2:21

In 2:21, James gave the first of two examples from the Old Testament of someone whom God declared to be righteous. This example is about Abraham.

Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to emphasize that Abraham was definitely justified or “considered righteous” (New International Version (2011 Revision)) for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

Some ways to translate this emphasis are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

• As a statement. For example:

Certainly Abraham, our ancestor, was declared right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

• As a question and a statement. For example:

Consider our ancestor Abraham. Did not God consider him righteous when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
-or-
How was our ancestor Abraham declared right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.

2:21a

our father Abraham: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as our father Abraham is literally “Abraham our father” (as in the Revised Standard Version). Abraham had lived many generations before James, and all Jews had descended from Abraham. So use a word that indicates an ancestor who was the beginning of a language group or a tribe.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

our forefather Abraham
-or-
Abraham our long ago ancestor

2:21b

justified by what he did: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as justified by what he did is translated by many English versions as “justified by works.” Before you translate this phrase, there are at least two issues to consider.

Issue 1: Which part of the meaning of the verb is the focus

The verb “justified” primarily means “declared innocent.” This word is used in a court or judgment setting. A judge examines the evidence and may then declare that an accused person is “innocent,” “just” or “righteous.” This is equal to saying, “Not guilty.”

Commentaries and English versions focus on different aspects of this word:

(a) Some focus on the verdict or declaration. God considered/declared Abraham to be righteous. God did this because Abraham’s deeds proved that he was righteous. For example:

our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

(b) Others focus on the evidence and what it showed. Abraham’s deeds showed/proved that he was righteous. For example:

our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(c) Still others focus on the accused person’s new condition after the verdict. God caused Abraham to be righteous. For example:

Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did…. (New Century Version)

Most commentaries favor (a). So it may be better to translate in a way that follows (a). (Focus (c) is quite different and could be considered a different interpretation.)

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Was not our ancestor Abraham declared righteous because of what he did…?
-or-
Did not God consider our ancestor Abraham to be just/straight because of his good deeds…?
-or-
It was certainly because of what our ancestor Abraham did that God declared that he was a righteous/good person….

Issue 2: How to translate the passive verb

The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as justified is a passive verb. Some ways to translate this verb are:

• As a passive verb. For example:

Was not our ancestor Abraham declared right with God because of what he did…?
-or-
It was certainly because of our ancestor Abraham’s good deeds that he was declared righteous.

• As an active verb. God was the one who declared Abraham righteous. For example:

Was it not because of what our ancestor Abraham did that God declared him to be righteous…?
-or-
God considered Abraham to be righteous/just because of his good deeds

by what he did: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as by what he did is literally “by works/deeds/actions.” Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

by works (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
as a result of what he did (God’s Word)
-or-
because of his good deeds

Throughout 2:14–26, James compared faith with works to faith without works. He did not compare faith to works. When he said by what he did, this implies “by faith together with what he did.” Some ways to make this clear are:

• Include the implied information in your translation. For example:

because of his faith plus works
-or-
because of his deeds that showed that he had faith
-or-
because of the kind of faith that was proven by his good deeds

• Include a footnote. For example:

In James 2:14–26, James compared faith with deeds to faith alone, that is, faith without deeds. When James wrote that Abraham was declared righteous because of his deeds, he meant “because of his faith with deeds.” Abraham’s deeds demonstrated that he had the kind of faith that can save.

General Comment on 2:21a–b

In Greek, the order of words shows that James was emphasizing the phrase by what he did. Consider if there is a way in your language to emphasize these words. For example:

Was it not by his action,…that our father Abraham was justified? (Revised English Bible)

2:21c

when he offered his son Isaac on the altar: The clause when he offered his son Isaac on the altar means that Abraham put Isaac on an altar and was willing to sacrifice him. But God stopped him. Abraham did not actually kill Isaac.

If a literal translation of this clause will cause people to think that Abraham really did kill Isaac, you should make some adjustments. For example:

when he laid his son Isaac on top of the altar in order to offer him to God

It may also be helpful to readers who do not know the story to make it clear that Abraham was not acting on his own initiative. He was obeying God’s command. This can be done by saying:

he did not refuse to take his son Isaac to the altar to sacrifice him

son: Isaac was old enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice and to understand what was happening. He was a grown youth. Use a word for son that does not imply a small child.

on the altar: An altar is a type of platform on which people offer sacrifices. God had instructed his people to pile earth or large stones together to make altars to him. If an altar was made from stones, the stones were to be in their natural form. This means that people were not to cut the stones to a regular shape (Exodus 20:24–26).

If your culture does not have a traditional name for such an altar, some other ways to translate this phrase are:

on the stones for sacrificing
-or-
on the offering burning rocks
-or-
on the sacrifice place to God

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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.