The Astronomical Language of James 1:17 Revisited

There is general agreement among scholars that παραλλαγὴ and τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα in James 1:17 refer to astronomical phenomena, but little agreement as to the nature of these phenomena. The present article returns to the writings of the Greek astronomers to gain a scientifically precise understanding of these terms, and argues that astronomical terms such as these diffused from the academy into everyday Greek and Jewish life, and were both meaningful to James’s readers and useful for James’s argument.