Charles Ellicott Commentary James 3:13

"Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom." — James 3:13 (ASV)

Who is a wise man and endowed with knowledge?—Who is wise, that is, in the wisdom of God, and learned in that of man? The latter state is of natural or acquired knowledge; the former is Sophia, the highest heavenly wisdom, “the breath of the power of God—the brightness of the everlasting light—more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars” . Just as the devils share with man the lower kinds of faith, that is, mere belief (James 2:19), so they also share in his earthly knowledge. The same term as that describing it above is used by the evil spirit who answered the presumptuous sons of Sceva, “Paul I know,” while a different one altogether referred to the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:15).

“Where shall Wisdom be found,
And where is the place of Understanding?”

This was the question of Job (Job 28:12). And the Septuagint version marks the parallelism with the same Greek words that Saint James uses to distinguish between the two ideas.

Let him show out of a good conversation—that is, right conduct. “Conversation” has slipped from its original meaning, which exactly represented the Greek, and is often misunderstood by the modern English reader. Literally meaning “turning oneself about,” it changed to “walking to and fro,” then to the talking that occurred while engaged in such walking, and finally to its limited modern use. There is to be general good conduct and particular proofs of it in kindly works in meekness of wisdom—noble acts of a holy habit.