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interlinearVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs ROM 1COR 2COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TIM 2TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1PET 2PET 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN YUD REV
OET (OET-LV) Before but, all things, brothers of_me, not be_swearing, neither the by_heaven, nor the earth, nor other any oath, but let_be of_you_all your Yes be, yes, and your No be, no, in_order_that not under judgment you_all_may_fall.
OET (OET-RV) But most importantly, brothers and sisters, don’t swear by heaven or earth or by any other kind of oath but simply be honest so that ‘yes’ means yes and ‘no’ means no, then you won’t end up getting judged.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
πρὸ πάντων
before all_‹things›
James is using a spatial metaphor to emphasize the importance of what he is about to say. Your language may use a different spatial metaphor. Alternate translation: “above all”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἀδελφοί μου
brothers ˱of˲_me
See how you translated the term brothers in 1:2. Alternate translation: “my fellow believers”
μὴ ὀμνύετε
not /be/_swearing
Here, to swear means to guarantee, by appealing to something that is considered to be certain and reliable, that a statement is true or that an action will be performed. Alternate translation: “do not make an oath” or “do not make a vow”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ἤτω & ὑμῶν τὸ ναὶ, ναὶ, καὶ τὸ οὒ, οὔ
let_be & ˱of˲_you_all your yes_‹be› yes and your no_‹be› no
In the second phrase, James is leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages in order to be complete. These words can be supplied from the first phrase. Alternate translation: “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and let your ‘No’ be ‘No’”
ἤτω & ὑμῶν τὸ ναὶ, ναὶ, καὶ τὸ οὒ, οὔ
let_be & ˱of˲_you_all your yes_‹be› yes and your no_‹be› no
Alternate translation: “simply give your word, without making an oath”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ κρίσιν πέσητε
in_order_that not under judgment ˱you_all˲_/may/_fall
James is speaking of judgment as something that a person might fall under. Alternate translation: “so that you will not be judged”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ κρίσιν πέσητε
in_order_that not under judgment ˱you_all˲_/may/_fall
If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state more explicitly what this means. Alternate translation: “so that God will not have to judge and punish you for breaking your oath”
5:12 never take an oath: Because the churches were having such severe verbal conflicts (4:1-3, 11-12), James calls upon them to avoid the pitfalls of deceitful oaths by not using any oaths at all (Matt 5:33-37). To swear an oath in the name of the Lord was to call upon him to enforce the oath (Gen 31:53; 1 Kgs 8:31-32). When people swore by heaven or earth they were either feigning reverence while avoiding the use of the divine name, or they were being deceitful with clever verbiage (see Matt 23:16-22). Peter used an oath deceitfully (Matt 26:71-73), but Paul used an oath to confirm his assertions (Rom 1:9; 2 Cor 1:23), which suggests that the prohibition of oaths is not absolute.
OET (OET-LV) Before but, all things, brothers of_me, not be_swearing, neither the by_heaven, nor the earth, nor other any oath, but let_be of_you_all your Yes be, yes, and your No be, no, in_order_that not under judgment you_all_may_fall.
OET (OET-RV) But most importantly, brothers and sisters, don’t swear by heaven or earth or by any other kind of oath but simply be honest so that ‘yes’ means yes and ‘no’ means no, then you won’t end up getting judged.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the SR-GNT.