James 1:23

1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone ¹  who gazes at his own face ²  in a mirror.

James 2:14

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ³  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ⁴  save him? ⁵ 

[1:23]  ¹ tn The word for “man” or “individual” 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.”

[1:23]  ² tn Grk “the face of his beginning [or origin].”

[2:14]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.

[2:14]  ⁵ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.