The contrast between a small device and the large object that it controls is brought out in the next illustration.

Look at the ships also: the demonstrative particle rendered as Look at is used to introduce the second illustration. Since this is the second illustration, we may add “or” to indicate that this is so; for example, “Or look at…” (New Revised Standard Version), “Or take … as an example” (New International Version), and “Or think of…” (Good News Translation; so also Revised English Bible). Obviously James is interested in emphasizing the parallel between the horse and the ship. This is evident in his use of also and the same verb “to guide.” The parallel is seen in the ability of a small device to control or direct something much greater. The ships are obviously sailing ships.

Though they are so great: the big size of the ships is emphasized in contrast to the smallness of the rudder. In order to bring out this tremendous contrast, as well as the force of the small thing having such control over the big thing, it is desirable to add the conjunction “though” or “although” to go with the participle “being,” as in Revised Standard Version or “Although they are so large” (New International Version). So great is one word in Greek; it has the force of “so,” thus “so big as it is” (compare Good News Translation), or “so large though it may be” (so Revised English Bible). The word “great” can have a different sense in modern English usage and is therefore best rendered as “large” (so most translations) or “big” (so Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament), since the focus is on the size of the ships. Care must be taken that the word used for ships does not mean modern steam ships but rather sailing vessels. In cultures where only small boats are used, we may translate, for example, “big boats that sail on the ocean” or “big boats with sails to make them move on the ocean.”

Between the two clauses they are so great and are driven by strong winds, the relationship is not very clear. It does not necessarily follow from the fact that the ships are large that they are always driven by strong winds, as winds may not always be rough. For this reason some translations (following Hort) have rendered the conjunction and as “even,” for example, “and even when they are being driven by fierce winds” (Barclay; similarly Translator’s New Testament). The New Revised Standard Version rendering obviously treats the two clauses connected by an “and” as expressing one idea, thus “though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them.” This is certainly one possibility to be considered. The adjective strong in Greek means basically “hard,” “harsh,” or “stiff,” and in modifying “winds” it means “strong” (so most translations) or “fierce” (Barclay, New American Bible). Some languages will have a special word for this sort of wind; for example, “gales” (Revised English Bible), or a special phrase for describing it, for example, “mad winds” (Chinese). Alternative translation possibilities for the first part of this verse may be:
• Or take, for example, large sailing ships. Though they are big and it takes strong winds to drive them….

Or, in a way similar to Contemporary English Version:
• It takes a strong wind to make a large sailing ship move, but….

They are guided by a very small rudder: this clause describes what a small rudder does, and so may be rendered as “they are guided by…,” as is done by many translations. The passive verb are guided is the same verb used in verse 3 in the active voice. The use of the same verb serves to emphasize the parallel nature of the two illustrations. In this case, however, it is used of the ships and therefore may be rendered “be steered” (Good News Translation; so also Revised English Bible). The expression very small is one word in Greek; it is a superlative of the adjective small, used here to modify rudder, in contrast to so great modifying ships. A rudder (rendered “helm” in King James Version) is normally a piece of wood or metal attached upright to a ship’s stern so that it can be turned causing the ship’s bow to turn to a desired angle or direction. It is a device that directs the course or controls the direction of the ship. Many cultures that use boats have a similar device at the rear of the boat to guide it. But in cultures where rudders or large guiding oars or paddles are unknown, we may translate, for example, “it can be guided by a small piece of wood [or, metal] at the back of it” or “the steersman can guide it by using a small piece of wood….”

Wherever the will of the pilot directs: there are several problems in this clause. First, the word rendered wherever is a particle denoting place in Greek that means basically “where”; but most translations have rendered it as “wherever,” reflecting not what is demanded by normal grammatical usage but by the context. Secondly, there is uncertainty as to the exact meaning of the word rendered will. The word appears elsewhere in the New Testament only in Acts 14.5, where it means a hostile “attempt” (Revised Standard Version) or “move” (Revised English Bible). It could mean physical pressure, referring to the control of the pilot’s hand on the rudder. Most commentators and translators, however, favor the other meaning involving mental decision, thus “impulse” (American Standard Version), “inclination” (New American Bible), “wish” (Barclay), or “choice” (similarly New English Bible, Revised English Bible). Others simply combine this word with the verb meaning “to decide,” or “to wish or desire,” and translate the clause as “wherever the pilot wants it to go…” (Good News Translation), or “… whatever course the helmsman chooses” (New English Bible, Revised English Bible). Finally there is the problem of the rendering of the word pilot. Pilot is the rendering favored by most American translators, and “helmsman” by most British translators. It is the person who controls the rudder, and so it may also be rendered as “steersman” (Barclay). Contemporary English Version has rendered it as “captain,” since in modern usage a captain is an officer in charge of a ship, and he is the one ultimately responsible for the course and direction a ship should take. It seems, though, that “pilot,” “steersman,” or “the person steering the ship” fits the context of a sailing ship better than “captain.”

An alternative translation model for this verse may be:
• Let us take the example of a large sailing ship. It needs a strong wind to make it move. But a pilot [or, steersman] uses only a small rudder to make it go wherever he wishes.

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 .