ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

James 2.24

Book: James · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

22. Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect; 23. and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.

24. Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.

  1. And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:22-26, ASV)
WEB

22. You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; 23. and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.

24. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.

  1. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:22-26, WEB)
KJV

22. Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? Seest: or, Thou seest 23. And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

24. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

  1. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. spirit: or, breath (James 2:22-26, KJV)
YLT

22. dost thou see that the faith was working with his works, and out of the works the faith was perfected? 23. and fulfilled was the Writing that is saying, 'And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him, to righteousness;' and, 'Friend of God' he was called.

24. Ye see, then, that out of works is man declared righteous, and not out of faith only;

  1. and in like manner also Rahab the harlot, was she not out of works declared righteous, having received the messengers, and by another way having sent forth? 26. for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also the faith apart from the works is dead. (James 2:22-26, 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 bond-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 who are dispersed abroad" (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

"You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."

The only place in the Bible where "faith alone" appears, and it is negated. That fact is worth stating first, because it is the objection's usual opening, and it is true. What follows is why it does not overturn justification by faith.

"Justified" is the hinge. Dikaioō can mean to declare righteous in a forensic sense, which is Paul's use at Romans 3:28, and it can mean to be vindicated, shown to be in the right, which is its sense at Luke 7:35, "wisdom is vindicated by all her children", and at Matthew 11:19. James's context, a claim being tested against evidence, supports the second: what the works do is demonstrate what the faith is.

"Faith" is the second hinge. The faith James excludes is defined two verses earlier by the demons who believe that God is one and shudder (verse 19). That is assent without trust, and Paul never called it saving faith either.

The Abraham sequence settles the relationship. James says the Genesis 22 offering fulfilled the scripture of Genesis 15:6 (verse 23). Fulfillment presupposes a prior statement, so James's own argument places the crediting of righteousness before the work that demonstrated it, roughly thirty years before, and treats the work as the confirmation.

The convergence. Paul: "for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law" (Romans 3:28). Paul again: "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6) and "created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:10) immediately after "not as a result of works". The two writers are answering different errors, and the classic Reformation formulation, that we are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone, is a summary of exactly that.

See Justification by Faith and James 2.14-26.

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.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Passages:

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.