By the word of truth. — Both words are, in the Greek, without the article, and this throws a slight shade of doubt upon their meaning. With the article, the same combination occurs in Ephesians 1:13; 2 Timothy 2:15; and there can be no doubt that there the sense is objective — “the word which conveys the truth of God to men.” Here a subjective meaning, “a word of truthfulness,” or “truthful word,” as distinct from insincerity of speech, is grammatically possible; but in James 1:18, where precisely the same combination occurs, we have ample warrant for retaining the objective meaning even here.
By the power of God. — Here, again, the words hover between a general and a specific sense. As distinguished from the “Holy Ghost” in 2 Corinthians 6:6, and looking to the general use of the Greek word for “power,” it seems natural to refer the word here chiefly, though, perhaps, not exclusively, to the supernatural power given by God for working miracles. (Comp. especially 2 Corinthians 12:12; 1 Corinthians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 12:28-29.)
By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. — The thought is found in a more expanded form in Ephesians 6:11-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8. Its recurrence in 2 Corinthians 10:4 shows how familiar it was to St. Paul’s mind. Here it is presented in a more condensed form, but its meaning is sufficiently obvious. The weapon of the right hand is “the sword of the Spirit,” aggressive in the conflict with evil (Ephesians 6:17). The armour for the left hand is defensive, the “shield of faith,” which is our defence against the fiery darts of the wicked (Ephesians 6:16). This gives, it is believed, a better meaning than the interpretation which translates the Greek word by “instruments,” as in Romans 6:13, and taking these as meaning opportunities for action, sees in the two adjectives the meaning which sometimes attaches to them in Greek authors, and was derived from the usages of Greek divination, as “favourable” and “unfavourable.” It has been urged that the absence of the Greek article before “weapons on the left” is against the distinction which has been drawn above, and therefore that the words refer to the breast-plate which encompasses both sides of the body; but this, though a tenable view grammatically, is somewhat over-subtle. A man dictating a letter under the influence of strong emotion is not always mindful of minute grammatical distinctions, such as that on which this last interpretation rests.