17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
The Greek in James 1:17 that is translated as “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” or similar in English is translated in the following ways ion other languages:
Tzotzil: “the lights, their shiningness changes; their light can be shaded. Not thus our Father God.”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “But God isn’t like the lights he made, sometimes they lack light when there is a turning.”
Central Mazahua: “But he doesn’t change his thinking like those things that are in heaven change their road. He is always the same gracious person.”
(Source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of James 1:17:
Uma: “All gifts that are good and that are complete we receive from God [emphatic]. He is the one who made all the shining things in the sky. All those shining things in the sky, they do change [lit., there is their changing.] But God, he never changes, and there is not a lessening of his goodness.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But/instead all different-kinds of good and which has no fault/blemish is given to us (dual) from heaven, from God. God created all that is light up in the sky. All (the things) that are light in the sky, its brightness/glory changes, but God really does not change.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Whatever comes from God is not bad, rather it is good. And it has no lack for it comes from our Father who created everything which shines in the sky. These things can be changed, but as for God, he, by contrast, does not change and he cannot be changed by anything.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “because God in heaven is the source of all that is good and right. He also of course is the one who created all that shines in the sky, but even though their appearance changes, he definitely does not change.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “God is the one who is the source of all good, and wholly good is what he gives. There really is no lack in the grace/mercy which comes from this Father of ours who created all which give-light in the sky/heaven. As for these which he created, their light is changeable/comes-and-goes, but as for God, his nature/ways never change.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Because all that which God gives us is supremely good. God who gives us the good is he who made the lights in the heavens. These lights change their faces, but God never changes what he says; that which he says is said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this record (“sky”).
Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):
“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)
“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.
“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.
“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.
“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)
“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.
“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).
“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)
“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”
Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include (click or tap here to see more):
Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Kupsabiny: “up” for “sky” vs. “God’s Homestead” for “heaven” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
In some languages, such as Yagaria, a term that was originally used as “sky” (gokudana) was adopted by the Christian community as “heaven.” This resulted in a language shift so that now all communities uses “empty space / air” (galogina or hakalogina) as “sky” and gokudana is exclusively used for the Christian concept of heaven. (Source: Renck 1990, p. 133)
Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as (click or tap here to see more):
In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven”), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)
Under the auspices of the Dhama Mate Swe Association , a new Burmese translation of the New Testament was published in 2024 which uses terminology that attempts to overcome “insurmountable barriers to the Buddhist world.” One term that this version uses is ရွှေမြို့တော် (shway myahoettaw) or “Golden City” for “heaven,” referring it to the golden city described in Revelation 21 but at the same time using a Buddhist term for a desired destination that does not have the Buddhist connotation of ကောင်း ကင် (kaungg kain) as being the Trāyastriṃśa (တာဝတိံသာ) heaven, home of Śakra/Indra. This Burmese translation formed the basis of translations of parts of the New Testament into other languages spoken in Burma, including Sumtu Chin, Ekai Chin, Songlai Chin, Danau, Kadu, Kanan, Khün, Lahta Karen, Rakhine, Marma (Northern Rakhine), Riang Lai, Samtao, Shwe Palaung, Tai Laing, Taungyo, and Chak (Thet). (Source: Jay Pratt)
The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”
If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsuku-rare-ru (造られる) or “create” is used.
The formula in verse 16, “Do not be deceived,” is used in 1 Cor 15.33 to introduce a quotation, and therefore some commentators think it likely that James is doing the same here. We cannot be certain as to the source of this quotation, but the saying is rhythmic, proverbial, and consists of a pair of very similar expressions: Every good endowment and every perfect gift. Some scholars have attempted to find a difference in meaning between good endowment and perfect gift, taking endowment as an act of generous giving, and the gift as the present given; for example, “all good giving and every perfect gift” (New English Bible), “Every good and generous action and every perfect gift” (Revised English Bible). However, this seems unnecessary if we take the two to have the same meaning. For this reason some translations have combined the two together, thus “Every good and perfect gift…” (New International Version, Contemporary English Version).
James says that the good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. There are two problems here. The first has to do with the punctuation, and the second with the meaning of the expression the Father of lights. If a comma is placed after from above, the following phrase becomes an additional parallel description: “from above [and] comes down….” Some translations, however, have taken the present verb “is” and the participle “coming” as linked grammatically; for example, “come from above” (Phillips, Revised English Bible). In either case the basic meaning remains the same; and in many languages the more natural style will be “comes from above [or, heaven]” or “comes down from heaven [or, is given by God].”
The God who gives good gifts is characterized as the Father of lights. This expression is unique in the Bible. The reference is to God as the Creator of the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars (compare Gen 1.14-19; Psa 136.7; Jer 31.35). Here Father is to be understood in the sense of the ultimate source, the creator, and the lights as the heavenly bodies. If one takes the two together, the expression may be rendered as “from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights” (Good News Translation). “Heavenly” in many languages will be rendered as “in the sky.” So this clause may be expressed as “from God, the Creator of the bodies [or, sun, moon, and stars] that give light in the sky.”
An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse may be:
• It is God who [has] created the lights in the sky [or, heaven], from where he sends down every good and perfect gift.
With whom there is no variation or shadow due to change: this statement is extremely difficult for two reasons. First, it has a number of variant readings. Secondly, no one is exactly sure as to what its precise meaning is. With whom is sometimes used to express an attribute or quality, and in this case that of God, so it may be rendered “in God’s nature.” It is also possible to begin a new sentence here and say “He never changes…” or “He is always the same…” (Contemporary English Version). Some ancient authorities give an alternative Greek text, “there is no variation due to a shadow of turning” (see footnotes in Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version). However, the majority of translations accept the text as it is in Revised Standard Version.
The words variation, shadow, and change are often used, as is the case in the present context, to refer to the way the heavenly bodies move and appear to human observers. The word variation, used only here in the New Testament, suggests the alternate appearance or change in the movements of the heavenly bodies, particularly the sun and the moon. The expression shadow due to change, literally “shadow of turning” (King James Version), as used here, can refer to a number of things, such as a shadow caused and cast by an eclipse or by changing constellations, the shadow of night, phases of the moon, or the regular alternate appearance of the sun and the moon. But we cannot be certain. It is obvious, however, that the author is simply interested in using the constant changes in the heavenly bodies to point to, indeed highlight, the unchangeable nature of the Creator God. He is the one who sends all good things; and since he is unchanging, he could never send anything evil, such as temptation to sin. And so, whatever goes wrong, God is not to be blamed.
The rendering with whom there is no variation … sounds a bit abstract, and so in some languages it is desirable to be more direct and concrete; for example, “God never varies, nor causes darkness by changing,” “God never varies and never causes darkness to occur by changing,” or “God … and never makes things dark by changing,” or “… never makes dark shadows by changing” (Contemporary English Version).
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 .
Every good and perfect gift: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Every good and perfect gift contains two words for gift. For example:
Every good gift and every perfect gift (English Standard Version)
The two words for “gift” are almost the same in meaning. James was probably quoting a piece of poetry or a proverb that repeated the phrase for emphasis.
There are two ways to translate this phrase:
• Use two different words. For example:
All generous giving and every perfect gift (NET Bible)
-or-
every good gift and every perfect present
• Use one word. For example:
Every good and perfect gift (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
everything that is good and perfect
perfect gift: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as perfect refers to something that is complete and full. It does not lack anything. (See the notes on 1:4b and 1:4c.) So a perfect gift is a gift that has no faults in it.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
faultless gift
-or-
everything that is perfect
is from above: The phrase is from above means that every good gift comes from God in heaven. In some languages, it may be necessary to say explicitly that God is the one who gives everything that is good and perfect. For example:
is from God (New Century Version)
-or-
comes from God above
-or-
is given by God
1:17b
the Father of the heavenly lights: The phrase the heavenly lights refers to the lights that are in the heavens: the sun, moon, and stars. God is called the Father of the heavenly lights because he created the heavenly lights. He is also called the Father of the heavenly lights because he has the nature of light, which is a symbol of goodness.
In some languages, Father may be totally unclear here. If that is the case in your language, you could translate it as “Creator.” For example:
God, the Creator of the heavenly lights. (Good News Translation)
the heavenly lights: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heavenly lights here refers to the sun, moon (see Genesis 1:16), and stars. In other words, this word refers to the things in the sky that give light.
Many languages do not have a general word that includes the sun, moon, and stars. If that is the case in your language, you could:
• Mention all three words separately. For example:
the sun, moon, and stars
• Use a phrase. For example:
the things which are in the sky and shine/give light
1:17c
with whom there is no change or shifting shadow: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as change or shifting shadow is a metaphor. James was contrasting the lights in the sky with God. The sun, moon, and stars change their position in the sky and cause shadows that also move. In contrast to this, God never changes. Use a word for shadow that does not only refer to the shadow of people. Also, be careful not to use a word for shadow that refers to the spirit of a person.
Some ways to translate this phrase are:
• Keep the metaphor and make the meaning clear. For example:
who does not vary like the sun, moon, and stars or change like their shadows change
-or-
The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon. (God’s Word)
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
God’s nature/ways never change.
no change or shifting shadow: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as change and shifting are similar in meaning. Both words were commonly used to describe the changing appearance and movement of the sun, moon, and stars. (There is a textual variant here. In place of “with whom there is not change orshadow of turning” some Greek manuscripts read “with whom there is not change which is of a turning/changing shadow.” The variant reading is followed by the Revised English Bible. Some other versions (God’s Word, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible) may also be following this reading. However, they may just be combining the two references to change in one expression. The general meaning of 1:17c is similar whichever reading is followed.)
If possible, use a word that you would naturally use to describe the “changes” of the sun, moon, and stars. To make it clear that James is contrasting God to the sun, moon, and stars, you could say:
who, unlike the sun, moon, and stars, does not change or move like shadows.
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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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