YAC 4:8 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–12: Believers must submit to God, not to their own selfish desires

In this section, James wrote about the problem of Christians quarreling among themselves. He identified the root of the problem as our human selfish desires. Then he pointed out that the solution is to humble ourselves and submit to God.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Warning against being God’s enemy (UBS)

Submit Yourselves to God (NIV)

Paragraph 4:7–10

In this paragraph, James gave a series of exhortations or commands on how to get back into a proper relationship with God. He said that his readers should turn back to God and submit to him.

The exhortations in this paragraph are all plural. They are general and are addressed to everyone to whom James was writing.

4:8a

Draw near to God,

Come/Go^(plur) close to God in your hearts,
Know^(plur) God better,
Develop^(plur) a close relationship with God,

Draw near to God: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as Draw near refers to approaching God in a spiritual sense. It means “Develop a close relationship with God.” It does not mean that we should change our physical location.

Consider how you speak of being in a good relationship with someone. If your readers will not understand the spiritual sense of Draw near, you will have to adjust how you express this idea. For example:

In your hearts come/go near to God

Know God better

4:8b

and He will draw near to you.

and then he will come close to you.^(plur)
and he will cause you^(plur) to understand him better.
and he will reward/help you.^(plur)

and He will draw near to you: The verb draw near is the same verb as in 4:8a. Some languages will use the same verb in both 4:8a and 4:8b. But other languages will use different verbs for “people going near to God” and “God coming near to them.” In any case, this does not mean that God actually changes his physical location. The verbs in 4:8a and 4:8b refer to our spiritual relationship with God.

If you made an adjustment to your translation of “Draw near” in 4:8a, you will also have to make an adjustment here. For example:

and he will reward/help you

4:8c–d

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded: This sentence has a grammatical structure called a parallelism. In this parallelism, 4:8c and 4:8d are poetic ways to say the same thing. The similar parts are underlined in the same way:

^c Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

^dand purify your hearts, you double-minded

The phrase Cleanse your hands is similar in meaning to purify your hearts. The phrases you sinners and you double-minded are two ways to talk about the same group of people.

See the General Comment at the end of 4:8d to see examples of how to combine 4:8c–d.

4:8c

Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

Wash sin off your hands, you^(plur) sinners,
You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. (NCV)
You^(plur) who are sinners, remove sin from your lives.

Cleanse your hands: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates literally as Cleanse your hands is a figure of speech. It is not a literal command to get some water and use it to clean their hands.

There are at least two ways to translate this phrase:

Keep the figure of speech. For example:
Cleanse your hands (NET)
Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
Clean up your lives. (CEV)
clean sin out of your lives (NCV)

Whichever way you translate this phrase, it is good to put the other option in a footnote.

you sinners: The phrase you sinners functions as a strong rebuke. It also strengthens James’ command about washing hands.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

You are sinners!

Realize that you have sinned. (JBP)

because you are sinners

and stop sinning

Notice that the BSB places the phrase you sinners at the end of 4:8c. This follows the word order in the Greek text. In some languages, it is more natural to place it at the beginning of 4:8c.

sinners: The word sinners refers to people who habitually offend God by doing what is contrary to his law. The ways people may offend God include doing and thinking things that God does not approve. People may also offend God by their attitudes and by not doing what God wants them to do. Some ways to translate sinners are:

people who sin

people who do not obey God

wrongdoers

See also the note on “sin” at 1:15b.

4:8d

and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

and clean sin from your hearts, you^(plur) who want to go two ways at once.
You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure. (NCV)
You^(plur) who have minds/hearts that are divided between pleasing God and pleasing yourselves, remove sin from there.

purify your hearts: The phrase purify your hearts is a metaphor. In this metaphor, removing sin from our lives is compared to purifying our hearts. The way that the two actions are similar is that something bad is removed.

In both Hebrew and Greek, the heart refers to a person’s thoughts and desires. So to purify one’s heart means to remove evil thoughts and desires.

Some ways to translate this phrase are:

Keep the metaphor. For example:
make your hearts pure (NET) In some cultures, an organ other than the heart may be used to describe the part of the person where thoughts and desires come from. For example:
Make your liver pure/good
Translate the meaning without using a metaphor. For example:
make your thinking pure (NCV)

you double-minded: The Greek word that the BSB translates as double-minded functions as a strong rebuke. It refers to people who seem to have two minds or hearts that are fighting each other. One mind wants to please God. The other mind wants to please the world, and so it is fighting God. If your language has an idiom for this term, consider using it here.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

you people who can’t make up your mind (CEV)

You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time (NCV)

because you are thinking two ways

and stop trying to follow both sin and God

Notice that the BSB places the phrase you double-minded at the end of 4:8d. This follows the word order in the Greek text. In some languages, it is more natural to place it at the beginning of 4:8d.

This same word occurs in 1:8a.

General Comment on 4:8c–d

The parallel parts of 4:8c and 4:8d should be understood as repeating the same thought. So you sinners and you double-minded should not be understood as separate categories of people. If a parallel structure in your language wrongly implies different groups, you may need to combine the parallel parts in these lines. For example:

You^(plur) sinful people who are thinking two ways, clean your hands and your hearts.

You people who want to please both the world and God, remove evil thoughts and evil actions from your lives.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ καί ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν Καθαρίσατε χεῖρας ἁμαρτωλοί καί ἁγνίσατε καρδίας δίψυχοι)

James is using the word translated and to describe a result. Alternate translation: [If you come near to God, then he will come near to you]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν

James is using a spatial metaphor to describe two people in a good relationship as if they were near to one another. Alternate translation: [Do your part to have a good relationship with God, and you will find that God also wants to have a good relationship with you]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

καθαρίσατε χεῖρας

James is using the image of washing hands to describe a person removing sin from his life. Alternate translation: [Stop sinning]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

καθαρίσατε χεῖρας

James is using the word hands to mean actions, by association with the way people use their hands to do things. Alternate translation: [Stop doing things that are wrong]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἁγνίσατε καρδίας

purify ˓your˒_hearts

James says hearts to mean people’s thoughts and desires. Alternate translation: [purify your thoughts and desires]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἁγνίσατε καρδίας

purify ˓your˒_hearts

The term purify refers to a ceremonial cleansing that allows a person to participate in religious activities. James is speaking as if his readers’ hearts could be cleansed in this way. Alternate translation: [make sure you are not thinking or desiring anything wrong]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

δίψυχοι

double-minded

James is using the adjective double-minded as a noun to refer to a type of person. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this with an equivalent expression. Alternate translation: [double-minded people]

δίψυχοι

double-minded

Alternate translation: [you double-minded people]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

δίψυχοι

double-minded

See how you translated the same expression in [1:8](../01/08.md). James is speaking of his readers as if they had two minds, with one mind deciding to do one thing and the other mind deciding to do something else. Alternate translation: [you people who cannot decide whether to obey God or not]

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) 4:8

SR Greek word order

Section 4:1–12: Believers must submit to God, not to their own selfish desires

Paragraph 4:7–10

4:8a

4:8b

4:8c–d

4:8c

4:8d

General Comment on 4:8c–d

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