James Chapter 2 verse 20 Holy Bible

ASV James 2:20

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?
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BBE James 2:20

Do you not see, O foolish man, that faith without works is of no use?
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DARBY James 2:20

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
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KJV James 2:20

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
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WBT James 2:20


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WEB James 2:20

But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
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YLT James 2:20

And dost thou wish to know, O vain man, that the faith apart from the works is dead?
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 20-24. - (3) Third point: Proof from the example of Abraham that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. In Genesis 15:6 we read of Abraham that "he believed in the Lord; and he accounted it to him for righteousness" (LXX., Ἐπίστευσεν Αβραμ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, quoted by St. Paul in Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6). But years after this we find that God "tested Abraham" (Genesis 22:1). To this trial St. James refers as that by which Abraham's faith was "perfected" (ἐτελειώθη), and by which the saying of earlier years found a more complete realization (cf. Ecclus. 44:20, 21, "Abraham... kept the Law of the Most High, and was in covenant with him... and when he was proved, he was found faithful. Therefore he assured him by an oath, that he would bless the nations in his seed," etc.). Verse 20. - Faith without works is dead. The Received Text, followed by the A.V., reads νεκρά, with א, A, C3, K, L, Syriac, Vulgate (Clementine). The Revisers, following B, C1, if, read ἀργή, "barren" (so Vulgate Amiat. by a correction, otiosa).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?--"Vain," i.e., empty and useless. Some copies have a word which means idle, fruitless, workless, in place of that translated "dead"; but the sense is the same either way. "If," says Bishop Beveridge, "I see fruit growing upon a tree, I know what tree it is upon which such fruit grows. And so, if I saw how a man lives, I know how he believes. If his faith be good, his works cannot but be good too; and if his works be bad, his faith cannot but be bad too: for, wheresoever there is a justifying faith, there are also good works; and wheresoever there are no good works, there is no justifying faith." Works are the natural fruit of faith; and without them it is evident the tree is dead, perhaps at the very roots, ready to be cut down and cast into the fire.