Skip to content
mannafest.faith

James 2:16

in James 2

If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?

KJV

And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

This verse in James 2

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

Can such faith save him?

on James 2:14-17

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.

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

SERMONS 31.4 · Written before 542.

proposed

Christ says: "My justice can give you nothing except what your works deserve. To no purpose do you cry out, now that you are dead and in the power of another, for when you had opportunities and saw me in the person of the poor, …

A commentator

Valerian of Cimiez

SERMONS 7.5 · Written before 460.

proposed

Who does not hate this kind of [merely verbal] "mercy"? In it an idle piety flatters the sick with elegant language. Fruitless tears are offered to heaven. What does it profit to bewail another man's shipwreck if you take no care of his body, which …

A commentator

Leo the Great

SERMONS 11.1 · Written before 461.

proposed

Since mercy will be exalted over condemnation and the gifts of clemency will surpass any just compensation, all the lives led by mortals and all different kinds of actions will be appraised under the aspect of a single rule. No charges will be brought up where works of compassion have been found in acknowledgment of the Creator.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on the Catholic Epistles · Written before 735.

proposed

But if a brother or sister is naked and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them: Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things that are necessary for the body, what does it profit? …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Will you come before God with such empty shows of charity as these? You might as well pretend that your love and charity will stand the test without acts of mercy as think that a profession of faith will bear you out before God without works of piety and obedience. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being along, "

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

2 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And one of you say unto them,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

The words behind it

23 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Romans 12:9

    Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 34:14

      Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

    • 1 Peter 4:8

      Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

    • 1 Timothy 1:5

      The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.

    • 1 John 3:18–20

      Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

    • 1 Peter 3:10–11

      For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 8:8

    I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 7:6

      I say this as a concession, not as a command.

    • 1 John 3:17–19

      If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

    • James 2:14–16

      What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Where this verse is studied

About James

Saint James the Younger, El Greco, 1600. Public domain.
Saint James the Younger, El Greco, 1600. Public domain.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Caesarius of Arles, SERMONS 31.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Leo the Great, SERMONS 11.1; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Valerian of Cimiez, SERMONS 7.5.