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ParallelVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yacob/(James) Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
Yac 2 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V25 V26
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) So you can see that a person is considered right with God due to his actions, and not just by their ‘faith’.![]()
OET-LV You_all_are_seeing that by works is_being_justified a_person, and not by faith only.
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SR-GNT Ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον. ‡
(Horate hoti ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos, kai ouk ek pisteōs monon.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT You see that a man is justified from works and not from faith alone.
UST From the example of Abraham, you should recognize that God considers people to be righteous because of what they do, not simply because they trust in him.
BSB As you can see, a man is justified by [his] deeds and not by faith alone.
MSB As you can see, then,[fn] a man is justified by [his] deeds and not by faith alone.
2:24 CT does not include then.
BLB You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
AICNT [[Therefore]][fn] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
2:24, Therefore: Later manuscripts add. BYZ TR
OEB You see, then, that a person is justified by actions, and not by faith alone.
WEBBE You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
LSV You see, then, that man is considered righteous out of works, and not out of faith only;
FBV You see that people are made right by what they do, and not just by trusting God.
TCNT You see [fn]then that a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
2:24 then 86.9% ¦ — CT 11.7%
T4T From the example of Abraham, you can realize that it is because people do good things that God considers them to be righteous, and not only because they trust in him.
LEB You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
BBE You see that a man's righteousness is judged by his works and not by his faith only.
Moff You observe it is by what he does that a man is justified, not simply by what he believes.
Wymth You all see that it is because of actions that a man is pronounced righteous, and not simply because of faith.
ASV Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
DRA Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only?
YLT Ye see, then, that out of works is man declared righteous, and not out of faith only;
Drby Ye see that a man is justified on the principle of works, and not on the principle of faith only.
RV Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
(Ye/You_all see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. )
SLT Therefore ye see that man is justified from works, and not from faith alone.
Wbstr Ye see then that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
KJB-1769 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
(Ye/You_all see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. )
KJB-1611 Ye see then, how that by workes a man is iustified, and not by faith only.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)
Bshps Ye see then, howe that of deedes a man is iustified, and not of fayth only.
(Ye/You_all see then, how that of deeds a man is justified, and not of faith only.)
Gnva Ye see then howe that of workes a man is iustified, and not of faith onely.
(Ye/You_all see then how that of works a man is justified, and not of faith only. )
Cvdl Ye se then how that of dedes a man is iustified, and not of faith only
(Ye/You_all see then how that of deeds a man is justified, and not of faith only)
TNT Ye se then how that of dedes a man is iustified and not of fayth only.
(Ye/You_all see then how that of deeds a man is justified and not of faith only. )
Wycl Ye seen that a man is iustified of werkis, and not of feith oneli.
(Ye/You_all seen that a man is justified of works, and not of faith oneli.)
Luth So sehet ihr nun, daß der Mensch durch die Werke gerecht wird, nicht durch den Glauben allein.
(So see you(pl)/their/her now, that the/of_the person through the work just/fair becomes, not through the faith alone.)
ClVg Videtis quoniam ex operibus justificatur homo, et non ex fide tantum?
(He_seesis since/because from works justificatur human, and not/no from with_faith only? )
UGNT ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον.
(horate hoti ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos, kai ouk ek pisteōs monon.)
SBL-GNT ⸀ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον.
(⸀horate hoti ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos kai ouk ek pisteōs monon.)
RP-GNT Ὁρᾶτε τοίνυν ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον.
(Horate toinun hoti ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos, kai ouk ek pisteōs monon.)
TC-GNT Ὁρᾶτε [fn]τοίνυν ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον.
(Horate toinun hoti ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos, kai ouk ek pisteōs monon. )
2:24 τοινυν 86.9% ¦ — CT 11.7%
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
2:24 not by faith alone: That is, not like the demons who merely believe something is true (2:19), but by a belief that results in generous deeds like those of God himself (1:17). Though some have thought that this teaching contradicts what Paul taught, it does not. Paul does not speak against good deeds themselves, but about trying to receive forgiveness of sins through good deeds (Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16). Just as Paul understands that love and generosity necessarily issue from a true faith (Gal 5:6), so also James knows that good deeds can result only from authentic faith that results in a commitment to God (Jas 2:18, 26).
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.
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).
As you can see,
You(plur) see/understand that
Therefore/So, this shows us(incl) that
As you can see: The clause As you can see introduces James’ final conclusion from the life of Abraham in 2:21–23. Some ways to introduce this conclusion are:
So you see (NLT)
Therefore, we can see/understand that
you: In Greek, James switches to the plural pronoun you. Up to this point, James used the singular pronoun you.
a man is justified by his deeds
a person is considered righteous because of his good deeds,
it is on account of what people do that they are declared to be righteous.
God declares us(incl) righteous/straight because of our good/obedient actions which show that we trust him.
a man is justified by his deeds: This clause indicates that God declares a person righteous on the basis of faith that is demonstrated by his good deeds.
The Greek verb that the BSB here translates as justified is the same verb that is used in 2:21b. Use the same expression here as in 2:21b. For example:
a person is declared right with God because of the good deeds he does
we are considered righteous/straight because of what we do
It is on the basis of what someone does that God declares that he is a righteous/good person
The difference between this verse and 2:21b is that 2:21b refers to a particular time in the past when God declared that Abraham was righteous. This verse is a general statement about how God declares that people are righteous. Translate this in the way that is most natural in your language for expressing statements that are true for everyone.
This clause is also passive. Some ways to translate it are:
Use a passive verb. For example:
a person is justified by works (NET)
Use an active verb. For example:
God declares a person righteous because of the good deeds he does
See also righteous, meaning 2, in the Glossary.
by his deeds: The Greek phrase that the BSB here translates as by his deeds is the same Greek phrase as in 2:21b. There the BSB translates it as “by what he did.” See the note there for advice on translating the implied information.
and not by faith alone.
and not by his faith/belief only.
They are not declared righteous if they have belief/trust only.
He does not consider us(incl) just/straight if we only trust but do not have any good deeds.
not by faith alone: Here James left some words implicit. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply this implicit information. For example:
he is not declared righteous by faith alone
The phrase faith alone means “faith by itself” or “faith that does not have any good deeds accompanying it.”Many people have found this verse difficult, because at first sight it appears to contradict Paul who says, “For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.” (Romans 3:28, RSV).However, if we look at the context closely, we see that James and Paul are talking about different things. Paul’s argument in Romans 3 and 4 is intended to show that God justifies Gentiles in the same way as he justifies Jews, on the basis of their faith, not their obedience to the laws of Moses. This means in practice that the fact that many Gentiles have not obeyed the law of Moses (especially in the matter of circumcision) is not a barrier to stop them joining the church.Notice that Paul speaks of works of law not just works. James’ argument has nothing to do with the problem of allowing Gentiles to become members of the church, but it is the problem of those in the church who say they have faith but do not do the deeds that should result from their faith. So for James, works (“deeds”) means “deeds done in obedience to God”. Notice also that James is not against faith, he is against faith without deeds. It does not mean that someone can be justified by good deeds instead of faith.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
not by faith without any good deeds
he is not declared righteous if he only has faith
God does not consider him just/straight if he only believes but does not have any good deeds
In this phrase, the emphasis is on the word alone.
Notice that the contrast is between “by what he does” in 2:24b and by faith alone here. Try to make this contrast clear in your translation.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ὁρᾶτε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καί οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον)
Here, to see represents to understand. Alternate translation: [So you should understand]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / you
ὁρᾶτε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καί οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον)
James returns here to the plural usage that he follows in most of the letter. So in your translation, use the plural form of “You” if your language marks that distinction. Other languages may have other ways of indicating the shift back to plural here. Alternate translation: [So all of you should understand]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἄνθρωπος
˓a˒_person
James is using the term man in a generic sense that could mean any person, male or female. Alternate translation: [a person]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
δικαιοῦται
˓is_being˒_justified
If your language does not use this passive form, you can express this with an active form. Alternate translation: [becomes right with God] or [comes to have a right relationship with God]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἐξ ἔργων & καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον
by works & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καί οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον)
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: [by what he does and not just by what he believes]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐξ ἔργων & καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον
by works & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καί οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον)
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 we need to add works to our faith in order to be justified. Rather, James is speaking of works that are an expression and proof of the saving faith that a person already has. You could indicate this explicitly if it would be helpful to your readers, particularly if they might misunderstand and think that James is saying that we have to add works to our faith in order for God to consider us righteous. Alternate translation: [by what he does as an expression of what he believes, and not just by what he believes]