Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Let no one say (mhdeiv legetw). Present active imperative, prohibiting such a habit.
When he is tempted (peirazomenov). Present passive participle of peirazw, here in evil sense of tempt, not test, as in Matthew 4:1. Verses James 1:12-18 give a vivid picture of temptation.
I am tempted of God (apo qeou peirazomai). The use of apo shows origin (apo with ablative case), not agency (upo), as in Mark 1:13, of Satan. It is contemptible, but I have heard wicked and weak men blame God for their sins. Cf. Proverbs 19:3; Sirach 15:11 f. Temptation does not spring "from God."
Cannot be tempted with evil (apeirastov kakwn). Verbal compound adjective (alpha privative and peirazw), probably with the ablative case, as is common with alpha privative (Robertson, Grammar, p. 516), though Moulton (Prolegomena, p. 74) treats it as the genitive of definition. The ancient Greek has apeiratov (from peiraw), but this is the earliest example of apeirastov (from peirazw) made on the same model. Only here in the N.T. Hort notes apeiratov kakwn as a proverb (Diodorus, Plutarch, Josephus) "free from evils." That is possible here, but the context calls for "untemptable" rather than "untempted."
And he himself tempteth no man (peirazei de autov oudena). Because "untemptable."
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing James 1:13:
Matthew 6:13
Luke 11:1
Luke 22:28
James 1:2
James 1:13
James 3:4
Revelation 3:10
Revelation 12:6
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