YAC 5:13 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:13–18: Believers should praise God and pray to him in faith

In this section, James talked about how believers should interact with God in all kinds of situations. When things are going well, they should praise him. When they need help, they should ask him for it.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

The Power of Prayer (NLT)

Prayer for the Sick (NET)

Think of God in all Situations

Pray to God in every Circumstance

Paragraph 5:13–16

In 5:13 James advised people to praise God or to pray to him, according to what kind of situation they are in. Then he gave them detailed instructions and encouraged them to pray for the sick (5:14–16).

5:13a

Is any one of you suffering?

¶ If you are having trouble, (CEV)
¶ Any of you^(plur) believers who are having difficulties
¶ When you^(sing) have problems,

Is any one of you suffering?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to begin talking about a particular situation. It also introduces a new topic. The topic is about what to do when you are in trouble.

Some ways to introduce this new topic are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Are any among you in trouble? (GNT)
As a statement. For example:
Anyone who is having troubles (NCV)
As a conditional clause. For example:
If any of you are having trouble (GW)
As a temporal clause. For example:
When you^(sing) are in trouble

Use a natural way in your language to introduce this new topic.

A rhetorical question with a similar function occurs in 3:13a.

Is…suffering: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as Is…suffering means “faces difficulties (of any kind).” It could refer to physical suffering, but you should translate it in a way that includes other kinds of trouble as well.

Some other ways to translate this verb are:

Is…in trouble (NIV)

Are…suffering hardships (NLT)

Is having difficulties

any one of you: The phrase any one of you refers to any believer. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

Anyone who (NCV)

you (CEV)

any person among you^(plur)

5:13b

He should pray.

then you^(sing) should pray to God.
should pray to God for help.
ask^(sing) God to help you.

He should pray: In some languages, it will be necessary to make explicit the person to whom people should pray, that is, God. Some other ways to translate this are:

It is important that he pray to God

He should ask God to help him

He: Depending on how you have translated “anyone of you” in 5:13a, you may need to say “you” or “they” rather than “he” here.

5:13c

Is anyone cheerful?

If you are happy, (GW)
Anyone who is happy (NCV)
When you^(sing) are encouraged,

Is anyone cheerful?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to begin talking about a particular situation. The situation is what to do when you are happy.

Some ways to translate this are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Are any among you happy? (GNT)
As a statement. For example:
Anyone who is happy (NCV)
Concerning people who are happy
As a conditional clause. For example:
If you are happy (GW)
As a temporal clause. For example:
When you^(sing) are happy

cheerful: Some other ways to translate this word are:

encouraged

hopeful

happy (NIV)

feeling good (CEV)

glad

5:13d

He should sing praises.

then you^(sing) should sing songs of praise.
should^(sing) sing songs of praise to God.
you^(sing) should sing about how much you love/respect and honor God.

sing praises: The Greek word that the BSB translates as sing praises refers to praising God by singing any kind of psalm or hymn or spiritual song. It refers to expressing in words and song how much you love, respect, admire and honor God for who he is.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

sing songs of praise (NIV)

sing praises to the Lord (NLT96)

sing words that honor the Lord

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

κακοπαθεῖ τις ἐν ὑμῖν? προσευχέσθω

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κακοπαθεῖ τὶς ἐν ὑμῖν Προσευχέσθω Εὐθυμεῖ τὶς Ψαλλέτω)

James is not looking for information. He is using the question form to state a condition, and he describes the result in a short sentence right after the question. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question by translating the question and that sentence together as a single statement. Alternate translation: [If anyone among you is suffering hardship, then he should pray]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

εὐθυμεῖ τις? ψαλλέτω

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κακοπαθεῖ τὶς ἐν ὑμῖν Προσευχέσθω Εὐθυμεῖ τὶς Ψαλλέτω)

James is again using the question form to state a condition and describing the result in a following sentence. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question by translating the question and that sentence together as a single statement. Alternate translation: [If anyone is cheerful, then he should sing praise]

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) 5:13