Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 2:21

"Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?" — James 2:21 (ASV)

The designation of Abraham as “our ancestor” (lit., “father”; GK 4252) agrees with evidence found elsewhere in the letter (e.g., 1:1) that James wrote for a Jewish readership. “Considered righteous” (GK 1467; can also be translated “justified”) is a forensic term; it never refers to making a person subjectively righteous, but always describes the act of declaring a person righteous. To James, Abraham was declared righteous “for what he did.” It was a pronouncement that found its source in Abraham’s obedient offering of his son (Genesis 22:1–14), as the following verses explain.