Psalms 24:4

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ¹ 

who does not lie, ² 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ³ 

Psalms 51:10

51:10 Create for me a pure heart, O God! ⁴ 

Renew a resolute spirit within me! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 4:14

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ⁶ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

Matthew 5:8

5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Matthew 12:35

12:35 The good person ⁷  brings good things out of his ⁸  good treasury, ⁹  and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury.

Acts 15:9

15:9 and he made no distinction ¹⁰  between them and us, cleansing ¹¹  their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:2

15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ¹²  with them, the church ¹³  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ¹⁴  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ¹⁵  about this point of disagreement. ¹⁶ 

Acts 2:22

2:22 “Men of Israel, ¹⁷  listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, ¹⁸  wonders, and miraculous signs ¹⁹  that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know –

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. ²⁰ 

James 4:1

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ²¹  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ²²  from your passions that battle inside you? ²³ 

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, ²⁴  a slave ²⁵  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ²⁶  Greetings!

James 3:3

3:3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. ²⁷ 

[24:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ² tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ³ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”

[51:10]  ⁴ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s motives and moral character.

[51:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”

[4:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[12:35]  ⁷ tn The Greek text reads here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos). The term is generic referring to any person.

[12:35]  ⁸ tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here and in the following clause (“his evil treasury”) as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[12:35]  ⁹ sn The treasury here is a metaphorical reference to a person’s heart (cf. BDAG 456 s.v. θησαυρός 1.b and the parallel passage in Luke 6:45).

[15:9]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “purifying.”

[15:2]  ¹² tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[2:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Peter’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[2:22]  ¹⁸ tn Or “miraculous deeds.”

[2:22]  ¹⁹ tn Again, the context indicates the miraculous nature of these signs, and this is specified in the translation.

[4:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).

[4:1]  ²¹ tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ²² tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ²³ tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”

[1:1]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.

[3:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “their entire body.”