James 1:27 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:19-27

In this part of the chapter we are required, I. To restrain the workings of passion. This lesson we should learn under afflictions; and this we shall learn if we are indeed begotten again by the word of truth. For thus the connection stands?An angry and hasty spirit is soon provoked to ill things by afflictions, and errors and ill opinions become prevalent through the workings of our own vile and vain affections; but the renewing grace of God and the word of the gospel teach us to subdue... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:26-27

1:26-27 If anyone thinks that he is a worshipper of God and yet does not bridle his tongue, his worship is an empty thing. This is pure and undefiled worship, as God the Father sees it, to visit the orphans and the widows, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. We must be careful to understand what James is saying here. The Revised Standard Version translates the phrases at the beginning of James 1:27 : "Religion that is pure and undefiled is....." The word translated religion is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled ,.... That which is sincere and genuine, and free from adulteration and hypocrisy: before God and the Father ; or in the sight of God the Father of Christ, and all his people; that which is approved of by him, who is the searcher of hearts, and the trier of the reins of men, "is this": not that the apostle is giving a full definition of true religion; only he mentions some of the effects of it, by which it is known, and without which it cannot be true and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 1:27

Pure religion, and undefiled - Having seen something of the etymology of the word θρησκεια , which we translate religion, it will be well to consider the etymology of the word religion itself. In the 28th chapter of the 4th book of his Divine Instructions, Lactantius, who flourished about a.d. 300, treats of hope, true religion, and superstition; of the two latter he gives Cicero's definition from his book De Natura Deorum, lib. ii. c. 28, which with his own definition will lead us to a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - James 1:27

Verse 27 27Pure religion. As he passes by those things which are of the greatest moment in religion, he does not define generally what religion is, but reminds us that religion without the things he mentions is nothing; as when one given to wine and gluttony boasts that he is temperate, and another should object, and say that the temperate man is he who does not indulge in excess as to wine or eating; his object is not to express the whole of what temperance is, but to refer only to one thing,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

EXHORTATION read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

Deeds, not words. 1. The right spirit for the Christian is the receptive ; ready to hear, and to receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is to be as the seed falling on the good ground (comp. Matthew 13:3 , etc). A heathen philosopher has noted that man has two ears and only one mouth ; showing that he should be more ready to hear than to speak. 2. A receptive spirit is not alone sufficient. Action must follow. Holy Scripture is a mirror, in which a man may see... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

The law of the new life. "Ye know this, my beloved brethren;" viz. that ye have been begotten again by God. But now, from this vantage-ground, he presses the necessity of a consistent life. They have espoused, by God's grace, a new ideal of character and conduct; let their whole life show forth its power. This is the topic of the whole passage, and it divides itself very naturally into the related subjects of—meekness, self-knowledge, and practical religion (see Punchard, in Bishop... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:26-27

The true ritualism. These two verses enforce by an example what those immediately preceding illustrate by a simile. The words "religious" and "religion" denote external religious service—the body, or outward attire of godliness, rather than its inward spirit. The apostle indicates in these two sentences the "work" of which every one who truly "receives" the gospel is a "doer." I. AN EXAMPLE OF VAIN RELIGIOUS SERVICE . ( James 1:26 ) This statement points back to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:27

God and the Father ; rather, our God and Father. The article ( τῷ ) binds together θεῷ and πατρί , so that they should not be separated, as in the A.V. To visit the fatherless … and to keep himself unspotted. Observe that our duty towards our fellow-men is placed first; then that towards ourselves. ἐπισκέπτεσθαι is the regular word for visiting the sick; cf. Ecclesiasticus 7:35, "Be not slow to visit the sick ( μὴ ὄκει ἐπισκέτεσπθαι ἀῤῥωστον ) . " The... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:19-27

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:26-27

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 1:27

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 1:27

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - James 1:27

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:19-27

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:26-27

The Pulpit Commentary - James 1:27

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