James 2:26 BSB — MannaFest

James 2:26

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

KJV

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

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Commentary

2 voices

Gregory the Dialogist

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 19 (604)

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."

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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".

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

For, (1.) The best works, without faith, are dead; they want their root and principle. It is by faith that any thing we do is really good, as done with an eye to God, in obedience to him, and so as to aim principally at his acceptance. (2.) The most plausible profession of faith, without works, is dead: as the root is dead when it produces nothing green, nothing of fruit.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

16 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὥσπερ	hōsper	Just as	G5618 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
σῶμα	sōma	body	G4983 →
χωρὶς	chōris	apart from	G5565 →
πνεύματος	pneumatos	spirit	G4151 →
νεκρόν	nekron	dead	G3498 →
ἐστιν,	estin	is,	G1510 →
οὕτως	houtōs	so	G3779 →
καὶ	kai	also	G2532 →
ἡ	hē	<the>	G3588 →
πίστις	pistis	faith	G4102 →
χωρὶς	chōris	apart from	G5565 →
ἔργων	ergōn	works	G2041 →
νεκρά	nekra	dead	G3498 →
ἐστιν.¶	estin	is.	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
leads to
- Psalms 146:4
  When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Genesis 3:19
  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Job 34:14–15
  If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Daniel 12:2
  And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Ecclesiastes 3:20–21
  All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
Through
James 2:14
What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
leads to
- Matthew 7:26–27
  But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
- Matthew 7:21–23
  Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Through
James 2:17
So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
leads to
- 2 Peter 1:5–9
  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

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About James

The Feeding of the Multitude — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

James: the study guide →Read chapter 2 →The featured study →

Continue: James 2 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About James

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About James