Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

ally is a vox media and stands for (a sense of) pleasure or enjoyment which
can be of various kinds, physical as well as rational, volitional and emotional.
In Greek philosophy, and in line with this usage, it is originally a noble concept
with virtue as its norm and rationality as its core (Aristotle) or a neutral
concept as the norm of virtue and of everything else (Epicureans). Eventually,
however, it was viewed as contrary to reason, and received a critically or
radically negative evaluation (Stoics). At this point it could stand not only for
a positive sense of pleasure that was altogether commendable, but also for a
negative desire for pleasure that requires an uncompromising thumbs-down.
The latter, then, is construed as an evil impulse, which comes down to the
kind of “passionate yearning,” which is opposed to virtue and is very much
akin, if not identical to, epithumia. This is also reflected in early Jewish philosophy,
which relates hedone to epithumia and regards it as an evil impulse
that is contrary to reason and provokes to an ungodly transgression of God’s
law.
The NT usage is said to mirror this long history of the word hedone. It
can be used in a general sense. In instances of that sort it must be translated as
pleasure, joy, or delight (2 Pet. 2:13). But it mostly marks an orientation of
life that is fleshly in character, this-worldly, Satanic in origin, ruled by ungodly
forces, hostile to God, opposed to his will, and antithetical to holiness.
Hedonai (plural) have a variety of residences. They are found in non-
Christians, whether generically in individuals (Tit. 3:3), or more specifically
in false teachers (2 Tim. 3:4; 2 Pet. 2:13). As a result both categories of people
display a long list of vices. But they also reside in Christians, as the present
context indicates. Theirs is a long list of vices as well. Further, these hedonai
have a wide operating range. They choke out the word (Lk. 8:14), enslave
those in whom they reside (Tit. 3:3), and produce conflict among men
(Jam. 4:1). Consequently, they are supposedly best identified as “evil impulses”
or “sinful passions,” fully in line with the later Greek and rabbinic
traditions. The conclusion is that this is “probably” also the best translation in
James 4:1, and “perhaps” in Titus 3:3. 313 One commentator even scratches the
adverb “perhaps” with regards to Titus 3:3 (Nystrom, 224).
Some commentaries and dictionaries, however, part company precisely
at this point of interpreting hedone and epithumia as (virtually) identical in
sum and substance. Without taking issue with the general observations about
the specific nature, various residences, operating range and intended victims
of hedonai, they still are far from convinced that hedonai and epithumeo in
this context cover the same territory. While epithumeo (Jam. 4:2) is indicative
313 See Gustav Staehlin in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Gerhard Kittel, ed.
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), Vol. II, 910-925.
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