naked

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “naked” in English is translated in Enlhet with a figure of speech: “(one’s) smoothness.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )

In Elhomwe the word for “naked” is “shameful to use, and would never be used by a preacher in church.” Therefore “without clothes” is used. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (James 2:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of James 2:15:

  • Uma: “For example there is a relative of ours who needs clothes, and also his food every day is not enough.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For example there are poor fellows of ours (incl.) trusters in Isa Almasi, they have no clothes and they have no food.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For, for example, if we (incl.) have believing brothers who are in difficulty because they have no way to get food and clothing,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “For-example, if there is a brother of ours who lacks clothes and food” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For example, supposing there’s a sibling in believing who is without clothing and hard-up for something to eat.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Suppose there is a sibling, either a man or a woman, without any clothing to wear or doesn’t have anything to eat.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on James 2:15

James goes on to illustrate that the kind of faith which expresses itself only in words, without demonstrable actions, is useless.

If a brother or sister is ill-clad is sometimes understood to be referring to an actual situation in the church. If this is the case we may wish to keep the conditional particle as If. However, it can also be taken as referring entirely to a hypothetical situation, as in 2.2-4. In this case we may render the particle in English as “Suppose” (Good News Translation, New International Version). The words brother or sister can be used loosely of any man and woman, but more likely it is a reference to a fellow Christian (compare “a fellow-Christian, whether man or woman,” Revised English Bible).

It is possible that James still has the “poor” in view (see 2.6). This person is ill-clad and in lack of daily food. The adjective ill-clad in Greek can mean “naked” (New Revised Standard Version) or “has no clothes to wear” (Phillips, Barclay; similarly New American Bible). It is unlikely that James is here talking about this person as totally “naked.” So it is best taken to mean “inadequately dressed” or “insufficiently clothed,” referring possibly to the poor wearing only the under garment without the outer garment. It is therefore ill-clad, “in rags” (Revised English Bible), or more generally “need clothes” (Good News Translation). The expression in lack of here does not necessarily mean “has nothing to eat” (Phillips) or “no food for the day” (New American Bible), but more “don’t have enough to eat” (Good News Translation) or “has not enough food to live on” (New Jerusalem Bible). The word daily in daily food appears only here in the New Testament. It can mean “the food supply day by day,” meaning daily food (Revised Standard Version; so also New International Version, New Revised Standard Version), or simply the day’s supply of food, namely “food for the day” (New English Bible, Revised English Bible). Basically the two adjectives describe someone who is so poor that even the very basic needs of life, such as clothing and food, cannot be satisfied; they present a picture of someone who is cold and hungry. If so the following may well be an alternative translation model:
• Suppose there are fellow Christians who are always cold and hungry.

This translation would fit in well with the next verse, which has the words “be warmed.”

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 2:15

2:15a

Suppose: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Suppose is literally “If” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This word introduces an example of faith without good deeds. Consider how your language naturally introduces an example. For example:

For example
-or-
For instance
-or-
If it happens

a brother or sister: The phrase a brother or sister refers to a male or female fellow-believer. Notice that James explicitly includes women here.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

A brother or sister in Christ (New Century Version)
-or-
a believer, whether a man or a woman (God’s Word)

2:15b

without clothes and daily food: The phrase daily food means that the person did not have enough food even for that day. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

needs…food (God’s Word)
-or-
lacks daily food (NET Bible)
-or-
with not enough food for the day (Revised English Bible)
-or-
don’t have enough to eat (Good News Translation)

without clothes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as without clothes here means “does not have enough clothes to keep him warm.”

In the Bible lands, it is often cold, especially at night, and one of the chief functions of a person’s clothes is to keep him warm. (See Exodus 22:26–27). It is clear from the phrase “keep warm” in 2:16 that this is what James has in mind.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

needs clothes (God’s Word)
-or-
is poorly clothed (NET Bible)
-or-
does not have enough clothes to keep warm

© 2012 by SIL International®

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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.