James 1:13

Let no one say (mhdei legetw). Present active imperative, prohibiting such a habit. When he is tempted (peirazomeno). Present passive participle of peirazw, here in evil sense of tempt, not test, as in Matthew 4:1 . Verses James 1:12-18 give a vivid picture of temptation. I am tempted of God (apo qeou peirazomai). The use of apo shows origin (apo with ablative case), not agency (upo), as in Mark 1:13 , of Satan. It is contemptible, but I have heard wicked and weak men blame God for their sins. Cf. Proverbs 19:3 ; Sirach 15:11f. Temptation does not spring "from God." Cannot be tempted with evil (apeirasto kakwn). Verbal compound adjective (alpha privative and peirazw), probably with the ablative case, as is common with alpha privative (Robertson, Grammar, p. 516), though Moulton (Prolegomena, p. 74) treats it as the genitive of definition. The ancient Greek has apeirato (from peiraw), but this is the earliest example of apeirasto (from peirazw) made on the same model. Only here in the N.T. Hort notes apeirato kakwn as a proverb (Diodorus, Plutarch, Josephus) "free from evils." That is possible here, but the context calls for "untemptable" rather than "untempted." And he himself tempteth no man (peirazei de auto oudena). Because "untemptable."