Section 1:2–11

James encouraged believers to continue to trust God during times of testing

The theme of this section is that it is important for Christians to continue to trust God when going through various kinds of trials or difficulties. These trials are a test of their faith (1:2–4). They need God’s wisdom in order to remain faithful to him, and so they should pray for wisdom (1:5). When they come to God in prayer, they should have an attitude of firm trust in him (1:6–8). Both poverty and wealth test a Christian. They should trust God whether rich or poor and learn to think about poverty and wealth as God does (1:9–11).

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Have faith and wisdom
-or-
When you have trials/tests, you must trust God
-or-
Be joyful when your faith is tested

Paragraph 1:2–4

James taught that Christians should rejoice when persons or situations test their faith. When such tests occur, Christians learn how to persevere, and they become more mature in their faith.

1:2a

Consider it pure joy, my brothers: Here in Greek, James switched from speaking about his readers in the third person to addressing them directly. Make sure it is clear to your readers that the expression my brothers refers to the same people as “the twelve tribes” in 1:1b.

Consider it pure joy: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Consider it pure joy is literally “Consider it all joy” (as in the New American Standard Bible). This means “Regard trials as something to rejoice about” or “Think of trials as occasions for joy.” This refers to joy with no sadness mixed with it at all. James wanted his readers to think about their trials as positive events that God allowed for their good.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

be very happy (God’s Word)
-or-
be glad (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
let it be an opportunity for joy (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

my brothers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as brothers is the term commonly used in the New Testament to refer to other believers in Jesus. This term emphasizes that all believers belonged to God’s family. James used this term to identify with his audience and to show his closeness with all believers. You may have a different term of address in your language which establishes a feeling of closeness with your audience. If so, consider using it here.

Although James used a masculine form, he was not intending to exclude women. In your translation, you should use a word or phrase that does not exclude women.

Some other ways to translate this are:

my fellow believers
-or-
My brothers and sisters (NET Bible)
-or-
my relatives/siblings in Christ
-or-
my Christian friends

James tended to use a term of address (like my brothers) when he was introducing a new topic. Here he introduced the topic of trials. You may have another natural way in your language to introduce a new topic. If you do, you could use it here.

Notice that the Berean Standard Bible places the phrase my brothers in the middle of 1:2. This follows the Greek text. If it is more natural in your language to place it at the beginning or end of the sentence or verse, consider doing that here. For example:

My brothers and sisters, be very happy… (God’s Word)

1:2b

when you encounter trials of many kinds: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as encounter means “experience.” Some other ways to translate this clause are:

whenever you face trials of many kinds (New International Version (2011 Revision))
-or-
when you encounter various trials (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
when all kinds of trials come your way (Good News Translation)

trials of many kinds: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as trials of many kinds refers to various types of difficult situations that occur in a person’s life and test his faith. These can include both external problems like persecution and internal temptations from Satan. The Greek term for trials includes the meanings of both testing and temptation.

Some ways to translate this clause are:

when you^(plur) experience all kinds of problems that test your faith
-or-
when you are tested in different ways (God’s Word)
-or-
when you have many kinds of troubles (New Century Version)

General Comment on 1:2a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the clauses in 1:2. For example:

^2aMy brothers and sisters, ^2bwhen you have many kinds of troubles, ^2ayou should be full of joy. (New Century Version)

© 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.