This is a part of my ongoing series, Wisdom from Above, in which I explore Scripturally the various principles described in James 3:17 as “The wisdom from above.” This series is heavy on Scripture references, and I hope you do the diligence of pouring through these with me and gleaning the truth from them. My prayer is always that you will join me on this journey to wisdom and virtue.
At surface level when we read the word “gentle,” the meaning is clear enough. A vision likely comes to mind of a quiet, timid and harmless individual, someone who, regardless of his size or stature, would “never hurt a fly.” Or perhaps we think of a “gentleman,” someone who will hold open the door for a lady, or throw his coat upon a puddle so that she won’t get her feet wet. However, as I was researching the meaning of the word, I found that this was not the fully intended meaning of the word.
In this article, my goal is to explore the word “Gentle,” and convey to you that full meaning as it is used in Scripture. I was faced with two difficulties in interpreting the meaning of gentle. First, the use of the Greek word “epieikes” (and the related term “epeikiea”) is quite ambiguous in its usage outside of the New Testament. Secondly, the English word “gentle” as it is translated has also changed in it’s meaning over time, giving us a double portion of ambiguity in understanding the meaning in Scripture of this word.
I am not an expert in New Testament Greek nor of linguistics in general, but with a bit of reading and searching, there is enough information available to give the amateur reader sufficient material to understand. Beginning with the biblical references, and then moving through the Greek and into the English usage of the word, I am confident that you will have a firm grasp of the term “gentle” and will be a better person for it.
The word epieikes appears 5 times in the New Testament; 4 times it is translated as gentle and once as “reasonableness”:
“not violent but gentle,” (1 Tit 3:3)
“to avoid quarreling, to be gentle,” (Tit 3:2)
“The wisdom above is…gentle..”(James 3:17)
“Servants, be subject to your masters…not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” (1 Peter 2:18)
Philippians 4:5: “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.”
Epeikea appears twice in the NT:
But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. Acts 24:4
I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ–I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!– 2 Cor. 10:1
We commonly interpret the word gentle as kind, compassionate, caring, or any other myriad of fluffy and sweet terms. This is the spirit that the word has with us, and the context of these verses is not so far off base as to be outright unrelated. However, both in the history of the English language, and of the Greek word we find different meanings which can help us dive a bit deeper into understanding the application of this term to the reader of James 3:17.
Gunter Virt, an Austrian professor of Moral Theology from 1983 to 2006, wrote several papers and books on this very subject. I came across a paper of his on Pastoral Care, one of the few of his works available online. In this paper he briefly outlines “how the understanding of epikeia developed historically in order to present its various nuances systematically.”
In Homer, the adjective epieikes expresses moral temperance and decency. It is an ideal characteristic of the gods (Zeus, Hera etc.) and of heroes (such as Achilles).
In Herodotus, epikeia is the opposite of the rigorous defence of one’s right. In the Sophist Gorgias, epikeia is a dynamic element of justice useful to overcome dilemmas. In the process, the human subject creates his own kairos. In contrast, for the historiographer Thucydides, kairos is supra-individual. He sees history as the combination of destiny and reason, and criticises the Athenians for using epikeia in situations of war as a means of power politics.
In Plato, epieikes as adjective usually has a positive ring, but epikeia as a noun is a dilution of justice. Most commentaries are based on a sentence in Plato’s (possibly posthumous) work Nomoi (VI 757d-e), where he criticizes the election for offices for not being based on virtue and talent, but rather, for being simply by lot. Here, the term epikeia implies a weakening of justice.1
According to Virt, Aristotle provides the most conclusive and unified presentation of this word, which can be seen in the conclusion of his work on Nicomachean Ethics:
It is plain, then, what the equitable is, and that it is just and is better than one kind of justice. It is evident also from this who the equitable man is; the man who chooses and does such acts, and is no stickler for his rights in a bad sense but tends to take less than his share though he has the law oft his side, is equitable, and this state of character is equity, which is a sort of justice and not a different state of character. 2
Aristotle takes all these varying applications of the word and synthesizes them into one word: not gentleness, but equity. Per the Philosopher, equity is a sort of merciful justice, one which is willing to sacrifice of itself to establish justice for others. This is why, in the history of the word, you will find that it takes various forms. This is why some Greeks portrayed it as an establishment of justice an others as a weakening of it.
Aristotle’s definition carries on through Aquinas in his classic work, Summa Theologica:
“Epikeia” does not set aside that which is just in itself but that which is just as by law established. Nor is it opposed to severity, which follows the letter of the law when it ought to be followed. To follow the letter of the law when it ought not to be followed is sinful. Hence it is written in the Codex of Laws and Constitutions under Law v: “Without doubt he transgresses the law who by adhering to the letter of the law strives to defeat the intention of the lawgiver.3
As the concept of equity passed on to the Western world through Aquinas, it is presented as a reasonableness (as translated in Phil 4:5), or a willingness to hear reason. It is a laying down of one’s own preference and sense of justice for the sake of another. by necessity it denotes someone in a place of power or nobility using their status for the benefit of others rather than themselves.
It is from this understanding that the term has passed through Old French (11th century) “genteel” and eventually into English as a conception of nobility and land ownership. For someone to hold property and a higher seat in society, they are expected to hold that seat in an equitable manner, and thus we developed the term gentleman.
So why do we have such a nuanced version of this word today? Just like the meanings conveyed through Aristotle’s predecessors, the modern understanding of the word gentle contains part of it’s meaning, but does not reflect the whole. CS Lewis mentions the development of the word gentleman briefly in his essay The Death of Words:
But surely there are words that have become merely complimentary—words which once had a definable sense and which are now nothing more than noises of vague approval? The dearest example is the word gentleman. This was once (like villain) a term which defined a social and heraldic fact. The question whether Snooks was a gentleman was almost as soluble as the question whether he was a barrister or a Master of Arts. The same question, asked forty years ago (when it was asked very often) admitted of no solution. The word had become merely eulogistic, and the qualities on which the eulogy was based varied from moment to moment even in the mind of the same speaker. This is one of the ways in which words die.4
The word in our cultural understanding evolved from an objective statement of description into a sentimental one, so it is no surprise that the objective qualities of the word faded away and the sentimental ones remained. At least the word gentleman holds a bit more of the intended culture of the word. The difference is clear in the meaning rendered when I say “John is a gentleman” or “John is a gentle man.”
I have kept this as short as possible, but have left links and references below should you choose to look in more detail. This journey through the history of the word should give you ample material with which to formulate a biblical understanding of the word here in James 3:17. In the verse preceding James tells us, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice…”
In the concept of epeikia (as equity rather than mere gentleness) there is a denial of these two temptations of selfishness and jealousy. The selfish and envious person is quarrelsome and violent (Jam. 4:1-2), and in the case of a master or ruler they are unjust and unfair (Col. 4:1). An equitable person, however, as we see in the verses referenced above, are none of these things. It is important to note that equity does not dispense with justice or virtue; rather it points to a higher virtue, or the “weightier matters of the law.” (Matt 23:23) This requires a display of both strength and meekness: a strength of character and a meekness of service. It is a recognition of the Master above all masters and the Lawgiver above all lawgivers, to whom all masters and laws must bow to.
In conclusion I leave you with this elegy of the Reverend John Cotton (a minister in England and later in the Massachussetts Bay Colony) that perfectly describes this quality of gentleness, and I pray that you will recognize your place in the world God created, and that God will grant the wisdom of gentleness from above.
“Here lies magnanimous humility,
Majesty, meekness, Christian apathy
On soft affections; liberty in thrall;
A noble spirit, servant unto all.”5
1) Virt, G. (2013). Moral norms and the forgotten virtue of Epikeia in the pastoral care of the divorced and remarried. Melita Theologica, Vol. 63(1), p. 17-34
2) “Book V, Section 10.” Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle, Macmillan Pub. Co., 1986.
3) “SECUNDA SECUNDÆ PARTIS, Question 120.” The Summa Theologica, by Thomas, Catholic Way Publishing, 2014.
4)Lewis, C.S. “The Death of Words.” The Spectator, 22 Sept. 1944.
5)“Magnalia Christi Americana, or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England.” Magnalia Christi Americana, or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England, by Cotton Mather, S. Andrus, 1820, p. 258.