5:3a
gold and silver: The words gold and silver may refer here to coins made of gold and silver. But the phrase may also include jewelry and drinking cups or bowls made of gold and silver.
If your language does not have words for both gold and silver, it may be possible to say:
gold and other fine metal
-or-
money (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
precious/expensive metals
corroded: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as corroded literally means “rusted.” It is the process that forms a reddish coating on metals such as iron when they get damp. The word implies that the metal is being spoiled or destroyed.
Pure gold and silver do not rust. But the gold and silver that most people have is not 100% pure, so it can rust. In addition, silver can tarnish (become blackened).
Some other ways to translate this word are:
rusted (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
tarnished/blackened
5:3b
Their corrosion will testify against you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Their corrosion will testify against you is literally “Their corrosion will be a witness to/for you.” For example:
their rust will be a witness against you (NET Bible)
This sentence is a figure of speech called personification. In this personification, James speaks of corrosion as if it were a person who will testify in court. James meant that on the day when God will judge all people, the corrosion of the gold and silver will be evidence that rich people had misused their possessions. They misused their possessions by hoarding them. (An alternate understanding of the sense in which the rust “will testify against them” is that the rust is evidence of the temporary and perishable (and therefore worthless) nature of riches. However, if this is the meaning, then the rust is less a condemning testimony in court and more a “teaching witness” that reveals the true nature and value of riches. But this is less in keeping with the context of judgment coming upon them in the last days.) Rich people had more possessions than they needed, but they did not give them to help others.
There are at least two ways to translate this:
• Keep the personification. For example:
their rust will be a witness against you (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
their rust will speak against you(plur) in court
• Translate the meaning. For example:
the rust will be evidence against you (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the rust will be evidence to accuse you(plur) on the day of judgment.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
that rust will be a proof that you were wrong (New Century Version)
-or-
their very tarnish will be the evidence of your wicked hoarding (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
the rust will be the sign of your(plur) sin of being greedy
-or-
that rust will make it clear that you(plur) have been selfish with your wealth
Their corrosion: The phrase Their corrosion refers to the corrosion or rust of the gold and silver in 5:3a. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
the same corrosion (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
their rust (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
that rust (New Century Version)
-or-
this will be evidence
5:3c
and consume your flesh: The subject of this clause is “their corrosion” from 5:3b. The corrosion will consume your flesh. James connected the idea that their wealth is being destroyed by rust with the idea that they too will be destroyed. That is, they will be judged guilty by God and punished.
This whole expression is figurative language. Here “corrosion” (rust) refers to God’s judging and punishing rich people based on the evidence of their greed. The verb consume is used in an extended sense to mean “destroy.” The noun flesh refers to the entire “body.” (It does not refer to just the skin.) So this clause refers to God punishing (the bodies of) these rich people.
Some ways to translate this clause are:
• Keep the figurative language. For example:
It will eat your bodies (New Century Version)
• Keep some of the figurative language. For example:
it burns your body (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
it will destroy your body (God’s Word)
-or-
and that same rust that destroys your(plur) wealth will destroy you(plur) too
• Translate the meaning without the figurative language. For example:
and because of this your(plur) bodies will be consumed
-or-
and it will cause you(plur) to be destroyed in hell
-or-
That rust will so certainly condemn you that it will be as if the rust itself destroys you
-or-
and God will punish you
like fire: The phrase like fire is a comparison called a simile. In this simile, rust is compared to fire. One way that they are similar is that both destroy or consume things. Fire is a common image of God’s judgment in both the Old Testament scriptures (see, for example, Isaiah 30:27, 33) and in Jesus’ teaching (see, for example, Matthew 25:41).
Some ways to translate this phrase are:
• Keep the simile. For example:
like fire consumes/burns things
-or-
like the fire of God’s judgment
-or-
like the fire of hell
• Translate the meaning without the simile. One way to do this is to translate the word fire with an adverb that strengthens your translation of the expression “will eat your flesh.” For example:
you(plur) will be severely punished
-or-
God will harshly punish you
5:3d
You have hoarded treasure: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as You have hoarded treasure means “you have stored, gathered, or saved treasure.” This refers to all the possessions the rich people had gathered (in 5:2–3a).
Some other ways to translate this word are:
You have piled up riches (Good News Translation)
-or-
You have stored up riches (God’s Word)
-or-
you keep on storing up wealth (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You(plur) have accumulated many things for yourselves
in the last days: There are two ways to interpret the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in the last days:
(1) It means in the time of the last days. James believed that he was already living in the final days before the end of the world. He was implying that it was foolish for rich people to continue gathering more and more possessions. They ought to realize that God would soon judge everyone in the world. For example, the Revised English Bible says:
in an age that is near its close
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, NET Bible, God’s Word)
(2) It means in preparation for the last days. According to this interpretation, the rich were hoarding wealth to prepare for the difficult times in the last days. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:
for the last days
(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Century Version, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The Greek preposition normally means “in” rather than “for.” Also, the expression “the last days” normally refers to all of the present age since the Day of Pentecost. James was implying that the days we live in will soon end with God’s Day of Judgment.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
during these last days
-or-
in this last period of time before God judges people
General Comment on 5:3d
James rebuked these rich people for hoarding wealth in the last days. This was a foolish thing to do. People hoard wealth in order to have it for the future. But if it is the last days, the world as they knew it would soon come to an end and judgment would follow. In your translation, you may want to show that hoarding wealth is not the wise or logical thing to do in the last days. For example:
You have foolishly hoarded wealth in the last days.
-or-
The world is about to end, but/yet you are storing up wealth.
© 2012 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.