Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 3:15

"This wisdom is not [a wisdom] that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." — James 3:15 (ASV)

Though James refers to the attitude described in v.14 as “wisdom,” he obviously does not mean that it is genuine wisdom. On the contrary, it is the wisdom claimed by the would-be teachers of v.14, whose lives contradict their claims. Such “wisdom” evaluates everything by worldly standards and makes personal gain life’s highest goal. Yet even this spurious use of the term reflects the Hebrew concept of wisdom as practical rather than theoretical. God is the source of genuine wisdom (1:5; cf. Proverbs 2:6), but this pseudo-wisdom is not from him, because, as James declares, “such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven.” Instead, it is “earthly” in source as well as kind. It views life from the limited viewpoint of this world rather than from heaven’s vantage point. Its mind is set on earthly things . James also calls this wisdom “unspiritual” (GK 6035; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14–15, where this word is contrasted with “spiritual,” GK 4461). The “spiritual” person has received the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:12), but the “unspiritual” person does not have the Spirit (Jude 19). Thus “wisdom” that is “unspiritual” characterizes unregenerate human nature. Furthermore, it is “of the devil.”