OET interlinear YAC (JAM) 1:1

1:1a

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: In an ancient Greek letter, it was normal for the writer to mention his own name first. So James began this letter with his own name. However, in some languages, starting with James’ name will not make it clear that James was the writer of the letter. It may be necessary to say this explicitly. For example:

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. (NLT)

In some languages, it is not usual for a person to talk about himself in the third person. In these languages, it may be necessary to say:

I, James, am writing this letter. I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am James. I am writing this letter to you. I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

James: James was one of Jesus’ younger brothers. He was also one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. He is mentioned in Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3, and various other places in the NT. It is important to spell the name James the same way here as you did in those passages.

For more information about James, see the section called “The person who wrote the letter” in the Introduction.

a servant of God: The Greek word that the BSB translates as servant also means “slave.” This normally refers to someone who was owned by another person. He worked for his owner without receiving pay.

The phrase servant of God (or more often “servant of the Lord”) is often used figuratively in the Old Testament to describe the relationship that God’s people have to him, their master. It refers to someone who submits to God, serves God, and is devoted and loyal to God.

People often despised servants or slaves. But when someone called himself a servant of God, as James did here, he was not ashamed of it. If you have more than one word to describe servants or slaves, choose the one that is most appropriate to be used in this positive sense that describes a believer’s relationship to God.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

a slave of God (NLT)

a worker of/for God

In some languages, it will be best to translate the word servant as a verb. For example:

I serve God

belong to God

submit to God

and of the Lord Jesus Christ: James also called himself a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Lord means someone who has authority over someone or something. Here it is a title that identifies Jesus as God, the one who has supreme authority.

Some other ways to translate Lord are:

Master

Owner

supreme Chief/Leader

In some languages, it may be necessary to add a word like “our” before Lord. For example:

our Master/Chief

For further suggestions on translating Lord in James, see Lord in the Glossary.

Christ: The word Christ is sometimes used as a title and sometimes as a name. Even when it is used as a name, it has the same meaning that it has as a title. Here in James, the word Christ probably functions as a title more than as a name.This is based on the position taken in these Notes that James addressed this letter to Jewish Christians for whom the title “Christ” (or “Messiah”) would have had significant meaning. It is also based on an assumed early date for the book of James (sometime between AD 50 and AD 62), a time before “Christ” came to be established as a name. See, for example, McCartney, page 79, and the Translator’s Handbook, page 8, (which agrees that “Christ” would have been a title to early Christians of Jewish background though the Handbook takes the position that James wrote to Christians in general, Jewish and Gentile alike).

The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The Jews used this title to refer to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior.

Some ways to translate Christ are:

• Use a title or a descriptive phrase in your language that has the same meaning as Christ. For example:

  Messiah

  Promised Deliverer

  the Rescuer-King whom God appointed

• Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:

  Christ, the appointed one

  Cristo, the Savior whom God promised to send

  the Christ, he comes from God

• Transliterate Christ and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:

  the Christ

  the Kirisita

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain it. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the one whom God had promised to send. He would be both king and savior.

1:1b

To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings: In some languages, it may be natural to place the word Greetings before the phrase saying whom James was greeting. For example:

Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world. (CEV)

It may also be necessary to use a verb that means “greets” rather than the noun Greetings. For example:

I greet the twelve tribes scattered among the nations

I say “hello” to you twelve tribes scattered among the nations

To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Most scholars interpret the phrase the twelve tribes to refer to Christians.A small group of scholars say that James was writing to all Jews. For more information, see the section called “The people to whom James wrote” in the Introduction. However, there are two ways to interpret which Christians this phrase refers to:

1. It refers to Jewish Christians who were scattered in other countries. The twelve tribes was a common way to refer to the Jews. Here it refers to Jews who were Christians. For example, the NLT says:

   I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.

   (NLT)

2. It refers to both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Certain passages describe Christians as true or spiritual Israel. (See, for example, Galatians 3:7 and Galatians 3:29). Christians are of the Dispersion in the sense that they do not live in heaven which is their true homeland. For example, the GNT says:

   to all God’s people scattered over the whole world (GNT, NCV, GW)

Most English versions translate this phrase literally and do not make it clear to whom the phrase refers. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1)We are following a majority of Bible scholars, though opinion is split on this issue. and make this interpretation clear either in the text or in a footnote.

Some ways to translate this phrase are:

• Make it explicit that the phrase the twelve tribes refers to the twelve tribes “of Israel.” For example:

  to the twelve tribes/clans of Israel who are scattered among the nations

  to the people of Israel who are scattered among the nations If you do this, you should include a footnote to explain that the twelve tribes refers to Jewish Christians.

• Make it explicit that the phrase the twelve tribes refers to Jewish Christians. For example:

  to Jewish believers who are scattered among the nations

the twelve tribes: The phrase the twelve tribes refers to the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons, whom God renamed as Israel. These people all spoke the same language and all considered themselves to belong to the same ethnic group.

In some languages it is more natural to call them:

clans

sections/divisions

of the Dispersion: The Greek word that the BSB translates as the Dispersion refers to certain times during the Jews’ history, when they had been forced to flee from their country. Many of them still lived in other (non-Jewish) countries. These are the people who would normally be referred to as the Dispersion.

However, James was probably writing to Jewish Christians. So he might also have meant the Jewish believers who had been forced to leave Jerusalem because they had been persecuted for their faith. See Acts 11:19 for an example.

The word Dispersion means that these people were living outside of their country or home areas. It does not mean that these people were living far apart from each other.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

dispersed throughout the world (REB)

spread outside of their homeland

living in other countries