James 1:13 - What is the correct translation?

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{1:13} Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils: and he tempteth no man. (DouayRheims)
www.sacredbible.org

[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for **God cannot be tempted with evil **and he himself tempts no one;
RSV

It seems one translation has a view of the bold text. Anyone know?
 
MH84 said:
{1:13} Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils: and he tempteth no man. (DouayRheims)
www.sacredbible.org

[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for **God cannot be tempted with evil **and he himself tempts no one;
RSV

It seems one translation has a view of the bold text. Anyone know?
Click to expand...
According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek reads: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.”
 
Why did St. James write this? Didn’t he know about Jesus’ temptation in the desert? What was his purpose
 
It concerns spirituality. Every person has a spirituality it is either earthly (temporal) or spiritual (heavenly). When a person is tempted he is tempted by the ways of the world. God exists in the spritiual realm and the spiritual realm always takes precedence over the temporal. St. Paul speaks of this in Romans 7.
~We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin.~ Romans 7/14

Jesus also speaks of this all throughout the gospels, especially that of John.

The Old testament speaks of this, particularly in Psalm 5/5 and Ezekiel 33/11

~*You are not a god who delights in evil; no wicked person finds refuge with you; *~ Psalm 5/5

~*As I live, says the Lord GOD, I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man’s conversion, that he may live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! *~ Ezekiel 33/11

And Wisdom 1/6

~Because God is the witness of his inmost self and the sure observer of his heart and the listener to his tongue.~

Later in Wisdom 1/12-13 we see that temptation comes to us by our own actions which is usually our lust for something of this world.

~*Court not death by your erring way of life, nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands. **Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. ***~

And at the end of the first chapter of Wisdom we see that God, as stated in Genesis one where He constantly blesses everything as being good, did not create anything that is not good. It is because of man and his freewill that temptation and, naturally, sin have come into the world.

Wisdom 1/14-16

~ *For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, And there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of the nether world on earth, For justice is undying. It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death, considered it a friend, and pined for it, and made a covenant with it, Because they deserve to be in its possession. * ~

Many people read and pray the words to the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, and when they get to the part of the prayer that says , Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil, falsely think that God is the one who brings about temptation but in reality, Our Lord is quoting Sacred Scripture, which at that time would be the Old Testament, and He does so from many places from Isaiah to Psalms. In these passages one sees that what Our Lord is telling us to pray is that we are to petition God to make straight our paths. Some of these passages are:

~ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD and turn away from evil; ~
Proverbs 3/5-7

~LORD, show me your way; lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not abandon me to the will of my foes; malicious and lying witnesses have risen against me.~
Psalm 27/11-12

~*Guide me in your justice because of my foes; make straight your way before me. *~
Psalm 5/9

~The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level.~
Isaiah 26/7

With all of this in mind, God does try us by fire, He does allow temptation into our lives to test our faith and faithfulness to Him. We see Our Lord explaining this to the Apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane, St.Luke’s account.

~*He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test.” *~ Luke 22/46

The test referring to obedience through trials, which includes temptations. God allows us to be tempted but He is not the cause of temptation. And to show us that temptation can be overcome, He did not spare Himself (Jesus who is God) from temptation.
 
MH84 said:
Why did St. James write this? Didn’t he know about Jesus’ temptation in the desert? What was his purpose
Click to expand...
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.”

But Jesus taught us to pray to the Father and petition him; ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil.’ There needs to be a special navigational map given to get around some of the ideas that James presents. Job says to his wife, during his time of testing, ‘The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.’ There always seems to be a better appreciation of God as being involved in every incident. He certainly authorised Jesus’ temptation,…remember ‘He was led/driven of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil’ and Satan went and got permission from God to test the faith of Job. I guess the translation of James must have gone a bit wonky, or James was still developing his theology from older scrolls, who knows, he was after all influenced by St. Peter and the whole circumcision thing, maybe this scroll was written before he got a chance to argue the matter of the soveriegnity of God, with Paul. Either way, nice point of entry to the book of James.

Minefield alert,
Pophead.
 
MH84 said:
Why did St. James write this? Didn’t he know about Jesus’ temptation in the desert? What was his purpose
Click to expand...
    • If you’re questioning how James could say “God cannot be tempted” when he knew Jesus experienced temptation:*
      In Jesus’ temptation, it was His human nature as a man that was tempted (his human body and human soul - intellect and will). His Divine nature as God was not subject to being tempted.
  2. If you’re questioning how James could say God “tempts no one” when it was the Holy Spirit that led Jesus to the dessert:
    The Holy Spirit did not tempt Jesus; the devil did.
    This applies also to Pophead’s example of Job.
Nita
 
MH84 said:
{1:13} Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils: and he tempteth no man. (DouayRheims)
www.sacredbible.org

[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for **God cannot be tempted with evil **and he himself tempts no one;
RSV

It seems one translation has a view of the bold text. Anyone know?
Click to expand...
Do not tempt God your Lord
and
God do not temp you to sin or DO evil Devil is the tempter
 
Pophead said:
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.”

But Jesus taught us to pray to the Father and petition him; ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil.’ There needs to be a special navigational map given to get around some of the ideas that James presents. …
Pophead.
Click to expand...
It isn’t that difficult to navigate. The prayer taught by Jesus says “lead us not into temptation” not “do not tempt us”. There’s a difference.

God Himself will never tempt us. But as you noted, He does allow it from other sources. We pray that He will not “lead us”/allow us to get or be put into situations of temptation, but rather to keep us out of them - “deliver us from evil”.
Amen

Nita
 
What Does the Bible Mean by Temptation? by Bob and Gretchen Passantino.

God cannot be tempted (James 1:13).
God can be tempted (or there would be no reason for us to be warned against tempting God – Deuteronomy 6:16).
If God cannot be tempted (see 1 above), and Jesus is God, then does that mean he cannot be tempted? (James 1:13)
But Jesus was tempted (Hebrews 4:15).
God tempts no one (James 1:13).
God tempted someone (David, to number Israel – 2 Samuel 24:1).

How are these biblical statements reconciled, both within scripture and consistent with God’s character?
The answers to these statements can be categorized in two major ways: vocabulary (what words were used in the original, and what meanings those words have), and context (how the words were used in each passage).

Vocabulary

Temptation has many synonyms (equivalent words) in English. It can mean (among other things) test, proof, experiment, trial, and enticement. The main Greek (New Testament language) words for temptation are formed from peiraz and dokimaz , both words of which also occur in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. The main Hebrew words are n sƒh, s rap, and b han, and one word which relates primarily to the genuineness of coins, sig. Comparing the Septuagint equivalents to the original Hebrew helps us understand the overall biblical use of the terms.
[Those who wish more information on the Greek or Hebrew should see The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Vol. 3), Colin Brown, ed., Zondervan, 1978, pp. 798-810; or The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence O. Richards, Zondervan, 1985, pp. 593-594.]

Both peiraz and dokimaz can mean test or proof. In addition, peiraz includes the ideas of temptation or enticement (to sin) and of a trial. Dokimaz also carries the connotation of approval or genuineness.

From this vocabulary study, we see that “temptation” can mean test, proof, or to establish genuineness; not only “enticement to sin.”

answers.org/theology/is_god_tempted.html
 
Context

Armed with our vocabulary study, we can look at the context of each of our six statements.

God Cannot Be Tempted

James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” Looking at the context, we see that the statement is not merely “God cannot be tempted,” but “God cannot be tempted by evil.” In other words, God cannot be enticed to sin (Greek apeir st s). James 1:13 affirms that God cannot sin, but is completely holy and good.

God Can Be Tempted

When Deuteronomy 6:16 warns us against “tempting God,” the context refers on the one hand to testing the Israelites’ faithfulness and, on the other hand, to testing God’s righteous judgment. Paraphrased, the passage means, “Don’t test God’s righteous judgment by worship-ping idols unless you are willing to be wiped off the face of the earth” (v. 15).
The reconciliation of the two statements? God cannot be enticed to sin; he is holy and good. God’s consistent, holy, good reaction to idolatry is righteous judgment. One should not “test” God’s character by sinning, since God will “pass the test” of righteousness and punish the sinner (see also Jeremiah 18:7-10).

Can Jesus Be God and Be Tempted?

Jesus is God and so he cannot be tempted in the sense that he cannot be enticed to sin, but he can be tempted in the sense that he can be tested, even with the evil lures of Satan (Matthew 4), and found to be true to his character. This is the context of Hebrews 4:15, which says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted (peiraz ) in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus was tested by Satan’s enticements concerning his obedience to the Father and his commitment to his messianic mission, yet he did not succumb to the temptation. (A related issue concerns the dynamics between Christ’s human and divine natures, under the subjection of his one divine person. See The Impeccable Christ by W. E. Best, Zondervan, 1971).

Does God Tempt People?

Look again at James 1:13. Just as God cannot be enticed into sinning, so God does not entice anyone else into sinning. That is what is meant by “and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” James warns us not to blame our own fall into sin on God. God does not persuade us to sin, we willingly fall to the lure of our own sinful nature (Romans 3:23), the sinfulness in the world (Titus 2:12), and/or the false promises of Satan (Genesis 3:1-5).
When 2 Samuel 24:1 says God provoked or tempted David to number Israel, it means God made use of David’s action to manifest David’s disobedience to God. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 27:23-24 credits Satan with provoking David to take the census. Putting the two passages together shows that, while Satan may have enticed David into sin, it was God who tested David and used that occasion to show both David and the Israelites the consequences of David’s sin.

God tests us to reveal to ourselves and the world our true characters.

God has always tested each order of rational beings that He has created. This test has consisted of proof of perfect trust and obedience. A test in itself is not a cause of sin. Only the action of the one tested can turn it into an occasion to sin. . . . Adam and Eve faced a test of obedience, and disobeyed and fell. Christ, in order to redeem men, faced testing, and came out victorious (Hebrews 5:7-9) (Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, Charles Pfeiffer, Howard Vos, and John Rea, eds., Moody, 1975, p. 1680).

Summary

There are various meanings for the word temptation. Usually it means either an enticement to sin or a test or trial. God never entices anyone to sin, but uses testing to reveal his justice and challenge believers to faithfulness (2 Corinthians 13:5-8).

answers.org/theology/is_god_tempted.html
 
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