Semantic Analysis — James (Ἰάκωβος) 1–5

Original Koine Greek Analysis for Japanese Destination Package

Governing rule: Any term already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json MUST be reused with its exact recorded Japanese rendering. New terms introduced by James are assigned provisional Japanese renderings here for ratification into an extended translation memory. Established baseline renderings reused in this document: 信仰 (faith), 恵み (grace), 罪 (sin), 義 (righteousness), 義と認められること (justification/imputed righteousness), 栄光 (glory), 教会 (church), 選び (election), 召し/召された (calling/called), 平安 (peace with God), 神 (God, with qualifier), 主 (Lord), 律法 (law), イエス・キリスト (Jesus Christ), アブラハム (Abraham), ダビデ-pattern proper-noun conventions.

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PART A — CORE PASSAGE: James 2:14–26 (Verse-by-Verse)

James 2:14–26 is the curriculum’s theological anchor: the direct confrontation of “faith” (πίστις) and “works” (ἔργα), including a quotation of Genesis 15:6 that is the same verse cited in Romans 4:3 under the baseline’s imputed_righteousness entry. This overlap is the single highest-stakes consistency requirement in this package: James 2:23’s ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην MUST be rendered 義と認められること, identically to the Romans baseline, even though James’s surrounding argument (“justified by works, not by faith alone,” v.24) stands in surface tension with Paul’s “justified by faith apart from works” (Romans 3:28). This is not a contradiction to be smoothed over in translation — δικαιόω carries a different referent in each context (see v.21, v.24 notes) — but the term rendering itself must not be allowed to drift.

James 2:14

Τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ; μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν;

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ὄφελος	ophelos	profit, benefit, gain	practical usefulness/advantage; rhetorical question marker	”what good,” “what profit,” “what use”	Opens a rhetorical diatribe: claimed faith with no practical fruit yields no benefit before God.	益 (yaku) or 何の益があるか — low risk, but must preserve the rhetorical-question force, not soften to a statement.
πίστις	pistis	trust, belief, faithfulness	trust in a person; intellectual assent; faithfulness/reliability	”faith,” “belief,” “trust”	Here specifically claimed faith (πίστιν λέγῃ ἔχειν — “says he has faith”) — James interrogates whether verbal profession alone is genuine saving faith.	MUST use baseline 信仰 exactly. Critical risk: if rendered to suggest James redefines faith itself (rather than interrogating false/dead faith), it will appear to contradict Romans’ 信仰. Theologian review required.
ἔργα	erga	deeds, actions, works	concrete acts; also can denote “trade/occupation” outside NT use	”works,” “deeds,” “actions”	James’s central positive term: the visible, concrete outworking of genuine faith — NOT meritorious works-righteousness earning salvation (contra a legalistic misreading), but the necessary fruit/evidence of living faith.	NEW TERM required (not in Romans baseline, since Paul uses ἔργα primarily negatively as “works of the law”). Recommend 行い (okonai). Critical risk: Japanese readers may default to a merit/effort framework (勤勉, ganbaru-culture “earning through effort”) that reads James as contradicting grace. Must be taught alongside 恵み’s non-transactional framing already established in the baseline.
σῴζω (σῶσαι)	sōsai (aor. inf. of sōzō)	to save, rescue, deliver	eternal salvation; physical rescue/healing (cf. 5:15); wholeness	”save”	Rhetorical: can bare profession of faith, absent works, save? Answer implied: no — such “faith” is not the saving faith Paul describes either.	Use 救う (verb form of established 救い). Low collision risk here since sense matches Romans usage, but flag for consistency with 5:15’s different (healing) sense of the same verb — see Ch.5.

James 2:15

ἐὰν ἀδελφὸς ἢ ἀδελφὴ γυμνοὶ ὑπάρχωσιν καὶ λειπόμενοι τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς,

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ἀδελφὸς/ἀδελφή	adelphos/adelphē	brother/sister	biological sibling; fellow believer (dominant NT sense)	“brother,” “sister,” “fellow believer”	Fellow member of the church community — establishes the test case is internal, church-family charity, not abstract theory.	Low risk: 兄弟姉妹 (kyoudai shimai) is standard; ensure it reads as “fellow believer” not only biological family, given Japan’s strong biological-family (家) framing.
γυμνός	gymnos	naked, bare	literally unclothed; also poorly/inadequately clothed (contextual sense here)	“naked,” “poorly clothed,” “in rags”	Concrete material lack, not moral nakedness.	Low risk. 着る物がない/ぼろを着た — must not read as literal total nudity (overtranslation) nor be softened to metaphor.
τροφή	trophē	food, nourishment	daily sustenance	”food,” “daily food”	Physical, bodily need — the test case is material, not spiritual, need.	Low risk. 食べ物/食料 standard.

James 2:16

εἴπῃ δέ τις αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν, Ὑπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ, θερμαίνεσθε καὶ χορτάζεσθε, μὴ δῶτε δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος, τί τὸ ὄφελος;

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
εἰρήνη	eirēnē	peace	shalom-wellbeing; absence of conflict; here a conventional dismissal-blessing	”peace,” “go in peace”	A hollow social pleasantry (“go in peace”) that substitutes for real charity — the irony is central to James’s point.	HIGH RISK, distinct from baseline εἰρήνη sense: baseline reserves 平安 for peace with God through justification (Romans 5:1). Here it is a conventional social farewell, closer to 平和 or the idiomatic 元気で/お元気で. Using 平安 here would wrongly import theological weight into an ironic, empty social phrase. Recommend a natural Japanese parting phrase, NOT 平安.
θερμαίνεσθε / χορτάζεσθε	thermainesthe / chortazesthe	be warmed / be filled (satisfied)	physical warmth; satiation/fullness (χορτάζω also used of feeding crowds in Gospels)	“be warmed and filled”	Empty verbal wishes with no accompanying material provision — exposes the gap between words and deeds.	Low risk: 暖まりなさい、満たされなさい — must retain the passive/imperative irony (words offered instead of action).
τὰ ἐπιτήδεια το�ῦ σώματος	ta epitēdeia tou sōmatos	the things necessary/fitting for the body	practical bodily necessities (food, clothing, shelter)	“things needed for the body,” “bodily needs”	The concrete material provision that mere words fail to supply.	Low risk. 体に必要なもの — standard.

James 2:17

οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις, ἐὰν μὴ ἔχῃ ἔργα, νεκρά ἐστιν καθ’ ἑαυτήν.

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
νεκρά (νεκρός)	nekra (nekros)	dead	lifeless; ineffective; spiritually dead (cf. Romans 6 “dead to sin”)	“dead,” “lifeless,” “ineffective”	The defining verdict on faith without works: not weak faith but no-faith, a corpse of profession with no living reality. This is the passage’s most theologically loaded single word.	CRITICAL RISK. Use 死んだ (shinda) — standard, unambiguous. The risk is not lexical but doctrinal: must not be softened in translation/commentary to “incomplete” or “immature” faith, which would blunt James’s forensic-sounding verdict. Theologian review required for any surrounding commentary language.
καθ’ ἑαυτήν	kath’ heautēn	by itself, in itself	isolated, standing alone	”by itself,” “alone,” “in itself”	Faith considered in isolation from its necessary fruit — stresses this is faith’s own internal condition, not an external judgment problem.	Low risk. それ自体で/おのずから — standard.

James 2:18

Ἀλλ’ ἐρεῖ τις· Σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω· δεῖξόν μοι τὴν πίστιν σου χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων, κἀγὼ σοι δείξω ἐκ τῶν ἔργων μου τὴν πίστιν.

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
δείκνυμι (δεῖξόν, δείξω)	deiknymi	to show, demonstrate, prove	display visually; prove/demonstrate a claim	”show,” “demonstrate,” “prove”	The verifying/evidentiary function of works: works do not create faith but make invisible faith visible and verifiable.	Medium risk. 示す (shimesu) / 証明する (shoumei suru) — prefer 示す to avoid overclaiming a courtroom “prove” sense (証明する) that could suggest works are the legal basis of righteousness rather than its visible evidence.
χωρίς	chōris	apart from, without, separate from	separation, absence	”apart from,” “without,” “separately”	Establishes the whole passage’s key contrast structure: faith-without-works vs. faith-evidenced-by-works.	Low risk. ～なしに / ～を離れて — standard; consistency of this connector across vv.18, 20, 26 should be maintained.

James 2:19

σὺ πιστεύεις ὅτι εἷς θεός ἐστιν; καλῶς ποιεῖς· καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσιν καὶ φρίσσουσιν.

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
πιστεύω	pisteuō	to believe, trust	intellectual assent; personal trust (verb form of πίστις)	“believe”	Bare monotheistic assent (the Shema-echoing “God is one”) — shown here as necessary but wholly insufficient; even demons hold this belief.	HIGH RISK. Use 信じる (verb form paired with established 信仰). Must be clearly distinguished from saving trust; risk that Japanese readers, already prone to reading 信仰 as generic religious sentiment (per baseline faith entry), may see this verse as validating mere assent as sufficient, exactly the error James refutes.
εἷς θεός	heis theos	one God	monotheistic confession	”God is one,” “one God”	Echo of the Shema (Deut 6:4); orthodox confession without transformation is worthless.	CRITICAL. Must render with the baseline’s qualifying convention for 神 in doctrinally weighty statements — 唯一のまことの神 or minimally 神は唯一である — given 神’s generic-kami risk documented in the baseline.
δαιμόνιον	daimonion	demon, evil spirit	malevolent spiritual being (NT usage uniformly negative, unlike broader Greek δαίμων)	“demon,” “evil spirit,” “devil”	The demons’ correct theology proves that correct belief alone, without transformed life, is not saving faith — a deliberately shocking comparison.	Medium risk. Use 悪霊 (akuryou) — NOT 妖怪 (yōkai, folk monster/spirit) or 幽霊 (yuurei, ghost), both of which carry Japanese folk-horror/animist associations distinct from the NT’s morally evil spiritual-being category (cf. baseline’s caution on 霊 alone for Holy Spirit — the same folk-spirit-world risk applies in reverse here).
φρίσσω	phrissō	to shudder, bristle, be terrified	physical shudder from fear/dread (used only here in NT)	“shudder,” “tremble,” “are terrified”	The demons’ emotional response (terror) contrasts with the false security of merely professed faith among humans — dead orthodoxy is, ironically, less responsive than demonic terror.	Low risk. おののく/身震いする — standard; preserve the rhetorical shock value, not a flat “are afraid.”

James 2:20

θέλεις δὲ γνῶναι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενέ, ὅτι ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν;

(Note: some manuscripts read ἀργή “useless/barren” rather than νεκρά “dead” here — either textual tradition preserves the same essential verdict; translation should follow the base text selected for the destination Bible tradition, i.e., the Shinkaiyaku textual base.)

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
κενός	kenos	empty, vain, foolish	empty-handed; without content/substance; (colloquially) foolish, empty-headed	”foolish,” “empty-headed,” “senseless”	A sharp rhetorical rebuke addressed to the imagined interlocutor who thinks faith and works can be separated.	Medium risk. 愚かな (foolish) is safer than a literal “empty” (空しい), which in Japanese carries a strong melancholic/existential-emptiness connotation (cf. Buddhist 空, kū, emptiness as a metaphysical category) that would import an unrelated philosophical concept. Avoid 空 entirely; prefer 愚かな人 or ものの分からない人.
ἀργή (variant)	argē	idle, unproductive, useless	inactive; barren; unprofitable	”useless,” “barren,” “unproductive”	If this variant is followed: faith without works produces no fruit, is inert.	Same rendering family as νεκρά (死んだ/無益な) — note textual variant for theologian awareness; either way the verdict is fully negative, not merely “less effective.”

James 2:21

Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον;

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
δικαιόω (ἐδικαιώθη)	dikaioō	to justify, declare/show righteous	forensic declaration of righteous status (Pauline dominant sense); also “to vindicate, demonstrate as righteous” (a live sense here)	“was justified,” “was shown righteous,” “was vindicated”	CRITICAL INTERPRETIVE HINGE: here δικαιόω most plausibly denotes the vindication/demonstration of Abraham’s already-existing righteous standing (established at Genesis 15:6, well before Genesis 22’s binding of Isaac) — not the initial forensic declaration Paul describes in Romans 4. James and Paul are not contradicting each other but addressing different questions (the reality/genuineness of faith vs. the ground of justification).	CRITICAL RISK — the single most important theological-translation decision in the book. MUST use the baseline’s exact compound 義と認められること for consistency of vocabulary, but teaching material MUST supply an explanatory note distinguishing James’s vindication-sense here from Romans’ forensic-declaration sense, or Japanese readers will perceive a direct scriptural contradiction. Human theologian review mandatory for every occurrence of this term in ch.2.
θυσιαστήριον	thysiastērion	altar	place of sacrifice	”altar”	The concrete, costly, obedient act (offering Isaac) that gave visible reality to Abraham’s faith.	Low risk. 祭壇 (saidan) — standard; note this is the Genesis 22 altar, not the Jerusalem temple altar, to avoid confusion in teaching.
Ἰσαάκ	Isaak	Isaac	proper name	”Isaac”	Abraham’s son of promise; the object of the test of faith.	Low risk. Use established transliteration イサク (Isaku).

James 2:22

βλέπεις ὅτι ἡ πίστις συνήργει τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἡ πίστις ἐτελειώθη,

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
συνεργέω (συνήργει)	synergeō	to work together with, cooperate	joint working, collaboration (root of English “synergy”)	“worked together with,” “cooperated with”	Faith and works are not competitors but organic partners — faith is the root, works the necessary, cooperating expression.	Medium risk. 共に働いた — must not be rendered in a way that implies works and faith are two independent, separately meritorious causes of salvation (which would contradict Romans’ grace-alone ground); works are faith’s outworking, not its co-equal partner in earning status before God.
τελειόω (ἐτελειώθη)	teleioō	to complete, perfect, bring to maturity/fullness	bring to its intended goal/completeness; (NOT primarily “sinless perfection” here)	“was perfected,” “was made complete,” “was brought to maturity”	Faith reaches its intended, mature, completed expression through action — works are faith’s telos/completion, not an external addition.	HIGH RISK. Use 完成させられた or 実を結んだ (bore fruit) rather than a term suggesting moral/sinless perfection (完全な人間になった), which would misread this as faith achieving moral flawlessness rather than functional maturity/wholeness.

James 2:23

καὶ ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφὴ ἡ λέγουσα· Ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, καὶ φίλος θεοῦ ἐκλήθη.

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
γραφή	graphē	writing, Scripture	a written text; the sacred Scriptures (NT technical sense)	“scripture,” “the scripture”	Direct citation formula introducing Genesis 15:6 — Scripture’s authority anchors James’s argument in the same OT text Paul cites in Romans 4:3.	Medium risk. 聖書 (established convention) — must be recognizable as the same citation formula pattern used across the curriculum for OT quotations.
λογίζομαι (ἐλογίσθη)	logizomai	to reckon, count, credit, impute	accounting/ledger metaphor; to credit something to someone’s account	”was credited,” “was counted,” “was reckoned,” “was imputed”	IDENTICAL PHRASE to Romans 4:3’s citation of the same Genesis 15:6 text (baseline imputed_righteousness entry: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην). This is Abraham’s original justification by faith — the ground James’s own argument in v.21-22 presupposes and does not overturn.	CRITICAL — MUST use the baseline’s exact recorded rendering 義と認められること with zero deviation. This is a direct, verbatim-source overlap with the Romans Language Package; any divergence here would create a visible, indefensible inconsistency between two curricula translating the identical Greek clause.
δικαιοσύνη	dikaiosynē	righteousness	right standing; moral rectitude; forensic righteous status (Pauline dominant sense)	“righteousness”	The credited righteous status Abraham received by faith — not a virtue he achieved but a status God reckoned to him.	CRITICAL. MUST use baseline 義 exactly, and per baseline notes, flag the Bushido-virtue collision risk (義 as a personal-courage/moral-rectitude virtue in Nitobe’s Bushido code) wherever this verse is taught, since James’s narrative (a costly obedient act) could unintentionally reinforce a virtue-achievement reading of 義 rather than a credited-status reading.
φίλος θεοῦ	philos theou	friend of God	intimate personal relationship, not merely servant/subject status	”friend of God”	A remarkable relational title: Abraham’s faith results not merely in legal acquittal but in intimate divine friendship — a status distinct from, and warmer than, mere servanthood.	Medium risk. 神の友 — natural and low-collision, but should be actively taught against Japan’s hierarchical relational defaults (senpai-kohai, lord-vassal 主君 patterns per baseline’s lord entry), which might otherwise flatten “friend” into a deferential subordinate-to-superior relationship rather than genuine intimacy.
ἐκλήθη (καλέω)	eklēthē	was called	named, designated; summoned (root shared with κλητός/κλῆσις, cf. baseline called/calling)	“was called,” “was named”	Here a naming/designation sense (“was called/named a friend of God”), distinct from the soteriological “calling” sense in the baseline’s called entry (effectual summons to salvation) — a different sense of the same root that translators must not conflate.	Medium risk. 呼ばれた (yobareta, “was called/named”) rather than 召された (mesareta, the baseline’s reserved rendering for God’s effectual salvation-summons) — using 召された here would wrongly import the technical calling-doctrine sense into a simple naming statement.

James 2:24

ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον.

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
δικαιοῦται (δικαιόω)	dikaioutai	is justified	present passive, ongoing/general-truth sense; vindicated/shown righteous (see v.21 note)	“is justified,” “is shown to be righteous”	The passage’s climactic, deliberately provocative summary statement. Read in context (vv.21-23), this affirms that genuine, saving faith is inseparable from its working expression — James is not proposing a second, works-based route to justification alongside or against Paul’s faith-alone doctrine, but insisting that the faith which justifies (per Romans/Genesis 15:6, just cited in v.23) is never alone/unaccompanied by works.	CRITICAL — the highest-priority theologian-review trigger in this document. Rendering must use 義と認められること consistently (matching v.21, v.23), but ALL surrounding curriculum commentary MUST include an explanatory note (see Doctrinal Note below) preventing readers from concluding James contradicts Romans 3:28/4:5’s “justified by faith apart from works.” Never translate or gloss in a way that implies works contribute independently to the ground of justification.
πίστεως μόνον	pisteōs monon	faith alone	monon = “only, alone"	"faith alone,” “faith only”	James’s target is not the Reformation solifidian formula (which addresses the ground of justification) but a counterfeit, inert, merely verbal “faith” that produces no works at all — i.e., “faith” as bare intellectual assent (cf. v.19).	HIGH RISK. 信仰だけ — must be rendered precisely; theologian commentary should clarify James is refuting a dead, workless profession misusing the label “faith,” not refuting genuine faith’s sole sufficiency as the instrument of justification.

DOCTRINAL NOTE (required accompanying commentary for vv.21-24): James and Paul use δικαιόω to answer different questions: Paul (Romans 3-4) asks “On what ground is a sinner declared righteous before God?” — answer: faith alone, apart from works, by grace (Romans 3:28, baseline justification/imputed_righteousness). James (2:14-26) asks “How do we know a person’s professed faith is real and not a dead counterfeit?” — answer: by its inevitable fruit in works (cf. also Ephesians 2:8-10’s grace-faith-then-works sequence). Abraham’s justification by faith (Genesis 15:6, cited in James 2:23) precedes and grounds his later justifying/vindicating act of obedience (Genesis 22, cited in James 2:21) by decades. This must be explicitly taught, not left implicit, in any Japanese curriculum material — the risk of perceived scriptural self-contradiction is Critical.

James 2:25

ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ ἑτέρ�ᾳ ὁδῷ ἐκβαλοῦσα;

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
πόρνη	pornē	prostitute, harlot	one who engages in sexual immorality for hire	”prostitute,” “harlot”	A deliberately shocking second example after the venerated patriarch Abraham — God’s justifying grace and the reality of faith-evidencing-works reach even society’s most morally marginalized.	Medium risk. 遊女/売春婦 — must retain the term’s bluntness (not euphemize away the scandal James intends), while using a term appropriate to formal written register per the baseline’s tone requirements.
ἄγγελος	angelos	messenger; angel	human messenger/envoy (this sense, as in Joshua 2’s spies); heavenly angelic being (dominant NT sense elsewhere)	“messengers,” “spies” (contextual, referring to the Israelite scouts of Joshua 2, not heavenly angels)	Must be recognized as human spies/scouts here, not angelic beings — a context-dependent sense distinct from angelology elsewhere in Scripture.	HIGH RISK, purely contextual: if rendered with the standard NT term for heavenly angels (天使, tenshi), Japanese readers unfamiliar with the Joshua narrative could misread this as an angelic visitation narrative. Recommend 使者/斥候 (messengers/scouts) with an explanatory footnote tying to Joshua 2.

James 2:26

ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν.

Greek	Translit.	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
σῶμα	sōma	body	physical body; corporate body (metaphorical, elsewhere in NT)	“body”	The illustrative half of the closing analogy: a body without breath/spirit is a corpse.	Low risk. 体/身体 — standard.
πνεῦμα	pneuma	breath, wind, spirit	literal breath/wind; the human spirit/life-principle; the Holy Spirit (capitalized technical sense elsewhere)	“spirit,” “breath,” “life”	Here πνεῦμα denotes the breath/life-principle animating the body — NOT the Holy Spirit (contrast the baseline’s Critical-risk 聖霊 entry, which applies to a wholly different referent).	CRITICAL DISAMBIGUATION RISK. Must render as 息 (iki, breath) or 霊 in the generic “life-spirit/breath” sense — but the baseline flags that 霊 alone risks folk-spirit-world associations and must never stand for the Holy Spirit. Since this verse is NOT about the Holy Spirit, using 聖霊 here would be a doctrinal error (wrongly importing Trinitarian language into a general anthropological illustration); using bare 霊 requires a clarifying gloss (“命/生命の息”, the breath of life) to avoid ghost/spirit-world overtones. Theologian review recommended for final phrasing.
νεκρόν / νεκρά	nekron / nekra	dead	see v.17	”dead”	Closes the chiastic analogy: as breath-lessness = bodily death, works-lessness = faith’s death. Reinforces v.17’s verdict with a memorable, teachable image.	Same as v.17: 死んだ, unambiguous, must not be softened.

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PART B — FULL BOOK, CHAPTER BY CHAPTER

Chapter 1 — Trials, Wisdom, the Word, and Pure Religion

Chapter 1 introduces nearly the entire doctrinal vocabulary set for the whole curriculum in miniature. All terms below are new to this Japanese package unless marked “(baseline).”

Term (Eng.)	Greek	Translit.	Literal/Range	Contextual Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
servant	δοῦλος	doulos	slave/bondservant; total ownership-belonging	James’s self-designation (1:1) — humble, total submission to God/Christ, not servile diminishment.	奴隷/しもべ — 新改訳 convention uses しもべ for the positive theological self-designation sense (as opposed to 奴隷 which can carry harsher slavery connotations); low risk if しもべ used consistently.
trial / temptation	πειρασμός	peirasmos	testing, trial; also “temptation to sin”	Semantic range spans BOTH externally-imposed testing that produces growth (1:2-4, 1:12) AND internal enticement to sin (1:13-14) — the SAME Greek word covers both senses within a few verses.	HIGH RISK: Japanese lacks one word covering both senses. Must select context-by-context between 試練 (shiren, trial/ordeal — positive/growth sense) and 誘惑 (yuuwaku, temptation — sin-enticement sense). Mistranslating 1:13’s “God tempts no one” using 試練 language could wrongly suggest God never tests anyone (Paul/OT affirm God does test, e.g. Abraham), so the shift between the two Japanese words across vv.2-14 must be handled with an explanatory note on the single underlying Greek term.
testing/proving	δοκίμιον	dokimion	the process/means of testing, proving genuineness (as of metal refining)	The refining process that produces steadfastness — a positive, purposeful ordeal, not punishment.	Medium risk. 試練/試すこと — should connect conceptually to the metallurgical refining image (precious metal tested by fire) if elaborated in teaching notes; avoid any term suggesting divine punishment.
endurance/steadfastness	ὑπομονή	hypomonē	remaining under; endurance, perseverance under pressure	The settled, active perseverance trials are meant to produce (1:3-4); reappears at 5:11 (Job’s ὑπομονή). Distinct Greek word from μακροθυμία (5:7-8, patience toward others/waiting) — see Ch.5 note.	HIGH RISK: standard Japanese 忍耐 (nintai) is often used to translate BOTH ὑπομονή and μακροθυμία, collapsing James’s distinction between active endurance-under-trial and patient forbearance-while-waiting. Recommend 忍耐 for ὑπομονή specifically and flag the distinction explicitly wherever ch.5’s μακροθυμία also appears, so the curriculum does not silently merge two doctrines (“Trials/Testing” vs. “Patience and the Lord’s Return”).
perfect/mature	τέλειος	teleios	complete, whole, mature, fully developed	Wholeness/maturity as the fruit of endurance (1:4) — NOT sinless perfection.	Medium risk. 完全な — must be glossed as “mature/complete,” not moral flawlessness, echoing the τελειόω risk flagged at 2:22.
wisdom	σοφία	sophia	skill, practical insight, understanding; (in NT) God-given, revelatory wisdom for righteous living	Central term for the “Wisdom from Above” doctrine (also ch.3); requested from God, freely given (1:5), contrasted later with earthly/demonic wisdom (3:15).	CRITICAL COLLISION RISK: the natural Japanese rendering 知恵 (chie) is safe, BUT the near-homophonic/near-synonymous Buddhist technical term 智慧 (also read chie) denotes prajñā — the specific transcendent wisdom that is one of the six pāramitā (perfections) leading to enlightenment in Mahayana Buddhism. MUST consistently use 知恵 (with 恵, the “grace/favor” kanji) and never 智慧 (with 智, the Buddhist-wisdom kanji) for James’s God-given wisdom, or the term will be silently absorbed into a Buddhist enlightenment framework. Flag as High risk requiring theologian/native-speaker verification at every occurrence (1:5, 3:13-17).
double-minded	δίψυχος	dipsychos	two-souled, divided in loyalty/mind	A rare word (coined or popularized by James; appears again 4:8) describing unstable, wavering faith that doubts while asking (1:6-8).	HIGH RISK: literal rendering 二心のある (nigokoro no aru, “having two hearts/minds”) is linguistically natural, BUT in Japanese cultural/historical usage 二心 strongly connotes political/feudal DISLOYALTY or treachery (a retainer secretly betraying his lord — a serious Bushido-era moral failure). This risks reframing James’s “wavering in prayerful trust” as a graver charge of betrayal/treason against God, shifting the register from spiritual instability to disloyalty. Recommend pairing with a clarifying phrase (e.g., 心が定まらず疑う者, “one whose heart is unsettled and doubts”) rather than relying on 二心 alone.
poor / rich	πτωχός / πλούσιος	ptōchos / plousios	poor, destitute / rich, wealthy	Introduces the reversal theme (the poor exalted, the rich humbled, 1:9-11) that becomes the “Favoritism and the Poor” doctrine in ch.2.	Medium risk (see ch.2 fuller treatment). 貧しい人/富む人 — standard; low ambiguity at this stage.
desire / lust	ἐπιθυμία	epithymia	strong desire, craving; (dominant NT moral sense) sinful/disordered desire	The internal root of temptation and sin (1:14-15), distinguished from external testing.	Medium risk. 欲望 (yokubou) — standard; must not be confused with neutral/positive desire (which Greek can also denote); context clarifies the negative sense.
sin	ἁμαρτία	hamartia	(baseline) missing the mark; moral transgression	The offspring of unchecked desire (1:15), leading to death.	Baseline term 罪 — REUSE EXACTLY.
death	θάνατος	thanatos	death, physical or spiritual/eternal	The end-result of sin’s maturation (1:15) — likely spiritual/eternal death in view, given the life-cycle metaphor.	Medium risk. 死 — standard; teaching should clarify this is not merely biological death.
good/perfect gift	δόσις ἀγαθή, δώρημα τέλειον	dosis agathē, dōrēma teleion	good giving, perfect gift	God’s unchanging, generous character as giver, contrasted with the “shifting shadows” of created lights (1:17).	Medium risk. 良い賜物/完全な賜物 — note the term δώρημα shares a root with the baseline’s spiritual_gifts (τά χαρίσματα) family but is a distinct term for God’s gifts in general, not the specific enablement-gifts of Romans 12; do not conflate with 賜物 (tamamono)‘s established narrower baseline sense without a clarifying note.
Father of lights	πατὴρ τῶν φώτων	patēr tōn phōtōn	Father of the lights (heavenly luminaries)	A title emphasizing God as unchanging Creator/source of all good, in contrast to created lights’ variability.	Low risk. 光の父 — straightforward; low collision with Japanese solar/light-deity associations (e.g., Amaterasu) if kept clearly modified as “Father,” but note this proximity for teaching awareness — briefly flag alongside the baseline’s son_of_god Amaterasu-lineage caution, though this specific phrase is lower risk than that entry.
word of truth / implanted word	λόγος ἀληθείας / ἔμφυτος λόγος	logos alētheias / emphytos logos	word of truth / implanted/rooted-in word	The gospel message that regenerates (1:18) and, received humbly, saves the soul (1:21) — God’s authoritative, life-giving speech.	Medium risk. 真理の言葉/植えつけられたみことば — must connect conceptually to established gospel (福音) vocabulary; avoid a generic “teaching” or “philosophy” register that would flatten this to one wisdom-teaching among others.
doer / hearer of the word	ποιητὴς λόγου / ἀκροατὴς	poiētēs logou / akroatēs	doer of the word / hearer	The chapter’s central practical contrast (1:22-25), programmatic for the whole book’s “Faith and Works” theme.	HIGH RISK. 実行する者/聞くだけの者 — must be rendered with enough force to set up the whole book’s argument; avoid softening “hearer only” (ἀκροατὴς μόνον) into a neutral description rather than James’s implied rebuke.
perfect law of liberty	νόμος τέλειος τῆς ἐλευθερίας	nomos teleios tēs eleutherias	perfect law of freedom	The moral law (rooted in Torah/love command, cf. 2:8-12) reconceived as liberating rather than burdensome when received with the gospel — reappears 2:12.	HIGH RISK. Reuse baseline 律法 for νόμος, adding 完全な、自由をもたらす — but note the conceptual tension: baseline Romans material frames 律法 primarily as what could NOT justify and from which Christ freed believers (a law/grace contrast). James frames the same root concept positively as liberating when kept by a genuine, Spirit-transformed heart. Teaching must reconcile these as complementary aspects (law as condemning apart from grace vs. law as loved and freely kept because of grace), not present them as contradictory uses of 律法. Theologian review required.
religion	θρησκεία	thrēskeia	religious practice/observance; cultic activity	”Pure and undefiled religion” (1:26-27) as practical care for orphans/widows and moral purity — James redefines authentic religious practice away from ritual observance toward ethical action.	HIGH RISK. Standard rendering 宗教 (shuukyou) is the generic modern Japanese category term covering Buddhism, Shinto, and Christianity alike, and — per the baseline’s note on 教祖 — carries residual public suspicion in Japan following the 1990s Aum Shinrikyo scandal, where “religion” (宗教) itself became a loaded, faintly dangerous word in mainstream discourse. Using 宗教 here risks either flattening James’s ethical-practice redefinition into generic institutional religiosity, or triggering unintended negative cultural associations. Recommend qualifying language (真の信仰のあり方, “the true shape of genuine faith”) alongside or instead of bare 宗教.
orphans and widows	ὀρφανός, χήρα	orphanos, chēra	orphan, widow	The concrete, paradigmatic objects of pure religion’s practical care (1:27).	Low risk. 孤児、やもめ — standard biblical vocabulary.
the world	κόσμος	kosmos	the ordered universe; (moral/NT sense) the fallen world-system in opposition to God	First appearance (1:27, “keep oneself unstained from the world”) of the term central to ch.4’s “Worldliness versus Friendship with God” doctrine.	HIGH RISK — see full treatment under ch.4; note here only that the moral/systemic sense (世, yo) must be distinguished from the literal-globe sense (世界, sekai) from its very first occurrence in the book.
tongue	γλῶσσα	glōssa	the physical tongue; speech, language	First mention (1:26, bridling the tongue) of the term central to ch.3’s “Taming the Tongue” doctrine.	Low-medium risk — see full treatment under ch.3.

Chapter 2 (vv.1–13) — Favoritism and the Law of Liberty

(vv.14-26, the core passage, are treated in full in Part A above.)

Term (Eng.)	Greek	Translit.	Literal/Range	Contextual Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
favoritism/partiality	προσωπολημψία	prosōpolēmpsia	face-receiving; judging by outward appearance/status	The chapter’s opening command (2:1, 9): do not show favoritism, especially toward the wealthy, since Christ himself is “the Lord of glory” (2:1) — this is the central term for the “Favoritism and the Poor” doctrine.	HIGH RISK. Recommend 人を分け隔てすること (hito wo wakehedate suru koto, “making distinctions/divisions among people”) rather than the narrower modern term 差別 (sabetsu), which in contemporary Japanese usage primarily denotes systemic discrimination (race, disability, burakumin caste-origin) and may feel over-weighted or off-target for James’s specific case (deference to wealth/status within a worship gathering). Additional risk: Japan’s own strong status-consciousness culture (keigo honorific speech graded by social rank, senpai-kohai deference) may make James’s command counter-intuitive or even feel socially improper to readers, requiring explicit teaching that biblical impartiality overrides ordinary status-deference norms within the gathered church.
Lord of glory	κύριος … τῆς δόξης	kyrios tēs doxēs	Lord of glory	A striking, compressed title for Christ (2:1).	CRITICAL — combine baseline 主 (lord) + 栄光 (glory) exactly: 栄光の主. Both component terms already carry Critical/Medium risk ratings in the baseline; their combination in a title asserting Christ’s deity deserves theologian review.
gold ring / fine clothing vs. shabby clothing	χρυσοδακτύλιος, ἐσθὴς λαμπρά / ῥυπαρὰ ἐσθής	chrysodaktylios, esthēs lampra / rhypara esthēs	gold-fingered, bright clothing / filthy clothing	Concrete social markers of wealth vs. poverty used to illustrate favoritism in worship.	Low risk. 金の指輪、立派な服/汚れた服 — descriptive, low ambiguity.
elect/choose	ἐκλέγομαι	eklegomai	to choose, select	”Did not God choose the poor…” (2:5) — echoes the baseline’s election (ἐκλογή) doctrine of sovereign, gracious, unmerited choice.	HIGH RISK, per baseline’s existing caution: MUST NOT be framed through Japan’s competitive exam/hiring “selection” culture (受験, 選抜), which implies passing a merit-based process. Reuse baseline logic (選び family) even though the verb form here (ἐκλέγομαι) is new to this package; render consistently with 選び’s established sense of sovereign, unmerited choice.
heir	κληρονόμος	klēronomos	heir, inheritor	The poor, rich in faith, are heirs of the promised kingdom (2:5) — connects to the baseline’s inheritance-related adoption doctrine framing (full inheritance rights).	Medium risk. NEW TERM: 相続人 (souzokunin) — standard legal/inheritance term in Japanese; low collision risk, and can draw on the same 養子縁組 cultural-bridge logic the baseline uses for adoption (full inheritance rights regardless of origin).
kingdom	βασιλεία	basileia	kingdom, reign	”The kingdom which he promised to those who love him” (2:5) — conceptually related to, but not the identical phrase as, the baseline’s kingdom_of_god (神の国, Romans 14:17).	Medium risk. If rendered 神の国, carry forward the baseline’s full caution regarding pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist resonance (神国日本) and anchor clearly to this promise-inheritance sense, not a political/territorial one.
royal law	νόμος βασιλικός	nomos basilikos	kingly/royal law	The love-your-neighbor command (Leviticus 19:18, quoted 2:8) described as supremely authoritative — “royal” because it comes from the King.	Medium risk. 王の律法/最高の律法 — combine with baseline 律法; low collision, but ensure “royal” is understood as “belonging to/from the King” (God/Christ), not an earthly-monarchy metaphor that might resonate oddly with Japan’s historical/contemporary constitutional-monarchy context.
transgressor	παραβάτης	parabatēs	one who steps across/transgresses	One who violates the law at any point (2:9, 11) — the whole law is a unity; violating one point convicts as fully as violating many.	Low risk. 違反者/罪を犯す者 — standard.
mercy	ἔλεος	eleos	mercy, compassion shown to those in need/distress	”Judgment without mercy” for the merciless (2:13); mercy as the antidote to cold, status-based judgment — a term that will recur across the book (3:17, 5:11).	NEW TERM, Medium-High risk. Recommend 憐れみ (awaremi). Risk: must be distinguished from generic Japanese 思いやり (omoiyari, thoughtful consideration/empathy, a strongly positive secular social virtue) — biblical mercy specifically implies withholding deserved judgment/punishment toward the undeserving, a somewhat different shape than general empathetic consideration.
law of liberty	νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας	nomos tēs eleutherias	law of freedom	Repeated from 1:25 (2:12) — the standard by which believers will be judged.	See ch.1 entry; consistency required across both occurrences.

Chapter 3 — Taming the Tongue and Wisdom from Above

Term (Eng.)	Greek	Translit.	Literal/Range	Contextual Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
tongue	γλῶσσα	glōssa	tongue; speech	Central image of the chapter (3:1-12): small but powerful, likened to a bit/rudder/spark, capable of great good or great destruction.	Medium risk. 舌 (shita) — standard and unambiguous as a body-part term. Cultural bridge available: the Japanese proverb 口は災いの元 (“the mouth is the source of calamity”) and 舌は災いの根 resonate naturally with James’s imagery and can aid teaching, but must not replace the text’s own vivid metaphors (bit, rudder, fire, spring) with a flattened proverb-summary.
Gehenna/hell	γέεννα	geenna	Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom, used metaphorically for final judgment/hell)	“Set on fire by hell” (3:6) — the tongue’s capacity for evil is traced to an infernal, not merely human, source.	CRITICAL COLLISION RISK. The standard Japanese rendering 地獄 (jigoku) is the same word used for the elaborate multi-level Buddhist hell-realm cosmology (presided over by Enma Daiō, the judge of the dead, with distinct punishments per realm) — a richly detailed, doctrinally distinct system embedded in Japanese folk religion and popular culture. Using 地獄 without qualification risks the reader importing this entire Buddhist cosmological framework onto James’s single, comparatively spare reference. Recommend transliteration ゲヘナ (Gehena) with an explanatory gloss (a place/state of final divine judgment) at first occurrence, reserving 地獄 only with heavy qualification if used at all. Theologian review required.
earthly, unspiritual, demonic (wisdom)	ἐπίγειος, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης	epigeios, psychikē, daimoniōdēs	earthly / soulish-natural / demon-originated	The three-fold negative contrast to wisdom “from above” (3:15) — a hierarchy of increasingly serious false wisdom, culminating in demonic origin.	HIGH RISK. 地に属する、この世的な (or 肉に属する)、悪霊から出た — the middle term ψυχική (soulish/natural, related to ψυχή/soul) is easily confused with a positive “psychological/soul-related” sense in Japanese (心理的な); must be rendered to convey “merely natural, unregenerate human wisdom” rather than anything to do with the psyche positively.
wisdom from above	σοφία … ἄνωθεν	sophia anōthen	wisdom from above/from on high	The positive counterpart (3:15, 17), described by nine qualities: pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, sincere.	See ch.1’s Critical 知恵/智慧 collision note — applies with full force here as this is the doctrine’s fullest statement. 上から来る知恵 (wisdom coming from above) should be used to reinforce the spatial/source metaphor distinct from the earthly triad above.
peace(-making)	εἰρήνη	eirēnē	peace	”The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (3:18) — social/communal, relational peace among people, a distinct sense from the baseline’s peace entry (peace with God through justification, Romans 5:1).	HIGH RISK, distinct from baseline: the established Shinkaiyaku convention for this social/interpersonal sense of εἰρήνη is 平和 (heiwa), NOT the baseline’s reserved 平安 (heian, peace-with-God). This package must explicitly document that the SAME Greek word εἰρήνη is rendered with TWO DIFFERENT Japanese words depending on referent — 平安 for the vertical peace-with-God sense (Romans 5:1, 8:6) and 平和 for the horizontal, social/communal peacemaking sense (James 3:18, and James 2:16’s conventional farewell sense, rendered differently again). Native speaker and theologian review both required to ensure this three-way distinction is applied consistently.
mercy and good fruits	μεστὴ ἐλέους καὶ καρπῶν ἀγαθῶν	mestē eleous kai karpōn agathōn	full of mercy and good fruits	One of wisdom-from-above’s defining marks.	Reuse ch.2’s 憐れみ; 良い実 for “good fruits” — low additional risk.
impartial, without hypocrisy	ἀδιάκριτος, ἀνυπόκριτος	adiakritos, anypokritos	undivided/impartial, unhypocritical/sincere	Further marks of heavenly wisdom, directly answering ch.2’s favoritism problem.	Low-medium risk. 偏りがない、偽りのない — should echo ch.2’s favoritism vocabulary (人を分け隔てしない) for thematic consistency.

Chapter 4 — Worldliness, Friendship with God, and Humility

Term (Eng.)	Greek	Translit.	Literal/Range	Contextual Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
the world (moral/systemic sense)	κόσμος	kosmos	see ch.1	The full development of the term introduced at 1:27: a moral-relational system opposed to God, courted through envy, quarrels, and disordered desire (4:1-4).	CRITICAL COLLISION RISK. MUST use 世 (yo), NOT 世界 (sekai, the literal physical globe/world), for this moral-systemic sense. Using 世界 would reduce James’s theological antithesis to a geography/globalism statement; conflating the two would also blur the doctrine “Worldliness versus Friendship with God” into a vague anti-materialism or anti-globalization message rather than a spiritual-allegiance issue.
friendship with the world / enmity with God	φιλία τοῦ κόσμου / ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ	philia tou kosmou / echthra tou theou	friendship of the world / enmity of God	The doctrine’s defining phrase (4:4): the two allegiances are mutually exclusive, framed starkly as friendship vs. hostility, not merely differing priorities.	HIGH RISK. 世との友情/神への敵意 — 友情 (yuujou, friendship) carries warm, positive connotations in ordinary Japanese usage that could soften the stark either/or force of James’s warning; teaching should stress this is a covenantal-allegiance term (whose “friend” one is), paralleling and contrasting directly with 2:23’s positive 神の友 (friend of God). The two “friendship” terms in the same book — friendship with the world (negative) and friendship with God (positive, 2:23) — must be kept in careful tension in teaching materials.
grace	χάρις	charis	(baseline) unmerited favor	”God gives grace to the humble” (4:6, quoting Proverbs 3:34), set in direct opposition to pride.	Baseline term 恵み — REUSE EXACTLY. Note connection to the baseline’s on-giri non-transactional clarification: here grace is given specifically to the humble/lowly (ταπεινός), which could be misread through Japan’s own status-humility social protocols (modest self-presentation, kenson 謙遜, as a social virtue performed to maintain harmony) rather than genuine internal submission before God. Flag for teaching clarification.
submit / resist	ὑποτάγητε / ἀντίστητε	hypotagēte / antistēte	submit yourselves / resist, stand against	Submit to God, resist the devil (4:7) — a double command central to the chapter’s call to repentance.	Medium risk. 服従しなさい/立ち向かいなさい — low ambiguity; ensure 服従 (submission) here is unambiguously to God, not read as generic social/hierarchical compliance (cf. baseline’s obedience_of_faith caution about Japan’s hierarchy-compliance culture).
devil	διάβολος	diabolos	slanderer, accuser; the Devil	The personal spiritual adversary who flees when resisted (4:7).	Medium risk. 悪魔 (akuma) — standard Japanese Christian term; low collision, distinct from folk-yōkai categories.
double-minded	δίψυχος	dipsychos	see ch.1	Repeated (4:8) in the call to purify divided hearts.	Same entry/risk as ch.1.
humble / exalt	ταπεινός / ὑψόω	tapeinos / hypsoō	lowly, humble / to lift up, exalt	”Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (4:10) — the reversal principle recurring throughout the book (cf. 1:9-10).	Low-medium risk. 謙遜/高くする — should connect conceptually to 1:9-10’s rich/poor reversal and to kenson (謙遜) as an existing Japanese social virtue, while clarifying this is humility specifically before God, not merely social modesty performance.
vapor/mist	ἀτμίς	atmis	vapor, mist, breath	”Your life is a mist” (4:14) — vivid image of life’s brevity, undercutting arrogant future-planning.	Low risk. 霞/蒸気 — standard; low collision.
”if the Lord wills”	Ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ	ean ho kyrios thelēsē	if the Lord should will	James’s model of humble, contingent speech about the future (4:15), in contrast to presumptuous boasting (4:13, 16).	Low risk. 主が望まれるなら — standard conditional phrasing; note as a practical piety idiom worth highlighting in teaching (comparable function to “Deo volente” in Western Christian tradition; no equivalent pre-existing Japanese idiom, so this phrase should be taught as a distinctly Christian practice).

Chapter 5 — Rich Oppressors, Patience, Prayer, and Restoration

Term (Eng.)	Greek	Translit.	Literal/Range	Contextual Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
Lord of Sabaoth / Lord of hosts	κύριος Σαβαώθ	kyrios Sabaōth	Lord of (heavenly) armies/hosts	A divine title (5:4) invoking God as the one who hears the cries of exploited laborers and will judge oppressive wealth.	Medium risk. Use the established OT-tradition rendering 万軍の主 (bangun no shu) — must connect to baseline 主 (Lord) conventions; low collision but requires the compound to be recognized as a divine title, not a literal military reference.
patience (toward others/in waiting)	μακροθυμία	makrothymia	long-suffering, forbearance, patience in waiting	The central term for “Patience and the Lord’s Return” (5:7-8, 10) — waiting for the Lord’s coming as a farmer waits for harvest; DISTINCT from ὑπομονή (endurance under trial, 1:3-4, 5:11), though the two appear within a few verses of each other in ch.5 itself (5:7-8 μακροθυμία, then 5:11 ὑπομονή of Job).	HIGH RISK — see ch.1 note on ὑπομονή; standard Japanese 忍耐 tends to cover both words, erasing James’s own distinction between patient waiting-for-God’s-timing (μακροθυμία) and active endurance-under-present-suffering (ὑπομονή). Recommend consistent use of 忍耐 for μακροθυμία but supplement with explicit connector language (“耐え忍ぶこと,” taeshinobu koto) for ὑπομονή at 5:11 to preserve the distinction the chapter itself draws by using both words. Theologian/native-speaker review required.
coming/parousia of the Lord	παρουσία τοῦ κυρίου	parousia tou kyriou	arrival, presence, coming	The eschatological hope anchoring patience (5:7-8) — Christ’s promised, personal return.	HIGH RISK. Recommend 主の来臨 or 主の来られること — a formal theological term for Christ’s second coming, distinct from casual “arrival” vocabulary (到着, touchaku, used for mundane arrivals like trains or guests) which would badly deflate the eschatological weight, paralleling the baseline’s caution about 復活’s pop-culture “comeback” deflation risk for a different but structurally similar reason.
establish/strengthen (hearts)	στηρίζω	stērizō	to fix firmly, establish, strengthen	”Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (5:8) — practical exhortation flowing from eschatological hope.	Low risk. 心を強くする/堅く立てる — standard.
example/pattern	ὑπόδειγμα	hypodeigma	example, pattern, model	The prophets as models of suffering with patience (5:10).	Low risk. 模範 — standard.
Job’s endurance	ὑπομονὴ Ἰώβ	hypomonē Iōb	the endurance of Job	A named, celebrated OT example (5:11) of enduring suffering while trusting God’s ultimate compassion.	See μακροθυμία/ὑπομονή note above; proper name Job — new to this package, standard Japanese Bible form ヨブ (Yobu).
compassionate and merciful	πολύσπλαγχνος καὶ οἰκτίρμων	polysplagchnos kai oiktirmōn	very tender-hearted/compassionate and merciful	A description of God’s character (5:11) grounding the call to patience — God’s own compassion, not stoic resignation, is the basis of hope.	Medium risk. 慈愛に富み、あわれみに満ちた — connect with ch.2-3’s ἔλεος/憐れみ vocabulary for consistency.
oath/swear	ὀμνύω	omnyō	to swear, take an oath	”Do not swear… let your yes be yes” (5:12) — a call to simple, trustworthy speech consistent with ch.3’s tongue-taming theme.	Low risk. 誓う — standard; low cultural collision since Japan lacks an equivalent strong courtroom/God-invoking oath culture, so the verse functions more as a general call to truthful, simple speech than a polemic against a specific existing practice.
sick / weak	ἀσθενέω	astheneō	to be weak, sick, ill	The condition addressed by the elders’ prayer (5:14) — central term for “Prayer and Healing.”	Medium risk. 病気である/弱っている — standard; low collision itself, but see いやし/救う risk below for the healing outcome terms.
elders (of the church)	πρεσβύτερος	presbyteros	elder, older person; (NT technical) recognized church leader/overseer	The church leadership role called to pray over the sick (5:14).	NEW TERM, Medium risk. Recommend 長老 (chourou) — an established Japanese Christian church-office term; low collision, though 長老 in secular usage can also denote a village/community elder in a generic sense, which is a helpful, non-competing cultural bridge rather than a collision.
anointing with oil	ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ	aleipsantes elaiō	having anointed with oil	The elders’ prescribed physical act accompanying prayer for the sick (5:14).	NEW TERM, Medium risk. 油を塗って/油を注いで — Japan has no strong competing religious ritual-anointing tradition, so collision risk is low; however, teaching should clarify this is a symbolic act of faith/consecration accompanying prayer, not a medical treatment or a magical/sacramental guarantee of healing (avoiding both a superstitious-magic misreading and a purely symbolic-only underreading).
prayer of faith will save/heal	ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα	hē euchē tēs pisteōs sōsei ton kamnonta	the prayer of faith will save/heal the one who is weary/sick	The promise attached to elder-led prayer (5:15) — σώζω here denotes physical healing/restoration, a distinct sense from the book’s earlier soteriological use (2:14).	CRITICAL DISAMBIGUATION RISK, directly extending a risk already flagged in the Romans baseline: the natural Japanese word for gentle restorative “healing,” 癒し (iyashi), is — per the baseline’s own peace entry note — heavily saturated in modern secular Japanese with the commercial wellness/self-care/spa industry (iyashi-kei entertainment, relaxation goods marketing). Using 癒し here risks flattening a promise of God’s miraculous, faith-activated physical restoration into generic therapeutic “healing vibes.” Recommend the verb 救う (reusing baseline’s established 救い family, consistent with 2:14’s usage of the same Greek verb) with a contextual gloss clarifying physical healing is meant, rather than defaulting to 癒す. Theologian review required.
forgive	ἀφίημι (ἀφεθήσεται)	aphiēmi	to release, let go, forgive	”If he has sinned, he will be forgiven” (5:15) — connects healing prayer to the possibility (not certainty in every illness case) of a link between sin and sickness, and the reality of forgiveness.	Medium risk. 赦される (yurusareru) — standard forgiveness vocabulary; ensure it is not read as implying ALL illness is caused by personal sin (a misreading James’s own qualifying κἂν, “if… perhaps,” resists).
confess (sins to one another)	ἐξομολογέω	exomologeō	to confess openly, acknowledge fully	”Confess your sins to one another… that you may be healed” (5:16) — mutual, peer-level confession within the believing community. Central term for “Confession and Restoration.”	CRITICAL COLLISION RISK. Standard Japanese has TWO relevant terms: 告白 (kokuhaku, general confession/declaration — also the ordinary word for a romantic “confession of feelings,” a strong secular association risk in casual contexts) and 告解 (koukai/kokkai), the specific term for the Roman Catholic sacrament of Confession/Penance made privately to an ordained priest with absolution. James 5:16 describes MUTUAL, peer-to-peer, non-sacramental, non-hierarchical confession among ordinary believers — a meaningfully different structure from 告解’s priest-mediated sacramental sense. Recommend 互いに罪を告白し合う (confessing sins to one another, mutually) using 告白 with the explicit 互いに/し合う reciprocal-mutual construction to avoid both the romantic-declaration association and the priest-mediated sacramental association. Theologian review required.
pray for one another / be healed	εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων … ἰαθῆτε	euchesthe hyper allēlōn … iathēte	pray for one another … that you may be healed	Continues 5:16’s mutual-body-of-Christ vision; ἰάομαι here parallel to σώζω at 5:15 — again likely physical healing in primary view, though the passage’s logic (linked to confessed sin and restoration) suggests a holistic healing encompassing spiritual restoration.	Same いやし/救い disambiguation risk as 5:15’s σώζω — apply consistently.
prayer of a righteous person is powerful/effective	δέησις δικαίου … ἐνεργουμένη … πολὺ ἰσχύει	deēsis dikaiou energoumenē poly ischyei	the entreaty of a righteous one, being at work, is very strong/effective	The chapter’s climactic principle (5:16b), illustrated immediately by Elijah.	HIGH RISK, connects to baseline’s Critical-risk 義 term: δικαίου (righteous person) here MUST NOT be read through the Bushido-virtue lens of 義 (moral courage displayed through right action) as though prayer’s power depends on the pray-er’s cultivated personal virtue in a merit sense — rather, this is the effective prayer of one in right standing before God (echoing, though not identical to, the forensic 義と認められること sense established in ch.2/Romans). Theologian review recommended.
Elijah	Ἠλίας	Ēlias	Elijah	The chapter’s model of effective, faith-filled prayer (5:17-18), described as “a man with a nature like ours” (ὁμοιοπαθής) — emphasizing his ordinariness, not extraordinary spiritual status.	NEW proper noun, standard Japanese Bible form エリヤ (Eriya); low risk. The qualifying phrase “of like nature to us” (ὁμοιοπαθής, 同じような人間) should be preserved to prevent Elijah being elevated to an inaccessible spiritual-elite category, reinforcing rather than undermining the doctrine that ordinary believers’ prayer is powerful.
wander/stray from the truth	πλανηθῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας	planēthē apo tēs alētheias	be led astray/wander from the truth	The condition of the one needing restoration (5:19) — drifting from sound doctrine/practice, not necessarily total apostasy.	Medium risk. 真理から迷い出る — standard; should not be overtranslated as permanent, irrecoverable apostasy given the passage’s hopeful restoration framing.
turn back/restore	ἐπιστρέφω	epistrephō	to turn back, return, convert	”Someone brings him back” (5:19-20) — the community’s active role in restoring a straying member; central term for “Confession and Restoration,” closely related to but distinct from repentance-vocabulary elsewhere in the NT (μετάνοια, not used in James).	HIGH RISK, new term. Recommend 立ち返らせる (tachikaeraseru, cause to turn back/return) — must be distinguished from 悔い改めさせる (cause to repent), which imports the fuller μετάνοια concept not actually the word James uses here; James’s emphasis is relational/restorative (bringing someone back into right relationship/practice) via loving community action, which 立ち返らせる captures more precisely than a heavier repentance-vocabulary term would.
cover a multitude of sins	καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν	kalypsei plēthos hamartiōn	will cover a multitude of sins	The book’s closing promise (5:20): restoring a straying sinner results in the covering/forgiveness of many sins — echoing OT atonement-covering imagery (cf. Psalm 32:1).	Medium risk. 多くの罪をおおう — should connect conceptually (in teaching notes) to OT sacrificial “covering” atonement imagery without overclaiming this verse teaches a new independent means of atonement apart from Christ’s finished work; this is pastoral-communal restoration language, not a competing soteriology.

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Summary of Cross-Book Consistency Requirements

1. δικαιόω/δικαιοσύνη in James 2:14-26 must use the baseline’s exact 義/義と認められること renderings while carrying mandatory theologian commentary distinguishing James’s vindication-sense from Romans’ forensic-declaration sense (see Doctrinal Note, Part A).
2. εἰρήνη requires THREE distinct Japanese renderings depending on referent across the book: 平安 (peace with God, baseline sense — not actually used in James, but must not be introduced where James means something else), 平和 (social/communal peacemaking, 3:18), and a natural idiomatic farewell (2:16, NOT 平安/平和 either).
3. σοφία must consistently use 知恵 (chie, with 恵 kanji), never 智慧 (chie, with 智 kanji, the Buddhist prajñā term).
4. γέεννα should be transliterated ゲヘナ with a gloss, avoiding unqualified 地獄 given Japanese Buddhist hell-cosmology associations.
5. σῴζω/ἰάομαι in physical-healing contexts (5:15-16) must avoid 癒し (iyashi)‘s wellness-industry connotations, reusing the baseline’s 救う family with a healing-context gloss instead.
6. ἐξομολογέω (“confess,” 5:16) must avoid both 告白’s romantic-declaration association and 告解’s Catholic-sacramental association, using a reciprocal construction (互いに…告白し合う).
7. ὑπομονή vs. μακροθυμία — both commonly flattened to 忍耐 — must be distinguished in teaching notes wherever both doctrines (“Trials and Testing” and “Patience and the Lord’s Return”) are in view.
8. Every chapter of James has been reviewed for load-bearing theological vocabulary; no chapter is silently omitted.