| New American Standard Version (NASB) | New Revised Standard Version
(NRSV) |
New International Version
(NIV) |
New Living Translation
(NLT) |
|
19This1you
know, my beloved brethren. But
let every one
be quick to hear, slow to speak
and slow to anger;
20forthe anger of man does not
achieve the righteousness of God.
21Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves, 23for if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24for once he has looked at himself and gone away,he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25But one who looks intently at the perfect law, thelaw of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does. 26If any one thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. 27This is pure and undefiledreligion in the sight of ourGod and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstainedby the world. |
19You must understand this, mybeloved:2
let
everyone
be quick to listen, slow
to speak, slow to anger;
20for your
anger does not produce God's righteousness.
21Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves3in a mirror;
24for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.
25But those who look into the perfect law, the lawof liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act -- they will be blessed in their doing.
26If anythink they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care fororphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. |
19My dear brothers, take note
of this: Everyone
should be quick to listen,
slow
to speak and
slow
to become angry, 20forman's
anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word plantedin you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doingit -- he will be blessed in what he does.
26Ifanyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religionthat God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widowsin their distressand to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. |
19Dear friends4,
be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20Your anger can never make things right in God's sight.
21So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humblyaccept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls. 22And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. 23For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. 24You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
25But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law -- the law that sets you free -- and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. |
1. Identify the marginal readings of words,
phrases, clauses and sentences from the translations.
The major issue in this passage is at the
beginning in verse 19a. The NASB translation "This
you know, my beloved brethren" is based on a different reading
of the Greek text than that of either the NRSV or the NIV. Possibly the
NLT is coming from a third reading of the underlying Greek text that simply
omits verse 19a; at least it is omitted in the NLT rendering of the verse.
Checking out the better
commentaries (those in the required list) will provide explanation of the
reasons for these differences.
The interpretative significance
of this variation in translations is whether (1) verse 19a was a part of
the original wording of the text; (2) if included, is verse 19a functioning
as the literary climax of the preceding verses (after the statements in
1:12-18, James then concludes with the declaration "This you know."), or
(3) whether verse 19a begins the section 1:19-27 with the admonition "Know
this"? After checking the discussions in the serious commentaries, you
should draw your conclusion and then exegete the passage accordingly.
What you conclude here will go in the body
of your paper, normally in content footnotes at the appropriate verse reference
in the outline division of your passage.
2. Identify the literary genre of your biblical passage.
This passage falls under
the category of 'letter' [the large genre] and epistolary paranesis
(moral admonition) [the sub-genre]. Look up in a Bible dictionary the term
paranesis and include that in this section of your assignment. Also, the
commentaries -- usually in the introduction section -- will contain a discussion
of the literary genre.
The issue of the book
of James as a letter is important. Most commentators are convinced -- rightly
so -- that the book of James is not a true letter. Only the Praescriptio
in 1:1 adheres to a letter format. The remainder of the book (1:2-5:20)
is a sermon, or more likely, contains sermonic materials from the preaching
of James in Jerusalem during the 50s and is now put into written form for
distribution to Christians living beyond Jerusalem for their spiritual
encouragement and growth.
The passage itself,
1:19-27, is paranesis. That is, it contains admonitions intended to provide
guidelines for Christian living. By nature, paranesis -- especially when
it originates from the Jewish wisdom literary tradition as here -- is targeted
to broad, rather timeless principle expression. One doesn't learn much
about the specific historical setting of either the writer or the first
readers from materials like this. In interpretation, the nature of paranesis
creates an even higher level of importance of using a concordance to locate
similar admonitions elsewhere in the Bible, especially in the book of Proverbs
and Psalms for the kind of material in this passage.
What
you conclude here goes eventually in the INTRODUCTION
section of your Analsysis Paper.
3. Analyze the internal thought structure of your biblical passage.
These
verses, 1:19-27, are organized into two or possibly three sub-divisions:
vv. 19-21, 22-25, 26-27. The internal thought flow in vv. 19-21 moves from
the admonition to be a quick listener (v. 19b) to a reason for the admonition
(v. 20) -- the righteousness of God, then to an implication in the form
of a second admonition (v. 21)-- welcoming the Word of God into your life.
The second section,
vv. 22-25, begins with the admonition to be doers of the Word (v. 22).
This is reinforced by the illustration from the natural world (vv. 23-24),
and then is climaxed by the beatitude pronouncing divine blessing on the
doer in verse 25.
The third section
(vv. 26-27) sets up a test situation -- "If anyone supposes himself to
be religious..." (v. 26a). Then three measuring criteria of genuine religious
devotion follow: controlling the tongue, taking care of orphans and widows,
and keeping oneself morally pure.
The organization of
the passage revolves around "hearing the Word" (vv. 19-21), "doing the
Word" (vv. 22-25) and areas of life (speech, care of others and moral purity)
that demonstrate whether or not we have successfully brought 'hearing'
and 'doing' together.
Sources of insight like the
above should be gleaned from commentaries, New Testament Introductions,
Bible dictionaries etc.
4. Identify a possible key theme of the passage.
In
light of the analysis in question 3 above, one can conclude that a key
issue of these verses has to do with proper response to the preaching of
the gospel message as the Word of God.
Again your commentaries
etc. will be important sources of helpful information supplementing your
own analysis of the scripture text itself from the four different translations.
What ever you conclude
as the key theme of the passage, should be expressed in a short phrase
and used as the centered heading of the body section of your paper. You
may take as a possible clue the heading given to your passage in the List
of Possible Scripture passages, but a much better option is to devise your
own based upon your personal study of the scripture text in the above procedure.
This heading should then provide some direction for the wording the the
outline of your scripture passage. In the best application of this procedure,
the grading of this part of the paper should be able to look at the body
heading of the paper, then go to the outline left margin headings of the
passage and finally go to your explanation of the 'then' and 'now' meanings
of the subdivisions of the scripture text -- all of these elements logically
and cohesively fit together as your explanation of what that scripture
text meant and means.
5. Identify the interpretative issues present in your biblical text from your study of translation differences and checking of commentary discussions.
A number of interpretative
issues arise in the James 1:19-27 passage:
a) What does 'this'
refer to in v. 19a?
b) Is the axiom "be
quick...be slow" referring to everyday speech? Or to speaking during worship
services?
c) Does "welcoming the
Word" in v. 21 presuppose hearing the gospel preached in a corporate worship
setting?
d) What is involved
in 'doing the Word' in vv. 22-25? Is there a possible contradition of James
emphasis on 'doing' to Paul's "justification by faith alone, apart from
works of law"?
e) Which is the correct
translation of v. 26a? "If one supposes himself to be religious..." Or,
"If one seems to be religious..."
f) What does 'visiting'
orphans and widows refer to? What social custom in Judaism is this drawing
upon?
g) What is the background
to the language of 'keeping oneself unspotted from the world'? The Jewish
temple purity regulations for sacrifice?
6. Note the time and place references found in your biblical passage.
As is typical of Jewish wisdom literary materials of a paranetical nature, very few time and place references are found in James 1:19-27. Thus this aspect plays a much less important roll here than in other scripture texts.
7. Identify the external history issues related to your passage.
Some very significant
issues arise regarding the compositional history of this text. Is James
the actual author? Most think not. If he is historically connected to the
text, then when and where was this text brought into written form?
The commentaries will
be crucially important sources of information here, along with Bible dictionaries
and New Testament introductions.
8. Identify the literary setting of your passage in the biblical document in which it occurs.
This passage, 1:19-27, comes at the end of
the first chapter of James. It may simply be the initial discussion relating
to early Christian worship, as I have argued in an article "Predigthören
- Mit Konsequenzen" published in the German Baptist Die Gemeinde
in July 1992. Or, it may provide a foundation for several other passages
on hearing and action in the remainder of the book as several other commentators
have argued. Paranetical materials tend not to be well organized and systematically
presented in the ancient world. One frequent mistake that modern commentators
make is to want to organize the materials in James into a logical outline
like Paul's writings can often be organized. To read James through Pauline
glasses is to make serious blunders interpretatively!
From your study of the literary context of
your passage draw some conclusions and then incorporate them into the INTRODUCTION
of your paper.