James 2:19

2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. ¹  Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. ² 

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ³  do not show prejudice ⁴  if you possess faith ⁵  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ⁶ 

James 1:18

1:18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth ⁷  through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:2

Joy in Trials

1:2 My brothers and sisters, ⁸  consider it nothing but joy ⁹  when you fall into all sorts of trials,

James 1:9

1:9 Now the believer ¹⁰  of humble means ¹¹  should take pride ¹²  in his high position. ¹³ 

Jonah 4:4

4:4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very ¹⁴  angry?” ¹⁵ 

Jonah 4:9

4:9 God said to Jonah, “Are you really so very angry ¹⁶  about the little plant?” And he said, “I am as angry ¹⁷  as I could possibly be!” ¹⁸ 

Matthew 25:21

25:21 His master answered, ¹⁹  ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:23

25:23 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Philippians 4:14

4:14 Nevertheless, you did well to share with me in my trouble.

[2:19]  ¹ tn Grk “you do well.”

[2:19]  ² tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.

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

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “Having willed, he gave us birth.”

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). Where the plural term is used in direct address, as here, “brothers and sisters” is used; where the term is singular and not direct address (as in v. 9), “believer” is preferred.

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “all joy,” “full joy,” or “greatest joy.”

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.

[1:9]  ¹² tn Grk “let him boast.”

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”

[4:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Rightly does it burn to you?” Note this question occurs again in v. 9, there concerning the withered plant. “Does it so thoroughly burn to you?” or “Does it rightly burn to you?” or “Does it burn so thoroughly to you?” The Hiphil of יָטַב (yatav, “to do good”) here may have one of two meanings: (1) It may mean “to do [something] rightly” in terms of ethical right and wrong (BDB 406 s.v. יָטַב 5.b; HALOT 408 s.v. יטב 3.c; e.g., Gen 4:7; Lev 5:4; Pss 36:4; 119:68; Isa 1:17; Jer 4:22; 13:23). This approach is adopted by many English versions: “Do you have any right to be angry?” (NIV); “Are you right to be angry?” (REB, NJB); “Is it right for you to be angry?” (NRSV, NLT); “Do you have good reason to be angry?” (NASB); “Do you do well to be angry?” (cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV); “What right do you have to be angry?” (cf. TEV, CEV). (2) It may be used as an adverb meaning “well, utterly, thoroughly” (BDB 405 s.v. 3; HALOT 408 s.v. 5; e.g., Deut 9:21; 13:15; 17:4; 19:18; 27:8; 1 Sam 16:17; 2 Kgs 11:18; Prov 15:2; Isa 23:16; Jer 1:12; Ezek 33:32; Mic 7:3). This view is adopted by other English versions: “Are you that deeply grieved?” (JPS, NJPS); “Are you so angry?” (NEB). This is also the approach of the Tg. Jonah 4:4: “Are you that greatly angered?” Whether or not Jonah had the right to be angry about the death of the plant is a trivial issue. Instead the dialogue focuses on the depth of Jonah’s anger: he would rather be dead than alive (vv. 3, 8) and he concludes by saying that he was as angry as he could possibly be (v. 9; see note on עַד־מָוֶת [’ad-mavet, “to death”] in v. 9). the Lord then uses an a fortiori argument (from lesser to greater): Jonah was very upset that the plant had died (v. 10), likewise God was very concerned about averting the destruction of Nineveh (v. 11).

[4:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Does it burn to you?” The verb חָרָה (kharah, “to burn”) functions figuratively here (hypocatastasis) to refer to strong anger (BDB 354 s.v. חָרָה). The verb is repeated from v. 1 and will be used again in v. 9.

[4:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Does it burn so thoroughly to you?” or “Does it burn rightly to you?” See note on this expression in v. 4.

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “It thoroughly burns to me” or “It rightly burns to me.”

[4:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “unto death.” The phrase עַד־מָוֶת (’ad-mavet, “unto death”) is an idiomatic expression meaning “to the extreme” or simply “extremely [angry]” (HALOT 563 s.v. מָוֶת 1.c). The noun מָוֶת (“death”) is often used as an absolute superlative with a negative sense, similar to the English expression “bored to death” (IBHS 267-69 §14.5). For example, “his soul was vexed to death” (לָמוּת, lamut) means that he could no longer endure it (Judg 16:16), and “love is as strong as death” (כַמָּוֶת, kammavet) means love is irresistible or exceedingly strong (Song 8:6). Here the expression “I am angry unto death” (עַד־מָוֶת) means that Jonah could not be more angry. Unfortunately, this idiomatic expression has gone undetected by virtually every other major English version to date (KJV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJB, JPS, NJPS). The only English version that comes close to representing the idiom correctly is BBE: “I have a right to be truly angry.”

[25:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “His master said to him.”