Jam 1:18 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 18. Of his own will begat he us ] God's will here is opposed to the lust of man , ; his truth , the means of human salvation, to the sinful means referred to in the above verse; and the new creatures , to the sin conceived and brought forth , as above. As the will of God is essentially good , all its productions must be good also; as it is infinitely pure , all its productions must be holy . The word or doctrine of truth , what St. Paul calls the word of the truth of the Gospel , , is the means which God uses to convert souls. A kind of first fruits ] By creatures we are here to understand the Gentiles , and by first fruits the Jews , to whom the Gospel was first sent; and those of them that believed were the first fruits of that astonishing harvest which God has since reaped over the whole Gentile world. , &c. There is a remarkable saying in Philo on this subject, De Allegoris , lib. ii. p. 101: God begat Isaac, for he is the father of the perfect nature , σπειρωνενταιςψυχαις, sowing seed in souls, and begetting happiness .

‏ James 1:18

Verse 18. Of his own will begat he us] God's will here is opposed to the lust of man, Jas 1:15; his truth, the means of human salvation, to the sinful means referred to in the above verse; and the new creatures, to the sin conceived and brought forth, as above. As the will of God is essentially good, all its productions must be good also; as it is infinitely pure, all its productions must be holy. The word or doctrine of truth, what St. Paul calls the word of the truth of the Gospel, Col 1:5, is the means which God uses to convert souls.

A kind of first fruits] By creatures we are here to understand the Gentiles, and by first fruits the Jews, to whom the Gospel was first sent; and those of them that believed were the first fruits of that astonishing harvest which God has since reaped over the whole Gentile world. See Clarke on Ro 8:19, &c. There is a remarkable saying in Philo on this subject, De Allegoris, lib. ii. p. 101: God begat Isaac, for he is the father of the perfect nature, σπειρωνενταιςψυχαις, sowing seed in souls, and begetting happiness.