Some commentators consider the particle Therefore as introducing a new theme (so Phillips, Living Bible [Living Bible]). More likely, however, is the view of most, that it is to be taken as a conclusion to the subsection (1.19-21); in this case it can be rendered as “So then” (Barclay), “In conclusion,” or even “So, keeping in mind what I have just said….”

The words put away are a participle in Greek, but this has an imperative force because it is related to the imperative receive, and so is rendered as an imperative by most translators. The Greek word can be used of removing dirt from one’s body, but in the New Testament the most commonly used sense is that of stripping off or laying aside clothing (Acts 7.58). It is often used metaphorically of putting off a person’s old self and pattern of behavior (Rom 13.12; Col 3.8; 1 Peter 2.1). It expresses the idea of turning away from evil and turning to God, a complete change of lifestyle. Because of this some scholars believe that the saying has its origin in a conversion or baptismal context. There are a variety of ways to translate this expression; for example, “stop [or, quit] doing…,” “don’t practice … any more,” “give up,” “put aside,” or “leave behind.”

What should be stripped off is all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness. There are several possible ways of understanding this expression. First, we can take the two phrases connected by and as two distinctive parts. In this case the force of all can go with both filthiness and wickedness. The expression can then be rendered as “all filthiness and all rank growth of wickedness.” This understanding is reflected in the following translations: “everything … every…” (Goodspeed, Revised English Bible), “everything … all…” (Barclay), “all … all…” (Knox), and “every … all…” (Good News Translation).

Secondly, it is possible to take filthiness and rank growth of wickedness as expressing a single idea, meaning “all filthiness caused by rank growth of wickedness,” or “all filthiness caused by overflowing wickedness.”

Thirdly, it is also possible to take rank growth of wickedness as an explanation of filthiness. In this case the expression may be rendered as “all filthiness, that is rank growth of wickedness.” This is apparently the way Knox understood it: “… of all defilement, of all the ill will that remains in you.”

These are all possible interpretations, but on the whole the first is the easiest one to follow and translate.

The word filthiness is used only here in the New Testament. Its adjective form is used in 2.2 to refer to the shabby clothing of a poor man. In the context of “stripping off,” it seems obvious that the author intends to continue the clothing metaphor. The intent is clear; it describes any moral defilement, anything that makes a person unclean and therefore unacceptable to God. It refers to a person’s “filthy habit” (Good News Translation), “moral filth” (New International Version), something that “would soil life” (Barclay), or even “indecent behavior.”

The meaning of the expression rank growth of wickedness is understood in various ways.
(1) Some take rank growth, which is one word in Greek, in the sense of “excess” or “surplus” and translate the phrase as “superfluity of naughtiness” (King James Version), “the malice that hurries to excess” (New English Bible), or “wicked excess” (Revised English Bible). This interpretation has the danger of allowing the misunderstanding that wickedness that is not excessive may be tolerated.
(2) A related interpretation is to take rank growth as something both extra and offensive, a kind of cancerous growth. This apparently is the sense favored by Barclay when he renders the expression as “malice that is like an alien growth on life.”
(3) The word is sometimes taken to mean “that which survives,” or “that which is left over.” On this understanding the exhortation is to take off every trace of wickedness that remains, and this is reflected in some translations; for example, “the remains of wickedness” (New American Standard Bible), “of all the ill-will that remains in you” (Knox), and “remnants of evil” (New Jerusalem Bible). This makes some sense, but the meaning is a bit forced.
(4) More scholars and translators have therefore taken rank growth in its basic sense of “abundance,” “profusion,” or “overflowing,” and rendered the phrase as “overflowing of wickedness” (American Standard Version), “every other evil that overflows…” (Phillips), “the malice which is so abundant” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), “the evil that is so prevalent” (New International Version), or “all wicked conduct” (Good News Translation). Translators are advised to follow this interpretation.

The word wickedness is rendered in various ways. The rendering “naughtiness” (King James Version) as used nowadays is a bit too weak and even misleading, since it often refers to the mischievous behavior of children. The word can also have the general sense of “evil” (so Goodspeed, Translator’s New Testament, New Jerusalem Bible), although in the present context, where there is an admonition to avoid “anger,” the more precise meaning of “ill-will” (so Knox) or “malice” (Barclay, New English Bible) may be desirable.

An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse may be:
• So, keeping in mind what I have just said, you must stop [or, quit] all your indecent [or, filthy] behavior and all the wicked things you do.

Receive with meekness the implanted word: the exhortation now switches from a negative to a positive tone. In the UBS Greek text the phrase with meekness goes with the previous clause, modifying put away. Although there is at least one version that follows the Greek text and renders it “… put away with meekness…,” the majority take it as qualifying the verb receive. The metaphor is now shifted from that of clothing to one of planting. The attitude required is meekness, the kind of disposition needed in hearing and doing the word. Here the contrast is most likely not with “wickedness” or “malice” as some scholars have suggested, but with “anger,” especially if the anger mentioned in the previous verses is understood to be an arrogant and hostile temper against others as the result of overconfidence in the word of God. Meekness is a very difficult word to render, as shown by the different renderings in various translations; for example, “a teachable spirit” (Barclay), “be patient” (Knox), “in a humble spirit” (Goodspeed), “be humble” (Contemporary English Version), “submit to God” (Good News Translation). It is that kind of disposition or temper always under perfect control, a combination of being gentle, modest, humble, patient, submissive, and having a teachable spirit. In some languages it will be good to render this term with a negative expression; for example, “As you receive … don’t do it in a proud way” or “As you receive … don’t act as if you are somebody big.”

It is with this kind of spirit that a person should receive … the implanted word. The verb receive is an aorist imperative, indicating that the action is not progressive but one-time and decisive, pointing perhaps to the first reception. The fact that readers are advised to receive means that what is to be received is a gift, something that comes from God. There is a problem in the logical consequence here: How can someone receive what has been inborn or implanted? To resolve this problem some suggest that the word receive is best understood in the sense of “obey.” Others, however, render it as “welcome [what has been given]” (so New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version).

The adjective implanted has two meanings. It can have the sense of “innate,” “inborn,” and therefore “natural,” as opposed to what is acquired from outside. In this case word is often understood to be referring to the inborn reason or principle in every human being, the faculty that makes it possible for a person to understand and be receptive to a revelation. There are some difficulties with this understanding. For one thing, as already mentioned above, it is odd for people to be urged to accept what is already within them. For another, in a context where James places such an emphasis on the word as the gospel message, on hearing it and practicing it, it is unlikely that he would introduce a Stoic understanding of the word as inborn reason.

For these reasons most scholars prefer the second sense of implanted, that is, like a seed that is planted in the soil. In this case the gifts cannot be inborn and natural, but they are given or planted: “which roots itself inwardly” (Moffatt). Here we recall the parable of the sower (Matt 13.1-23), which tells how the seed (word, gospel) is sown into the hearts of people. In this sense the verb receive is best understood as meaning “welcome” or “accept in” (in Japanese translations), that is, first taking in what the person accepts and then turning it into action. The place where the word is planted is not stated in the text, but some translations have identified it as “in you” (Luther 1984, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or “in your hearts” (Translator’s New Testament, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). The latter appears to be more common and appropriate, in that the “heart” is considered in many cultures to be the seat of the emotions and the will, where actions are initiated. The agent who plants is God, and this can be made clear (so Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The object or thing that is planted is the word, which most scholars agree to be the same as “the word of truth” in verse 18, meaning “the message of the Gospel,” and which is sometimes rendered as “the message” (Goodspeed, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Revised English Bible).

Alternative translation models for this sentence are:
• You must be humble and accept the message that God has planted [or, placed] in your hearts.
• Don’t be proud, but accept [or, welcome] the message [or, the true word] that God has planted in your hearts.
• When you accept the message that God has planted in your hearts, don’t act as if you are somebody big.

The message that is planted deep in the hearts of Christians is able to save your souls. The “sowing” of the “seed,” that is, the gospel message, will yield as its fruit “salvation.” The reference to “salvation” appears elsewhere in the letter at 2.14; 4.12; and 5.20. It is most likely that it is a reference to future salvation at the last judgment. The souls here should not be interpreted as a reference to a higher part of a person, as against the body, but to the whole person. The phrase is best rendered “is able to save you” (Good News Translation), “has the power to save you” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; similarly Revised English Bible), or “is capable of saving your life” (Bible en français courant). In a number of languages it will be helpful to begin a new sentence here and say “This word [or, message] has the power to save you” or “… is capable of saving your life.”

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 .