2:15a

Suppose: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Suppose is literally “If” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This word introduces an example of faith without good deeds. Consider how your language naturally introduces an example. For example:

For example
-or-
For instance
-or-
If it happens

a brother or sister: The phrase a brother or sister refers to a male or female fellow-believer. Notice that James explicitly includes women here.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

A brother or sister in Christ (New Century Version)
-or-
a believer, whether a man or a woman (God’s Word)

2:15b

without clothes and daily food: The phrase daily food means that the person did not have enough food even for that day. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

needs…food (God’s Word)
-or-
lacks daily food (NET Bible)
-or-
with not enough food for the day (Revised English Bible)
-or-
don’t have enough to eat (Good News Translation)

without clothes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as without clothes here means “does not have enough clothes to keep him warm.”

In the Bible lands, it is often cold, especially at night, and one of the chief functions of a person’s clothes is to keep him warm. (See Exodus 22:26–27). It is clear from the phrase “keep warm” in 2:16 that this is what James has in mind.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

needs clothes (God’s Word)
-or-
is poorly clothed (NET Bible)
-or-
does not have enough clothes to keep warm

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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.