James 2:20
in James 2O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?
KJV
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
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This verse in James 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verseJust 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.
This site's exposition
shew me thy faith without thy works
on James 2:18-20
The challenge makes the frame explicit: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works, demonstration before men, which only works can give, since faith invisible is faith unprovable. The devils also believe, and tremble is the argument's darkest exhibit, monotheism confessed by demons, orthodoxy with shuddering and without surrender, per the letter's plain view of the unseen world. O vain man, empty man, wilt thou know that faith without works is dead, the KJV's reading, with the oldest copies reading idle, arge, workless; either way the demonstration follows.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
But will you know O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James called a man vain who boasts of a bare faith, when he has obtained nothing of substance for completion through works.
Holy Scripture should be interpreted in a way which is in complete agreement with those who understood it and not in a way which seems to be inconsistent to those who are least familiar with it. Paul said that a man is justified through faith without the works of the law, but not without those works of which James speaks.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do you want to know, O empty man, that faith without works is idle? Because the Apostle Paul, preaching that a man is justified by faith without works, was not well understood by those who took it to mean that once they believed in Christ, …
He calls the person empty who boasts of faith alone, because, not realizing it in deeds, he has acquired no fullness.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
But wilt thou know, O vain man,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
wilt thou know--"Vain" men are not willing to know, since they have no wish to "do" the will of God.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
But wilt thou know - Art thou willing to be instructed in the nature of true saving faith? Then attend to the following examples.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But wilt thou know - Will you have a full demonstration of it; will you have the clearest proof in the case. The apostle evidently felt that the instances to which he was about to refer, those of Abraham and Rahab, were decisive. O vain man - The reference by this language is to a man who held an opinion that could not be defended. The word “vain” here used (κενε kene) means properly “empty,” as opposed to “full” - as empty hands, having nothing in them; then fruitless, or without utility or success; then false, fallacious. The meaning here, properly, would be “empty,” in the sense of being void of understanding; and this would be a mild and gentle way of saying of one that he was foolish, or that he maintained an argument that was without sense. James means, doubtless, to represent it as a perfectly plain matter, a matter about which no man of sense could have any reasonable doubt. If we must call a man foolish, as is sometimes necessary, let us use as mild and inoffensive a term as possible - a term which, while it will convey our meaning, will not unnecessarily wound and irritate. That faith without works is dead - That the faith which does not produce good works is useless in the matter of salvation. He does not mean to say that it would produce no effect, for in the case of the demons it did produce trembling and alarm; but that it would be valueless in the matter of salvation. The faith of Abraham and of Rahab was entirely different from this.
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| θέλεις | theleis | Do you want | G2309 → | |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| γνῶναι, | gnonai | to come to know, | G1097 → | 221 times |
| ὦ | o | O | G5599 → | |
| ἄνθρωπε | anthrope | man | G444 → | 549 times |
| κενέ, | kene | foolish, | G2756 → | |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἡ | he | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πίστις | pistis | faith | G4102 → | 242 times |
| χωρὶς | choris | apart from | G5565 → | 40 times |
| τῶν | ton | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἔργων | ergon | works | G2041 → | 168 times |
| ἀργή | arge | worthless | G692 → | |
| ἐστιν; | estin | is? | G1510 → | 2333 times |
θέλειςDo you want
theleisG2309 →
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
γνῶναι,to come to know,
gnonaiG1097 →221 times
ὦO
ἄνθρωπεman
anthropeG444 →549 times
κενέ,foolish,
keneG2756 →
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἡ<the>
heG3588 →19766 times
πίστιςfaith
pistisG4102 →242 times
χωρὶςapart from
chorisG5565 →40 times
τῶν<the>
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἔργωνworks
ergonG2041 →168 times
ἀργήworthless
argeG692 →
ἐστιν;is?
estinG1510 →2333 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:17–18
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- Ephesians 4:17–18
Through
James 2:26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
it leads to
- James 2:14
What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 2:17
So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
- James 2:14
Through
Galatians 6:3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- 1 Corinthians 8:2
The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- Proverbs 26:12
Through
James 2:17So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
it leads to
- James 2:26
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
- 2 Peter 1:5–9
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
- James 2:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About James
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 13; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Cyril of Alexandria, LETTERS 55.2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on James and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James.