ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

James 5.11

Book: James · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

9. Murmur not, brethren, one against another, that ye be not judged: behold, the judge standeth before the doors. 10. Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord.

11. Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.

  1. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; that ye fall not under judgment. 13. Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. (James 5:9-13, ASV)
WEB

9. Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door. 10. Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

11. Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

  1. But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear, not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”; so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy. 13. Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. (James 5:9-13, WEB)
KJV

9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Grudge not: or, Groan, or, Grieve not 10. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

  1. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. (James 5:9-13, KJV)
YLT

9. murmur not against one another, brethren, that ye may not be condemned; lo, the Judge before the door hath stood. 10. An example take ye of the suffering of evil, my brethren, and of the patience, the prophets who did speak in the name of the Lord;

11. lo, we call happy those who are enduring; the endurance of Job ye heard of, and the end of the Lord ye have seen, that very compassionate is the Lord, and pitying.

  1. And before all things, my brethren, do not swear, neither by the heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, and let your Yes be Yes, and the No, No; that under judgment ye may not fall. 13. Doth any one suffer evil among you? let him pray; is any of good cheer? let him sing psalms; (James 5:9-13, 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

"We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."

The one New Testament reference to Job by name outside the Gospels. James uses him as the example of hypomonē, endurance under pressure, in a section urging patience until the Lord's coming (verses 7-8) and citing the prophets as a further example.

"The endurance of Job" is not the same as patience. The proverbial English phrase understates the book: Job complains at length, demands an audience, and accuses God of injustice, and God's verdict at the end is that Job spoke rightly of Him (Job 42:7) while his comforters did not. What James commends is that Job did not let go, not that he was placid. Reading the letter as praising uncomplaining silence misdescribes both Job and James.

"The outcome of the Lord's dealings." To telos kyriou, the end or purpose of the Lord. Most take it as the outcome God brought about in Job's story; some patristic readers took telos kyriou as the death of the Lord, that is, the cross. The first reading fits the sentence's own explanation, "that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."

The compassion clause. Polysplanchnos, a word coined here from splanchna, the inward parts as the seat of compassion, and oiktirmōn, merciful. The pair echoes Exodus 34:6, the compassionate and gracious God, which is the Hebrew Bible's own most-quoted description of the divine character.

See Job Bet Objection Defeater and Problem of Evil.

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:

Lexicon:

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.