God & Savior

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
James 1:17
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Study notes

Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Explanation

James has just said that temptation to evil does not come from God (1:13-16). What comes from God is good. God made the sun, moon and stars, whose light changes, but God Himself does not change.

Original language
  • δόσις (dosis): gift
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G1394 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Giving, act of giving.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 2

  • ἀγαθὴ (agathē): good-doer
    Greek · Adjective, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G0018 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Good.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 3

  • δώρημα (dōrēma): free gift
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, neuter · Strong's G1434 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Gift.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 6

  • τέλειον (teleion): perfect
    Greek · Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · Strong's G5046 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Perfect, complete.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 7

  • ἄνωθέν (anōthen): from above/again
    Greek · Adverb · Strong's G0509 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    From above.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 8

  • πατρὸς (patros): father
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · Strong's G3962 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Father.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 13

  • φώτων (phōtōn): light
    Greek · Noun, genitive, plural, neuter · Strong's G5457 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Of lights: the heavenly lights.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 15

  • παραλλαγὴ (parallagē): variation
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G3883 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Variation, change.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 20

  • ἀποσκίασμα (aposkiasma): shadow
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, neuter · Strong's G0644 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Shadow.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, James 1:17, word 23

Cross-references
  • James 1:13 · Surrounding passage

    God does not tempt anyone.

  • Malachi 3:6 · Same theme

    I the LORD do not change.

  • Genesis 1:16 · Background

    God made the two great lights and the stars.

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

πᾶσα δόσις ἀγαθὴ καὶ πᾶν δώρημα τέλειον ἄνωθέν ἐστιν καταβαῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτων παρ᾽ ᾧ οὐκ ἔνι παραλλαγὴ ἢ τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα.

  1. πᾶσαpasa“Every”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, feminine · from πᾶς · “all” · Strong's G3956
  2. δόσιςdosis“act of giving”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · “gift” · Strong's G1394
  3. ἀγαθὴagathē“good”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, feminine · from ἀγαθός · “good-doer” · Strong's G0018
  4. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  5. πᾶνpan“every”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · from πᾶς · “all” · Strong's G3956
  6. δώρημαdōrēma“gift”
    Noun, nominative, singular, neuter · “free gift” · Strong's G1434
  7. τέλειονteleion“perfect”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · from τέλειος · “perfect” · Strong's G5046
  8. ἄνωθένanōthen“from above”
    Adverb · from ἄνωθεν · “from above/again” · Strong's G0509
  9. ἐστινestin“is”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  10. καταβαῖνονkatabainon“coming down”
    Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, neuter · from καταβαίνω · “to come/go down” · Strong's G2597
  11. ἀπὸapo“from”
    Preposition · from ἀπό · “away from” · Strong's G0575
  12. τοῦtou“the”
    Article, genitive, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  13. πατρὸςpatros“Father”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from πατήρ · “father” · Strong's G3962
  14. τῶνtōn“<the>”
    Article, genitive, plural, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  15. φώτωνphōtōn“of lights”
    Noun, genitive, plural, neuter · from φῶς · “light” · Strong's G5457
  16. παρ᾽par᾽“with”
    Preposition · from παρά · “from with” · Strong's G3844
  17. ᾧhō“whom”
    Relative pronoun, dative, singular, masculine · from ὅς, ἥ · “which” · Strong's G3739
  18. οὐκouk“not”
    Particle, negative · from οὐ · “no” · Strong's G3756
  19. ἔνιeni“there is”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · “there is” · Strong's G1762
  20. παραλλαγὴparallagē“variation”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · from παραλλαγή · “variation” · Strong's G3883
  21. ἢē“or”
    Conjunction · from ἤ · “or/than” · Strong's G2228
  22. τροπῆςtropēs“of shifting”
    Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · from τροπή · “turning” · Strong's G5157
  23. ἀποσκίασμα.aposkiasma“shadow.”
    Noun, nominative, singular, neuter · from ἀποσκίασμα · “shadow” · Strong's G0644
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)