James goes on to set up a contrast between a person who is meek and one who is jealous and ambitious, and he introduces the contrast by a pair of conjunctions, But and if.

The pair of terms in Greek for jealousy and selfish ambition appears in Paul’s lists of vices (translated “jealousy” and “selfishness” in 2 Cor 12.20; Gal 5.20). The word rendered jealousy, literally “zeal,” was originally a neutral term. But the predominant meaning in the New Testament is the negative sense of a desire to promote your own opinion from a selfish motive. It is a zeal that is fanatical (Barclay), and therefore may be rendered as “envy” (Translator’s New Testament, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version). James qualifies jealousy with the adjective bitter, thus intensifying the feeling of a contentious spirit, in contrast to humility and gentleness. Bitter in this context means “biting,” “intense,” or “severe.” Some other ways to express bitter jealousy are: “a heart full of intense jealousy,” “have a heart hot with jealousy,” or “have an inordinate desire to get what other people have.” Selfish ambition, one word in Greek, is a rare word sometimes used of the attitude of greedy politicians putting their own interests above everything else, often resulting in rivalry and partisan spirit. It may therefore be rendered as “spirit of rivalry” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Revised English Bible). We may also express it as “desire to be better than others.” In some languages this is described idiomatically in terms of the heart; for example, “have a black heart,” or “have a narrow heart.” As James sees it, the problem of jealousy and rivalry is not external, it is in your hearts, the inner feelings a person may have that are not publicly known. For the meaning of hearts see the discussion in 1.26.

In spite of the fact that the verse begins with the conditional clause But if you have …, the prohibition do not boast remains valid, whether or not the condition is realized. In other words boasting and lying are wrong and should be prohibited, whether they spring from jealousy and ambition or not.

Do not boast and be false to the truth: the meaning of this prohibition is not very clear. To boast is to praise oneself, especially in comparison with someone or something else, thus to have “pride” (Goodspeed) or to “brag” (Contemporary English Version). But what is the object of bragging? There are a number of possibilities.
(1) The first possibility is to take the verb boast absolutely without any object, referring to a person’s attitude and disposition. In this case the negative not goes with both verbs, and a comma or period is usually placed after the verb boast to separate the two clauses (so Japanese colloquial version), making boasting and lying two actions. This is seen in the renderings like “glory not, and lie not against the truth” (King James Version), and “do not be boastful, nor lie against the truth” (so CUV, Japanese New Interconfessional Translation). The boasting is sometimes understood in relation to others (for example, “you must not treat others with arrogant conceit” [Barclay]), and sometimes in relation to yourself (thus “do not make false claims for yourselves” [Translator’s New Testament]).
(2) Another possibility is to take the truth as the object. In this case the truth is understood to be the object of both verbs, to boast and to be false to. This would probably be the assumed meaning for ordinary readers who follow a literal rendering like that of the Revised Standard Version. In this case what James is saying appears to be “Do not be boastful about the truth or lie against it.” Contemporary English Version expresses this as “Don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth.”
(3) Still another possibility is to take the truth as the object, but to interpret do not boast and be false to the truth as a hendiadys, that is to take boasting and lying to be one idea or event. This is reflected in a rendering like “stop making false claims in defiance of the truth” (Revised English Bible).
(4) One more possibility is to take wisdom in verse 13 as the object of boasting. This is seen in renderings like “do not boast about it or deny the truth” (New International Version), and “do not pride yourselves on it and thus belie the truth” (Goodspeed). The pronoun “it” in both cases most likely refers back to “wisdom.” What James is saying here, then, would be that unjustifiable boasting about wisdom will result in denying or lying against the truth.
(5) A final possibility is to identify “wisdom” as the object of the verb “to boast” and to take the boasting of wisdom as the means of lying against the truth. This interpretation is seen in the Good News Translation rendering, “don’t sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom.” Boasting about wisdom while being jealous and ambitious is, in fact, lying or sinning against the truth. This interpretation appears to fit the context best, and in fact makes the best sense, and is therefore the option recommended by this Handbook.

The expression be false to the truth appears redundant to some people if the truth is understood as “truthfulness.” For this reason some scholars suggest that the truth should be taken in the objective sense of “the truth revealed through Christ,” namely the gospel, or the Christian faith. It is also possible, however, to take it as referring to that which is true and real as against that which is false and unreal. James’ thinking then is this: “True wisdom is associated with humility. This is the truth. If so, to boast about wisdom when you are jealous and ambitious is a contradiction in terms; it cannot be true.” This is supported by what James goes on to say in the next verse.

The following alternative translation for verses 13 and 14 will bring this meaning out clearly:
• Are any of you truly wise? If you are, you must show it by living a right life and by being humble and wise in everything you do. This is true wisdom. But if you have a heart full of jealousy and a desire to be better than other people, you must not boast that you are a wise person [or, have spiritual understanding]. If you do that you turn what is true into a lie.

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 .

This verse begins a subsection on the general theme of prayer. Even though some scholars do not see any connection between this verse and the ones before and after, we can see that it is somewhat related to the theme of prayer, in that “swearing” is a wrong way of calling upon God in prayer (Laws).

But above all is literally “Before everything [else].” This can be taken to mean that the exhortation introduced by this formula is the conclusion of a series of exhortations and is the most important of them all. However, it seems best to take it as a transition to a new line of thought with emphasis. The phrase above all, as used here, does not have to mean that the warning against swearing is more important than other exhortations; it probably means that what follows as a whole is important. It also signals that James is bringing his letter to a close. The familiar expression my brethren (meaning “brothers and sisters” or “fellow believers”) also serves to mark the transition, in addition to above all.

Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath: this prohibition is very similar to the teaching of Jesus recorded in Matt 5.33-37, even though there are some differences. The common message is that truthfulness should be dependable, so much so that no oath is needed to support it. Swearing is prohibited because it involves using the name of God in order to convince others that what you promise and say is true and will be kept. The law does not prohibit oaths, but it demands that a person must be true to any oath he or she has taken (Lev 19.12). The most binding of all oaths is to call upon God to witness the truth of the oath. It may be observed that “to swear” or “to make an oath” often involves calling upon a sacred being (such as some deity or God) or an object (such as heaven, earth, or Jerusalem) to be the witness, with the understanding that, if the oath made is not kept, the one who made the oath would be punished by the deity or God. In many languages there are expressions for swearing that carry this sense, and so there is no problem in choosing the right terms to translate do not swear. In languages where this sort of expression is not available, we may have to say exactly what we mean; for example, “Do not ask God to testify that your statement is true.”

Following the teaching and tradition of not making wrong use of the sacred name of God (Exo 20.7), people would swear by heaven (because it is God’s dwelling place) or by earth (because it is God’s footstool). So to swear by heaven or by earth is a substitute for using the name of God, equivalent to swearing by God’s name. The expression or with any other oath shows that people did also use other sacred things or places in the oath; for example, they obviously did swear by Jerusalem (Matt 5.35).

But let your yes be yes and your no be no: what James wants his readers to have is total truthfulness and honesty. A simple “yes” or “no” should count. Here but is adversative, countering the point just made. The imperative may be rendered more naturally as “If you mean Yes you must say Yes, and if you mean No you must say No” (Barclay), or “You must say ‘Yes’ when you mean yes; you must say ‘No’ when you mean no.”

That you may not fall under condemnation: this is the reason for demanding avoidance of swearing. The condemnation is by God, and this may be made clear. We may restructure this final clause as “so that God will not condemn you” or “then you will not come under God’s judgment” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant).

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 .

The real source of temptation is not God but a person’s own desire. The particle but introduces a contrast: each person is the positive, which contrasts with the negative “no one” in verse 13. It is possible to bring out the contrast by rendering the particle as “No” (Knox, Phillips) or “on the contrary” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

The writer goes on to say each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Reflecting more closely the Greek structure, New Revised Standard Version renders the sentence as “one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it.” In some languages it is better to restructure the sentence as “every person, being lured and enticed by his own desire, falls into temptation” or “On the contrary, every person is induced to commit evil by his own evil desires.” In languages that do not use the passive, we can express this as “for his own evil desires trap [or, lure] him and drag him away.” Grammatically, being lured and enticed can go either with the main verb “is tempted” or with “his own desire.” Although the form of these sentences may be different, the meaning remains the same.

The temptation is due to a person’s own desire. In the New Testament the Greek word desire does have a good sense at times (compare Luke 22.15); more often, as in this context, it carries the bad sense of selfish desire, lust, or passion (compare Rom 7.17-23; Gal 5.16-21; Eph 2.3). A number of translations have made this clear; for example, “evil desire” (Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament, New International Version), “wrong desire” (New Jerusalem Bible), “lust” (King James Version, New English Bible), “passions” (Knox). The “evil desire” is characterized by two participles in Greek that rhyme, rendered by New Revised Standard Version as “being lured and enticed.” Both terms apparently came from the language of hunting and fishing and are used metaphorically here. The word “lure” suggests a fish enticed to a hook and drawn out from the water, while the word “entice” suggests attracting a prey to a trap by bait. The two words obviously refer to different aspects of the same action. A person’s “evil desire” is like a hook with bait enticing its prey to a trap and then dragging it away. Keeping the images the two participles can be rendered “is lured and dragged away” (Revised English Bible) or “are drawn away and trapped” (Good News Translation). James does not identify the source of the temptation. His purpose may be to pinpoint the source as the evil impulse within a person, thus highlighting our own personal responsibility for sin.

An alternative translation model for this verse may be:
• On the contrary, it is our [inclusive] own evil desires [or, passions] that tempt us to sin [or, do evil]. They trap us and then drag us away.

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 .

James now compares the kind of faith that is not demonstrated in action to the faith the demons have. To open the argument he cites the central article of the Jewish faith, which both he and his opponent subscribe to.

You believe that God is one: there are some textual variations here, but they make little difference in the meaning. The Revised Standard Version rendering is a statement of fact; Contemporary English Version has a similar rendering: “You surely believe there is only one God.” Trying to bring the sense out more forcefully, some translations have rendered it as a question; for example, “Do you believe that there is only one God?” (Good News Translation; so also Translator’s New Testament) or “Do you believe in one God?” (Goodspeed). It can also be rephrased as “Do you believe that ‘God is one’?” The expression believe that appears to indicate that what the author has in mind about believe is not the more usual sense of personal trust and commitment but an intellectual consent and commitment to the content of belief, namely God is one. This confession has its origin in the Jewish Shema (“Hear, O Israel…,” Deut 6.4) and is used also by Christians (Mark 12.29; Rom 3.30).

The belief in this confession is not bad or wrong, as James goes on to say you do well, or as Good News Translation has rendered it, “Good!” (so also New International Version). However, the reason for citing it here is to point out that intellectual belief in itself is not enough. Affirming that God is one without allowing it to influence your life and conduct is simply inadequate and unreal. It may be observed that the commendation of “Good!” sounds a bit ironical in view of what James goes on to say immediately, Even the demons believe [that]—and shudder. Another possible rendering for Good is “That’s fine!” (Contemporary English Version), which in English sounds more ironical. A person who believes in the oneness of God without allowing this belief to change his or her conduct shares this faith with the demons, the evil spirits. This is not the kind of faith that can save. In the New Testament the demons do express belief in the divine (Mark 1.24; 5.7; Acts 16.16-17); and in stories of exorcisms they show fear before Christ (Mark 1.23, 24; 5.7). In front of God, their arch enemy, the demons shudder: they “tremble with fear” (Good News Translation). In a number of languages it will be necessary to add the idea of “fear” to shudder to make clear for the reader why the demons tremble. Other ways to express this are “so afraid that they tremble all over” or “so afraid that their hearts tremble [or, quake].” Demons were thought of as evil spiritual beings (“evil spirits”) or “unclean spirits” under the control of the Devil.

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 .

James goes on to give his readers a series of practical exhortations, using ten imperatives in the next four verses. It begins with a call to submit to God, serving as the theme of the exhortation, and ends with a command to humble themselves before the Lord. Between these two commands there are three couplets, that is, pairs of parallel clauses or sentences. Basically the two clauses of the first couplet are opposite in meaning, while in the second and third couplets the two lines have similar meaning.

Submit yourselves therefore to God: the most visible sign of humility is the willingness to submit to others. Hence this call. A person can submit to others only if he or she recognizes and accepts that the others are better, worthier, and greater. To Submit is therefore to be subordinate to, to be obedient to, and to put yourself under the authority of someone, in this case God. To submit to God is to be absolutely obedient to God’s will. With this in mind we may express the first sentence as “So then, you must be completely obedient to God,” or even “Therefore you must do all that God wants you to do.”

Having stated the theme, James goes on to give a twofold saying in the form of a prohibition and a promise: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The verb translated Resist is used in Eph 6.13, where the readers are called to “withstand” the forces of evil. It means to “stand up to” (so Translator’s New Testament, Revised English Bible) or “take a stand against” (Barclay). The word devil (the Greek means “slanderer”) is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word from which comes the word “Satan”—the adversary, slanderer, and accuser. The two words are used as identical in Rev 20.2. The devil is the source of temptation and evil, and his job is to separate people from God.

In cultures where Christianity has only arrived recently, a suitable term for Satan or the Devil may have not yet been agreed upon by the Christian community. In this case translators should carefully select, in consultation with the churches, a term that adequately translates the biblical idea of “Devil” or “Satan.” In many cultures people often recognize an evil supernatural spirit being who is active in the universe. The term used for this being may be a good translation of the devil if it refers to a spirit of demonic origin. In other cultures, however, people talk about the “chief” or “head” of the evil or bad spirits. The title for this bad spirit can almost certainly be used for the devil in the present context. However, if a suitable term cannot be found, then the name Satan may be used. If a community chooses to use the name Satan here, it will be helpful to include an item in the glossary explaining who Satan is. Other ways to express the clause Resist the devil may be “do not give in to the devil,” “do not do as the devil suggests,” “refuse to listen to the devil,” or even “fight back against the devil.”

The command is followed by a promise. The consequence of standing up to the devil is that he will flee from you. The devil can be resisted (Eph 6.13; 1 Peter 5.8-9). What James says here is this: If you fully accept the authority of God and are obedient to him, you can overcome the devil’s power; then he will “turn and run” (Revised English Bible), or “run away from you” (Barclay, Good News Translation). In certain languages it will be helpful to show the conditional relationship between the two sentences here and say, for example, “If you do not give in to the devil, he will run away from you.”

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 .

In contrast to the mere hearer, James now describes the true hearer. The adversative particle But introduces the contrast. The true hearer is a person who both hears and practices the word, someone who looks into the perfect law … and perseveres. The Greek participle, which is rendered as looks here, is literally “stooping down sideways to look,” that is, bending over to look carefully. The same word is used in John 20.5 and 11 of Jesus’ disciples looking intently into the tomb to see whether it is really empty. In a number of languages it will be more natural to talk about “read intently” or “study carefully” rather than “look into.”

The perfect law, the law of liberty: there is no agreement as to the background of this expression. Some scholars consider it to be of Stoic origin. Others, however, see Jewish influence as dominant; and this view seems able to explain the concept better. For a Jew like James, it would be natural and normal to understand the word law as the law of Moses, or the Old Testament. It is clear from his explanation of “the royal law” in 2.8-13 that for James this law does include the Old Testament commandments. It needs to be noted also that the law, in its Hebrew sense of “teaching” or “instruction,” is considered to be perfect (Psa 19.7). We should also note that what James presents here agrees in quite a striking way with Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, where he says “Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true” (Matt 5.17, TEV), and “You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5.48, TEV). It is therefore quite possible that James has been influenced by Jesus’ reinterpretation of the law as a new law. Furthermore the perfect law is to be put into practice, just as “the word” is. It is therefore natural to assume, in the present context, that the author uses the expression as more or less equivalent to “the word” in verse 22, identified as “the implanted word” in verse 21 and “the word of truth” in verse 18. In the light of this, then, the perfect law is to be taken as the perfect Christian way of life, equivalent to the gospel message.

Fortunately in this case a full understanding of the background of the concept is not required for translation. The word perfect is best understood as “complete,” “wholesome,” “all-encompassing” and “good.” In languages where the word law always has a negative sense, we may choose to render it as “way of life,” “principle,” or “teaching,” and say, for example, “the perfect teaching” or “the completely good teaching.”

The perfect law is further characterized as the law of liberty. This expression seems to contain a contradiction, since the word law always refers to something binding, something imposed from outside, something contrary to freedom. However, the concept of law as having a liberating force is not entirely foreign in the Bible. In his meditation on God’s law in Psalm 119, for example, the psalmist says that to obey God’s law is to “set free my heart” (verse 32, Revised English Bible), to “live in perfect freedom” (verses 45-46, Good News Translation), and that God’s commandment is “exceedingly broad” (verse 96, New Revised Standard Version). In Paul’s teaching “freedom” is explained as the ability to fulfill “the law of Christ” (Gal 6.2), and the law is identified with the law of love (Rom 13.10; Gal 5.1, 13, 14). This is exactly what James has done in 2.8 and 12. The law is freedom in that by submitting to Christ a person is set free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8.2) and transformed to a life of service and love.

Basically liberty is not a description or an attribute of law but what a person experiences. For this reason it may be desirable to bring this information out by saying, for example, “[the perfect law that] sets people free” (Good News Translation), or “makes us free” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant). In certain languages it is necessary to say what the law sets us free from. In such cases we may render this clause as “the law [or, teaching] that sets us free from sin and death” or “… that helps us to escape from sin and death.”

The person who looks at the perfect law is different in two respects. First, he is someone who perseveres. This word, which means “to stay beside” or “to continue,” is a present participle in Greek, with a force of continual action. For this reason it is rendered as “keep on paying attention to it” (Good News Translation), “makes a habit of so doing” (Phillips), “continues to do this” (New International Version), “never stop looking at” (Contemporary English Version). Secondly, this person is further defined as being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, literally “becoming not a hearer of forgetfulness but a doer of work.” The contrast between the two parallel expressions in Greek is not natural and most likely reflects an underlying Hebrew construction. The first expression “a hearer of forgetfulness” is a genitive of quality, and so the word “forgetfulness” can be taken as an adjective, “forgetful hearer” (Moffatt; so also Barclay). The second expression, “doer of work,” is grammatically an objective genitive, but under the influence of the first construction, it is best taken as adjectival also, “active worker” (Barclay) or “active agent” (Moffatt). Since all the elements in these expressions are really action words, another way the clause can be rendered is “he does not just listen and forget, but obeys and acts upon it” (Goodspeed).

The person who listens and acts is one who puts the law into practice, and he shall be blessed in his doing. The he in Greek is “this person,” apparently used by the author for emphasis in contrast to the mere hearer. The word blessed is the same word used in 1.12, where it is rendered as “happy” by Good News Translation. In this context, however, the rendering “that man will be happy” (so Translator’s New Testament; similarly Revised English Bible) does not seem to carry the force required; and there is also the problem that “happy” is more appropriate for something a person obtains than for when they receive something. Good News Translation has rightly changed it to “blessed” here. The person who blesses is God, and this may be included as Barclay and Good News Translation have done. This blessing, as the verb shall be indicates, is perhaps best understood as a promise for the future; that is, the person who puts the law into practice will be blessed by God at the time of Christ’s coming. In his doing refers back to the word doer, so it means his putting the law into action.

An alternative translation model for this verse may be:
• But whoever studies the perfect teaching that frees people from sin and death, and keeps on doing this, God will bless him in everything he does. He is a person who does not simply listen but puts the teaching into practice.

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 .

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 .

Come now: James arrests the readers’ attention with the same expression as in 4.13. See the discussion there. It is obviously used for rhetorical effect, and therefore it is desirable to have the same rendering for both places. The rendering of Revised English Bible, “Next a word to you,” sounds too polite in this context, where the tone is distinctly that of rebuke. A rendering like “Now listen [or, Pay attention] to me, you rich people” is more forceful. The people addressed are you rich. For a discussion on the term rich, see 1.10. The rich in Greek is a masculine noun here, and is rendered as “ye rich men” by King James Version (similarly Living Bible); but it obviously does not mean to be exclusive, and so it is best rendered as “you rich people” (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version). These are most likely Christians who are blessed with material wealth, people “who have great possessions” (New English Bible), and people of “affluence” (similarly Phillips).

Weep and howl: the verb weep is the same word used in 4.9, where it is used in connection with the thought of repentance. But here James calls the rich people to “weep aloud” (so Goodspeed) because of the certainty of punishment. It is not a call to repentance but a proclamation of damnation. The verb is in the imperative mood, and so in some languages it must be rendered as “you must weep…” (so Barclay). The word howl is a participle in Greek and is to be taken as defining the imperative weep. It is a word whose sound suggests its sense, or is associated with the meaning of what it describes, as in English. It is used only here in the New Testament. In the Septuagint it is often used by the prophets in the sense of loud crying or howling in grief or distress. It describes the reaction of wicked people to the horror of impending divine judgment (Isa 13.6; Ezek 21.12; Amos 8.3). Weeping aloud and howling may sound somewhat strange, indeed exaggerated, to western ears, but in some eastern cultures this is a common way of expressing deep grief and sorrow.

For the miseries that are coming upon you: this is literally “upon your miseries that are coming.” James is explaining the reason for the rich people to weep aloud and howl. In Greek the preposition “upon,” coming after a verb expressing feelings, may mean “because of.” It is so understood and rendered by New International Version, thus “… because of the misery that is coming upon you.” It is also possible to retain its literal sense of “over,” referring to the occasion, thus “… over the miseries…” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). The participle “coming upon” may be rendered in various ways, conditioned by the understanding of how “miseries” come in the given culture. In English the miseries may be said to be “overtaking you” (Revised English Bible; similarly Goodspeed). In other languages the miseries are “descending [or, falling] upon you”; and in yet other languages this will be expressed as “you are going to receive terrible troubles [or, miseries].” The thought here is certainly more than the uncertainty of riches, which can suddenly vanish; it is rather the terrible hardships and sufferings that are to come as the prelude to the end of the world and the final judgment, as the expression “the last days” in verse 3 obviously shows.

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 .