Passage

James 2.19

Book: James · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"17. 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."

"19. Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder."

"20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren? 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?" (James 2:17-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"17. 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."

"19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder."

"20. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 21. Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?" (James 2:17-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"17. 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}"

"19. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

"20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?" (James 2:17-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"17. 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:"

"19. thou, thou dost believe that God is one; thou dost well, and the demons believe, and they shudder!"

"20. And dost thou wish to know, O vain man, that the faith apart from the works is dead? 21. Abraham our father, was not he declared righteous out of works, having brought up Isaac his son upon the altar?" (James 2:17-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

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.