ris3n's Apologetics Codex
James 2.15-16
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Passage

James 2.15-16

Book: James · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

13. For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment. 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?

15. If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, 16. and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?

  1. Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. 18. Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show thee my faith. (James 2:13-18, ASV)
WEB

13. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?

15. And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 16. and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?

  1. Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 18. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. (James 2:13-18, WEB)
KJV

13. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. rejoiceth: or, glorieth 14. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16. And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

  1. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. alone: Gr. by itself 18. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. without: some copies read, by (James 2:13-18, KJV)
YLT

13. for the judgment without kindness [is] to him not having done kindness, and exult doth kindness over judgment. 14. What [is] the profit, my brethren, if faith, any one may speak of having, and works he may not have? is that faith able to save him?

15. and if a brother or sister may be naked, and may be destitute of the daily food, 16. and any one of you may say to them, 'Depart ye in peace, be warmed, and be filled,' and may not give to them the things needful for the body, what [is] the profit?

  1. so also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself. 18. But say may some one, Thou hast faith, and I have works, shew me thy faith out of thy works, and I will shew thee out of my works my faith: (James 2:13-18, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: James (Iakōbos), identified by the great majority of interpreters as the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19; Mark 6:3), leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18). He introduces himself simply as "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), never as a relative.
  • Audience: Jewish believers outside Palestine, addressed as "the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion" (James 1:1). The congregations meet in a synagōgē (James 2:2) and include both poor members and wealthy visitors.
  • Location: Jerusalem, from which James led the mother church.
  • Time period: Date disputed. An early date (c. AD 44-49) would make this the earliest surviving Christian writing; a later one places it before James's death, which Josephus dates to AD 62 (Antiquities 20.200). The letter shows no awareness of the Gentile-circumcision controversy settled in Acts 15, which many take as evidence for the early date.

Theological reading

"If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

An illustration for 2:14. James has asked, "What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?" (2:14). The scene answers by analogy. Words of blessing offered to a cold and hungry fellow believer, with nothing given, do no good; faith that only speaks is the same. "Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself" (2:17).

"Go in peace." An ordinary farewell, and a pious one. The wishes that follow, "be ye warmed and filled," ask for the result while leaving someone else to supply it. The speaker could have provided "the things needful to the body" (sōma) and chose not to.

"A brother or sister." The needy person is a member of the church. John makes the same point: "whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? ... let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth" (1 John 3:17-18).

James and Paul. The faith James criticises is a claim, "if a man say he hath faith" (2:14). His target is profession without life, not trust in God. Paul's statement that "a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law" (Romans 3:28) addresses a different question, how a sinner is accepted by God, and the two are commonly read as complementary rather than contradictory.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.