“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?”
The full verse · James 3:13 · KJV
is a wise endued with ? let him out a of .
Asked by
James: "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), who began this chapter with "be not many masters" (James 3:1)
The Scene
After warning that the tongue "can no man tame" and that blessing and cursing should not come from one mouth (James 3:8-12), James turns to the subject of true wisdom (James 3:13).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJames wants anyone who claims to be wise to prove it by the way they live. Barnes reads the question in light of James 3:1: it "is spoken with reference to the work of public teaching," so that if such wise people were among them, "they should be selected for that office." The test James sets is not clever speech but "a good conversation," which in the KJV means a good manner of life. Barnes says true wisdom is "meek, mild, gentle," not noisy or boastful. Gill describes the truly wise man as one who "considers his latter end" and thinks of what will become of him in another world.
The Response
What Scripture recordsJames answers in the same verse: "let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13). Then he names the counterfeit: "if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not" (James 3:14), because "This wisdom descendeth not from above" (James 3:15). He closes with the real thing: "the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated" (James 3:17).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsIn the KJV, "conversation" means a whole way of living, not just talking. The Greek word is anastrophe, behavior or manner of life, which the ESV renders "good conduct." The question pairs two words: sophos, wise, and epistemon, skillful or knowing (the ESV's "understanding"). Barnes calls these "wisdom and knowledge," the qualifications needed in a teacher. "Meekness" was not weakness. Barnes explains it as "a wise and prudent gentleness of life; not in a noisy, arrogant, and boastful manner."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJames shows that God's wisdom has a recognizable shape. It comes "from above" (James 3:17), and it looks like purity, peace, gentleness, mercy, and sincerity. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary says this wisdom "has no disguise or deceit" but "is sincere, and open, and steady, and uniform, and consistent with itself." That is the cure for the double tongue of James 3:9-12.
Gill adds that good works shown "in a wise and humble manner" are done "without trusting to, and depending upon, such works for justification and salvation." Wisdom does not show off what it does. It lets a gentle life speak, and it sows "in peace of them that make peace" (James 3:18).
Look Closer
According to James, how does a wise person show his wisdom?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, You give the wisdom that is from above; where does my life show that I need Your gentle, peaceable wisdom more than my own cleverness?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- When you feel sure you are right, what does your tone usually sound like? What might meekness change about it?
- Who is the wisest person you have known? How did their wisdom show up in the way they lived?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Measure wisdom by the life, not the talk. The people worth learning from are those whose conduct is good and whose spirit is gentle. Look for that when you choose whom to follow, and aim for it yourself.
Check your heart when you feel wise. If being right comes with "bitter envying and strife" (James 3:14), that wisdom is not from above, no matter how sharp it sounds. True wisdom is "easy to be intreated" (James 3:17), willing to listen and yield.
Meekness does not mean having no convictions. The wisdom from above is "first pure" (James 3:17). It holds to what is right, and it does so with peace and mercy.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
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