Yakobus 4:11-17
Konteks4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. 1 He who speaks against a fellow believer 2 or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. 3 4:12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor? 4
4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town 5 and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You 6 do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? 7 For you are a puff of smoke 8 that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 4:15 You ought to say instead, 9 “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” 4:16 But as it is, 10 you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 4:17 So whoever knows what is good to do 11 and does not do it is guilty of sin. 12
[4:11] 1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
[4:11] 2 tn See note on the word “believer” in 1:9.
[4:12] 4 tn Grk “who judges your neighbor.”
[4:14] 6 tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[4:14] 7 tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”
[4:14] 8 tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).
[4:15] 9 tn Grk “instead of your saying.”