Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
But every man is tempted - Successfully solicited to sin, when he is drawn away of his own lust - when, giving way to the evil propensity of his own heart, he does that to which he is solicited by the enemy of his soul.
Among the rabbins we find some fine sayings on this subject. In Midrash hanaalam, fol. 20, and Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 17, it is said: "This is the custom of evil concupiscence, yetser hara : To-day it saith, Do this; to-morrow, Worship an idol. The man goes and worships. Again it saith, Be angry."
"Evil concupiscence is, at the beginning, like the thread of a spider' s web; afterwards it is like a cart rope." Sanhedrim, fol. 99.
In the words, drawn away by his own lust and enticed, ̔ , there is a double metaphor; the first referring to the dragging a fish out of the water by a hook which it had swallowed, because concealed by a bait; the second, to the enticements of impure women, who draw away the unwary into their snares, and involve them in their ruin. Illicit connections of this kind the writer has clearly in view; and every word that he uses refers to something of this nature, as the following verse shows.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing James 1:14:
Romans 7:9
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