but retaining energy. Immediately the elements took on a different form. The word of the prophet fell like a strong fire on the expanses of the earth and everything immediately dried up, everything became empty and disappeared. Jacob 5:19, 20. Brothers, if anyone in you strays from the path of truth, and someone turns him, let him know that turning a sinner from the error of his path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. And how should you apply it? Like farmers, seeds are sown at once, but do not remain forever, but require a lot of care. If they do not cover the thrown seeds by raising the ground, then they sow for the chickens and all the birds that collect the seeds. So too, if we do not cover what we sow with constant attention, the devil will spoil it, and our negligence will destroy it, and the sun will dry up, and the rain will drown it, and we will choke the thorns. Thus, once the sower cannot move away, he must remain in place for a long time in order to drive away the birds of the air, pull out thorns, put earth in rocky places, preventing, eliminating and destroying everything harmful. But on this land everything depends on the farmer, since this land is soulless, being ready only to suffer. But on the spiritual earth it is not so. Everything depends not on the teachers, but if not more, then half on the students. Our business is to sow seeds, and yours is to fulfill (our) words. Instead of: μὴ ώς ἐχθρόν ήγεῖσθε, as is usually read in lists and translated in Slavic: “do not have an enemy.” Σπουδάσωμεν in sp. new driver there is no text. Καὶ κλαύσατε “and weep” is missing.