The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
Following are a number of back-translations of James 1:16:
Uma: “My relatives whom I love! Let’s not be able to be deceived: God does not tempt us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore my beloved brothers, you are really mistaken/at fault if you say that God is the one tempting you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “My dear Brothers, do not believe what is not true. God does not tempt.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore brothers whom I love, don’t deceive yourselves in saying that God is the one who is tempting you,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “My dear siblings in believing, don’t lie to yourselves.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Listen, my dear brethren, don’t say that God brings to mind the evil you want to do.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
This verse serves as a transition that links verses 12-15 and verses 17-18. It is sometimes taken as the conclusion of the previous paragraph, as Phillips and New Revised Standard Version have done, but most commentators and translations have taken it as a transition introducing a new argument.
Do not be deceived: it is not the tempter but God who is the giver of all good gifts. James does not want his readers to have any mistake about this. The expression Do not be deceived is often used as a rhetorical device in an argument (compare 1 Cor 6.9; 15.33; Gal 6.7) and can be rendered idiomatically as “Make no mistake about this” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “Do not be fooled” (the Good News Translation rendering of the same expression in 1 Cor 15.33). We may also translate this expression as “I want you to be very sure of this.” The word “this,” of course, will refer to the information in the following verses.
James often addresses the people who will receive the letter as brethren, and occasionally adds an adjective “beloved,” as here and at 1.19 and 2.5. Here brethren is obviously general and inclusive, and therefore may be rendered as “my dear friends” (Revised English Bible), or even better, “my dear brothers and sisters.”
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 paragraph gives more reasons that show why it is not God who tries to make people do evil. Everything good comes from God, and he never changes. So it is unthinkable that any bad thing could come from him. God wants to give us new life.
1:16
Do not be deceived: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Do not be deceived means “do not go astray” or “do not have false ideas.” We should not deceive ourselves into thinking that God is the one who tempts us to do evil.
This phrase is passive. Some ways to translate this phrase are:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
don’t be misled (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
do not be fooled (New Century Version)
-or-
do not be deceived into thinking that God tempts us
• Use an expression that is not passive. For example:
do not deceive yourselves
-or-
do not have false/wrong ideas
This expression is used elsewhere in the New Testament to warn Christians against ideas that are dangerously wrong (1 Corinthians 6:9, 15:33; Galatians 6:7). (See also Luke 21:8; 1 John 3:7. See also Davids (1982), page 86; Martin, page 37, and see the note on the word “wander” in 5:19a.)
my beloved brothers: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as my beloved brothers refers to believers in Christ to whom James was writing. It refers to both men and women. The similar phrase “my brothers” occurs in 1:2a.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
my dear fellow believers
-or-
my dear brothers and sisters (NET Bible)
-or-
my beloved relatives/siblings in Christ
-or-
my beloved Christian friends
James used the term of address my beloved brothers to soften his command “Don’t be deceived.” You may have another way in your language to soften a command. If you do, you may be able to use it instead of the phrase my beloved brothers.
Notice that the Berean Standard Bible places the phrase my beloved brothers at the end of 1:16. This follows the Greek text. In some languages, it is more natural to place it at the beginning of 1:16 before the command or after 1:17. For example:
My dear brothers and sisters, do not be fooled about this. (New Century Version)
beloved: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beloved is used because James was telling his fellow believers that he cared about them.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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