James 1:18 - Exposition

Begat ; literally, brought forth ; ἀπεκύησεν . The word has been already used of sin in James 1:15 . The recurrence of it hero points to the connection of thought. The offspring of sin has been shown to be death. God, too, who is both Father and Mother (Bengel), has his offspring. But how different! Us ( ημῦς ). To whom does this refer?

Probably (3). Just as Israel of old was Jehovah's firstborn ( Exodus 4:22 ), so now the germ of the Christian Church, as found in these Judaeo-Christian communities, was to be "a kind of firstfruits." The thought may be illustrated from a striking parallel in Philo ('De Creat. Princ.'): τὸ σύμπαν ἰουδαίων ἔθνος … τοῦ σύμπαντος ἀνθρώπων γένους ἀπενεμηυη οἷα τις ἀπαρχή τῷ ποιῃτῇ πατρί . Transfer this from the Jewish to the Judaeo-Christian communities, and we have the very thought of the apostle. By the word of truth (cf. 1 Peter 1:23 , where, as here, the new birth is connected with the Word of God). A kind of firstfruits of his creatures ( ἀπαρχή ). The image is taken from the wave sheaf, the firstfruits of the harvest, the earnest of the crop to follow. St. Paul (according to a very possible reading) has the same figure in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 , "God chose you as firstfruits ( ἀπαρχήν );" see R.V. margin. Elsewhere he applies it to Christ, "the Firstfruits of them that are asleep" ( 1 Corinthians 15:20 ). "His creatures ( κτισμάτων )." It does not appear to be absolutely necessary to extend the use of this word so as to include the irrational creation as well as mankind. הידב is frequently used in rabbinical writings for the Gentile world , and κτίσμα may be given the same meaning here, and perhaps κτίσις in Mark 16:15 ; Romans 8:19 , etc.; Colossians 1:23 .