The reason for restraining ourselves from anger is that the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. Here again, man in the anger of man is to be taken as general. Reflecting this understanding, New Revised Standard Version takes the second person “you” as the subject of anger and has rendered the phrase “your anger,” while Good News Translation and Revised English Bible have translated it as “human anger.” The verb work here can be taken in the sense of “produce” (Goodspeed, Barclay, New Revised Standard Version), “promote” (Translator’s New Testament, Revised English Bible), “accomplish” (New American Bible), “bring about” (New International Version), or “achieve” (Good News Translation). In Greek the tense of the verb is present, giving the sense that it is always true that human anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. In many languages the clause for the anger of man does not work … may be rendered as “When a person gets angry he does not do what…” or “When you have a hot heart [or, liver] you don’t achieve….”

The expression the righteousness of God can be understood in several ways. First, it is sometimes taken as a genitive of origin; in this case righteousness is something that comes from God, something that God gives, namely the verdict of acquittal, and therefore salvation. Secondly, it can be taken as a subjective genitive, making righteousness as part or quality of God’s character. This interpretation is reflected in translations like “For human anger does not promote God’s justice” (Revised English Bible) or “For men’s temper is never the means of achieving God’s true goodness” (Phillips). Thirdly, it can be understood as an objective genitive, meaning that righteousness is something that God demands, a standard set for believers. This understanding is seen in some translations; for example, “for men’s anger does not produce the uprightness God wishes” (Goodspeed), “Human anger can never produce the kind of conduct God desires” (Barclay), “Human anger does not achieve God’s righteous purpose” (Good News Translation; similarly Translator’s New Testament), or “if you are angry you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done” (Contemporary English Version). The last understanding appears to be the one favored by the majority of interpreters and translators.

An alternative translation model for this verse may be:
• For when people get angry they do not do the good things God wants them to do.

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .