JAMES 1:27

Victor M. Eskew

 

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

1.    Pure

A.   Strong (2513):  clean

B.    Thayer:  clean, pure, free from the admixture of what is false

C.   Vine:  pure, as being cleansed

 

2.    Religion

A.   Strong (2356):  ceremonial observance

B.    Thayer:  religious worship...religious discipline

C.   Vine:  religion in its external aspect…in contrast to that which is unreal and deceptive

 

3.    Undefiled

A.   Strong (283):  unsoiled

B.    Thayer:  not defiled, unsoiled

C.   Vine:  undefiled, free from contamination

 

4.    Visit

A.   Strong (1980):  to inspect, to select; by extension to go to see, relieve

B.    Thayer:  to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes, in order to see how he is, to look upon to help or benefit, to look after, have care for provide for

C.   Vine:  to inspect (a late form of episkopeo, to look upon, care for, exercise oversight), signifies…to visit with help

 

5.    Fatherless

A.   Strong (3737):  bereaved (“orphan”), that is, parentless

B.    Thayer:  bereft (of a father, of parents)

C.   Vine:  comes from the Greek word “orphanos,” properly an orphan

 

6.    Widows

A.   Strong (5503):  through the idea of deficiency; a widow (lacking a husband)

B.    Thayer:  a widow

C.   Vine:  a woman a widow

 

7.   Affliction

A.   Strong (2347):  pressure  :- afflicted, (-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble

B.    Thayer:  a pressing, pressing together, pressure, metaphorically oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits

C.   Vine:  a pressing, pressure, anything which burdens the spirit, to suffer affliction, to be troubled, has reference to the pressure of circumstances, or the antagonism of persons

 

8.   To keep

A.   Strong (5083):  to guard (from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon)

B.    Thayer:  to attend carefully, take care of, to guard

C.   Vine:  to watch over, preserve, keep, watch

 

9.   Unspotted

A.   Strong (784):  unblemished

B.    Thayer:  spotless…from from vice, unsullied

C.   Vine:  unspotted, unstained…from from all defilement in the sight of God

 

10. World

A.   Strong (2889):  orderly arrangement…the world (morally)

B.    Thayer:  the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc., which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ

C.   Vine:  the present condition of human affairs, in alienation from and opposition to God