But he gives more grace: the signal for a contrast is seen in the use of But and in the comparative more. This contrast may also be expressed as “In fact…” or even “On the contrary….” As to what is to be contrasted, the clue lies in how we interpret verse 5.

(1) If the subject of verse 5 is taken to be divine jealousy (God’s or the Spirit’s), then the point may be that God’s grace is more than adequate to meet the requirements of his jealousy.

(2) If the reference in verse 5 is seen to be to the evil desires of the human spirit, then the contrast is that God’s grace is greater and stronger than this human tendency to sin.

It is also possible to understand that the contrast is with what was said in verse 4. In other words the contrast is not with God who yearns jealously, but with the gifts and friendship of the world. God’s gift is greater.

Instead of putting a question mark at the end of verse 5, the UBS Greek New Testament text places a comma after verse 5, and a question mark after But he gives more grace, making this clause part of the quotation. This is the punctuation followed by Luther 1984, and it makes sense. However, the majority of modern translations adopt what Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. The reason is that the quotation is from Pro 3.34, and the words in question are not part of the text there.

Here the pronoun he obviously refers to God, and some translations make this clear; for example, Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Today’s Chinese Version. The word grace is used only here (twice) in James. It can be understood in the sense in which Paul uses it, of God’s generous, abundant, and unmerited favor given to his people. Or it can mean a practical act of goodwill, favor, or gift. If we choose this second sense, it may be rendered as “kindness” (Contemporary English Version) or “favor” (New Jerusalem Bible). The comparative more may be rendered in various ways, depending on conventions in the translator’s language; for example, it can be “stronger” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible), “greater” (Goodspeed, New American Bible), or “more abundant” (Japanese Franciscan Translation).

Other possible translation models for this first sentence are:
• In fact God treats us with even greater kindness (Contemporary English Version).
• On the contrary, God is even more loving and kind toward us.

In languages that must state what the grace or “loving-kindness” is greater or stronger than, we may translate:
• In fact God treats us with even greater kindness than that [where “that” refers back to the yearning in the previous verse].

Or, if translators feel that the contrast here is with what the world gives in verse 4, they may translate, for example:
• In fact God treats us with even greater kindness than the world does.

Therefore it says: this is a customary formula for introduction of a quotation. Other ways to say this are “As the scripture says” (Good News Translation), “Just as the Scriptures say” (Contemporary English Version), “As we may read in the Scriptures,” “for there are words in the Scripture [or, Holy Book] that say….” See 2.8, 23 for comments relating to how to translate “the scripture says.” It is possible to take the subject of the verb says as “he,” meaning God, as King James Version has done, possibly taking the cue from the subject of the quotation, but this is unnatural. It obviously refers back to “the scripture” in verse 5, and this is made by clear in a number of translations (see Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, for example).

The quotation is from Pro 3.34, based on the text of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Hebrew has “he” as the subject, the Septuagint has “the Lord,” and James has “God.” The function of the quotation seems to be to serve as a transition from negative to positive, that is, to a call to humility and repentance. It consists of a threat and a promise: God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

The proud, literally “arrogant,” are those who disregard God’s claims and show contempt for him on the one hand and despise others on the other. It is quite possible that the proud refers to the arrogant rich (4.16; 5.1-7), who are the class of people contrasted to the poor and lowly in 1.9-10. This is the kind of people God opposes. God’s action against these people is certainly more than “resisting” (so Good News Translation, New American Bible); he is in fact “hostile to” them (so Barclay). The term opposes carries the idea of preventing the plans of the proud from succeeding. The clause God opposes the proud may also be expressed as “God works against the proud” or “God causes the plans of the proud not to succeed.”

In contrast God gives grace to the humble. Gives grace here means “to show kindness to.” The humble are those who know their insufficiency and depend wholly on God. They are the lowly, the pious poor (1.9) destined to be heirs of the kingdom (2.5). In some languages the humble must be expressed as “those who are not proud,” or even “those who do not say, ‘I am great.’ ”

An alternative translation model for verse 6 is:
• On the contrary, God is even more loving and kind to us than that [or, than the world]. For we read in the Scriptures, “God causes the plans of proud people not to succeed, but he shows kindness to those people who are not proud.”

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 .