2Cor 1:17-18, Jam 5:12 | JFB | STEP | 17. use lightness —Was I guilty of levity? namely, by promising more than I performed. or . . . according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea . . . nay, nay? —The "or" expresses a different alternative: Did I act with levity, or (on the other hand) do I purpose what I purpose like worldly (fleshly) men, so that my "yea" must at all costs be yea, and my "nay" nay [BENGEL , WINER , CALVIN ], ( )? The repetition of the "yea" and "nay" hardly agrees with ALFORD'S view, "What I purpose do I purpose according to the changeable purposes of the fleshly (worldly) man, that there may be with me the yea yea, and the nay nay (that is, both affirmation and negation concerning the same thing)?" The repetition will thus stand for the single yea and nay, as in . But the latter passage implies that the double "yea" here is not equivalent to the single "yea": BENGEL'S view, therefore, seems preferable.

2 Corinthians 1:17-18

17. use lightness—Was I guilty of levity? namely, by promising more than I performed.

or . . . according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea . . . nay, nay?—The "or" expresses a different alternative: Did I act with levity, or (on the other hand) do I purpose what I purpose like worldly (fleshly) men, so that my "yea" must at all costs be yea, and my "nay" nay [BENGEL, WINER, CALVIN], (Mt 14:7, 9)? The repetition of the "yea" and "nay" hardly agrees with ALFORD'S view, "What I purpose do I purpose according to the changeable purposes of the fleshly (worldly) man, that there may be with me the yea yea, and the nay nay (that is, both affirmation and negation concerning the same thing)?" The repetition will thus stand for the single yea and nay, as in Mt 5:37; Jas 5:12. But the latter passage implies that the double "yea" here is not equivalent to the single "yea": BENGEL'S view, therefore, seems preferable.

18. He adds this lest they might think his DOCTRINE was changeable like his purposes (the change in which he admitted in 2Co 1:17, while denying that it was due to "lightness," and at the same time implying that not to have changed, where there was good reason, would have been to imitate the fleshly-minded who at all costs obstinately hold to their purpose).

true—Greek, "faithful" (1Co 1:9).

our word—the doctrine we preach.

was not—The oldest manuscripts read "is not."

yea and nay—that is, inconsistent with itself.

James 5:12

12. But above all—as swearing is utterly alien to the Christian meek "endurance" just recommended.

swear not—through impatience, to which trials may tempt you (Jas 5:10, 11). In contrast to this stands the proper use of the tongue, Jas 5:13. James here refers to Mt 5:34, &c.

let your yea be yea—Do not use oaths in your everyday conversation, but let a simple affirmative or denial be deemed enough to establish your word.

condemnation—literally, "judgment," namely, of "the Judge" who "standeth before the doors" (Jas 5:9).