YAC 2:21 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 2:20–26

In this paragraph, James gave two examples to show his readers that faith without deeds is useless. He used the examples of Abraham and Rahab from the Old Testament. He argued that it was because of their deeds that both Abraham and Rahab were declared righteous by God.

Throughout section 2:14–26, James was contrasting faith without deeds (for example, 2:14, 2:17, 2:18) with faith demonstrated by deeds (2:18). In this paragraph, when James said that Abraham was declared to be righteous “by deeds,” it does not mean by deeds alone. It is implied that Abraham had faith and that this faith was demonstrated by deeds. You may want to put some of this information in the translation or in a footnote. Some suggestions are in the notes on “for what he did” (2:21b) and “by his deeds” (2:24b).

2:21

In 2:21, James gave the first of two examples from the Old Testament of someone whom God declared to be righteous. This example is about Abraham.

Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to emphasize that Abraham was definitely justified or “considered righteous” (NIV) for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

Some ways to translate this emphasis are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (NLT96)
As a statement. For example:
Certainly Abraham, our ancestor, was declared right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.
As a question and a statement. For example:
Consider our ancestor Abraham. Did not God consider him righteous when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
How was our ancestor Abraham declared right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

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

2:21a

Was not our father Abraham

Was not Abraham, our^(incl) forefather
Think^(sing) about our^(incl) ancestor Abraham.
Consider^(plur) Abraham, our^(incl) relative from long ago.

our father Abraham: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as our father Abraham is literally “Abraham our father” (as in the RSV). Abraham had lived many generations before James, and all Jews had descended from Abraham. So use a word that indicates an ancestor who was the beginning of a language group or a tribe.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

our forefather Abraham

Abraham our long ago ancestor

2:21b

justified by what he did

declared to be righteous because of what he did
What caused God to call him a straight/just person? It was because of his good deeds
God declared/said that he was a righteous/good person as a result of his faith and actions,

justified by what he did: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as justified by what he did is translated by many English versions as “justified by works.” Before you translate this phrase, there are at least two issues to consider.

Issue 1: Which part of the meaning of the verb is the focus

The verb “justified” primarily means “declared innocent.” This word is used in a court or judgment setting. A judge examines the evidence and may then declare that an accused person is “innocent,” “just” or “righteous.” This is equal to saying, “Not guilty.”

Commentaries and English versions focus on different aspects of this word:

Some focus on the verdict or declaration. God considered/declared Abraham to be righteous. God did this because Abraham’s deeds proved that he was righteous. For example:
our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did (NLT96)
Others focus on the evidence and what it showed. Abraham’s deeds showed/proved that he was righteous. For example:
our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions (NLT)
Still others focus on the accused person’s new condition after the verdict. God caused Abraham to be righteous. For example:
Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did…. (NCV)

Most commentaries favor (a). So it may be better to translate in a way that follows (a). (Focus (c) is quite different and could be considered a different interpretation.)

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Was not our ancestor Abraham declared righteous because of what he did…?

Did not God consider our ancestor Abraham to be just/straight because of his good deeds…?

It was certainly because of what our ancestor Abraham did that God declared that he was a righteous/good person….

See also righteous, meaning 2, in the Glossary.

Issue 2: How to translate the passive verb

The Greek verb that the BSB translates as justified is a passive verb. Some ways to translate this verb are:

As a passive verb. For example:
Was not our ancestor Abraham declared right with God because of what he did…?
It was certainly because of our ancestor Abraham’s good deeds that he was declared righteous.
As an active verb. God was the one who declared Abraham righteous. For example:
Was it not because of what our ancestor Abraham did that God declared him to be righteous…?
God considered Abraham to be righteous/just because of his good deeds

by what he did: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as by what he did is literally “by works/deeds/actions.” Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

by works (RSV)

as a result of what he did (GW)

because of his good deeds

Throughout 2:14–26, James compared faith with works to faith without works. He did not compare faith to works. When he said by what he did, this implies “by faith together with what he did.” Some ways to make this clear are:

General Comment on 2:21a–b

Include the implied information in your translation. For example:
because of his faith plus works
because of his deeds that showed that he had faith
because of the kind of faith that was proven by his good deeds
Include a footnote. For example:
In James 2:14–26, James compared faith with deeds to faith alone, that is, faith without deeds. When James wrote that Abraham was declared righteous because of his deeds, he meant “because of his faith with deeds.” Abraham’s deeds demonstrated that he had the kind of faith that can save.

In Greek, the order of words shows that James was emphasizing the phrase by what he did. Consider if there is a way in your language to emphasize these words. For example:

Was it not by his action,…that our father Abraham was justified? (REB)

2:21c

when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

when he took his son Isaac and went to the altar in order to sacrifice him?
when he put his son Isaac on the sacrifice place.

when he offered his son Isaac on the altar: The clause when he offered his son Isaac on the altar means that Abraham put Isaac on an altar and was willing to sacrifice him. But God stopped him. Abraham did not actually kill Isaac.

If a literal translation of this clause will cause people to think that Abraham really did kill Isaac, you should make some adjustments. For example:

when he laid his son Isaac on top of the altar in order to offer him to God

It may also be helpful to readers who do not know the story to make it clear that Abraham was not acting on his own initiative. He was obeying God’s command. This can be done by saying:

he did not refuse to take his son Isaac to the altar to sacrifice him

son: Isaac was old enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice and to understand what was happening. He was a grown youth. Use a word for son that does not imply a small child.

on the altar: An altar is a type of platform on which people offer sacrifices. God had instructed his people to pile earth or large stones together to make altars to him. If an altar was made from stones, the stones were to be in their natural form. This means that people were not to cut the stones to a regular shape (Exodus 20:24–26).

If your culture does not have a traditional name for such an altar, some other ways to translate this phrase are:

on the stones for sacrificing

on the offering burning rocks

on the sacrifice place to God

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον?

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀβραάμ ὁ πατήρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαάκ τόν υἱόν αὐτοῦ ἐπί τό θυσιαστήριον)

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: [Abraham our father was justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar.]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον?

James assumes that his readers will know that he is referring to a story recorded in the book of Genesis. In that story, God tells Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, but God does not really want Abraham to do that. Rather, God wants Abraham to demonstrate his faith and obedience by showing that he is willing to do it. God ultimately stops Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac. You could indicate this explicitly if it would be helpful to your readers, particularly if they would not know the story and if they would think that Abraham actually did offer his son as a sacrifice. Alternate translation, as a statement: [Abraham our father was justified by works when he demonstrated that he was willing to obey God even if that meant offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice, although God did not actually want him to do that and God stopped him from doing it]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη

See the discussion in Part 2 of the General Introduction to James about how a person is justified before God. James is not saying that Abraham did something that made God consider him righteous. Rather, as James will explain in more detail in the next two verses, God had previously declared Abraham to be righteous because Abraham believed in him. What Abraham did subsequently, when he proved that he was willing to obey God, demonstrated that his faith was genuine. You could indicate this explicitly if it would be helpful to your readers, particularly if they might misunderstand and think that Abraham did something that made God consider him righteous. Alternate translation, as a statement: [God declared Abraham our father to be righteous because what he did demonstrated that he genuinely believed in God]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ & ἐδικαιώθη

If your language does not use this passive form, you can express this with an active form, and you can state who did the action. Alternate translation, as a statement: [God justified Abraham our father” or “God declared Abraham our father to be righteous]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν

the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀβραάμ ὁ πατήρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαάκ τόν υἱόν αὐτοῦ ἐπί τό θυσιαστήριον)

James is using the term father to mean “ancestor.” Alternate translation: [Abraham our ancestor]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν

James is Jewish, descended from Abraham, and the people to whom he is writing also come from a Jewish background, so the word our would be inclusive, if your language marks that distinction.

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) 2:21

SR Greek word order