2:1 My brothers and sisters, 7 do not show prejudice 8 if you possess faith 9 in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 10
1:1 From James, 12 a slave 13 of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. 14 Greetings!
4:1 Where do the conflicts and where 15 do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, 16 from your passions that battle inside you? 17
1 tn Grk “entered the heart,” an OT expression, in which the heart functions like the mind.
2 sn A quotation from Isa 64:4.
3 tc ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 by Ì46 A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).
4 tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”
5 tc Most
6 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
7 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
8 tn Or “partiality.”
9 tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.
10 tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
11 tn Grk “a man of two minds,” continuing the description of the person in v. 7, giving the reason that he cannot expect to receive anything. The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But it sometimes is used generically to mean “anyone,” “a person,” as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 2).
12 tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
13 tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
14 tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.
15 tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.
16 tn Grk “from here.”
17 tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”
18 tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”