complete verse (James 1:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of James 1:22:

  • Uma: “So, we must follow the Lord’s Word, don’t just listen dry [idiom meaning to do something without the proper accompanying action]. For if we just listen to it dry, we are deceiving ourselves.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Don’t just listen to the word/message of God but do what he commands. For if you just listen but don’t do it, you just/simply deceive yourselves.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You must obey the Word of God. If you just listen to his word and you do not obey it, it is as if you are lying to your own breath.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do not only listen to the words of God, but rather obey (them) as-well, because if you only listen and you don’t obey, surely you are deceiving yourselves.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But if the limit of it is, you are just listening to his word, for you aren’t following/obeying it, you are only lying to yourselves. It’s really necessary that you are following/obeying it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Do what the good new word teaches you. Don’t deceive your hearts in that you think that you only need to listen to the word, it isn’t that.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

word / command (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on James 1:22

With this verse James begins to explain that hearing without doing is a self-deception. This may be considered one of the major themes of the letter. The thought is strikingly similar to that of Rom 2.13, where both “hearers” and “doers” appear.

According to James the word demands response by action. His command is But be doers of the word. The particle translated But is often used by James to introduce an imperative (for example, 1.6, 22; 5.12) and to serve as a transition between thoughts without having an adversative force. For this reason many translations have left the particle untranslated and instead have chosen to begin a new paragraph to mark the transition (so Good News Translation, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

The imperative be, translating a verb that normally means “become,” is in the present tense and therefore has the force of “continue to be,” or even more strongly, “make sure that you continue to be.”

The expression doers of the word is apparently a Hebrew idiom that if rendered literally would mean “a word maker,” namely a writer or orator. This, however, is not the intended meaning. Paul has a similar usage in Rom 2.13, where he uses “a law maker” to mean someone who observes and obeys law. It is obvious then that doers of the word here means those who put the word into practice (compare Good News Translation), who “obey the message” (Goodspeed), “who live by the word” (Knox), and who “act on the message” (Revised English Bible).

James goes on to caution his readers not to remain hearers only. The word hearers is used in the New Testament only in this context and in Rom 2.13. It suggests hearing the public reading of Scriptures, but in the present context it obviously refers to hearing the gospel message. The author is emphasizing that merely hearing, or even knowing, the message is not enough. What really counts is to practice what you hear and know, that is, to live out the gospel message, transforming it into action. Therefore to think that hearing is enough is deceiving yourself. To deceive means, literally, to reason beside the point and therefore to misjudge, to deceive by false reasoning (see La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée) or to fool yourself (so Living Bible).

Grammatically deceiving yourselves is a phrase that can modify both “doers” and “hearers,” assuming that they refer to the same group of people; or it can be taken as referring only to the “hearers,” if they are two separate groups. In the first case the reflexive pronoun should be yourselves, “you” (the readers) being the subject of the imperative be. In the second case, taking the phrase to be modifying only the hearers, the pronoun should be changed to “themselves”; for example, “who deceive themselves” (New Revised Standard Version). Most translations take it to be the first.

The exhortation has two sides, one positive, be …, and the other negative, not …. In translation we can begin with the positive first, as Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version, and others have done. However, in some languages it may be more appropriate, and indeed more forceful, to begin with the negative, such as Translator’s New Testament, Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and others have done.

Alternative translation models for this verse may be:
• You must obey [or, follow] God’s message and not just listen to it. If you only listen, it is the same as lying to yourself.
• Don’t just listen to God’s message, but obey it. Otherwise you simply deceive yourself.

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on James 1:22

Paragraph 1:22–25

Believers must not forget the word of God that they had heard. They must do/obey it.

1:22

In 1:22, there are three clauses in Greek. The Berean Standard Bible follows the Greek order but some other English versions change the Greek order of these clauses. Compare the order of the clauses in the Berean Standard Bible and New International Version (2011 Revision) below.

22aBe doers of the word, 22band not hearers only, 22c…deceiving yourselves. (Berean Standard Bible)

22bDo not merely listen to the word, 22cand so deceive yourselves. 22aDo what it says. (New International Version (2011 Revision))

You should arrange the clauses in 1:22 in a way that is natural in your language. See the General Comment at the end of 1:22c for more discussion on reordering these clauses.

In Greek, this verse begins with a conjunction that means “But” in some contexts. Some English versions have translated it as “But” here. However, in this context, it is not indicating a contrast. It simply introduces the next point about the “word.” So, in many languages, no conjunction is necessary here.

1:22a

Be doers of the word: The clause Be doers of the word refers to those who always do what God’s word tells them to do. Such people put the word’s teaching into practice and regularly obey its commands.

Translate this clause in such a way that the action is habitual, repeated action.

Some other ways to translate this are:

Do what it says (New International Version (2011 Revision))
-or-
put it into practice (Good News Translation)
-or-
obey God’s message (Contemporary English Version)

the word: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the word refers to the gospel.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

God’s word (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
God’s message

The same word occurs in 1:18a and 1:21c.

1:22b

and not hearers only: The clause and not hearers only indicates that it is not enough to just listen to someone preaching or reading from the word of God.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Do not only be hearers of the word
-or-
don’t just listen to God’s word (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
You must do more than just hear God’s word/message
-or-
Do not limit yourselves to just hearing the gospel

Be careful not to translate this in a way that implies that it is not good to listen to the word.

not hearers only: The phrase hearers only refers to those who only hear the gospel teaching. They never do what it tells them to do.

In many languages, the usual word for “hear” includes the idea of obeying. If this is so in your language, be careful here to use an expression that describes hearing without obeying.

1:22c

Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deceiving yourselves can also be translated as “fool yourselves.” It refers to wrong thinking that leads a person astray. Anyone who just listens to the message of the gospel but does not obey its commands is mistaken if he thinks that God is pleased.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

or you will fool yourselves (God’s Word)
-or-
and lie to yourselves

General Comment on 1:22a–c

In Greek and the Berean Standard Bible, a clause with a positive command (“Be doers of the word”) comes first. This is followed by a clause with a negative command (“do not only be hearers”). The New International Version (2011 Revision) reverses the order of the positive and negative commands. Use the order that is most natural in your language.

Another possible way to translate the verse is:

He who hears the word and does not do what it says is deceiving himself. Therefore you should be people who both hear and do, not people who only hear.

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