The Nugget:
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
My Comment:
One of the attributes or qualities of God emphasized in the Bible is His quality of (3) immutability or unchangeableness. James tells us with God there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. He uses this truth to emphasize and confirm the truth that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”
If you would read this verse from different English translations, you would see each translation sheds an additional light upon the meaning in the original Greek text which underlies our English versions.
Young’s Literal Translation:
James 1:17 every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;
The NET Bible:
James 1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.
The English Standard Version (ESV):
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
The Murdock translation:
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no mutation, not even the shadow of change.
The Contemporary English Version (CEV):
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.
You can see that each translation sheds its own additional light upon the meaning of this verse.
James introduces this thought just after he has written about the problem of temptation and its source in human lust and desire, not God. He follows his statement about the unchanging nature of God with a statement about how God has brought us to the new birth from above by means of the word of truth. That word of truth is the message of the Gospel. We may receive that truth by hearing it, or we may receive it by reading it from Scripture itself, that is, the Bible, or even an effective Gospel tract.
We can absolutely depend upon the unchanging nature of God. That means we have every reason to fully trust Him, no matter the changing conditions and circumstances we face from day to day (Psalm 9:10).
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1447 for James 1:17.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1465 or in Logos 5 or 6 Bible software for James 1:17.
(3) Consult the cross references given in the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 165 of the NT for James 1:17.
(3) Most people today do not have access to those three resources, so I have posted cross references for this passage as I have developed them even more completely for your study as given below:
James 1:17. Every good. See on ver. James 1:5. James 3:15, 17. Ge 41:16, 38, 39. Ex 4:11, 12. 31:3-6. 36:1, 2. Nu 11:17, 25. 1 Ch 22:12. 29:19. 2 Ch 1:11, 12. %+*Jb 2:10. +*Ps 37:24. 85:12. **Ps 104:28. +*Ps 145:9. Pr 2:6. Is 28:26. +**Je 29:11. Da 2:21, 22, 27-30. Mt 7:11. 11:25, 26. 13:11, 12. +*Lk 6:35. 11:13. Jn 3:27. Ac 5:31. 11:18. *Jn 17:25. Ro 6:23. 11:36. 12:6-8. 1 Cor 4:7. 12:4-12. 2 Cor 9:15. Ep 2:3-5, 8. 4:8-11, 29. Phil 1:29. *1 Tim 6:17. Titus 3:3-5. He 6:4. 1 J 4:10. **1 J 5:11, 12. gift. Gr. dosis (S#1394g, only here and Phil 4:15), a giving; by implication (concretely) a gift (Strong); the act of giving, or the gift in its initiatory stage (JFB). Pr 21:14. Phil 4:15g. perfect. Gr. teleios (S#5046g, Mt 5:48). ver. James 1:4. **Ps 19:7. gift. Gr. dōrēma (S#1434g, only here and Ro 5:16), bestowment (Strong); the thing given, the boon, when perfected (JFB). 2 Ch 32:23. Da 2:6. 5:17. Jn 4:10. Ac 2:38. 8:20. 10:45. Ro 5:16g. 2 Cor 9:15. Ep 3:7. 4:7. He 6:4. from above. Gr. anōthen [(S#509g): Rendered (1) from above: Jn 3:31. 19:11. James 1:17. 3:15, 17. (2) top: Mt 27:51. Mk 15:38. Jn 19:23. (3) again: Jn 3:3, 7. (4) from the very first: Lk 1:3. (5) from the beginning: Ac 26:5. (6) Not translated: Ga 4:9]. James 3:15, 17. Jn 3:3g. and cometh down. Gr. katabainō (S#2597g, Ac 8:38n). Present tense, active voice, participle. As usual, this union of the participle with the finite verb denotes something habitual (Vincent). James 3:15. Ex 28:3. 31:6. 35:30, 31, 34. 1 Ch 29:14. Jb 28:12, 20. 36:3. 38:36. 39:17. *Ps 10:17. 87:7. +*Ps 119:176. Is 40:13, 14. Mk 1:10. Lk 15:17. Jn 6:65. 15:5. Ac 6:3. 7:23. 10:11-15. 11:18. +*Ac 16:14. 18:27. Ro 3:12. Ep 2:8. Phil 1:6. +*Phil 2:13n. Col 2:12. 1 Th 1:5. 2 Th 3:5. 2 Tim 2:25. Re 3:12. 21:2-10. from the Father. James 3:9. *Ge 1:2-5, 14, 15. +*Nu 16:22. Dt 4:19. 1 S 10:12. 1 K 4:29. 2 Ch 9:23. Ezr 1:5. 7:27. Ne 2:12. Jb 1:21. *Jb 38:28. Ps 19:1-8. 27:1. *Ps 84:11. 135:6. *Pr 19:14. Ec 2:19. Is 45:7. 60:19. Je 4:23. 10:12. Da 1:17. Ho 14:8. Mt 19:17. 21:3. Mk 10:18. Lk 18:19. *Jn 1:9. 8:12. 19:11. 1 Cor 1:3. 2 Cor 3:5. 4:6. 5:18. Ep 1:17, 18. Col 2:12. 1 Th 3:12. He 12:9. **1 J 1:5. Re 1:4. 21:23. 22:5. of lights. FS96F2, +Ge 4:10. FS22J, +Ps 27:1. The heavenly bodies. Jb 25:3. 38:7, 28. Ps 8:3. 36:9. +*Ps 119:105. 135:7. 136:7. *Is 9:2. *Is 49:6. Je 4:23. 31:35. Am 5:8. **Mt 5:14, 16. Lk 16:8. *Jn 1:4. 3:19. 5:35. *Jn 8:12. 12:36. Ep 5:8. Phil 2:15. 1 J 1:7. no variableness. Gr. parallagē (S#3883g, only here), transformation (of phase or orbit), that is, (figuratively) fickleness (Strong). T#217. Ex 3:14. *Nu 23:19. Dt 32:4. 33:14. 1 S 15:29. Jb 23:13. 38:33. +Ps 33:11 (T#250). +*Ps 89:34. **+Ps 102:25-28. +*Ps 119:89-91. Pr 19:21. Ec 3:14. Is 14:24. +*Is 31:2. 46:4, 10. Je 2:17. Ezk 24:14. Da 6:26. +*Mal 3:6. Jn 8:58. 13:1. *Ro 11:29. He 1:11, 12. 6:17, 18. +He 13:8 (T#76-4). shadow. Gr. aposkiasma (S#644g, only here), a shading off, that is, obscuration (Strong). of turning. Gr. tropē (S#5157g, only here), a turn (“trope”), that is, revolution (figuratively variation) [Strong]. %Ge 6:6. Jb 23:13. 34:22. Ps 139:9, *Ps 139:12. +*Je 32:40. *Ho 13:14.