James 2

My brothers and sisters, you hold faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So do not treat some people as more important than others.

1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

Note"Respect of persons" in 1611 English has nothing to do with respect. It renders a phrase built on a Hebrew idiom, "to lift the face," used of a judge who looks at who is standing before him and rules accordingly. It means favoritism. Also, "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ" is ambiguous in Greek: it can mean faith in Jesus, or the faithfulness shown by Jesus. The wording "the Lord of glory" is likewise awkwardly attached, and may qualify the name rather than stand apart from it.

2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty, worn-out clothes comes in too.

2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

Note"Assembly" here is the Greek word synagoge, which is both the ordinary word for a gathering and the word for a synagogue; this is the only place in the New Testament where a Christian meeting is given that name. A gold ring was not jewelry in the modern sense but a public marker of wealth and social rank in the Roman world, so common as a status signal that rings could be rented for the occasion. "Vile raiment" means cheap, dirty, worn clothing; vile in 1611 meant of low value, not wicked.

3Suppose you give special attention to the man in the fine clothes and say, "Sit here in this good seat," but you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or "Sit on the floor by my feet."

3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

Note"Gay clothing" means bright, showy, splendid clothing. The modern sense of the word did not exist. "Sit here under my footstool" is literal: sit down on the floor beside the feet of a seated person. A room would have a few benches or chairs, and everyone else stood or sat on the ground, so seating was a visible ranking of the people present.

4Haven't you then made a difference between people, and become judges whose thinking is evil?

4Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

NoteThe Greek verb behind "partial in yourselves" can mean either "made distinctions among yourselves" or "became divided, wavered, within yourselves," and both senses are defensible here. "Judges of evil thoughts" is a Hebrew-style construction that can mean judges whose reasoning is corrupt, or judges who hand down corrupt verdicts.

5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn't God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and to receive the kingdom he promised to those who love him?

5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Note"The poor of this world" means those counted poor by the world's reckoning. The Greek behind "rich in faith" is compressed and can be read as rich in the sphere of faith, or rich by means of faith; the translation has to pick one.

6But you have treated the poor with contempt. Isn't it the rich who push you around and drag you into court?

6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Note"Despised" here means dishonored, treated as of no account, rather than merely disliked. "Judgment seats" are law courts. In the Roman system a creditor could physically seize a debtor and haul him before the magistrate, and the wealthy were the ones with the standing and the means to do it.

7Aren't they the ones who speak evil of the honorable name you are called by?

7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

Note"That worthy name by the which ye are called" is literally "the good name that was called over you." This is a Hebrew idiom in which an owner's name is pronounced over property, or a father's over a child, to mark who someone belongs to. It most likely refers to the name of Jesus spoken over converts at baptism.

8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.

8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

Note"Royal law" translates a word meaning belonging to a king, hence either the law given by the king or the law that outranks the rest. The quoted line is from Leviticus 19:18, part of a passage that also explicitly forbids favoring either the poor or the great in judgment.

9But if you treat some people as more important than others, you are sinning, and the law itself proves that you are lawbreakers.

9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

Note"Convinced" in 1611 English meant convicted, proven guilty in a legal sense, not persuaded of something.

10Anyone who keeps the whole law but fails at one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Note"Offend" here translates a word meaning to stumble or trip, not to give offense to someone. The image is of a person walking the length of the law and catching a foot once.

11The God who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." So if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have broken the law.

11For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

NoteThese are the sixth and seventh of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5). Adultery is listed before killing, which is the order found in some Greek copies of the Old Testament and in other Jewish writers of the period, rather than the familiar Hebrew order.

12Speak and act like people who are going to be judged by the law that sets people free.

12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

Note"The law of liberty" is the same phrase used earlier at James 1:25. It describes the law considered as something that releases a person rather than confines him.

13Judgment without mercy will come to anyone who has shown no mercy. Mercy wins out over judgment.

13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Note"Mercy rejoiceth against judgment" uses a verb meaning to boast or exult over a defeated opponent. The picture is of a contest that mercy wins, not of two things coexisting peacefully.

14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does nothing about it? Can that kind of faith save him?

14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Note"Works" throughout this chapter means things actually done, actions and deeds of any kind. It does not mean a job, and it does not mean religious ritual. In "can faith save him" the Greek has a definite article, "the faith," pointing back to the merely claimed faith just described, not to faith in general.

15Suppose a brother or sister has no proper clothes to wear and not enough food for the day.

15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

Note"Naked" in biblical usage normally means badly clothed, lacking the outer garment, rather than wearing nothing at all. The outer cloak doubled as a blanket at night, so being without one was a real physical danger.

16And one of you says to them, "Go in peace, stay warm and eat well," but you do not give them what their body needs. What good is that?

16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Note"Depart in peace" was a standard farewell blessing, roughly "goodbye and God keep you." "Be ye warmed and filled" is passive in form, a wish that someone or something else will warm and feed them, spoken by the very person in a position to do it.

17It is the same with faith. Faith by itself, if it does not lead to action, is dead.

17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have actions." Show me your faith without actions, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

NoteAncient Greek was written without quotation marks, so it is genuinely unclear where the imagined objector stops speaking: possibly after "I have works," possibly later. The exchange is also hard to follow because the positions attached to "thou" and "I" appear to be the reverse of what the argument needs. Translations differ, and no reading is agreed on.

19You believe that there is one God. Good for you. Even the demons believe that, and they shake with fear.

19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Note"There is one God" echoes the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, the confession recited daily by Jews: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." The King James uses "devils" for the Greek word daimonia, which means demons, a class of spirits distinct from the devil himself. "Tremble" translates a vivid word meaning to bristle or shudder, used of hair standing on end.

20Do you want proof, you foolish person, that faith without actions is useless?

20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Note"Vain" in 1611 English meant empty or hollow, so "O vain man" addresses someone with nothing in his head, not someone conceited. Some early manuscripts read "idle" or "barren" here rather than "dead," which is why translations vary between useless and dead.

21Wasn't Abraham, our ancestor, counted right with God by what he did, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

NoteThe reference is to Genesis 22, where Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac and was stopped before the knife fell. "Offered" is the Greek verb for bringing something up onto an altar; Isaac was not killed. "Justified" is courtroom language: declared to be in the right, given a favorable verdict.

22You can see that his faith was working together with what he did, and by what he did his faith was made complete.

22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

Note"Wrought with" means worked together with, as two things pulling in the same direction. "Made perfect" translates a word meaning brought to its intended completion or finished off, not made morally flawless.

23So what the Scripture says came true: "Abraham believed God, and God counted that to him as being right with him." And Abraham was called God's friend.

23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

NoteThe quotation is Genesis 15:6. "Imputed" is an accounting term: entered in the ledger, credited to an account. "The Friend of God" was a settled title for Abraham in Jewish usage, drawn from passages such as 2 Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8.

24So you see that a person is counted right with God by what he does, and not by faith alone.

24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25It was the same with Rahab the prostitute. Wasn't she counted right with God by what she did, when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different road?

25Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

NoteRahab's story is in Joshua 2. She kept a house on the wall of Jericho, hid two Israelite scouts sent to survey the city, lied to the king's men about them, and let the scouts down by a rope to leave by a route that avoided the search party. "Harlot" means prostitute, and "the messengers" are those scouts.

26Just as the body is dead without the spirit, so faith without actions is dead too.

26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Note"Spirit" here translates a word that also means breath. The comparison is to a corpse: a body with the breath gone out of it. Older English "ghost" and "spirit" both carried this sense of the breath that keeps a body animate.