complete verse (James 4:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of James 4:16:

  • Uma: “Yet your [inclusive] words aren’t like that. Your hearts are just proud [high] and you put yourselves forward. Everything like that is definitely evil [emphatic].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But you, you are proud and you boast. All boasting like that is bad.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However as for you, by contrast, you are full of pride for you boast about what you are going to do and that is bad.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But come-to-find-out your minds are indeed proud and at-the-same-time you boast-about what you do. All boasting of people like that is bad.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But well, you are conceited and overbearing/presumptious against God. Like that really is not acceptable to him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But you are being arrogant in what you say. And this arrogance you have is bad.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on James 4:16

As it is, you boast in your arrogance: James now identifies arrogance as the cause of the failure to take God into account in making plans. As it is, literally “But now,” signals that what the business people are doing now is contrary to what they ought to be doing. Rather than believing that their plans will be realized only if God permits, they plan their own things as though there is no God. The sense may be rendered “As the case stands at the moment,” “In point of fact” (Barclay), or “But instead” (Revised English Bible). The verb boast can mean “rejoice” (so rendered here by King James Version). In the New Testament it can mean to take pride in something that is considered good (as in 1.9), but more often it refers to the negative attitude of self pride and confidence in defiance of God. See the discussion in 1.9 and of the related word in 2.13. The noun arrogance is used elsewhere only in 1 John 2.16, where it is used of “pride in life” (rendered as “pride in riches” by New Revised Standard Version and “all the arrogance based on wealth” by Revised English Bible). Here it refers to the kind of presumptuous attitude and empty boasting mentioned in verse 13, and may be rendered as “proud pretensions” (Moffatt) or “bragging.”

There are two possible ways to understand the phrase boast in your arrogance. The first is to take the word arrogance as modifying the verb boast. This appears to be the understanding intended by the Revised Standard Version rendering boast in your arrogance. In this case the noun arrogance is understood as the manner of boasting. The Good News Translation rendering “you are proud, and you boast” makes “you boast” a second parallel element modifying the first element “you are proud” (compare also “boast and brag” New International Version, Revised English Bible). This is also reflected in translations that take “in your arrogance” adverbially, thus “boast arrogantly” (similarly Japanese colloquial version, Japanese New Interconfessional Translation). An alternative translation model for the first sentence is:
• But instead you are so proud [or, arrogant] that you brag about yourself.

The second possibility is to take the noun arrogance as the object or content of the verb boast. Two things may be said in support of this understanding. First, in the New Testament, when the preposition “in” follows the verb “boast,” it always points to the object (Rom 2.17; 2.23). Secondly, in Greek the noun arrogance is in the plural, giving a sense of “incidents of arrogance” or “matters of arrogance.” This understanding is reflected in translations such as “you take a pride in your self-confident assertions” (Barclay), “… boasting in your proud pretensions” (Moffatt). This may be rendered simply as “you take pride in your arrogance” or “you boast about your pretensions,” or even “you brag about yourself.”

James’ conclusion is that All such boasting is evil. Every boasting of this kind is wrong. It is evil because it leaves God out of our planning, as though he does not count. It sets human beings above and against God and robs him of the sovereignty that belongs to him alone. Another way to express this clause is “It is wrong to brag like this” or “It is wrong to be so proud of yourself.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• But instead you are so proud [or, arrogant] that you brag about yourself. It is wrong to brag like this.

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on James 4:16

4:16a

As it is: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as As it is is more literally “But now” (as in the Good News Translation). This phrase introduces a description of how the traders usually behave. It also indicates a contrast. They should be saying, “If the Lord wills.” But instead of saying that, they are boasting.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

But now (Good News Translation)
-or-
But instead (Revised English Bible)
-or-
But in reality
-or-
But your words are not like that

you boast in your proud intentions: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you boast in your proud intentions is literally “you boast in your arrogances.” There are at least two ways to interpret the phrase “in your arrogances”:

(1) It is the object or content of the traders’ boasting. In other words, it is what the traders were boasting about. They were boasting about the certainty of their plans. They were boasting in their own ability to do things without any help from God. For example, the New International Version, 2011 edition says:

you boast in your arrogant schemes

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, 2011 edition, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English (Commentators that support this interpretation are Ropes, page 280; Moo (1985), page 157; Martin, pages 167–168.))

(2) It is the second description of the traders and is parallel to boast. The traders were boasting and they were bragging. For example, the Revised English Bible says:

you boast and brag

(New International Version (1984 Revision), Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version (Commentators that support this interpretation are Alford, page 319; Huther, page 196; Adamson (1976), page 181; Laws, page 192; Davids (1982), page 173.))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There are two reasons for this choice:

(a) The word “boast” occurs with the preposition “in” sixteen other places in the New Testament. In all these cases, the phrase that follows is the object of boasting. (As in ‘boast in/about one’s high position’ in James 1:9.)

(b) The noun “arrogances” is plural. This indicates that James was referring to the traders’ plans in 4:13b–e.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

you(plur) boast about the plans that you think are so good
-or-
you speak so proudly of what you consider to be wise plans
-or-
you are bragging about what you will do

boast: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as boast refers to the traders proudly talking of their plans. They talked as if they did everything without God’s help. This word indicates how people talk when they are proud.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

are proud (Good News Translation)
-or-
brag (God’s Word)

4:16b

All such boasting is evil: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as All such boasting is evil refers to boasting about your plans. Boasting about your ability to do things without God’s help is evil.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

and it is wrong to be so proud (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
When people boast like that, it is wrong/bad.

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