25But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
The Greek in James 1:25 that is translated as “the perfect law, the law of liberty” or similar in English is translated in Central Mazahua as “God has set us free so that we are able to obey his word,” in Rincón Zapotec as “the law of God which is perfect and is able to cause us to be saved,” in Mezquital Otomi as “God’s new word frees us in order that our life will be good,” and in Eastern Highland Otomi as “the new word which is like a law strengthens our hearts so that with pleasure we will obey it.”
(Source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “forget” in English is translated in Noongar as dwangka-anbangbat, lit. “ear-lose.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
Following are a number of back-translations of James 1:25:
Uma: “That’s why we must put-in-our-hearts well the Lord’s commands and we [must] keep following them. For the Lord’s commands are very holy, and they have-power to free us from sin. So, let’s not just hear [them] dry and right away forget [them]. We must follow his commands. For a person who is like that is the one that the Lord will bless in all that he does.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But if a person really listens very well to the law of God which has no fault/blemish and which can set people free, and if he does not get tired of listening and if he really does not forget what he has heard but/instead he does what that law says, he will be given good/blessing by God whatever he does.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But if there is a person who thoroughly studies the law which has no lack which is what can free us (incl.), and he does not forget it, rather he obeys it, God will bless whatever he does.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But the one who carries-through in thinking-about/remembering and at-the-same-time obeying the good law of God which sets-people -free, that is the one God blesses in all that he does, because of course he hasn’t merely listened and afterwards forgotten.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But the person really will be shown-grace/mercy who really finds-out-for-sure all which has been commanded which is the will of God, this word of his which has no lack and can give salvation. He will be shown-grace/mercy provided he isn’t just simply listening, only to forget it as soon as it stops, but rather he continues to follow/obey it. For if it’s like that, he will be helped by God in everything he does.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now concerning the person who thinks deeply about the word God commands, and does not forget it, and does what it says to do, this person is the one God will bless in what he does. Because the word God commands is supremely good, the people who obey this word are those who from the heart want to do what God commands.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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 .
In Greek and the Berean Standard Bible, 1:25 is one long sentence. This sentence has many clauses, and some clauses repeat information. In some languages, it will not be natural to follow the Berean Standard Bible order and structure. For some ways to reorder this verse, see the General Comment on 1:25a–e at the end of 1:25e.
1:25a
But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But indicates a contrast. The contrast is between the person who only hears the word (1:23–24) and the person who hears the word and does it (1:25).
the one who: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the one who is in a general statement that applies to anyone. In some languages, it may be more natural to use a pronoun or a plural in such a statement. For example:
the person who (God’s Word)
-or-
the one who (NET Bible)
-or-
those who (New Century Version)
-or-
if you (Good News Translation)
looks intently: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as looks intently literally means “look/peer into.” Here it is used figuratively and means “investigate carefully.” (Some authorities (including F. Field, page 236, and F. J. A. Hort) think the component of carefulness is not present in the meaning of the verb. It seems, however, that examples can be quoted on both sides. In other words, the context shows whether carefulness is implied or not. ) It refers to determining what God’s word says by listening to someone else read it, asking questions, or reading it oneself.
Some other ways to translate this verb are:
thoroughly examines
-or-
carefully study (New Century Version)
-or-
carefully thinks about
-or-
listens very well
the perfect law: The phrase the perfect law refers to all the commandments in God’s word. It refers to the set of instructions and commands that God gave his people to live by. They are perfect. It does not just refer to the Ten Commandments or other laws in the Old Testament. It also includes Jesus’ teachings.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
God’s perfect law (New Century Version)
-or-
God’s perfect teachings (God’s Word)
-or-
God’s perfect rules
perfect: The word perfect means that God’s law is completely good. It has no unrighteous commands.
This same word occurs in 1:17a with similar meaning.
of freedom: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as of freedom describes what the perfect law does for people who obey it. It frees them from sin. (This interpretation is explicitly supported by the New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and Huther, page 89. However, since the Greek literally just says, “the law of liberty,” some commentators interpret the phrase as “the law that a person obeys freely.” See Mayor, page 70; Mitton, pages 72–73. But the interpretation that the law sets a person free fits well with the teaching of the Psalms (see Psalm 119:32, “I will run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free,” and 119:45 “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts”) and other Jewish literature (for example, “you find no free man except him who occupies himself with the study of Torah,” Aboth 6:2b, cited in Martin, page 51).) In some languages it may be necessary to translate freedom as a verb. For example:
that makes us free (Revised English Bible)
-or-
that sets you free (Contemporary English Version)
In other languages, it may be necessary to provide an object. For example:
that frees people from sin
-or-
that frees people to do what God wants them to do
1:25b
and continues to do so: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as continues to do so indicates that the person continues to carefully investigate the law of God.
In some languages, it may be possible to translate this word as part of 1:25a. For example:
But the man who continues to look intently into the perfect law
-or-
But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
1:25c–d
not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer: In Greek, this is literally “being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work.” For example:
being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts (Revised Standard Version)
The words “hearer” and “doer” are the same words as in 1:22a and 1:22c. See the notes on 1:22a, 1:22c, and try to use the same expressions here that you did there.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice (Good News Translation)
-or-
They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says (New Century Version)
-or-
not neglecting to do what they heard that they should do but doing it
If it is more natural in your language to first say what a person does and then say what he does not do, then you may want to reverse the order of these clauses. For example the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:
and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard
1:25c
not being a forgetful hearer: If you used a verb in 1:25a that means “look,” “read” or “study,” then it may not be natural to use the verb “heard” here. In such a case, you can say:
not forgetting what he read/studied
-or-
not forgetting what he saw in the law
-or-
not neglecting to do what he has learned
-or-
not forgetting what it says
Another way to translate this is to translate it without the negative. For example:
Remembering what he has heard
1:25d
but an effective doer: The clause effective doer refers to doing what the perfect law teaches. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
but doing what the law says/teaches
-or-
but keeping/obeying the law
1:25e
he will be blessed in what he does: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he will be blessed in what he does is literally “that one will be blessed in the doing of him/it.” The Greek pronoun can be translated as either “him” or “it.” As a result, there are two different ways to interpret the words “the doing of him/it”:
(1) The pronoun should be interpreted as “it” and refers to the law. So the words “the doing of it” refer to doing/keeping the law. According to this interpretation, God will bless a person because he keeps the law. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:
But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says…, then God will bless you for doing it.
(Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Century Version) (New International Version (2011 Revision), New American Standard Bible, King James Version, and NET Bible (which all say something similar to “will be blessed in what he does”) are somewhat ambiguous but the intended meaning may be “in what he does to keep/do the law.”)
(2) The pronoun should be interpreted as “him” and refers to the man in 1:25a. So the words “the doing of him” refer to the activities that the man does. According to this interpretation, God will bless the man in everything he does. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible says:
But anyone who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and keeps to it…will be blessed in every undertaking.
(New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation (The Good News Translation’s “you will be blessed by God in what you do” will probably be interpreted by most readers to mean “in whatever you do.” It is also possible to understand “in what you do” to refer to what was just said about putting the law into practice.), Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) because this is the most natural meaning of the phrase “the doing of it” in this context. These words refer to the same action as the words “doing it” in 1:25d. In other words, it means doing what the law says.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
he will be blessed because he does/keeps the law
-or-
he will be blessed through/by doing it
-or-
Those who do this will be made happy (New Century Version)
In some languages, it may not be natural to translate the clause in what he does because it repeats information in 1:25d. If that is true in your language, you may leave this clause implicit. For example:
he will be blessed
will be blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as blessed means that the person is in a good position or situation. In other words, because he is doing what the law commands, all will be well with him. He will be blessed in the sense that God will think well of him.
Some other ways to translate this word are:
God will bless him
-or-
how good it will be for that kind of person
-or-
a person like that will be favored/fortunate
This does not mean that he will necessarily be comfortable or successful from a human point of view.
This same word occurs in 1:12.
General Comment on 1:25a–e
In Greek and the Berean Standard Bible, 1:25 is one, long sentence. In some languages, it may be natural to divide this long sentence into several sentences. For example:
25aBut the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, 25band they continue to study it. 25cThey do not forget what they heard, 25dbut they obey what God’s teaching says. 25eThose who do this will be made happy. (New Century Version)
It may also be natural to change the order of some of the clauses. For example:
25a–bBut if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law—the law that sets you free—25dand if you do what it says 25cand don’t forget what you heard, 25ethen God will bless you for doing it. (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
The law is complete and frees us(incl) from sin. So if we study it carefully, and remember to always obey it, God will bless us.
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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.
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