Malachi 3:3

3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

Matthew 3:12

3:12 His winnowing fork ¹  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ²  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ³ 

Acts 15:9

15:9 and he made no distinction ⁴  between them and us, cleansing ⁵  their hearts by faith.

Hebrews 9:14

9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our ⁶  consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

James 4:8

4:8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. ⁷ 

James 4:1

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ⁸  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ⁹  from your passions that battle inside you? ¹⁰ 

James 1:22

1:22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves.

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ¹¹  a slave ¹²  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ¹³  Greetings!

James 3:2

3:2 For we all stumble ¹⁴  in many ways. If someone does not stumble ¹⁵  in what he says, ¹⁶  he is a perfect individual, ¹⁷  able to control the entire body as well.

[3:12]  ¹ sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:12]  ² tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ³ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[15:9]  ⁴ tn BDAG 231 s.v. διακρίνω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “to conclude that there is a difference, make a distinction, differentiate.”

[15:9]  ⁵ tn Or “purifying.”

[9:14]  ⁶ tc The reading adopted by the translation is attested by many authorities (A D* K P 365 1739* al). But many others (א D² 0278 33 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa) read “your” instead of “our.” The diversity of evidence makes this a difficult case to decide from external evidence alone. The first and second person pronouns differ by only one letter in Greek, as in English, also making this problem difficult to decide based on internal evidence and transcriptional probability. In the context, the author’s description of sacrificial activities seems to invite the reader to compare his own possible participation in OT liturgy as over against the completed work of Christ, so the second person pronoun “your” might make more sense. On the other hand, TCGNT 599 argues that “our” is preferable because the author of Hebrews uses direct address (i.e., the second person) only in the hortatory sections. What is more, the author seems to prefer the first person in explanatory remarks or when giving the logical grounds for an assertion (cf. Heb 4:15; 7:14). It is hard to reach a definitive conclusion in this case, but the data lean slightly in favor of the first person pronoun.

[4:8]  ⁷ tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).

[4:1]  ⁸ tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”

[1:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹² 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.

[1:1]  ¹³ 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.

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in speech.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ 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).