“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.”
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow — having clarified what God does not do (tempt to evil), James now celebrates what God invariably does: give good gifts abundantly. The 'Father of lights' (patēr tōn phōtōn) may allude to the creator of celestial bodies, establishing God as the source of all blessing. The phrase 'no change or shifting shadow' (parallagē ē tropēs aposkiasma) uses astronomical language to express God's unchanging constancy, contrasting with the variability of earthly circumstances and with the wavering doubter of verse 6.
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