He Brought Us Forth

He Brought Us Forth

James 1:18

Excerpt

‎The pronoun us in he brought us forth is inclusive. This clause, rendered as “gave us birth” by NRSV, can be understood in three different ways:
‎(1) First, it is sometimes taken to mean the birth of Israel as God’s special Son (Hos 11.1) and as having a special place over other nations (Deut 7.6).

‎(2) The second interpretation takes it as a reference to the creation of the human race in general. The references in verse 17 and the use of the term “creatures” (meaning the whole creation) in this verse lend support to this understanding. However, there are some problems with this view. For one thing it is most unlikely that the Divine will is simply to create human beings. This would be too self-evident to be meaningful. The will of God is to bring about salvation of believers. Secondly and more importantly, the verb used here, “to give birth,” is never used for creation.

‎(3) The majority of scholars therefore prefer a third interpretation, understanding “brought us forth” to mean the new birth of Christians (compare. John 3:3–8; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet 1:23). The verb “to give birth” is normally used of a mother giving birth to a child. It is interesting to observe that here God takes on a feminine role by giving new birth to Christians. The verb here is the same as the one used in verse 15 and is meant to contrast with that use: there sin gives birth to death, and here God gives birth to spiritual life for Christians. This interpretation receives further support from the two phrases that follow, the word of truth and first fruits. Other ways to render he brought us forth may be “he caused us to be born anew” or “he caused us to have new life.”

The word of truth is the means by which God brought about the new birth. Those supporting the second interpretation above naturally take the word of truth to mean the creative word of God in Genesis 1. However, it is more likely that the phrase refers to the gospel, as this is the common New Testament usage (Eph 1:13; Col 1:5; 2 Tim 2:15). If this is so, in many languages it will be helpful to render word of truth as “the true message” (CEV) or “his true message.”


Loh, I-Jin, and Howard Hatton. A Handbook on the Letter from James. New York: United Bible Societies, 1997. Print. UBS Handbook Series.