Leviticus 25:1-17

The Sabbatical Year (Deut 15.1-11)

25:1 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. 6 You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath–you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you; 7 for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food. (Leviticus 25:1-7, NRSV)

The Year of Jubilee

8 You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month–on the day of atonement–you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.

13 In this year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property. 14 When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another. 15 When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years. 16 If the years are more, you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price; for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you. 17 You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 25:8-17, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of April 27, 2008 (the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year Two), when comments were repeated from May 21, 2006 (the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One).

This reading introduces the “Sabbatical Year” and the “Year of Jubilee” (NRSV section titles in some printings).

On the Sabbatical Year

The Sabbatical Year is first introduced. “The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai (yn1ys9 rhaB4, b ^ehar sînay), saying: Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath (tBAwa . . . ht!8b4w!&v4, w ^ešāv ^etāh . . . šabbāt) for the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in their yield; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest (NOtBAwa tBawa, šabbath šabbāthôn) for the land, a sabbath (tBAwa, šabbāth) for the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard” (Lev. 25:1-4). Of the words “on Mount Sinai,” Baruch J. Schwartz says, “Midrashic interpretation took this to mean that the divine speech recorded here was communicated to Moses during one of his visits to the top of the mountain. In P, however [by which he means the so-called Priestly source of part of the Pentateuch], Moses ascended Sinai only once, for the sole purpose of receiving the instructions for the Tabernacle and the priesthood. Thus here the words ‘behar sinay’ mean ‘at (not on) Mount Sinai,’ i.e., [in the Tabernacle which stood] at [the foot of] Mount Sinai; see 7:38” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Lev. 25:1; the second and third pairs of square brackets are his).

Commenting on “[shall] the land keep a sabbath” (JPS 1917, for NRSV “the land shall observe a sabbath”), Rabbi J. H. Hertz says, “The land is personified. It should rest in the seventh year, as man rests on the seventh day. the Israelite may not during that year till it himself or allow anyone to do so on his behalf. ‘Just as the freedom of the individual was a fundamental principle of the Torah, so was the freedom of the land from the absolute ownership of man’ (F. Perles)” (Pentateuch & Haftorahs, 2^nd ed., 24^th printing, 1981, on Lev. 25:2). On “unto the LORD” (JPS 1917, for NRSV “for the LORD”), the Rabbi explains:

As the Sabbath was more than a cessation of labour, and was a day dedicated to God–similarly during the Sabbatical year, the soil was to be devoted to Him by being placed at the service of the poor and the animal creation (Exod. xxiii, 10, 11). In Deut. xxxi, 10 f, we learn that the seventh year was, furthermore, to be utilized for national educational ends, and special measures were to be taken to acquaint the men and the women, the children as well as the resident aliens, with the teachings and duties of the Torah. Josephus rightly claims that while the best knowledge of olden times was usually treated as a secret doctrine, and confined to the few, it was the glory of Moses that he made it current coin. (ibid.)

Of “a sabbath of the LORD” (NJPS, for NRSV “a sabbath for the LORD”), Schwartz says, “Only here is the seventh year called ‘shabbat of the LORD,’ thus making it equivalent to the other appointed times and sacred occasions of the LORD (see ch. 23)” (op. cit., on v. 2). Commenting on “in the seventh year,”Rabbi Hertz adds, “In the seventh month of that year, after the gathering of the harvest, the year of rest began” (op. cit., on v. 4). According to Jacob Milgrom, “Sow . . . reap [is] proof that the sabbatical and jubilee years begin in the fall” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Lev. 25:35, 11). Of “sabbath of solemn rest” (JPS, for NRSV “sabbath of complete rest”), the Rabbi says it was “a Sabbath of the strictest kind. The same phrase is used of the Day of Atonement (xxiii, 32), as well as of the Sabbath day (xxiii, 3)” (ibid.; cf. Schwartz, op. cit., on v. 4).

Instructions are given for the sabbatical year. “You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine ( j~r@yz9n4 yben04f9, ‘inn ^evê n ^ezîrekā ): it shall be a year of complete rest (NOtBAwa tBawa, šabbath šabbāthôn) for the land” (v. 5, cf. v. 4). “Aftergrowth,” says Schwartz, was “plants that spring up on their own, without deliberate sowing” (op. cit., on v. 5). Rabbi Hertz comments on “undressed vine” (JPS, for NRSV “unpruned vine”): The Heb. is the word for a Nazirite whose hair was to remain unshorn (Num. vi, 5). Like him, the vines were not to be trimmed during the Sabbatical year. There was to be neither planting, pruning, nor gathering” (op. cit., on v. 5). “You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath (Cr,xAhA tBawa, šabbath hā’ārets),” says the LORD, “you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you; for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food” (vv. 6-7). The phrase “the sabbath-produce of the land” (JPS, for NRSV “what the land yields during its sabbath,” cf. NJPS 1985, 1999 “whatever the land during its sabbath will produce”), Rabbi Hertz calls “a poetic term for the chance, spontaneous produce during the Sabbath-year” (op. cit., on v. 6). On “for you [plural]” (JPS; cf. NRSV “You may eat,” cf. NJPS), the Rabbi says, “The plural is used to comprehend all those that are to benefit by this provision. The fruit and grain which grew of itself in the Sabbatical year might be plucked and eaten, but not stored. Grain growing of itself–i.e. without regular ploughing and sowing–is not uncommon in Palestine” (ibid.). According to Schwartz, “Normal, wholesale reaping and harvesting is not permitted; rather, the landholder may gather as needed in order to feed his own household, and his livestock may graze” (op. cit.., on v. 6). Milgrom says, “This verse alters Ex. 23:11 by denying the sabbatical aftergrowth to the poor and endowing it to the owner and his household. H [i.e., the hypothetical source called the ‘Holiness Code’] makes other, ongoing provisions for the poor (19:9-10; 23:20)” (op. cit., on v. 6). So, according to David P. Wright, “Agricultural work is suspended in every seventh year. The people live off what grows on its own in the field,” says David P. Wright (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Lev. 25:2-7). He adds, “The \phrase sabbath of complete rest (v. 4) indicates that this is observed by all simultaneously.” Rabbi Hertz notes a continuation here of “the cycle of sacred seasons begun in xxiii,” and “the system of sabbaths–the Sabbath at the end of the week; Pentecost at the end of seven weeks; the Seventh month, as the sacred month studded with Festivals–[which] is here completed by the Sabbatical year and by the Jubilee , which came after a ‘week’ of Sabbatical years” (op. cit., on Lev., chap. 25).

On the Year of Jubilee

As the instructions continue, we learn that after seven sabbatical years, the next year, the fiftieth (7 x 7 + 1), is a jubilee year. “You shall count off seven weeks of years (Myn9wA tto8B4wa fbaw,, ševa‘ šabb ^etōth šānîm), seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years” (v. 8). Commenting on “weeks of years,” Schwartz says, “literally ‘sabbaths of years’; ‘shabbat’ in the sense of ‘week’ is common in later Heb.” (op. cit., on v. 8). “Then,” says the LORD, “you shall have the trumpet (rpaOw, šôphar) sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month [i.e., Tishri]–on the day of atonement–you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land” (v. 9). According to Schwartz, “The fiftieth year follows the seventh sabbatical (though rabbinic tradition records other views as well). Unlike the seventh year, which is called a ‘shabbat’ but not referred to as holy, it is sacred. It is inaugurated in the seventh month since the autumnal New Year, which later became dominant in the Jewish calendar but has biblical roots, is the start of the agricultural cycle (see Exod. 23:16; 34:22)” (op. cit., on v. 9). “On the tenth day of the month–the Day of Atonement” (NJPS 1985, 1999, for NRSV “on the tenth day of the seventh month–on the day of atonement”), Schwartz adds, “Perhaps the tenth of the month was thought of, as it was in later times, as the conclusion of the New Year’s celebrations” (ibid.). According to Rabbi Hertz,

Although the year commenced on the first of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah, it was not until the tenth of the month, Yom Kippur, that the proclamation of the Jubilee was made. The Day of Atonement and the Jubilee had much in common. The message of both was a ‘new birth.’ The Day of Atonement freed man from slavery to sin and enabled him to start life anew, at one with God and with his fellow men. The Jubilee had for its aim the emancipation of the individual from the shackles of poverty, and the readjustment of the various strata in the commonwealth in accordance with social justice. No more appropriate day, therefore, for inaugurating such a year of rectification–as well as to attune the hearts of all to the sacrifices demanded by such rectification–than the day of Atonement; and no more suitable signal to inaugurate it than the blowing of the Shofar. Isa. LVIII, which forms the Haftorah for the Day of Atonement, seems to have been spoken on a Yom Kippur inaugurating a Jubilee year. (op. cit., on v. 9)

“And you shall hallow the fiftieth year,” the people are told, “and you shall proclaim liberty (rOrD4, d ^erôr) throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee (lbeOy, yôvēl) for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family” (vv. 8-10). Of “liberty,” Milgrom says,

Hebrew deror is related to Akkadian duraru, which could also entail the emancipation of indentured slaves, the return of confiscated land, and the cancellation of debts. However, it was episodic, occasionally proclaimed upon the ascension of the Mesopotamian king to the throne. Also its purpose was strictly economic, to relieve the plight of the poor, whereas in Israel its goal was social as well, to preserve the clan structure by restoring its landholdings. (op. cit., on v. 10)

Also with reference to this Mesopotamian (i.e., Akkadian) word, Schwartz refers to Isa. 61:1; Jer. 34:8; Ezek. 46:17” (op. cit., on v. 10). On “jubilee,” he adds, “Ancient translators drew an artificial connection between Heb. ‘yovel’ and the similar sounding Latin ‘jubilare,’ ‘shout for joy’; thus the English ‘jubilee’ suggests the idea of jubilation not present in the Heb.” (ibid.). Of “a jubilee,” Rabbi Hertz says, “Or, ‘a year of jubilee’; the year is so named from the blast (Heb. yobel; lit. ‘a ram’s horn’) by which it was announced” (op. cit., on v. 10).

“That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee (lb26Oy, yôvēl ) for you,” says the LORD: “you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines (hAyr@&z9n4, n ^ezireyhā ) (v. 11, cf. v. 5a). According to Rabbi Hertz, “The Jubilee year shares the features of the Sabbatical year” (ibid., on v. 11); which means, according to Schwartz, “Since the fiftieth year always follows a sabbatical year, a two-year cessation of agricultural activity is entailed” (op. cit., on v. 11). According to the Rabbi, “Some have held that the forty-ninth year itself was the Jubilee, as otherwise there would be two consecutive Sabbath-years. This opinion is not the traditional view, though it finds some support in Heb. idiom” (op. cit., on v. 10). He refers to an earlier note on Jeremiah 34:14, “at the end of seven years . . . and hath served thee six years” (JPS, for NRSV “every seventh year . . . and have served you six years”): “In English we would say, ‘at the end of six years’ service’ (Moffatt). A similar Heb. idiom says ‘And on the seventh say God finished his work’ (Gen. ii, 2). Cf. the French ‘quinze jours’ for the English ‘fourteen days’; or the German ‘nach acht Tagen’ for the English ‘in a week’s time’ ” (ibid., on Jer. 34:14, in Haftorah Mishpatim, Jer. 34:8-22 and 33:25, 26, related to the Sedrah Mishpatim, Exod. 21-24). “For it is a jubilee (lb26Oy, yôvēl ); it shall be holy (wd,qo, qōdeš ) to you: you shall neat only what the field itself produces” (v. 12). According to the Rabbi, “the Israelite may not store any of the produce, but whenever he requires corn or fruit, he may go out into the field and gather it” (ibid., on v. 12).

“In this year of jubilee,” says the LORD, “you shall return everyone of you, to your property” (v. 13). “This repetition of v. 10,” says the Rabbi, “serves as an introduction to the exposition of the law of land-tenure” (ibid., on v. 13). The anticipated release of property to the original owner in the year of jubilee is to be taken into account in real estate transactions. “When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another,” says the LORD (v. 14). The Rabbi says, “There is to be no rack-renting [i.e., exacting exorbitant rent]” (ibid., on v. 14). “When you buy from your neighbor,” says the LORD, “you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years” (v. 15). “Buying and selling of land in Canaan,” says Schwartz, “is actually a matter of leasing until the jubilee” (op. cit., on vv. 14-17). “According to the number of years” (JPS, for NRSV “[only] for the number of years”), says the Rabbi, means that “what is really conveyed to the purchaser is not the land, but the number of harvests which the incoming tenant would enjoy” (op. cit., on v. 15). “If the years are more,” says the LORD, “you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price; for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you” (v. 16). Commenting on “the number of crops” (JPS, for NRSV “a certain number of harvests”), the Rabbi says, “As the land itself belonged to God (v. 23), only the produce could be a matter of sale” (ibid., on v. 16). Although further instructions regarding the year of jubilee continue, today’s reading concludes with a stern warning against cheating. “You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God” (v. 17). Commenting on “wrong” (NJPS, for NRSV “cheat”), Schwartz explains, “i.e., cheat by deceitfully inflating the price” (op. cit., on v. 17). Of “fear thy God ” (JPS, for NRSV “fear your God”), Rabbi Hertz says, “This principle of a fair deal in the leasing of landed property was to be acted upon in all relations between man and man. Hence the addition of ‘thou shalt fear thy God’ ” (op. cit., on v. 17).

In summary, Wright says, “Every fifty years is a holy jubilee year. Land that has been sold reverts to its original owners and indentured Israelites return to their own households and land. Contrast Ex. 21.1-6; Deut 15:1-3, 12-18; Jer. 34:8-22, which suggest that for others the seventh year had this function” (op. cit., on Lev. 25:8-17). According to Rabbi Hertz,

The Jubilee institution was a marvelous safeguard against deadening poverty. By it houses and lands were kept from accumulating in the hands of the few, pauperism was prevented, and a race of independent freeholders assured. It represents such a rare and striking introduction of morals into economics, that many have been inclined to question whether this wonderful institution was ever in actual force. However, ‘nothing is more certain than that the Jubilee was once for centuries a reality in the national life of Israel’ (Ewald). Ezekiel speaks of its non-observance as one of the signs that ‘the end is come’ upon the nation for its misdoings; and he mentions . . . ‘the year of liberty’, when a gift of land must return to the original owner. (op. cit., on Lev. 25:8-55)

James 1:2-8, 16-18

Salutation

1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Faith and Wisdom

2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. 6 But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; 7 for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. (James 1:2-8, NRSV)

Trial and Temptation (James 1:12-16)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

            16 Do not be deceived, my beloved.

17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:16-18, NRSV)

In the following, relevant comments are repeated from June 21, 2009 (the Sunday closest to Jude 22, Year One). Since that reading included James 1:1-18, of which only vv. 2-8 and 16-18 are today’s reading, one may want to go to the Archive for June 21, 2009, for some background and context. Consider further the comments of May 18 and 19, 2009 (Monday and Tuesday in the week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One), when the readings were James 1:1-15 and 16-27, and comments were based with some editing on those of November 13, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), and earlier, as noted there.

On James 1:2-8 (-11)

In his early paragraphs, James refers briefly to some themes that will be treated at greater length later in the book, for example, faith (1:3, 6; 2:14-26), the lowly and the rich (1:9-11; 2:1-7; 5:1-6), and temptation (1:12-16; cf. the sources of conflicts, 4:1-10, and the call for patience, 5:7-11). God’s most significant gift for us is “birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures” (1:18)

“My brothers and sisters,” says James, “whenever you face trials (peirasmoiv, peirasmoi) of any kind, consider it nothing but joy” (v. 2). The word translated “trials” here means “an attempt to learn the nature or character of something, test, trial ”or “an attempt to make one do something wrong, temptation, enticement to sin” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. peirasmovV, peirasmos, meanings no. (1) and (2) ). The first of these meanings is suggested for James 1:2, and the second for verse 12 (ibid.). Cain Hope Felder seems to suggest both meanings (or a choice?) for verse 2. “Trials, or ‘temptations,’ ‘tests’ (see Gen. 22:1; Mt. 4:1-14; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 1:6)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Jas. 1:2). But James will pronounce a blessing on “anyone who endures temptation” (Jas. 1:12). He explains the advice to consider trials “joy” (v. 2), “because you know that the testing (dokivmion, dokimion) of your faith produces endurance” (v. 3). The definition of dokivmion (dokimion) here, “the process or means of determining the genuineness of something, testing, means of testing” (BDAG, s.v. dokivmion, dokimion) suggests “trials” or “tests,” rather than “temptations” for peirasmoiv (peirasmoi) in verse 2. As noted, James says “the testing of your faith produces endurance (uJpomonhv, hypomonē); and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature (tevleioi, teleioi) and complete (oJlovklhroi, holoklēroi), lacking in nothing” (vv. 3-4). Felder sees “testing . . . endurance . . . complete” here as “a catena [‘chain’] or series of linked phrases, that builds to a climax; cf. Rom. 5:3-4” (op. cit., on vv. 3-4). Of the words “mature and complete,” he says, better ‘and perfect,’ recalling the teaching of Jesus (Mt. 5:48)” (ibid.). In the Matthew passage, however, it is tevleioi (teleioi), not oJlovklhroi (holoklēroi), that is translated “perfect.” But by doubling up with these synonyms, as it were, James places strong emphasis on maturity or perfection. The terms are defined as follows:

oJlovklhroV (holoklēros) “pertains to being complete and meeting all expectations, with integrity, whole, complete, undamaged, intact, blameless” in 1 Thess. 5:23; Jas. 1:4 (BDAG, s.v. oJlovklhroV, holoklēros).

tevleioV (teleios) “pertains to being fully developed in a moral sense–(a) of humans perfect, fully developed” meaning no. (4) (a), where it is noted that the term occurs with oJlovklhroi, holoklēroi (BDAG, s.v. tevleioV, teleios).

According to Sophie Laws, “One virtue leads to another” (HarperCollins Study Bible, 1^st ed., 1993, on Jas. 1:2-4, cf. Rom 5:3-4; 1 Pet. 1:6-7). Addison emends the text of verse 3, substituting “in endurance” (uJpomonh:/, hypomonē(i), dative case) for “endurance” (uJpomonhvn, hypomonēn, accusative case). “In the usual text “endurance” is the result achieved; in our emended text, in endurance [dative of means], it is the means and method by which we strive for (and, we hope, win) approbation” (op. cit., p. 55, on Jas. 1:3-4. cf. the Excursus, pp. 90-92).

We are promised wisdom, if we ask. “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously (aJplw:V, haplōs) and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you” (v. 5). Addison translates this verse as “But if any of you is lacking knowledge (of God’s way and will), let him ask of God, who gives it to all as a simple (unconditional) gift and chides not (the petitioner for previous ignorance)” (ibid., p. 55). He explains:

In all Christian temptation wisdom is to be had ‘just for the asking,’ a gift here described by James with an adverb etymologically meaning ‘simply,’ a word often used in Greek in contrast to another Greek word connoting complex variety, in nature or art, from a patchwork quilt to an elaborate financial fraud. For the mind of such a giver we confess that no single sufficient word occurs to us: ‘kind,’ ‘generous,’ ‘wholehearted,’ are neither inapposite nor completely adequate. (ibid., p. 56, on v. 5)

In James, chapter 3, we are advised to demonstrate wisdom: “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom” (3:13). Here (1:5) James promises that God will give wisdom. Compare Jesus’ statement that God will give “good things” (Mt. 7:11) or “the Holy Spirit” (Lk. 11:13) to those who ask. Wisdom, sofiva (sophia), gives Greek philosophy its name–philo-sophia–but the wisdom mentioned here has in mind the biblical background, hm!k4H! (chokmāh), which was with God in the creation (Proverbs 8:22-31, but in general, is practical wisdom for living. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; / fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7). In the Jewish tradition, says Addison,

Sometimes “Wisdom means Law (Torah),” says an old commentary on Ps. 99:4 (Midr. Ps. on 99:4). This Wisdom / Law was needed for defeating the wiles of the Evil Spirit in man; but wisdom is a gift, from on high, which cannot be bought by man; its sole source is God: so OT Wisdom literature, Philo, and the rabbis. “Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast imparted of Thy wisdom to flesh and blood. (ibid., p. 56, on Jas. 1:5)

When asking for wisdom, we must “ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (vv. 6, 8). For “wave . . . sea . . . wind,” Felder refers to “3:4; cf. Isa. 57:20” (op. cit., on v. 6). The unusual verse numbering in the NRSV, “tossed by the wind;⁷, ⁸for the doubter” (NRSV vv. 6-8; contrast AV/KJV, TNIV), apparently reflects different interpreters’ views of the syntax and punctuation, to which Addison devotes a five page excursus (op. cit., Excursus C, pp. 92-96). He concludes that the best interpretation is provided by the AV/KJV (pp. 94, 96). He compares Rom. 2:7-10, which he calls “a sort of A B A rondo form: . . . So here in James, A, the doubter is like the tossing sea; B, for he cannot win an answer to his prayer; A, he is like a rudderless vessel (if we may give the effect in another form” (ibid., p. 94).

            On James 1:(12-)16

After the interval in today’s reading, we come to a warning.“Do not be deceived my beloved” (v. 16). With apparent reference to “one’s own desire” (v. 14), which, when it “has conceived . . . gives birth to sin” (v. 15), Felder says, “some Hellenistic Jews believed that each person has both an evil inclination and a good inclination; because God created both, the individual might blame God for moral lapses. James vigorously refutes this position (see Sir 15:11-20) without compromising a pastoral stance (my beloved)” (ibid., on vv. 13-16).

On James 1:17-18

In what Felder calls “a return to the subject of God’s generosity (v. 5),” James says “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (v. 17). Of the words, “Father of lights,” Felder says, “the title also occurs in CD 5:17-18; Apocalypse of Moses 36:56; Testament of Abraham 7:60; cf. Gen. 1:15-16; Ps. 136:7” (op. cit., on v. 17). According to Laws and Wilson, “Variation, shadow and change are terms in Greek astronomy” (op. cit., on v. 17). James concludes this reading with what we may see as the fundamental Christian experience. “In fulfillment of his [i.e., God’s] own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures” (v. 18). “The reference,” say Laws and Wilson, “could be to the creation of humankind by the word of God (see Gen. 1:26) or more probably to the re-birth of Christians by the word of the gospel (see Jn. 3:3-7; 1 Pet. 1:23). The birth described here contrasts with that of v. 15” (ibid., on v 18; cf. Felder, op. cit., on vv. 17-18). Rainer Reisner puts it this way:

In sharp contrast to human behaviour in 1:15, God performs a new creation by spiritual birth from his ‘free will’ (v. 18, own tr.). This idea has an antecedent in the apocalyptic preaching of John the Baptist (Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8), is clearly attested in the Jesus tradition (Mt. 18:3; Jn. 3:3, 5), and is common to all important strata of NT Christianity ( Cor. 4:15; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 1:5; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3; Jn. 3:3-8; 1 Jn. 3:9; 4:7). (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 1258, on Jas. 1:16-18)

Luke 12:13-21

Warning against Avarice

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." 14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15 And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

The Parable of the Rich Fool

16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' 18 Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21, NRSV)

The following comments on Luke 12:13-21 are based on relevant comments from those on Luke 12:13-31 of October 31, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), when comments on the Parable of the Rich Fool were repeated from April 27, 2008 (the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year Two), when comments were based on those of November 3, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), which, in turn, were combined with revision from October 29, 2004,(Friday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), and from May 21, 2006 (the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year Two).

Warning against Avarice

Today’s reading from Luke follows a series of teachings on the Leaven of the Pharisees (Lk. 12:1; cf. Mk. 8:14-15; Mt. 16:5-6), an Exhortation to Fearless Confession (Lk. 12:2-9; cf. Mt. 10:26-33), the Sin against the Holy Spirit (Lk. 12:10; cf. Mk. 3:28-30; Mt. 12:31-32), and the Assistance of the Holy Spirit when the disciples are called before authorities (Lk. 12:11-12; cf. Lk. 21:14-15; Mk. 13:11; Mt. 10:19-20) (for the references, cf. Kurt Aland, ed., Synopsis of the Four Gospels, revised printing, 1985, secs. 195-198, pp. 179-181). In the present reading, a listener addresses a question to Jesus. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance (klhronomiva, klēronomia) with me” (Lk. 12:13). Earlier, Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:29-37) in response to a question from a lawyer (10:25), and later, when a dinner guest (cf. Lk. 14:1) exclaimed, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (Lk. 14:14), Jesus responded with the Parable of the Great Supper (Lk. 14:15-24; cf. Mt. 22:1-14). In the present instance, after an immediate response to the listener’s request, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” (Lk. 12:14), to which he added, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (v. 15), Jesus tells the Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk. 12:16-21).

There are no parallels to this warning, or the Parable of the Rich Fool in the canonical Gospels. But consider this from the Gospel of Thomas.

[A man said] to him: Speak to my brothers that they divide my father’s possessions with me. He said to him: O (w\ [ō]) man, who made me a divider? He turned to his disciples (maqhthvV [matthētēs]) (and) said to them: I am not a divider, am I (mhv [mē])? (GT 72, trans. Bruce M. Metzger)

In the Gospel of Thomas the saying is independent (as are most of the sayings there). In Luke, the saying leads into the Parable of the Rich Fool.

The Rich Fool

The rich man had a superabundance of fruits from his harvest. “The land of a rich man produced abundantly” (v. 16). Jesus says that the man thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” (v. 17), but soon concluded, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry” (vv. 18-19). But Jesus’ points out the man’s misplaced emphasis on the benefits of his material goods. “You fool!” says God, according to Jesus’ story. “This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (v. 20). And Jesus explains his point. “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God” (v. 21; cf. Mt. 6:19-21; Lk. 12:33-34).

Earlier in the Gospel of Thomas, there is a reference to a rich man that bears some resemblance to this parable:

Jesus said: There was a rich (plouvsioV [plousios]) man who had many possessions (crh:ma [chrēma]). He said, I will use (crh:sqai [chrēsthai]) my possessions (crh:ma [chrēma]) that I may sow and reap and plant and fill my storehouses with fruit (karpovV [karpos]), so that I may lack nothing. These were his thoughts in his heart. And in that night he died. He who has ears, let him hear. (GT 63, trans., Metzger)

This version clearly lacks the emphasis in Luke’s version on the need to work for those things that matter to God and his kingdom–and, in the long run, of course, are most beneficial to oneself. The man’s misplaced emphasis and values in the Gospel of Thomas version are sad, but the remedy is not obvious. Should he have prepared to die? Should he have taken some measures to prevent his death? One wonders.

Earlier, in response to a lawyer’s question, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk. 10:25), Jesus replies with a question of his own. “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” (v. 26). The lawyer’s response points to the two greatest laws (citing Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18), echoing words attributed to Jesus himself elsewhere (Mt. 22:34-40; Mk. 12:28-34). When Jesus commends him for his answer (Lk. 10:28), he follows up with another question, “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). Jesus then responds with the Parable of the Good Samaritan (10:29-37). In the present context the question about the “family inheritance” (Lk. 12:13) reminds us of the request of the Prodigal Son, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me (to; ejpibavllon mevron oujsivaV, to epiballon meros tēs ousias)” (Lk. 15:12). (He cannot yet call it his “inheritance,” of course.).

In the Parable of the Rich Fool, the focus is on the man’s preoccupation with his material wealth, which crowds out any concern for spiritual values. This parable does not have a “Lazarus” character (cf. the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Lk. 16:9-31) to highlight the man’s lack of concern for those in need, who were probably all around him. But the parable is tailored to fit the questioner’s greed. In the continuation, Jesus tells his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear” (Lk. 12:22), and continues with teaching about not being anxious (Lk. 12:22-32) which is included in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 26:25-34).

Perhaps you will forgive me for inserting a joke. My father, a minister and teacher who died when I was young, used to preach on this passage. There was a preacher, he said, who was prone to exaggeration. His wife told him, I’m going to sit on the platform with you and if you exaggerate, I’m going to pull your coat tail. So, during the service, the preacher announced his sermon on the Rich Fool. As he told the story, he began to get excited. “The man said to himself, ‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones’ ” (Lk. 12:18). “I will build big barns,” the preacher repeated, “big barns! The barns were really big, a mile long!” Then his wife pulled his coat tail. “And a foot wide.” Jokes aside, we are reminded of what should be our real priorities.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net