OET interlinear YAC (JAM) 2:20

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

θέλεις δὲ γνῶναι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενέ, ὅτι ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν?

˱you˲_/are/_wanting but /to/_know O person vain that ¬the faith apart_from ¬the works idle is

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: “But I can show you, O foolish man, that faith without works is idle.”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

θέλεις & γνῶναι

˱you˲_/are/_wanting & /to/_know

This is an idiom. It means “I can show you” by suggesting implicitly, “If you really want to know, I can show you.” Alternate translation as a statement: “I can show you”

ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενέ

O person vain

James is addressing this hypothetical man in the vocative after an exclamation. If your language has a vocative case, it would be appropriate to use it here. If not, you could express the meaning in another way that would be natural in your language. Alternate translation: “you foolish man”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενέ

O person vain

James is using the term man in a generic sense that could mean any person, male or female. Alternate translation: “you foolish person”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν

¬the faith apart_from ¬the works idle is

James is speaking of faith as if it were a living thing that would be lazily doing nothing if it did not have works. Alternate translation: “a person’s faith is useless if he does not express it through works” or “a person’s faith is unproductive if he does not express it through works”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν

¬the faith apart_from ¬the works idle is

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: “it is useless for a person to say that he believes in God if he does not do what God wants him to do”

Note 6 topic: translate-textvariants

ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν

¬the faith apart_from ¬the works idle is

See the discussion of textual issues at the end of the General Notes to this chapter to decide whether to use this reading in your translation or a different reading, “faith without works is dead.” The note below discusses a translation issue in that reading, for those who decide to use it.

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν

¬the faith apart_from ¬the works idle is

If the reading “faith without works is dead” is accurate, then James is speaking of faith as if it would be alive if it had works but it would not be alive if it did not have them. Alternate translation: “a person’s faith is not genuine if he does not express it through works”