Nor shadow of turning - A study
by Rick Livermore
The following information is a batch of 3 block quotes relating to a unique
series of words in James 1:17. The highlight color I added is the teal because I wanted the other colors to stand out as colors
from the block quotes. The science of astronomy had not yet emerged when this
was written. The movements of the sun, moon, planets,
and stars had not been understood well enough to build a planetarium that
could simulate those movements. Imagine a gift coming down from the Father
of Lights. Read on and you will know a little more about the four
words translated "nor
shadow of turning."
James 1:16 (WuestNT)
16 (WuestNT) Stop being
deceived, my brethren, beloved ones. Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom there can be
no variableness nor shadow which is cast by
the motion of turning. In accordance with His deliberate
purpose He brought us into being by means of the word of truth, resulting in
our being a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
τροπή [See Stg: <G5157>]
tropé; gen. tropés, fem.
noun from trépō (n.f., see anatrépō <G396>),
to turn. A turning,
turning back as of the heavenly bodies in their courses (James 1:17; Sept.: Deut. 33:14; Job 38:33).
Complete Word Study Dictionary, The - The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New
Testament.
Variation (parallagē).
Old word from parallassō,
to make things alternate, here only in N.T. In Aristeas in sense of alternate
stones in pavements. Dio Cassius has parallaxis without reference to
the modern astronomical parallax, though James here is comparing God (Father of
the lights) to the sun (Malachi 4:2), which does have periodic variations.
Shadow that is cast by turning
(tropēs
aposkiasma). Tropē is an old word for "turning" (from trepō to
turn), here only in N.T. Aposkiasma is a late and rare word (aposkiasmos
in Plutarch) from aposkiazō (apo, skia) a shade cast by one
object on another. It is not clear what the precise metaphor is, whether the shadow thrown on the dial (aposkiazō
in Plato) or the borrowed light of the moon
lost to us as it goes behind the earth. In fact, the text is by
no means certain, for Aleph B papyrus of fourth century actually read hē tropēs
aposkiasmatos (the variation of the turning of the shadow). Ropes argues strongly for this reading, and rather
convincingly. At any rate there is no such
periodic variation in God like that we see in the heavenly bodies.
Word Pictures in the New Testament.
In conclusion The Father of the lights gives every
good and every perfect gift, and He has the attribute of being without variableness
like the sun, moon, planets and stars, those lights we can observe from earth.
This is a good thing, it is re-assuring. I found out about this when reading
James chapter 1: 16 out of Wuest, which was more specific about it than most of
the other translations I had read.
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