Job 31:19-20

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

31:20 whose heart did not bless me ¹ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ² 

Luke 3:11

3:11 John ³  answered them, ⁴  “The person who has two tunics ⁵  must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”

James 2:14-16

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ⁶  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ⁷  save him? ⁸  2:15 If a brother or sister ⁹  is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, ¹⁰  what good is it?

[31:20]  ¹ tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).

[31:20]  ² tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”

[3:11]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.

[2:15]  ⁹ tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelfos) and ἀδελφή (adelfh) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.

[2:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”