What Does James 2:18 Mean?
But someone will say, You have trust, and I have works. Show me your trust without your works, and I will show you my trust by my works.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.THE KEY
Trust is not an invisible claim beside action; it becomes visible through the deeds that carry it.
THE MEANING
What you rely on takes shape in your actions, and those actions make your trust visible. The verse asks for trust to be shown apart from deeds, then answers by showing trust through deeds.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that trust can be demonstrated while remaining entirely separate from what you do.
THE ROOT
πίστιν
pístin
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust and reliance: leaning your full weight on what is trusted.
English “faith” can sound like an idea held inside; this word family carries trust as reliance and describes what is trusted as firm and steady. Here, trust is made visible through the actions that carry it.
ALSO GROWS
pisteúō: trust; entrust oneself
πιστεύω
The verb turns trust into an act of relying, rather than leaving it as an isolated opinion.
pistós: firm, steady; reliable
πιστός
The same word family describes what can be relied on, bringing trust and steadiness together.
ἔργων
ergōn
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Work done; an action or deed.
“works” in this verse is ergōn. The Greek names concrete actions, not a second inner possession alongside trust. The deeds are what make trust legible.
ALSO GROWS
ergázomai: work; do; accomplish
ἐργάζομαι
The related verb names work as something carried out, giving the noun an active shape.
enérgeia: activity; working
ἐνέργεια
This related word keeps the same work-root in view as action in operation.
δεῖξον
deîxon
GROWS FROM
δείκνυμι
deíknymi
Point out; show; make visible.
“shew” in this verse is deîxon. The same verb appears twice: “show me” and “I will show you.” Its repetition puts visibility at the center, the question is what trust can be seen in.
ALSO GROWS
apódeixis: demonstration; proof
ἀπόδειξις
The compound carries the same showing-root into the idea of making something evident.
endeíknymi: show; indicate
ἐνδείκνυμι
This compound also means to point something out, echoing the verse’s repeated demand for visible evidence.
THE PATTERN
What is held within becomes legible through the actions that express it.
Even a child is known by his deeds, whether his work is clean, and whether it runs straight.You will know them by their fruits. Do people gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?Little children, let us not love in word, nor in the tongue, but in works and in truth.THE THREAD
For in Jesus, the Anointed One, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any strength, but trust that works through love.James’s πίστις (pístis, trust) is the same word translated “faith” here, while ἐνεργουμένη (energouménē, being active) belongs to ἐργ- (erg-, work/action), the word family behind James’s “works.” Together, these roots show trust active through love, opening James’s “show me” as trust made visible in life.
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