³ sn <i>Hermesi> was a Greek god who (according to Greek mythology) was the messenger of the gods and the god of oratory (equivalent to the Roman god Mercury).

³ sn <i>The gods have come down to us in human formi>. Greek culture spoke of “divine men.” In this region there was a story of Zeus and Hermes visiting the area (Ovid, <i>Metamorphosesi> 8.611-725). The locals failed to acknowledge them, so judgment followed. The present crowd was determined not to make the mistake a second time.

¹ tc Most <span class="smcaps">mssspan> (C <span class="greek">Ψspan> 1611 1739<sup>csup> 1244 <span class="Apparatus">Mspan> as well as a few versions and fathers) read “uncontrollable” (<span class="greek">ἀκατασχετόνspan>, <span class="translit">akataschetonspan>), while most of the more significant witnesses (<span class="hebrew">אspan> A B K P 1175 1243 1735 1739* latt co) have “restless” (<span class="greek">ἀκατάστατονspan>, <span class="translit">akatastatonspan>). Externally, the latter reading should be preferred. Internally, however, things get a bit more complex. The notion of being uncontrollable is well suited to the context, especially as a counterbalance to v. <data ref="Bible:Jam 3:8">8adata>, though for this very reason scribes may have been tempted to replace <span class="greek">ἀκατάστατονspan> with <span class="greek">ἀκατασχετόνspan>. In a semantically parallel early Christian text, <span class="greek">ἀκατάστατοςspan> (<span class="translit">akatastatosspan>) was considered strong enough of a term to denounce slander as “a restless demon” (Herm. 27:3). On the other hand, <span class="greek">ἀκατάστατονspan> may have been substituted for <span class="greek">ἀκατασχετόνspan> by way of assimilation to <data ref="Bible:Jam 1:8">1:8data> (especially since both words were relatively rare, scribes may have replaced the less familiar with one that was already used in this letter). On internal evidence, it is difficult to decide, though <span class="greek">ἀκατασχετόνspan> is slightly preferred. However, in light of the strong support for <span class="greek">ἀκατάστατονspan>, and the less-than-decisive internal evidence, <span class="greek">ἀκατάστατονspan> is deemed more likely to be the initial reading.