YAC 2:14 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:14–26: Faith without good deeds is useless

In this section, James emphasized that true faith in Jesus is a matter of both believing and doing good deeds. There is no such thing as faith without good deeds to go with it. It is the good deeds that demonstrate that there is true faith. Faith without good deeds is not true faith at all.

James used examples from the lives of Rahab and Abraham to show that faith and good deeds always go together.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Faith and good deeds

If you really believe/trust you will also do good deeds

Real faith is proved by good deeds.

Paragraph 2:14–17

In this paragraph, James used three rhetorical questions to emphasize that faith without good deeds is useless.

2:14

What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to emphasize that faith without good deeds “is certainly no good” or “is no good at all.”

Some ways to translate this emphasis are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? (GW)
My brothers, if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds, what good is it?
My brothers, if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds, that kind of faith is useless, right?
As an emphatic negative statement. For example:
My brothers and sisters, if people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing. (NCV)

Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language to say that something is definitely worthless or useless.

2:14a

What good is it, my brothers,

¶ My brothers, what use/benefit is it
¶ My brothers and sisters,
¶ My fellow believers,

What good is it: In some languages, it will be more natural to put the clause What good is it at the end of the rhetorical question. For example:

My brothers, if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds, what good is it?

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

…is that real faith?

…what use/value is that?

If you translate the rhetorical question as a statement, you can translate this phrase as:

That kind of faith is useless.

That is not faith that will save you.

That is not real faith.

my brothers: The phrase my brothers also occurs in 1:2a. For advice on translating this phrase, see the note there.

The BSB places the phrase my brothers after the phrase “What good is it.” This follows the Greek text. In some languages, it is more natural to place it at the beginning of the verse. For example:

My friends, what good is it (GNT)

2:14b

if someone claims to have faith,

if a person says that he believes,
if someone says that he trusts in Jesus,
if any/one of you^(plur) says that you^(sing) trust in the Lord Jesus,

someone: The Greek word that the BSB translates as someone refers to either a man or woman. It does not refer to any particular person.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

one of you (GNT)

a person

claims to have faith: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as claims to have faith is literally “says he has faith” (as in the ESV). James did not say whether or not the person was telling the truth.

In some languages, a word like faith requires an object. If that is true in your language, use “Jesus Christ” or “our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

says that he has faith in Jesus Christ

says that he believes/trusts in our Lord Jesus Christ

says that he relies/depends on the Lord Jesus Christ

says that he has committed himself to Jesus Christ

For more help on translating the word faith, see the note on “faith” at 2:5c. Also see believe, meaning 2, in the Glossary.

2:14c

but has no deeds?

but he does no good works?
but he does no good deeds, what use/value is it?
but you^(sing) do nothing that shows that you belong to the Lord, that type of belief/trust is no good.

has no deeds: The Greek word that the BSB translates as deeds means “actions.” (Older English versions translate it as “works.”) This word refers to “good deeds.” It refers to good activities that people do out of love for God or for other people. An example of a good deed is in 2:25.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

doesn’t do any good things (GW)

actions do not prove it (GNT)

his actions do nothing to show it (REB)

General Comment on 2:14a–c

In some languages, 2:14 may be clearer if the order is changed. For example:

My brothers, ^14bif a man says that he has faith ^14cbut he does no good deeds, ^14awhat good is that kind of faith?

My fellow believers, ^14bif a person says that he believes in Jesus Christ, ^14cbut he does no good actions, ^14athat type of belief is no good.

2:14d

Can such faith save him?

How will that kind of faith save him?
That type of faith cannot save him, right?
That type of belief/trust can/will certainly not save/rescue you^(sing) from punishment for sin.

Can such faith save him?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to emphasize that faith without good deeds certainly cannot save a person.

Some ways to translate this emphasis are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Can that faith save him? (REB)
That faith cannot save him, right?
As a negative statement. For example:
Such faith certainly cannot save him.

Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.

such faith: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as such faith is literally “the faith.” This phrase refers back to the phrase “have faith but has no deeds” in 2:14b–c. The BSB translates this phrase as such faith because it is more natural in English than “the faith.”

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

his faith (RSV)

that faith (REB)

this kind of faith (GW)

save: The Greek word that the BSB translates as save means “rescue from danger or trouble.” In this context, it refers to rescuing someone from the spiritual dangers of sin and from spiritual death which is the punishment that results from sinning.

In some languages, it may be necessary to make explicit what the person is saved from. For example:

save him from sin.

rescue him from punishment for sin.

This word also occurs in 1:21d. See also save, meaning 1, in the Glossary.

him: The pronoun him refers to any person who has faith but no good deeds. This is the person James referred to in 2:14b as “someone.” It does not refer to a particular person. Consider which pronoun or noun is natural in your language in this context.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

anyone (NLT)

you (GNT)

them (NCV)

people

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις, ἔχειν ἔργα, δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ?

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τί ὄφελος ἀδελφοί μού ἐάν πίστιν λέγῃ τὶς ἔχειν ἔργα δέ μή ἔχῃ Μή δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν)

James is using the question form as a teaching tool. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question by translating his words as a statement. Alternate translation: [It does no good, my brothers, for someone to say he has faith if he does not have works.]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

τί τὸ ὄφελος

This is an idiom. Your language may have a comparable expression that you can use here. Alternate translation: [What good would it do]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἀδελφοί μου

brothers (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τί ὄφελος ἀδελφοί μού ἐάν πίστιν λέγῃ τὶς ἔχειν ἔργα δέ μή ἔχῃ Μή δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν)

See how you translated the term brothers in [1:2](../01/02.md). Alternate translation: [my fellow believers]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις, ἔχειν ἔργα, δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the abstract nouns faith and works by stating the ideas behind them with equivalent expressions. Alternate translation: [if someone said he believed in God but he did not do what God wanted him to do]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν

In context, James is clearly asking not about faith in general, but about faith that is not demonstrated in works. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly. Alternate translation: [That kind of faith is not able to save him, is it]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν

The first word of this sentence in Greek is a negative word that can be used to turn a statement into a question that expects a negative answer. ULT shows this by adding “is it?” Your language may have other ways of asking a question that expects a negative answer, for example, by changing the word order of a positive statement. Alternate translation: [Is that kind of faith able to save him]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν?

James is using the question form as a teaching tool. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question by translating his words as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [That kind of faith is certainly not able to save him!]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν?

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the abstract noun faith by stating the ideas behind it with a verb such as “believe.” Alternate translation: [Will merely believing in God save him?]

σῶσαι αὐτόν

˓to˒_save him

Your language may require you to specify what this kind of faith cannot save a person from. Alternate translation: [save him from God’s judgment]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear YAC (JAM) 2:14

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 2:14–26: Faith without good deeds is useless

Paragraph 2:14–17

2:14

2:14a

2:14b

2:14c

General Comment on 2:14a–c

2:14d

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)