But James applies his illustration again. He hammers the objector while he has him. “But wilt thou know, O vain man?” (“you senseless fellow,” Moffatt). The word is used like the Latin _vanus_ of boasters or impostors, men whose word cannot be depended upon. You can know, if you wish to know,[73] “that faith apart from works is barren,” “faith without deeds is dead” (Moffatt), according to some manuscripts. One may note 2 Peter 1:8, “not idle nor unfruitful.” Faith without works is like a barren woman, without children to comfort her. “Children” and “works” are sometimes used as parallel. “Wisdom is justified by her works” (Matt. 11:19); “wisdom is justified of all her children” (Luke 7:35). James thus shows irritation at the dulness of his objector, but he hopes to make even such a man see the point by appealing to the axiomatic case of Abraham. The faith of Abraham was one of the commonplaces of theological discussion in the rabbinical schools (Oesterley). See Sirach 44:20 ff.; Wisdom 10:5. It is no wonder that Paul (Rom. 4; Gal. 3:7) makes use of the case of Abraham. He considers it so important that in Romans he devotes a whole chapter to the subject. Paul lays chief emphasis (Rom. 4:17-21) on Abraham’s faith in the promise of a son. Paul also proves that Abraham had the justifying faith before he was circumcised. James shows that Abraham lived up to his faith when put to the test. Both points are true. There was abuse of the faith of Abraham. Thus Rabbi Nehemiah (_Mechilta_ on Ex. 14:31) says: “So Abraham, solely for the merit of his faith, whereby he believed in the Lord, inherited this world and the other.” The Jews came to rely so much on the “merit” of Abraham’s faith that they felt that all they had to do was to say, “We have Abraham to our father” (Matt. 3:9). They leaned[74] on “Father Abraham.” In 1 Maccabees 2:52 the same use is made of the case of Abraham that we have in James: “Was not Abraham found faithful in trial, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness?” In Hebrews 11 the same exposition of faith is set forth by the glorious list of heroes who exemplified faith. Among these heroes is Abraham, who obeyed to go out (11:8) to a distant land and who offered up his only begotten son (11:17). James appeals confidently, therefore, to the example of Abraham in offering up Isaac upon the altar (cf. Gen. 22:9). He had shown that he served God from love and not merely from fear. His faith had stood the severest of all tests—believing that God would go with him down into the darkness of death and make plain his command that was so hard to obey.