Tiago 4
Samuel Johnson · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 4
Johnson - God desires and delights in love and unity among His people – Ps. 122:1 -Sadly, there have always been quarrels among God's people: • Lot caused a quarrel with his Uncle Abraham (Gen. 13). • Absalom created a war for his father, David (2 Sam. 13-18). • Even the disciples created problems for the Lord when they argued over who was the greatest in the Kingdom (Luke 9:46-48). The Corinthian Church 1Co 1:11 “I hear there are contentions among you.” They were suing each other, too. The Galatian Church Gal 5:15 “If you bite and devour each other, you'll consume one another.” The Ephesian Church Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and evil speaking be put away from you.” The Philippian Church Philippians 4:2 Euodias and Syntyche were at odds with each other. Trouble in the Carpenter's Shop There was trouble in the carpenter's workshop and the tools were having a row. One of them said, “It's the hammer's fault. He is much too noisy.” “Nonsense,” the hammer protested, “I think the blame lies with the saw. He keeps going backwards and forwards all the time.” The saw shouted, “I'm not to blame, I think it's the plane's fault. His work is too shallow, he does nothing but just skim the surface.” The plane objected loudly: “I think the real trouble lies with the screwdriver, always going round in circles.” “That's ridiculous,” The screwdriver said. “The whole trouble began with the ruler, because he is always measuring other people by his own standards.” The ruler was furious: “Then what about the sandpaper? Surely, he is always rubbing people up the wrong way.” “Why pick me?” said the sandpaper. “I think you ought to blame the drill for being so boring.” Just as the drill was about to protest, the carpenter came in and began to work. Using every one of those tools, he eventually built a beautiful pulpit, from which the gospel of peace was eventually preached to thousands of people. TECHNICAL NOTE - Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, added chapter divisions to the Latin Vulgate Bible around 1227 AD. His chapter divisions are essentially the same ones used in all modern Bibles today. Robert Estienne, a French printer, added verse numbers to the New Testament in 1551 AD. According to his son he did much of this work while riding on horseback between Paris and Lyon. His verse divisions were first used in his Greek New Testament edition. The first complete Bible with both chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible of 1560. ILLUSTRATION - In Charles Colson's book The Body, there is a chapter entitled “Extending the Right Fist of Fellowship.” It is built around an event that took place in the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Newton, Massachusetts, when a church conflict actually broke out in a fistfight at the altar of the church. Here is Colson's description of that incident: It was the right hook that got him. Pastor Waite might have stood in front of the Communion table trading punches with head deacon Ray Bryson all morning, had not Ray's fist caught him on the chin two minutes and fifteen seconds into the fight. Waite went down for the count at the altar where most members of Emmanuel Baptist had first declared their commitment to Christ... Within an instant the majority of the congregation converged on the Communion table, punching or shoving ...the melee soon spilled over to an open space beside the organ...Mary Dahl, the director of Dorcas Society, threw the hymnal...the missile sailed high and wide and splashed down in the baptistery behind the choir...When Ray's right hook finally took the pastor down, someone grabbed the spring flower arrangement from the altar and threw it high in the air in Ray's direction. Water sprinkled everyone in the first two rows on the right side, and a visiting Presbyterian experienced complete immersion when the vase shattered against the wall next to his seat...The fight ended when the police arrived on the scene. ILLUSTRATION OF THE BATTLE OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT - Pastor Tim Brown tells this story. Listen to this: Some time ago, I was having lunch in McDonald’s with my daughter and mother-in-law. We were enjoying a pleasant conversation when a man, with his wife and children, plopped down at a nearby table. The man was someone who in the past had hurt me very deeply. We faked pleasantries and exchanged hellos, but I could feel my blood begin to boil at the thought of what he had done to me. This person had wounded me badly, and I was surprised about how much hurt I still felt. My family and I gobbled down our food and on the way out of the restaurant I overheard “my enemy” and his arguing because neither had any money to purchase the food they had ordered. Their three kids were screaming for their Happy Meals. The couple was embarrassed. My first thought was, Praise God, there is justice in this world. He deserves every bit of embarrassment he’s feeling, and I’m so glad I got to see this. Suddenly God spoke to me through the text I had read that morning. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink’” (Romans 12:17-20). God was saying to me: Here’s your chance to be set free of your pain and overcome your hurt. I knew I had a choice either to obey or bask in my bitterness. Somewhat reluctantly I reached into my wallet, pulled out $20, and gave it to this man who had been my enemy. “Have lunch on me,” I said with tears in my eyes. ILLUSTRATION FROM CHARLES SWINDOLL - Ever eat grass? In the neighborhood where I grew up, that was the standard punishment for anybody who lost a fight. Victor and spectators jeered and howled while the vanquished grazed. Then we would all go play again—until the next fight. You probably had your own unwritten protocol that integrated fighting into the fabric of adolescent subculture. Our cycle of “fighting, eating grass, playing, fighting, eating grass, playing” sure sounds silly, doesn’t it? And it was. I just wish we had grown out of it by our adult years. No, we don’t eat grass anymore, but we still seem to work fighting into our lives. Fighting comes naturally to most people, especially men. Why? Because we’re each born with a scrappy nature that prefers going for the jugular instead of giving in. It all started after the Fall (Gen. 3). The first fight between Cain and Abel ended in murder (Gen. 4:1-8). Since then, we can chart history easily by its conflicts and wars. It isn’t surprising, then, that James addresses the cycle of conflicts among Christians. Worshiping, fighting, praying, worshiping, fighting, praying—it was the same two thousand years ago as it is today. That’s the problem James addresses in 4:1-10. (Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary – James, 1 & 2 Peter - You can borrow his related study guide James : practical and authentic living : Bible study guide) ILLUSTRATION - A father heard a commotion in his yard and looked outside to see his daughter and several playmates in a heated quarrel. When he reprimanded her, his daughter responded, "We're just playing church!" Actually, that's not too hard a scenario to believe when you think about all the conflict that plagues the average church. I consider myself extremely blessed by the fact that the two churches I have pastored over the past 32+ years have both been comparative models of unity, peace, and harmony. I've never experienced a church split and, to my knowledge, only twice have I experienced the loss of more than one family over a single issue. The first incident was when two families quit this church in 1981 when we called Carlton Harris as our summer intern. Carlton, an honor student at Dallas Theological Seminary, was black and his wife was a Mennonite girl from Whitewater. That’s all it took for several families to find another home. Interestingly, that turned out to be a significant turning point in the life of our church, as God’s blessing began to be poured out in a remarkable way, I think because the Elders did what was right even in the face of strong opposition. The second time was when three families left our church in St. Louis in 1990 because they did not feel the staff and elders were sufficiently supportive of home schooling. These families had strong isolationist tendencies and wanted a separate youth program for their kids so that their kids wouldn’t become contaminated by the regular youth group. It was painful to see them go, but I think there were probably other churches better suited for them. What I am most grateful for is that such incidents have been so few and so far between. Yet the two churches I have pastored have not been free of conflict; no church is. There have been conflicts between lay people, conflicts between staff members, conflicts between lay people and staff members, conflicts over music, over theology, over music, over personality, over music, over building projects, over music, you name it. As in marriage, I think the real issue is not, “Do you fight?”, but “Do you fight fair and about the right things?”.... You might be asking, “Why do an entire sermon series on a subject like conflict?” Well, why not? First, it's biblical; in fact, you're going to be amazed how common the topic of conflict presents itself in Scripture. I have chosen to limit the series to six messages, but it could easily go longer. Second, it’s practical. There’s not a single church that is conflict-free. If you find one, don’t join it because it won’t stay that way long. Third, what we learn about how to handle conflict in the church can also be used to deal with conflicts at home, at work, at school, and anywhere else. Fourth, there's enough humor in some of these conflict situations that it makes for a subject that is both serious and light. I think you’re actually going to enjoy this series which I have entitled Great Church Fights (Borrow), after the title of a book by Baptist pastor, Leslie B. Flynn. ....But please realize that conflict didn't start with the founding of the Church on the Day of Pentecost. The people of God have always struggled to get along with each other. During His earthly ministry Jesus' apostles argued about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom, and then ten of them got indignant with James and John when their mother asked if her two sons could sit at his right and left hand in the Kingdom. The disciples also tried to stop an exorcist who wasn't a member of their "exclusive club." Martha argued with Mary, Peter argued with Jesus, and the disciples rebuked the people who brought their children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them..... James 4:1-6 suggests to us that when believers are at war with each other, it is usually because they are at war with themselves and ultimately because they are at war with God. (Michael Andrus - Understanding Conflict: A Prerequisite to Peacemaking ) Here is the link to all 7 sermons in Pastor Andrus Sermon Series Great Church Fights. James 4:2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. Amplified - You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. Amplified (Revised) You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God]. NET You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; GNT ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε, φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν, μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε, οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς, NLT You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. KJV Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. ESV You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ASV Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. CSB You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. NIV You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. NKJ You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. NRS You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. YLT ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking; NAB You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. NJB You want something and you lack it; so you kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force. It is because you do not pray that you do not receive; GWN You want what you don't have, so you commit murder. You're determined to have things, but you can't get what you want. You quarrel and fight. You don't have the things you want, because you don't pray for them. BBE You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it. You lust and do not have: Jas 5:1-5 Pr 1:19 Ec 4:8 Hab 2:5 1Ti 6:9-10 because you do not ask.: Jas 1:5 Isa 7:12 Mt 7:7,8 Lu 11:9-13 Joh 4:10 John 16:24 James 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 1 Timothy 6:9-10+ But those who want to get rich (LUSTS) fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Romans 7:7-8+ What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 1 John 2:16+ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. Proverbs 27:20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. Psalm 59:7 Behold, they belch forth with their mouth; Swords are in their lips, For, they say, “Who hears?” DANGERS OF FORBIDDEN DESIRE AND ENVY In the previous passage, James posed two penetrating questions and now exposes the true source of conflict, showing that it arises not from external pressures but from internal passions. Beneath wars and quarrels lies a restless craving for self-satisfaction—a life centered on self, self, self—that can never produce genuine peace. James unmasks the sinful desires that wage war within our members, revealing how unfulfilled lusts lead to frustration, strife, and even murder. At its core, this passage is a spiritual diagnosis of the human heart. Covetous desires breed contention, conflict, and prayerlessness. Rather than humbly seeking God's provision, people attempt to grasp for themselves what only He can rightly give. In contrast to self-driven striving, James points his readers to God-dependent asking. His words serve as a sobering reminder that every good thing comes not through our selfish efforts but through the gracious hand of God (cf. James 1:17). You lust (epithumeo) and do not have - You lust, desire strongly, set your heart on or covet, usually what others have and always what the fallen flesh wants. NLT says "You want what you don't have." Lust is in the present tense (plural - addressing all his readers) describing this as their continual practice, and the active voice shows they were making a volitional choice to do this - they were not coerced and could not say the "devil made me do it!" Their fallen flesh urged them on to lust! The phrase do not have basically means your sinful, selfish desires go unfulfilled, ungratified. You lust and do not have depicts the futility of self-centered desire apart from God. It illustrates the principle that sin always promises fulfillment but delivers emptiness. The believer’s life is meant to be one of dependence (asking), not demanding (lusting). Unchecked desires become spiritual adultery (James 4:4), leading one away from fellowship with God. THOUGHT - How often our frustrations trace back to misplaced desires—mere shortcuts to true satisfaction. We crave pleasure without purity, success without submission, and blessing without obedience. Yet the soul’s hunger can only be filled by the Giver, never by His gifts. Michael Andrus asks "What are some of those frustrated desires? Let's name a few: power and influence certainly qualify. Some people desperately desire to be power brokers in the church; they want to be in on the decision-making, and if those desires get frustrated they can cause a lot of trouble. One man I knew expressed real anger to me that he had never been elected to the Elder Board in our church in St. Louis. It seems to me that an argument could be made that the very presence of such an attitude would disqualify him from serving as an Elder. Even good things can lead to frustrated desires. A person may wish to sing solos but isn't asked; or to teach an adult Bible study, but people don't respond; or to build friendships but people don't seem to return their hospitality. If such disappointments are not handled properly such people can generate a spirit of contention. And that's seems to be happening to James' parishioners. Let's face it, friends. Believers are often at war with each other because they are at war with themselves. (Understanding Conflict: A Prerequisite to Peacemaking - Pdf) As Matthew Henry said "Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable. Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing....Our desires must not only be offered up to God, but they must all terminate in Him, desiring nothing more than God, but still more and more of Him." (Read Mt 6:33+, Ps 37:4) Note - John MacArthur (who I highly respect) says on James 4:2-3 that "the asking is done or not done by those who do not belong to God and have no part in Him." I am not sure how he arrives at this interpretation and do not agree with it. While he could be addressing professors in the congregations, he is dealing with effects of worldly wisdom and to think that does not occur in the church does not seen realistic! And it seems most other commentators do not agree with MacArthur as for example Yet this language is very much in keeping with the situation described in James 3:1-12, 14-16, that is, the atmosphere of conflict and infighting in the church. The language makes a great deal of sense as describing the serious discord in the community. (Grant Osborne - James, 1-2 Peter, Jude, Revelation - Page 83) Two rhetorical questions try to locate the source of struggles and fights among Christians. (Max Anders - Holman New Testament Commentary - Hebrews & James) James here dealt with the source of the hostility which existed among some Christians. (Gilbrant - Complete Biblical Library– Hebrews-Jude) This picture of open quarrels and bitter disputes among the readers of this letter at once dissipates any view that apostolic churches were ideal churches. Compare the conditions in the Corinthian church. (Hiebert's Commentaries – James) Throughout his letter, he’s addressing Jewish Christian believers (James 3:1; 4:11). This section reveals that they are obviously having problems getting along. (Charles Swindoll - Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter - Page 88) Believers are at war with each other...It is that believers are often at war with one another because....Believers are at war with themselves. (James 4:1-3) (Michael Andrus Understanding Conflict: A Prerequisite to Peacemaking) James had already explained that we are each responsible and cannot blame God writing "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. But each one is tempted when he is carried away (FIRST "THE LOOK") and enticed (THEN "THE LURE") by his own lust ("THE SINFUL DESIRES" - epithumia). Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." (James 1:13-16+) THOUGHT - As discussed above the "lusts of the flesh" in 1 Peter 2:11+ where Peter exhorts believers to "abstain from fleshly lusts," which while not a command per se is an action only possible as we rely on the Holy Spirit to obey! Lust (covet, desire) (1937)(epithumeo from epí = upon, used intensively + thumós = passion; epithumia) means literally to fix the desire upon (object could be good or morally neutral [Mt 13:17, Lk 22:15 used of Jesus] or morally evil [1Co 10:6]). The cravings which God has placed in the human body in themselves are not sinful; they are God-given and essential for continuance of life here on earth. Lusts occur in our mind (and heart - see Mt 5:28+, Ro 1:24+) and are not physical actions per se although they may (and frequently do) lead to physical actions. But they readily become sinful when used for illegitimate (ungodly) ends. And so epithumeo means to have a strong desire to do or secure something, to desire greatly, to long for. And remember that desires lead to deeds, appetites lead to actions. Note also that the preposition epi- can express motion toward or upon and thus one lexicon defines it as to set one's heart upon (something or someone)! In sum, epithumeo describes a strong impulse toward something so that one's passions or affections are directed toward an object, thing or person. In the evil sense, epithumeo denotes a desire that becomes so strong that it takes control of the person, even though it is the desire for something forbidden or beyond one’s proper reach. Lust is like rot in the bones. This is the desire that dominates rather than serves, passion out of proportion to reason or righteousness. Lust denotes the varied cravings of fallen human nature pursued in the interest of self in self-sufficient independence from God. One writer says lust describes setting one's heart upon something not granted, and the result of this evil desire is murderous resentment. In James 4:2 epithumeo is in the present tense which shows that they have the habit of passionate craving, an ever-unsatisfied hunger of self-centered desire. POSB - Note that desire, lust, a yearning passion for is not always evil. In Jas 4:5 the Spirit “lusts to envy.” In Luke 22:15 Christ desires (yearns) to eat the passover with the apostles. (Borrow The Preacher's outline & sermon Bible) W E Vine adds that lust "describes the inner motions of the soul, the natural tendency of men in their fallen estate toward things evil and toward things forbidden." A W
Tiago 4
Johnson - Here are the steps: A man allows himself to desire something. That thing begins to dominate his mind. He thinks about it when he's awake and dreams about it when he's asleep. He begins to form imaginary schemes to obtain it, even if it involves eliminating those who stand in their way to get it. Then one day the imaginings blaze into actions. Every crime came from a desire in the heart that ended in action. That said, below I have a number of commentaries that favor literal interpretation and several that favor non-literal interpretation. While my initial commentary favored non-literal, I now strongly favor a literal interpretation (when I wrote the notes before I have completely forgotten about the murder that occurred in my own church!) FOLLOWING DO INTERPRET MURDER LITERALLY R V G Tasker on murder (ye kill) - The second difficulty lies in the words ye kill, which appear strange when followed immediately by and desire—for these would appear to create an inversion of the thought underlying the passage. It will be best to consider this difficulty first. ‘The words ye kill are found in all existing Greek manuscripts and ancient versions. In spite of this, Erasmus found the difficulty of interpretation insuperable, for he assumed that the reference was to the perpetration of murder as an existing fact in the Christian communities known to the author. He therefore suggested the emendation ‘Ye envy’. The two verbs in Greek meaning ‘murder’, phoneuete, and ‘envy’, phthonerte, are not sufficiently dissimilar for any assumption that such a change between them could not have taken place in the course of textual transmission; and it is interesting to notice that in 1 Pet. ii. 1 the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus confuses the cognate nouns and reads ‘murders’ for ‘envyings’. The text of the New Testament has, however, been so well preserved that resort to emendation should not be made. This particular emendation commended itself nevertheless to Tyndale, who translated ‘Ye envy and have indignation and cannot obtain’, and to Calvin and others, including in our day James Moffatt. There is, however, no overwhelming difficulty in the words ye kill, provided that the punctuation is adopted which was suggested by Westcott and Hort in the margin of their Greek Testament published in 1881, and has commended itself increasingly to modern translators and commentators. The nature and significance of this revised punctuation can perhaps best be seen in the translation of the r.s.v. “You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war.’ Here we have a genuine parallelism in spite of the presence of ‘and’ before ‘you covet’; and the consequences to which thwarted desire and unsatisfied covetousness lead are clearly brought out. Though each clause is in the nature of a statement, the verbs being in the indicative, the sentences are virtually conditional. ‘If you desire . . . the result is you kill. And if you covet . . . the result is you fight and wage war.’ James, we must not forget, is writing a general Epistle, and is not necessarily contemplating either here, or elsewhere, the circumstances actually existing in a particular Christian community known to him. He is rather underlining what can happen-and does happen in human life when men choose pleasure to the exclusion of God: Under such circumstances, as the history of humanity from the days of Cain to the present time makes abundantly clear, the laws of God are disregarded; and pleasure, given full rein, takes control of the situation and often sweeps its victims on to murder. The story of Naboth’s vineyard (See 1Ki 21:1-29+) is the classic example in the Old Testament of the mighty power of covetousness and of the end to which it can lead." (BORROW The general Epistle of James : an introduction and commentary) It is simplest to take ‘murder’ straightforwardly and to regard it as that extreme to which frustrated desire, if not checked, may lead Douglas Moo on murder asks "is James seriously accusing his readers of murder? Indeed, it has been asserted that he is doing just that. Some recent Jewish-Christian converts among James’ readers, it is alleged, may have been members of the radical Jewish Zealot movement, which advocated assassination of prominent Romans and their collaborators as a policy of terror. Perhaps James must warn them that such practices are totally incompatible with their new faith.22 While such a scenario is not impossible, granted the sociopolitical situation in Palestine in James’ day, it does not square well with James’ clear indication that the problems he addresses were within the church (cf. ‘among you’ in 3:13; 4:1). More popular has been the suggestion that phoneuete (you kill) be emended to phthoneite (‘you are envious’), but there is no textual justification for the change. Others suggest that ‘murder’ may connote attitude rather than action: ‘you are murderously jealous’ (Phillips; cf. Matt. 5:21–26; 1 John 2:15). However, in the light of the tradition we have cited, it is simplest to take ‘murder’ straightforwardly and to regard it as that extreme to which frustrated desire, if not checked, may lead.23 Things have not yet gone this far among James’ readers. But ‘fightings’ and ‘wars’ are already in evidence among them; and, if covetous zeal goes unrestrained, the danger of actual violence is real. With penetrating insight, then, James provides us with a powerful analysis of human conflict. Verbal argument, private violence or national conflict—the cause of them all can be traced back to the frustrated desire to want more than we have, to be envious of and covet what others have, whether it be their position or their possessions. (See The Letter of James: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 141) Some have dismissed this as an error or, more commonly, have seen it as a metaphorical statement. But there is no compelling evidence for either view. R Kent