James now turns from a discussion of the problem in the Christian community to a sharp rebuke and a call for repentance.
Unfaithful creatures!: the way he addresses his readers is quite strong and surprising. The term of address is a feminine vocative, literally “adulteresses,” meaning people unfaithful to their marriage vows. Possibly puzzled by the use of this feminine noun, and thinking that the word must be taken literally, some copyists have added the masculine “adulterers” in front of the feminine, thus “adulterers and adulteresses.” This is the form of the text adopted by King James Version, as seen in its rendering “ye adulterers and adulteresses.” However, this is clearly a later addition and has not been accepted by scholars.
There is no reason to believe that the word “adulteresses” should be taken literally. At least we cannot see that adultery was a problem in the Christian community that James was addressing. It is quite likely that the idea originates from the concept of covenant in the Old Testament, which describes the relationship between God and his people as a kind of marriage bond. The unfaithfulness of the Israelites, that is, turning to other gods, was condemned by the prophets as adulterous (Hos 1-3; 9.1; Jer 3.6-10, 20). The idea was taken over by Jesus when he compared his faithless contemporaries as “an adulterous generation” (Mark 8.38; Matt 12.39; 16.4). In addressing his readers as “adulteresses,” James is characterizing his readers as unfaithful people of God. Obviously, then, the language is used metaphorically and the gender is not important here. And so it is perhaps best to render the word in general terms; for example, “You adulterous people” (New International Version) if we wish to keep the metaphor, or “Unfaithful people” (Good News Translation) if we feel that the expression is more natural without the metaphor. Several translations make the direct address into a statement describing what kind of people the “adulteresses” are; for example, “You are like unfaithful wives” (Phillips), “You have broken all your vows” (Barclay), or “You are not to be trusted” (Translator’s New Testament). Other possible ways to express this are “You are people who do not faithfully serve God,” or even “You are people who have abandoned God.”
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?: this makes it clear that the false god James’ readers worship is the world. The rhetorical question Do you not know…? has the force of “Surely you know…” (so Revised English Bible). Both friendship with the world (King James Version “friendship of the world”) and enmity with God are genitive constructions in Greek. Both are objective genitives, meaning that “the world” is the object of friendship, and “God” is the object of enmity.
James describes unfaithfulness as friendship with the world. The word friendship can also mean “love” and is so rendered in, for example, “the love of the world” (Revised English Bible), or more directly “if you love the world” (Translator’s New Testament, Contemporary English Version). On the other hand we note that the word friendship is meant to be the opposite of enmity, and so translators have to make a decision as to whether “love” or “friendship” serves better as the opposite of “enmity” in their language. As used in 1.27 the world is the source of stain and evil; in 2.5 it refers to nonbelievers and is related to human judgments as against God’s; and here in 4.4 it is connected with human desires for pleasure. In James’ usage, then, the world refers to corrupted human standards, judgments, and values as against those of God. In some languages a literal translation of world will not be appropriate in this context; it may even give the picture of an actual solid world or planet, in the minds of the readers or hearers. In such cases we will need to state precisely what is meant; for example, “love [or, be obsessed with] the evil pleasures of this world.” In some Southeast Asian languages this will be rendered as “love [or, be friends with] this evil worldly system.”
To be friendly with the world means to align yourself with persons, forces, and things hostile to God; it constitutes enmity with God. Christians have no freedom to divide their love and loyalty between God and the world. It is a matter of either-or; they have to make a deliberate choice. Both friendship and enmity mean in this context not merely feelings but states, namely being in a state or maintaining a relationship of friendship and enmity.
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God: the conjunction Therefore draws out the consequence of the statement just made. The new statement is not simply a repeat of what has just been said. It lays stress on the fact that the mere inclination does make a difference. This is evident in the verb rendered wishes: it expresses a sense of purpose, intention, even deliberate choice. This understanding is reflected in rendering the verb as “chooses” (Translator’s New Testament, Revised English Bible) or “decide” (with “you” as the subject; Contemporary English Version). We may observe a formal correspondence in the structure of these two statements: “friendship … enmity” and “friend … enemy.”
An alternative translation model for this verse may be:
• You are people who are unfaithful to God! Surely you know that, if you love the evil pleasures of this world, you are God’s enemy! If you decide to be a friend of worldly things in this way, you make yourself an enemy of God.
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 .