James 2:14

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ¹  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ²  save him? ³ 

James 3:2

3:2 For we all stumble ⁴  in many ways. If someone does not stumble ⁵  in what he says, ⁶  he is a perfect individual, ⁷  able to control the entire body as well.

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

[2:14]  ² 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]  ³ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “in speech.”

[3:2]  ⁷ tn 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).