καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσιν καὶ φρίσσουσιν. Maximus the Confessor speaks in this
connection of ‘mere faith’, Schleiermacher of ‘that shadow of faith which even
devils may have’. The logic is clear. Demons are not atheists but rather have
religious ‘doctrines’ (1 Tim 4:10), among which is monotheism, and shuddering
proves their sincerity. But to no avail: τί τὸ ὄφελος Caesarius of Arles puts it this way: ‘The
demons believe that God exists, but they do not perform what he commands’.
καί
= ‘even’. Both δαιμόνιον
and φρίσσω appear only here
in James. The latter refers to something like fearful amazement, the
traditional English rendering being ‘shudder’.287 Here fear must be
connoted. Certainly it is fitting that demons, who instill fear in human
beings, become the victims of fear before God.
James was not the first to link φρίσσω, which is sometimes paired with τρέμω, to the demonic. Indeed, we have here a
far-flung topos; cf. 4Q510 1 (a
prayer that the ravaging angels may be frightened and terrified); T. Abr.
RecLng 16.3 (personified Death shudders and trembles before God, ἔφριξεν καὶ ἐτρομάξεν); T. Sol. 2.1 (τὸν δαίμονα φρίσσοντα καὶ τρέμοντα); Ps.-Ign. Phil. 3.5 (the ruler of this world ‘shudders’ [φρίττει] at the cross); Justin, Dial. 49.8 (‘before whom [that is,
before Christ] the demons and all the principalities and authorities of the
earth shudder [φρίσσει]’);
Clement of Alexandria, Strom.
5.24.125.1 GCS 32 ed. Stählin and Früchtel, 411 (an Orphic fragment: ‘Ruler of
Ether … before whom demons shudder [φρίσσουσιν], and before whom the throng of gods fear’); Acts Phil. 132 ed.
Bonnet, 63 (‘God, before whom all the aeons shudder [φρίττουσιν] … principalities and powers of the
heavenly place stremble [τρέμουσιν]
before you’); Lactantius, Ira 23 SC
289 ed. Ingremeau, 208 (‘the Milesian Apollo, consulted about the Jewish
religion, introduced this verse into his response: “God, the king and begetter
of all, before whom the earth trembles [τρομέει] … whom the depths of Tartarus and demons dread” [δαίμονες ἐρίγγασιν]’); PGM 3.226–27 (‘god’s seal, at whom
all deathless gods of Olympus and demons … shudder’, φρίσσουσι … δαίμονες); 4.2541–42 (‘demons throughout the world shudder at you’, δαίμονες … φρίσσουσι), 2829–30 (δαίμονες ἣν φρίσσουσιν καὶ ἀθάνατοι τρομέουσιν); 12.118 (πᾶς δαίμων φρίσσει); 3 En. 14.2 (Schäfer, Synopse 17 = 898: Sammael fears and trembles before God); Ps.-Bartholomew, Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
ed. Budge, fol. 2a (Death personified is greatly afraid and trembles and shakes
before the triumphant Jesus). James was, however, evidently the first to
associate this motif with the ‘faith’ of demons, an effective and memorable
rhetorical move.
Although originally used of both good and bad deities, δαιμόνιον came, in post-exilic Judaism, to refer to
malevolent spirits closely associated with Satan. James’ audience was
presumably familiar with a large body of lore surrounding them. They were often
identified with pagan gods (LXX Deut 32:17; 1 Cor 10:20); held to inflict
disease (Sib. Or. 3.331; Mt 12:22); understood as sources of temptation and
vice (T. Jud. 23.1); reported to indwell or possess unfortunate human beings
(Mk 5:9; 9:26); and said to have issued from the mating of the sons of God with
human women (Gen 6:1–4; 1 En. 6–21). But all that matters here is the notion
that they, although corrupt, nonetheless recognize the ultimate power in the
universe.
Why the demons are afraid of the one God goes unsaid. Commentators
often assume that they know God will destroy or punish them in the latter days.
But that may read too much into the text. Perhaps we have something here like
the magic of powerful names: evil cannot tolerate the presence or name or even
thought of the divinity; cf. Josephus, Bell.
5.438 (τὸ φρικτόν … ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ); PGM 36.261 (τῶν μεγάλων καὶ φικτρῶν ὀνομάτων ὧν οἱ ἄνεμοι φρίζουσιν); Apost.Const. 2.22.12 ed. Funk, 87 (ὀνόματί σου, ὃν πάντα φρίσσει καί τρέμει); PLond. 46.80–81 (τὸ μέγα ὄνομα … ὅν
… πᾶς δαίμων φρίσσει).
Ecclesiastical interpreters have often expounded our verse and those
surrounding it by associating it or them with the empty confession of Mt 7:21 =
Lk 6:46. Bare brain belief comes to naught. (Dale C. Allison Jr., A
Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Epistle of James [International
Critical Commentary; New York: Bloomsbury, 2013], 476-78)
