James 1:20

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...for a man's wrath (or "anger") does not express in action the righteousness of God. (James 1:20)

There was apparently a mistaken notion in James’s time that anger is sometimes valuable as an engine of righteousness. But according to the Jews, certain divine qualities, including anger, are forbidden to man.

Thrice was Moses angry, and thrice he failed to produce the mind of God. ¹

If I understand Adamson correctly, he’s saying that the verb, produce, or ‘failed to produce‘ means something like ‘does not forward the righteousness of God.’ The verb is being used in the sense of ‘work’, or ‘do’, rather than ‘produce’.

What is the Objection to Wrath?

The objection to wrath is not simply that it’s bad tactics and futile. After all, a teacher’s wrath may produce righteousness in his pupil. But Christians are told to avoid wrath because it does not have a good effect on the persons wronged. In Christianity, sin is forbidden primarily because of its effect on the sinner.

One way to interpret Adamson’s meaning is to say that the sinner is the one who is angry.

James’s Meaning is more Broad than “the Justice of God”

In Adamson’s opinion, it’s best not to interpret ‘the justice of God” as the judgment of God upon sinners. Then it would simply warn Christians not to avenge themselves. For example, R. A. Knox² (p. 95) believes James is referring to resentment against our persecutors. This is in the tradition of Romans 12:19.

God’s vengeance on sinners is one of the oldest ideas for both the Greeks³ and the Hebrews⁴. In Romans 3:5, God is said to inflict his anger on us. And in Romans 12:19, cited above, human self-help by revenge is forbidden.

This interpretation does not disagree with James’s epistle, where the dominant idea of God is God as a Judge. Adamson refers in particular to James 5:9. However, he thinks this interpretation is too narrow. He prefers the word, righteousness, as demonstrated by his translation of James 1:20 at the beginning of this article. This avoids a too narrow interpretation of the judgement of God. It also demonstrates an important pattern in James’s writing, the rotary or rondo structure.

The Rotary or Rondo Structure of Verse 20 Continues James’s Theme of Righteousness

The theme of righteousness is repeated in James 3:13-18. In 1:19, 20, James exhorts us to meekness and peace. In 1:21, he exhorts to purity.

The Greek Dikē and the Hebrew Tsedeq

Apparently, it is well-known among scholars that finding one word (just(ice)/ right(eous)ness) that fits both the Greek Dikē and the Hebrew Tsedeq and their cognates is impossible.

It is used here in the conventional Jewish, nontechnical, un-Pauline sense of ‘righteous action’ (Easton. p. 31⁵, against Hofmann and others); compare similar OT phrases (e.g., Genesis 18:19; Psalms 15:2), but contrast the parallel of James 2:9. In Hebrew the word is much richer than the classical notion of ‘justice’; it is a modus vivendi or conduct required by Christian faith and obedience to God, as, for example, in accordance with 1:25-27. It depicts the Christian life under the scrutiny and standards of God. A man’s animosity toward his fellows does not create that kind of life. God’s righteousness here refers not to the righteousness that is part of his character(subjective genitive) but the way of life, in deed and thought, that he requires in us. Such righteousness will become ours, if we genuinely accept what is called, in the next verse, ‘the implanted word’.

1. b. Pes. 66b; I. Abrahams, op. cit. II. p. 161
2. R. A. Knox, A NT Commentary, 3 volumes (1955)
3. E.g., Sophocles Ajax 1390.
4. E.g., Ps. 58:10, 11, where there is just award for good men and evil: see Acts 28:4.
5. B. S. Easton, The Epistle of James, Interpreter’s Bible (1957).