James 5
Come now, you rich — the second passage opened this way after 4:13 — weep and howl over the miseries that are coming. Four perfects follow: your riches have rotted, your garments have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have rusted, the outcries have entered. That rust is the word for the ‘venom’ the tongue was full of at 3:8. The withheld wage of the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcries of the harvesters have entered the ears of the Lord Sabaoth — the Hebrew written in Greek letters, and the sound is kept. You fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter; you sentenced and murdered the righteous one. “Does he not oppose you?” — the subject is not given and is not supplied. Be patient therefore until the coming of the Lord — the root of patience comes four times — as the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth until it receives the early and the late rain; the text does not say ‘rain’. Do not groan against one another — the judge is standing before the doors. Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as a pattern of suffering hardship and patience. We call blessed those who endured — you have heard of the endurance of Job and seen the end of the Lord, which the text does not explain. The Lord is of many compassions and merciful. Above all, do not swear — Matt 5:34-37 taken up in short, with a different construction. Three pairs of question and command follow: suffering hardship / pray, take heart / sing, sick / call the elders of the assembly — the one place this book names an office. The prayer of faith will save the one who grows weary and the Lord will raise him; ‘be sick’ at v.14 becomes ‘be weary’ at v.15. Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another. A righteous man’s supplication, working, is able to do much — whether ‘working’ qualifies the supplication or the power is left open. Elijah was a man of like nature with us and ‘prayed with prayer’ — a Semitic doubling. It did not rain for three years and six months; he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth sprouted its fruit. If anyone is led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, the one who turns a sinner back from the deception of his way will save a life from death and cover a multitude of sins — whose life is left open. The letter ends with no blessing, no Amen and no greetings.
Why this rendering
Jas.5.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἄγε νῦν οἱ πλούσιοι, κλαύσατε ὀλολύζοντες … Ἄγε νῦν opens a passage a second time after 4:13 · Four perfects follow one another (have rotted, have become moth-eaten, have rusted, have entered) · σήπω ‘rot’, σητόβρωτος ‘moth-eaten’, κατιόομαι ‘rust’, ἀμάω ‘reap’, ἀφυστερέω ‘withhold’, βοή ‘shout’, τρυφάω ‘live luxuriously’ and ὀλολύζω ‘howl’ all stand once in the New Testament · ἰός ‘rust’ is the word for ‘venom’ at Rom 3:13 — the venom of the tongue becomes the rust of gold (returning from Jas 3:8) · Σαβαώθ ‘Sabaoth’ stands with Rom 9:29, a Hebrew word written in Greek letters, and the sound is not erased · σφαγή ‘slaughter’ (as fixed at Rom 8:36) — what the ‘day of slaughter’ is the text does not say · καταδικάζω ‘sentence’ (as fixed at Luke 6:37) stands beside φονεύω ‘murder’ (as fixed at Matt 5:21) · the subject of οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται ὑμῖν is not given — whether the righteous one or God, and whether it is a question or a statement the text does not divide.
Rendering options · 3
Basis At 3:8 the tongue was ‘full of death-bearing venom’, and here gold rusts with that word — recorded as a site-bound rendering of one word.
Basis The base text writes the sound in Greek letters — ‘hosts’ would erase the sound the writer kept.
Basis The text divides neither question from statement nor names the subject — a question is chosen and the subject left unfilled.
Lost in translation
Four perfects (vv.2-4) — one after another. Both render the perfect.
ἰός (v.3) — the word for ‘venom’ at 3:8. The two places take different words.
Σαβαώθ (v.4) — Hebrew written in Greek letters. Both keep the sound.
ἡμέρᾳ σφαγῆς (v.5) — what day is not said. Both leave it unfilled.
οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται ὑμῖν (v.6) — neither subject nor form is given. Both must choose.
ταλαιπωρία (v.1) — one root with ‘be wretched’ at 4:9. Both keep it.
Why this rendering
Jas.5.11 Observation
Syntactic observation
Μακροθυμήσατε οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἕως τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου … μακροθυμέω ‘be patient’ comes three times at vv.7-8 and μακροθυμία ‘patience’ at v.10 — one root four times · παρουσία ‘coming’ comes twice, at vv.7-8 (as fixed at 1 Thess 2:19) · πρόϊμος ‘early’ and ὄψιμος ‘late’ stand once in the New Testament, and both stand as bare adjectives with no noun — the text does not say ‘rain’, and supplying it is recorded · κακοπαθία ‘suffering hardship’, πολύσπλαγχνος ‘of many compassions’ and Ἰώβ ‘Job’ stand once in the New Testament · μακαρίζω ‘call blessed’ stands with Luke 1:48 · what τὸ τέλος κυρίου ‘the end of the Lord’ is the text does not say · οἰκτίρμων ‘merciful’ (as fixed at Luke 6:36) · ὑπομονή ‘endurance’ returns from 1:3-4 — the endurance of testing becomes the endurance of Job · στενάζω ‘groan’ (as fixed at Mark 7:34) and κριτής ‘judge’ (returning from 4:12).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The text leaves bare adjectives with no noun — both languages need one, so it is supplied and recorded.
Basis The text does not say — ‘the outcome the Lord gave’ would close it on Job’s story, and ‘the Lord’s coming’ would borrow the word of v.7.
Basis It joins ‘many’ to the word for the inward parts, of the family of Mark 1:41 — ‘compassionate’ would take the place of ἐλεήμων.
Lost in translation
The patience-words four times (vv.7 · 8 · 10) — one root framing the passage. Both keep it.
πρόϊμον καὶ ὄψιμον (v.7) — no noun. Both must supply ‘rain’.
τὸ τέλος κυρίου (v.11) — what it is is not said. Both leave it open.
πολύσπλαγχνος (v.11) — ‘many’ joined to the inward parts. Neither locale carries the body.
ὑπομονή (v.11) — the ‘endurance’ of 1:3-4 comes to Job. Both stand alike.
κακοπαθία (v.10) — one root with ‘suffer hardship’ at 2 Tim 2:9. Both keep it.
Why this rendering
Jas.5.16 Observation
Syntactic observation
Πρὸ πάντων δέ, ἀδελφοί μου, μὴ ὀμνύετε … v.12 takes up Matt 5:34-37 in short · vv.13-14 run in three pairs of question and command — suffering hardship / pray, take heart / sing, sick / call · εὐθυμέω ‘take heart’ (as fixed at Acts 27:22) · πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας ‘the elders of the assembly’ — the one place this book names an office · ἀλείφω ‘anoint’ (as fixed at Mark 6:13) is a different verb from χρίω · εὐχή ‘prayer’ (‘vow’ at Acts 18:18) and εὔχομαι ‘pray’ come on one root at vv.15-16 · κάμνω ‘be weary’ (as fixed at Heb 12:3) is used here of the sick — the text does not repeat ‘be sick’ but changes the word · δέησις ‘supplication’ (as fixed at Luke 1:13) · whether ἐνεργουμένη attaches to the supplication or to ‘is able’ the text does not say · ἰάομαι ‘be healed’ (as fixed at Acts 9:34).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The construction differs from Matthew’s — levelling would erase the difference the text chose.
Basis v.14 uses ἀσθενέω ‘be sick’ and v.15 changes the word — one rendering would lose the change.
Basis Whether it qualifies the supplication or the power is not said — the position is kept.
Lost in translation
The construction of v.12 — different from Matt 5:37. Both keep the text’s own.
Three pairs of question and command (vv.13-14) — in one shape. Both keep the pairs.
εὐχή / εὔχομαι (vv.15-16) — one root in two verses. ‘Prayer / pray’ keeps it.
ἀσθενέω (v.14) / κάμνω (v.15) — the text changes the word. Both keep the change.
ἐνεργουμένη (v.16) — where it attaches is not said. Both keep the position.
πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας (v.14) — the one place this book names an office. Both keep it.
Why this rendering
Jas.5.20 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἠλίας ἄνθρωπος ἦν ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν, καὶ προσευχῇ προσηύξατο τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι … προσευχῇ προσηύξατο ‘he prayed with prayer’ is a Semitic doubling carried straight into Greek, and both locales keep it · ὁμοιοπαθής stands with Acts 14:15 and joins ‘like’ to ‘feeling’ · βλαστάνω ‘sprout’ is used transitively here (at Mark 4:27 it is intransitive) · ἐνιαυτοὺς τρεῖς καὶ μῆνας ἕξ ‘three years and six months’ — 1 Kings does not give this number, and Luke 4:25 gives the same · πλανάω ‘be led astray’ and πλάνη ‘deception’ come on one root at vv.19-20 · ἐπιστρέφω ‘turn back’ comes twice, at vv.19-20 · whose ‘his’ is in σώσει ψυχὴν ⸀αὐτοῦ the text does not say · καλύπτω ‘cover’ (as fixed at Matt 10:26) · the letter ends with no blessing and no Amen — and with no greetings.
Rendering options · 3
Basis Greek carries a Hebrew construction straight over — ‘prayed earnestly’ would dissolve it.
Basis Whether the one who turns or the one turned back is not said — filling it would choose for the text.
Basis The text ends with no blessing, no Amen and no greetings — adding any would do what the writer did not.
Lost in translation
προσευχῇ προσηύξατο (v.17) — a Semitic doubling. Both keep it.
ὁμοιοπαθής (v.17) — ‘like’ joined to ‘feeling’. Both must unfold it.
πλανάω / πλάνη (vv.19-20) — one root in two verses. Both break the root.
ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ (v.20) — whose is not said. Both leave it open.
βλαστάνω (v.18) — intransitive at Mark 4:27, transitive here. Both render it.
No closing (v.20) — no blessing, no Amen, no greetings. Neither locale adds any.