Jameschapter 2
26 verses · James, by tradition · AD 44 to 49 · The general letters
And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
Introduction
James, by tradition, The general letters, James Overview.
This chapter comes from the same leader of the Jerusalem church, writing to small congregations of poor Jewish believers. In their world the seat a man was given told the whole room what he was worth. The chapter has two halves, a scene at the door of the meeting and an argument about what faith is. Listen for the questions the writer fires at his hearers, and for the imagined opponent he answers. Listen also for the two very different people he calls as witnesses at the close. Readers have argued over this chapter since the Reformation, so read it slowly.
Context
- Who
- Small assemblies where seating order was visible to everyone in the room
- What
- A warning against favouring the rich in the assembly, followed by an argument that faith without deeds is dead.
- Where
- The meetings of scattered Jewish believers, pictured at the door of an assembly as two visitors arrive.
- When
- The earliest years of the church, about AD 45 to 48 on the traditional dating, with some placing the letter in the AD 60s.
- Why
- To correct congregations that honoured the rich who oppressed them and spoke of faith without acting on it.
Historical context
Seating announced rank. In synagogues and civic gatherings alike, the best seats were assigned by status, and where a man was put told the whole room what he was worth. The scene James describes, one man shown to a good seat, another told to stand or sit by someone's footstool, is the ordinary practice, not a shocking exception.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The gold ring was a badge. In Roman society the gold ring marked the equestrian order, the class just below the senators, and men who wanted to look richer than they were rented rings for the occasion. Fine clothing did the same work.
The courts were the rich man's ground. A creditor could drag a debtor before a magistrate, and a poor defendant with no patron rarely won. Debt could end in the seizure of goods, in forced labor, or in prison until the family paid.
The argument about faith and works uses two figures every Jewish hearer knew: Abraham on the mountain with his son, and Rahab hiding the spies. One was the father of the nation and the other a foreign prostitute, which is part of the point.
Significance
The hearers were doing the thing described. James asks them a devastatingly practical question, is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? They were flattering the very people who were bleeding them.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The line about telling a hungry brother to go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving him anything, was aimed at congregations who had learned religious language faster than they had learned generosity.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Gold Rings Above Rags: Partiality Breaks the Royal Law
James 2:1-4
do not show favoritism: As you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism, prosopolempsia, the face-receiving Leviticus 19:15 forbade judges. The scene is set in your meeting, sunagoge, the synagogue's word. Those who seat the rich and stand the poor become judges with evil thoughts.
James 2:1
“My brethren -- the equality of Christians, intimated by this name, is the ground of the admonition. Hold not the faith of our common Lord, the Lord of glory - Of which glory all who believe in him partake. With respect of persons - That is, honour none merely for being rich; despise none merely for being poor.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
a gold ring and fine clothes: Theophylact of Ohrid remarks that rings were an especially Jewish custom. Adam Clarke holds that the meeting was the synagogue, where Jewish brothers in Christ still heard the law read and where cases were judged. The rich man and the poor man came through one door.
James 2:2
“If there come unto your assembly - Εις την συναγωγην· Into the synagogue. It appears from this that the apostle is addressing Jews who frequented their synagogues, and carried on their worship there and judicial proceedings, as the Jews were accustomed to do. Our word assembly does not express the original; and we cannot suppose that these synagogues were at this time occupied with Christian worship, but that the Christian Jews continued to frequent them for the purpose of hearing the law and the prophets read, as they had formerly done, previously to their conversion to the Christian faith.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:2
“Assembly here is meant of those meetings which were appointed for deciding matters of difference among the members of the church, or for determining when censures should be passed upon any, and what those censures should be; therefore the Greek word here used, synagoge, signifies such an assembly as that in the Jewish synagogues, when they met to do justice.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The ushers give their verdict with seats. The rich man receives a seat of honor while the poor man must stand or sit on the floor. Matthew Henry reads the meeting as a church court, and Adam Clarke calls this favoritism a distinction made before the case is heard.
James 2:3
“Sit here under my footstool - Thus evidently prejudging the cause, and giving the poor man to see that he was to expect no impartial administration of justice in his cause.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
James 2:3
“There is no difference between rich and poor in Christ. Pay no attention to the outward appearance, but look for the inner faith instead.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · CATENApatristic
James 2:3
“And ye have respect to him that wears the gay clothing,.... Take notice of him, and show favour to him, to the neglect and contempt of the other.”
James 2:3
“Thus, wisely making use of small concessions, he presented what was fitting for Christians precisely when they were listening to his words without hindrance.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Jamespatristic
James 2:3
“And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing - If you show him superior attention on account of his rich and gay apparel, giving him a seat by himself, and treating others with neglect or contempt.”
become judges with evil thoughts?: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place the evil thoughts in the judges themselves, like the unjust judge of Luke 18:6. They also report that Alford reads the verb as doubt. On that reading, faith that honors the rich man above the poor man is divided against itself.
James 2:4
“Are ye not then partial - Ου διεκριθητε· Do ye not make a distinction, though the case has not been heard, and the law has not decided? Judges of evil thoughts? - Κριται διαλογισμων πονηρων· Judges of evil reasonings; that is, judges who reason wickedly; who, in effect, say in your hearts, we will espouse the cause of the rich, because they can befriend us; we will neglect that of the poor, because they cannot help us, nor have they power to hurt us.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:4
“The "evil thoughts" are in the judges themselves; as in Lu 18:6, the Greek, "judge of injustice," is translated, "unjust judge." ALFORD and WAHL translate, "Did ye not doubt" (respecting your faith, which is inconsistent with the distinctions made by you between rich and poor)? For the Greek constantly means "doubt" in all the New Testament.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 2:5-7
Has not God chosen the poor: of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom, the Lord's first beatitude. The churches honored the rich who oppress you and drag you into court and blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called.
James 2:5
“Does not the presumption lie rather in favour of the poor man? Hath not God chosen the poor - That is, are not they whom God hath chosen, generally speaking, poor in this world? who yet are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom - Consequently, the most honourable of men: and those whom God so highly honours, ought not ye to honour likewise?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
drag you into court?: James turns the church's flattery back on itself. The rich men given the best seats are the rich who oppress you and drag you into court. The verbs are harsh ones, to oppress exceedingly and to drag, as Adam Clarke notes.
James 2:6
“Do not rich men oppress you - The administration of justice was at this time in a miserable state of corruption among the Jews; but a Christian was one who was to expect no justice any where but from his God. The words καταδυναστευουσιν, exceedingly oppress, and ἑλκουσιν εις κριτηρια, drag you to courts of justice, show how grievously oppressed and maltreated the Christians were by their countrymen the Jews, who made law a pretext to afflict their bodies, and spoil them of their property.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the noble name by which: Albert Barnes takes the noble name to be the name of Christ, which believers bore and persecutors reviled. John Gill allows a second group. Rich men inside the church could also cause that name to be slandered among the Gentiles by dragging poor brothers before pagan courts.
James 2:7
“Of Christ, or Christians; by the which ye are called? and which, as before, may design either unbelieving rich men, whether among Jews, or Gentiles, who blasphemed and cursed the name of Christ, and compelled others to do so likewise; or such who professed the Christian religion, who by their supercilious and disdainful treatment of their poor brethren, and by their dragging of them to the tribunals of the Heathens, and distressing them with vexatious law suits there, caused the name of Christ, after which they were called Christians, to be blasphemed and evil spoken of, among the Gentiles.”
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:7
“Do they not blaspheme that worthy name? - This is another argument to show that the rich had no special claim to the honor which they were disposed to show them. The “worthy name” here referred to is, doubtless, the name of the Saviour. The thing here affirmed would, of course, accompany persecution. They who persecuted Christians, would revile the name which they bore. This has always occurred.”
James 2:8-11
the royal law: Love your neighbor as yourself, from Leviticus 19:18, is named the royal law, and keeping it is doing well. Favoritism breaks it, and whoever stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. The one Lawgiver gave both Do not commit adultery and Do not murder.
James 2:8
“To this the "indeed" alludes. "(Ye rest in the law): If indeed (then) ye fulfil it, ye do well; but if," &c. royal--the law that is king of all laws, being the sum and essence of the ten commandments. The great King, God, is love; His law is the royal law of love, and that law, like Himself, reigns supreme.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:8
“It is not great men, nor worldly wealth, nor corrupt practices among professors themselves, that must guide us, but the scriptures of truth. The scripture gives us this as a law, to love our neighbour as ourselves; it is what still remains in full force, and is rather carried higher and further by Christ than made less important to us.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 2:8
“The royal law - Νομον βασιλικον. This epithet, of all the New Testament writers, is peculiar to James; but it is frequent among the Greek writers in the sense in which it appears St. James uses it. Βασιλικος, royal, is used to signify any thing that is of general concern, is suitable to all, and necessary for all, as brotherly love is.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
James 2:8
- QuotingLeviticus 19:18“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself', the royal law ('according to the scripture')
convicted by the law as transgressors: Matthew Henry points back to Leviticus 19:15, where the law forbade judges to favor the poor or the mighty. Favoritism is a sin against written law. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the law convicts such people as transgressors of the whole law, the point made in the next line.
James 2:9
“But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin - You transgress the plain law of God, and do wrong. See the references on Jas 2:1. And are convinced of the law as transgressors - Greek “By the law.” The word convinced is now used in a somewhat different sense from what it was formerly. It now commonly refers to the impression made on a man’s mind by showing him the truth of a thing which before was doubted, or in respect to which the evidence was not clear.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:9
“15 , Thou shalt do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor nor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt though judge thy neighbour.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 2:9
“Respect of persons violates the command to love all alike "as thyself." ye commit sin--literally, "ye work sin," Mt 7:23, to which the reference here is probably, as in Jas 1:22. Your works are sin, whatever boast of the law ye make in words (see on Jas 2:8). convinced--Old English for "convicted." as transgressors--not merely of this or that particular command, but of the whole absolutely.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
stumbles at just one point: Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it, because each command comes from one Lawgiver. The points kept cannot cover the one broken, and the law sends the lawbreaker to seek another atonement.
James 2:10
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, etc. - This is a rabbinical form of speech. In the tract Shabbath, fol. 70, where they dispute concerning the thirty-nine works commanded by Moses, Rabbi Yochanan says: But if a man do the whole, with the omission of one, he is guilty of the whole, and of every one. In Bammidar rabba, sec. 9, fol. 200, and in Tanchum, fol.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
James 2:10
“Surely, when we are clothed with a garment, we are surrounded on every side, and so he is "clothed with righteousness as with a garment," who defends himself on every side with good practice, and leaves no part of his conduct naked to sin; for he that is just in some deeds and unjust in others, it is as if he covered over this side, and exposed that one naked; nor are those henceforth good deeds, which are defiled by other evil deeds springing up.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job 19.32patristic
James 2:10
“Not that all sins are equal, but that all carry the same contempt of the authority of the Lawgiver, and so bind over to such punishment as is threatened on the breach of that law. This shows us what a vanity it is to think that our good deeds will atone for our bad deeds, and plainly puts us upon looking for some other atonement.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 2:10
“You thus break the whole law, though not the whole of the law, because you offend against love, which is the fulfilling of the law. If any part of a man be leprous, the whole man is judged to be a leper.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
you have become a lawbreaker: One voice gave Do not commit adultery and Do not murder, so the man who keeps one and breaks the other has become a lawbreaker. Both commands govern love and hatred of a neighbor, the theme of the chapter since 2:8.
James 2:11
“He is One who gave the whole law; therefore, they who violate His will in one point, violate it all [BENGEL]. The law and its Author alike have a complete unity. adultery . . . kill--selected as being the most glaring cases of violation of duty towards one's neighbor.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:11
“Why does James choose these two commandments as his examples? Because they are the ones which deal most closely with loving and with hating one's neighbors.”
Hilary of Arles · written before 449 · Introductory Tractate on the Letter of Jamespatristic
James 2:11
“The apostle is here reproving a very corrupt practice. He shows how much mischief there is in the sin of prosopolepsia -- respect of persons, which seemed to be a very growing evil in the churches of Christ even in those early ages, and which, in these after-times, has sadly corrupted and divided Christian nations and societies.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
James 2:11
- QuotingExodus 20:13“You shall not murder.”
'Do not commit adultery... Do not kill' (the whole law argument)
James 2:12-13
Speak and act as those: who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, the perfect law of 1:25. For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful, as in Matthew 7:1. Mercy triumphs over judgment, boasting over it like a victor.
James 2:12
“Summing up of the previous reasonings. speak--referring back to Jas 1:19, 26; the fuller discussion of the topic is given Jas 3:5-12. judged by the law of liberty-- (Jas 1:25); that is, the Gospel law of love, which is not a law of external constraint, but of internal, free, instinctive inclination.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:12
“The gospel is called a law. It has all the requisites of a law: precepts with rewards and punishments annexed; it prescribes duty, as well as administers comfort; and Christ is a king to rule us as well as a prophet to teach us, and a priest to sacrifice and intercede for us. We are under the law to Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mercy triumphs over judgment: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear the other side of Matthew 5:7, where the merciful are blessed with mercy. Judgment will match the mercy each man has shown. Bede reads the last line as the joy of the merciful man, who will rejoice in that judgment when God rewards him.
James 2:13
“The converse of, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5:7). Translate, "The judgment (which is coming on all of us) shall be without mercy to him who hath showed no mercy." It shall be such toward every one as every one shall have been [BENGEL].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Faith Without Works Is a Corpse
James 2:14-17
Can such faith save him?: Someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds, and James asks, Can such faith save him? A brother or sister without clothes and daily food is sent off with stay warm and well fed. So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
James 2:14
“What doth it profit - though a man say he hath faith - We now come to a part of this epistle which has appeared to some eminent men to contradict other portions of the Divine records. In short, it has been thought that James teaches the doctrine of justification by the merit of good works, while Paul asserts this to be insufficient, and that man is justified by faith.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:14
"Believing and doing are blood relatives" [RUTHERFORD]. What doth it profit--literally, "What is the profit?" though a man say--James' expression is not, "If a man have faith," but "if a man say he hath faith"; referring to a mere profession of faith, such as was usually made at baptism.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
a brother or sister: The case answers a claim of faith with no deeds. The one in need is a brother or sister, a fellow believer, without clothes and daily food. Good words spoken to such a one are as cold and useless as a faith that does nothing.
James 2:15
“If a brother or sister be naked ... - The comparison in these verses is very obvious and striking. The sense is, that faith in itself, without the acts that correspond to it, and to which it would prompt, is as cold, and heartless, and unmeaning, and useless, as it would be to say to one who was destitute of the necessaries of life, depart in peace.” In itself considered, it might seem to have something that was good; but it would answer none of the purposes of faith unless it should prompt to action.”
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:15
The Greek is, "But if," &c.: the "But" taking up the argument against such a one as "said he had faith, and yet had not works," which are its fruits. a brother, &c.--a fellow Christian, to whom we are specially bound to give help, independent of our general obligation to help all our fellow creatures. be--The Greek implies, "be found, on your access to them."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
what good is that?: The closing question cuts two ways. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that kind words with no deeds do no good to the poor brother or to the man who speaks them. Adam Clarke adds that faith without deeds will do its owner as little good when God sits in judgment.
James 2:16
“Be ye warmed and filled - Your saying so to them, while you give them nothing, will just profit them as much as your professed faith, without those works which are the genuine fruits of true faith, will profit you in the day when God comes to sit in judgment upon your soul.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:16
“Just retribution: kind professions unaccompanied with corresponding acts, as they are of no "profit" to the needy object of them, so are of no profit to the professor himself. So faith consisting in mere profession is unacceptable to God, the object of faith, and profitless to the possessor.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
faith by itself: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read by itself as cut off from the works of love, the way a body is dead in verse 26. Spurgeon held that James and Paul must be reconciled. He faulted Luther for throwing the statement of James overboard.
James 2:17
“If it hath not works, is dead - The faith that does not produce works of charity and mercy is without the living principle which animates all true faith, that is, love to God and love to man. They had faith, such as a man has who credits a well-circumstanced relation because it has all the appearance of truth; but they had nothing of that faith that a sinner, convinced of his sinfulness, God’s purity, and the strictness of the Divine laws, is obliged to exert in the Lord Jesus, in order to be saved from his sins.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
James 2:17
“If someone dies in his sins he has not truly believed in Christ, even if he has made a profession of faith in him, and if faith is mentioned but it lacks works, such faith is dead, as we have read in the epistle which circulates as the work of James.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on John 19.152patristic
James 2:17
“We are too apt to rest in a bare profession of faith, and to think that this will save us; it is a cheap and easy religion to say, "We believe the articles of the Christian faith;" but it is a great delusion to imagine that this is enough to bring us to heaven.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 2:17
“English Version, if retained, must not be understood to mean that faith can exist "alone" (that is, severed from works), but thus: Even so presumed faith, if it have not works, is dead, being by itself "alone," that is, severed from works of charity; just as the body would be "dead" if alone, that is, severed from the spirit (Jas 2:26).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 2:17
“WHATEVER the statement of James may be, it could never have been his intention to contradict the Gospel! It could never be possible that the Holy Spirit would say one thing, in one place, and another in another. Statements of Paul and of James must be reconciled, and if they were not, I would sooner be prepared to throw overboard the statement of James than that of Paul. Luther did so, I think, most unjustifiably.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3434: “Fruitless Faith” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
James 2:18-20
Show me your faith without deeds: , and I will show you my faith by my deeds: faith is seen only in what it does. Even the demons believe that God is one and shudder. Where the King James reads dead in verse 20, the oldest copies read arge, worthless.
James 2:18
“Faith is shown by deeds like the features of the face in a mirror.”
Symeon the New Theologian · written before 1022 · DISCOURSES 29.4patristic
1 more voice on this verse
James 2:18
"Show" does not mean here to prove to me, but exhibit to me. Faith is unseen save by God. To show faith to man, works in some form or other are needed: we are justified judicially by God (Ro 8:33); meritoriously, by Christ (Isa 53:11); mediately, by faith (Ro 5:1); evidentially, by works.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James chooses the creed every Jew confessed. Albert Barnes notes that if believing any doctrine could save the soul, this one would. John Wesley answers that it gives only the faith of the demons, who tremble at the judgment ahead and are neither justified nor saved.
James 2:19
“Thou believest there is one God - I allow this: but this proves only that thou hast the same faith with the devils. Nay, they not only believe, but tremble - At the dreadful expectation of eternal torments. So far is that faith from either justifying or saving them that have it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:19
“Thou believest that there is one God - One of the great and cardinal doctrines of religion is here selected as an illustration of all. The design of the apostle seems to have been to select one of the doctrines of religion, the belief of which would - if mere belief in any doctrine could - save the soul; and to show that even this might be held as an article of faith by those who could be supposed by no one to have any claim to the name of Christian.”
James 2:19
“Their theology was sound but useless; they were sham believers. James said they were lovers of money who were impatient with God, and using them as an example, he said faith that does not work is not faith.”
Reinhard Bonnke · Faith: The Link with God’s Power (CfaN Bible study series)Pentecostal-evangelical
O foolish man: John Wesley glosses the foolish man as empty of all goodness, and reads the question as aimed at someone who would prefer to stay ignorant. The proof comes next. Matthew Henry notes that James now makes his case from two examples, Abraham and Rahab.
James 2:20
“But art than willing to know - Indeed thou art not: thou wouldest fain be ignorant of it. O empty man - Empty of all goodness. That the faith which is without works is dead - And so is not properly faith, as a dead carcase is not a man.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:20
“Just as faith without works is dead, so the reverse is also true. Therefore let integrity in faith shine forth along with the glories of upright living.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · LETTERS 55.2patristic
James 2:20
“Faith without works is said to be dead, not only as void of all those operations which are the proofs of spiritual life, but as unavailable to eternal life: such believers as rest in a bare profession of faith are dead while they live. We are taught that a justifying faith cannot be without works, from two examples, Abraham and Rahab.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 2:21-24
Was not our father Abraham justified: Abraham was justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar, and his faith was perfected by what he did. Paul cites Genesis 15:6 for the sinner's standing before God (Romans 4:2-5), and James the Genesis 22 altar for faith proven real.
James 2:21
“On the one hand, the blessed James says that Abraham was justified by works when he bound Isaac his son on the altar, but on the other hand Paul says that he was justified by faith, which appears to be contradictory. However, this is to be understood as meaning that Abraham believed before he had Isaac and that Isaac was given to him as a reward for his faith.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · CATENApatristic
4 more voices on this verse
James 2:21
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works,.... Not as the causes of his justification, that is denied, Rom 4:2 but as effects of it, showing the truth of his faith, and the reality of his justification: he had both faith and works, and the former were known by the latter; and even the faith which he had expressed years ago was manifested, demonstrated, and confirmed to be true and genuine, by the instance of his obedience to God, here produced; by which it appeared he was a true believer, a justified person, approved of God, and loved by him.”
James 2:21
“Was not Abraham our father - Our progenitor, our ancestor; using the word “father,” as frequently occurs in the Bible, to denote a remote ancestor. Compare the notes at Mat 1:1. A reference to his case would have great weight with those who were Jews by birth, and probably most of those to whom this Epistle was addressed were of this character. See the Introduction. Justified by works - That is, in the sense in which James is maintaining that a man professing religion is to be justified by his works.”
James 2:21
“In Jas 2:23, James, like Paul, recognizes the Scripture truth, that it was his faith that was counted to Abraham for righteousness in his justification before God. when he had offered--rather, "when he offered" [ALFORD], that is, brought as an offering at the altar; not implying that he actually offered him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 2:21
“Was not Abraham justified by works - St. Paul says he was justified by faith, Rom. iv, 2, &c.: yet St. James does not contradict him; for he does not speak of the same justification. St. Paul speaks of that which Abraham received many years before Isaac was born, Gen. xv, 6.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
his faith was working with: Faith and actions work together here. John Wesley puts it this way: faith exists before its deeds, and it receives its perfection from them. John Gill holds that Abraham offered his son Isaac in faith, citing Hebrews 11:17, so the action grew out of believing God.
James 2:22
“Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,.... Not to justify him before God; for neither faith nor works are ever said in Scripture to justify any man; but his faith being of the right kind, a faith which works by love, it put him upon doing this work, and many others; for this was done in faith, Heb 11:17 as all good works are, which are properly such; and where there is true faith, it will influence and engage a man to do good works, as it did Abraham.”
3 more voices on this verse
James 2:22
“Seest thou how faith wrought - Here is a proof that faith cannot exist without being active in works of righteousness. His faith in God would have been of no avail to him, had it not been manifested by works; for by works - by his obedience to the commands of God, his faith was made perfect - it dictated obedience, he obeyed; and thus faith ετελειωθη, had its consummation. Even true faith will soon die, if its possessor do not live in the spirit of obedience.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 2:22
“Abraham returned from that sacrifice perfected in faith, and far higher in the favour of God. Faith hath not its being from works, (for it is before them,) but its perfection. That vigour of faith which begets works is then excited and increased thereby, as the natural heat of the body begets motion, whereby itself is then excited and increased.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 2:22
“ALFORD explains, "Received its realization, was entirely exemplified and filled up." So Paul, Php 2:12, "Work out your own salvation": the salvation was already in germ theirs in their free justification through faith.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
he was called a friend of God: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness comes from Genesis 15:6, spoken many years before the altar of Genesis 22. So fulfilled here carries a wider sense: the word first believed was fulfilled again when Abraham offered Isaac. He was called a friend of God.
James 2:23
“And the Scripture was fulfilled,.... Gen 15:6 which speaks of Abraham's faith, and the imputation of to him for righteousness; for the above action of Abraham, in offering up his son, was a clear proof of the truth of his faith, there commended: by this it was made known what a strong faith he had in God, and what reason there was to believe that he was a justified person.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:23
“Plainly, then, James must mean by works the same thing as Paul means by faith, only that he speaks of faith at its manifested development, whereas Paul speaks of it in its germ. Abraham's offering of Isaac was not a mere act of obedience, but an act of faith. Isaac was the subject of the promises of God, that in him Abraham's seed should be called.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 2:23
“And thus he became the friend of God. Faith, producing such works, endeared him to the divine Being, and advanced him to very peculiar favours and intimacies with God. It is a great honour done to Abraham that he is called and counted the friend of God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
James 2:23
- QuotingGenesis 15:6“Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
'Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness' ('the scripture was fulfilled')
ConnectionsGenesis 15:6
a man is justified by his deeds: and not by faith alone sits at the center of a long debate. Readers take the deeds as effects that declare a man justified, the working of a faith that first justified, or justification growing through good works.
James 2:24
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified,.... Not as causes procuring his justification, but as effects declaring it; for the best works are imperfect, and cannot be a righteousness justifying in the sight of God, and are unprofitable in this respect; for when they are performed in the best manner, they are no other than what it is a man's duty to perform, and therefore cannot justify from sin he has committed: and besides, justification in this sense would frustrate the grace of God, make void the death of Christ, and encourage boasting in men.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:24
“Ye see then how - It is evident from this example that Abraham’s faith was not merely believing that there is a God; but a principle that led him to credit God’s promises relative to the future Redeemer, and to implore God’s mercy: this he received, and was justified by faith. His faith now began to work by love, and therefore he was found ever obedient to the will of his Maker.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 2:24
“It was a done thing in the mind, and spirit, and resolution of Abraham, and God accepts it as if fully performed and accomplished. [4.] The actings of faith make it grow perfect, as the truth of faith makes it act. [5.] Such an acting faith will make others, as well as Abraham, friends of God. Thus Christ says to his disciples, I have called you friends, John xv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 2:25-26
was not even Rahab the prostitute: Rahab the prostitute stands beside the patriarch Abraham, both justified by what they did. She welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route, the act Hebrews 11:31 counts as faith. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:25
“Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot,.... See Gill on Heb 11:31 justified by works; this woman was an instance of the grace of God in calling the chief of sinners, and was a true believer; and what she did, she did in faith, Heb 11:31 and her faith was shown by her works to be true and genuine; and it was manifest that she was a justified person.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 2:25
“But as an example of free grace justifying men through an operative, as opposed to a mere verbal faith, none could be more suitable than a saved "harlot." As Abraham was an instance of an illustrious man and the father of the Jews, so Rahab is quoted as a woman, and one of abandoned character, and a Gentile, showing that justifying faith has been manifested in those of every class.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 2:25
“The former instance was of one renowned for his faith all his life long, This is of one noted for sin, whose faith was meaner and of a much lower degree; so that the strongest faith will not do, nor the meanest be allowed to go without works.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
As the body without the spirit: The image of body and spirit ends the argument. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that it looks inverted at first, since faith is like the spirit and deeds are like the body. They answer that the bare form of faith, without its working reality, is the body without the spirit.
James 2:26
“For as the body without the spirit is dead - There can be no more a genuine faith without good works, than there can be a living human body without a soul. We shall never find a series of disinterested godly living without true faith. And we shall never find true faith without such a life. We may see works of apparent benevolence without faith; their principle is ostentation; and, as long as they can have the reward (human applause) which they seek, they may be continued.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
James 2:26
For behold, the voice of all proclaims Christ, but the life of all does not proclaim Him. Most follow God with their voices, but flee from Him by their conduct. Hence Paul says: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him." Hence James says: "Faith without works is dead."
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 19patristic
James 2:26
“For as the body without the spirit is dead,.... This simile is made use of to illustrate what the apostle had asserted in Jas 2:17 that as a body, when the spirit or soul is departed from it, or the breath is gone out of it, is dead, and without motion, and useless; which the Jews (d) express in like manner, פגר גוף בלא רוח, "the body without the spirit", or "breath, is a carcass".”
James 2:26
“Faith is a spiritual thing: works are material. Hence we might expect faith to answer to the spirit, works to the body. He therefore does not mean that faith in all cases answers to the body; but the FORM of faith without the working reality answers to the body without the animating spirit.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: A case of favouritism followed by an argument in the style of a debate, with an imagined objector and examples from Scripture, as the site's James exposition, notes on 2:1 to 4 and 2:18 to 20 classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The scene at the door | Verses 2 and 3 stage a small drama. A man in a gold ring and fine clothes is shown a seat of honour, and a poor man in shabby clothes is told to stand or sit on the floor. Verse 4 then turns to the hearers and asks whether they have become judges with evil thoughts. Theophylact of Ohrid notes that rings were a common mark of standing among the Jews.Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James, on James 2:2. | James 2:2, James 2:3, James 2:4 |
| The objector answered | Verse 18 brings in someone who says, You have faith and I have deeds, and the writer answers him directly. Verses 19 and 20 keep up the exchange with a sharp reply and a question to a foolish man. This is the question-and-answer style of the teachers of the day, and it lets the writer meet an objection before a hearer can raise it.the site's count of the Berean text, the verses of James 2 in the store, translation id 3, the Berean Standard Bible. | James 2:18, James 2:19, James 2:20 |
| Two witnesses from the two ends of Israel's story | Abraham, the father of the nation, is set in verses 21 to 23 beside Rahab, a foreign prostitute, in verse 25. Both are shown acting on what they believed. Bede reads the pairing as a kindness to the hearers, so that no one could excuse himself as unable to copy a father as great as Abraham.Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, on James 2:25. | James 2:21, James 2:23, James 2:25 |
| Dead faith, said three times | The verdict of the argument is repeated at verse 17, verse 20 and verse 26, each time closing a stage of the case. The last time it comes with a picture, a body without the spirit. Gregory the Dialogist uses the verse against those whose voices proclaim Christ while their lives flee from Him.Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 19. | James 2:17, James 2:20, James 2:26 |
How the chapter is built
13 more paragraphs on the patterns
The chapter has two halves joined by the theme of mercy. Verses 1 to 13 give the case of favouritism, the answer from God's choice of the poor, and the argument from the royal law, closing on mercy that triumphs over judgment. Verses 14 to 26 give the argument about faith and deeds. It moves from the hungry brother, to the objector, to the demons who believe and shudder, and then to Abraham and Rahab. The phrase faith without deeds is dead closes it.
The debate: faith, deeds and justification
Verse 24 says a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. Paul writes in Romans 3:28 and 4:2 to 5 that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. The readings of the two are old and are held in their holders' own terms.
The first reading sets two moments in Abraham's life. John Wesley holds that James speaks of a different justification, since Paul cites Genesis 15:6, which Abraham received many years before Isaac was born. James cites the offering of Genesis 22. Cyril of Alexandria reads it the same way, with Abraham believing before he had Isaac.
The second reading finds two kinds of faith. Theophylact of Ohrid holds that the word faith is used in two senses, a bare agreement of the mind and a living trust. The belief of the demons in verse 19 is the first kind.
The third reading speaks of faith that produces works. Matthew Henry reads Hebrews 11 as showing that the faith of Abraham and Rahab produced the works James names. He holds that such works belong with the faith that justifies and saves.
The fourth reading holds that justification is increased by works. The Council of Trent cites James 2:24 for the teaching that the justified grow in justice through good works (Decree on Justification, Session 6, chapter 10, 1547). Protestant readers reject that account of justification.
A fifth response set the letter aside. Martin Luther judged that James contradicted Paul and almost threatened to put the letter out of the canon. Charles Spurgeon records this and calls it unjustified, holding that the statements of Paul and James must be reconciled.
The objection pressed against the first three readings is that verse 24 uses the same verb as Paul and names Abraham, Paul's own example. The objection pressed against the fourth is that Paul excludes works from the ground of a sinner's standing before God.
Where it draws on the Old Testament
The royal law of verse 8 is Leviticus 19:18, and the ban on partiality stands in Leviticus 19:15. Verse 11 quotes two of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20:13 and 14. Verse 19 answers the confession of Deuteronomy 6:4, that God is one. Verse 23 quotes Genesis 15:6 and gives Abraham the title of God's friend from 2 Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8. Rahab's story is Joshua 2.
Where to go deeper
The debate has its own page at /featured/faith-and-works, beside /featured/justification-by-faith. Abraham's offering is placed in his story at /featured/abrahamic-covenant, Rahab's act at /featured/rahab-and-the-scarlet-cord, and the confession of verse 19 at /featured/the-shema.
Keep studying
Studies8
Words12
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, on James 2:14; the site's James exposition, notes on 2:1 to 4 and 2:18 to 20, citing Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, and Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James, on James 2:12.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3434: “Fruitless Faith” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, Session 6, chapter 10; Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on James; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James.