Passage

James 2.8

Book: James · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats? 7. Do not they blaspheme the honorable name by which ye are called?

8. Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:

but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. (James 2:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? 7. Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

8. However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.

But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. (James 2:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7. Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? ^{blaspheme: or, revile, or, slander}

8. If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. and ye did dishonour the poor one; do not the rich oppress you and themselves draw you to judgment-seats; 7. do they not themselves speak evil of the good name that was called upon you?

8. If, indeed, royal law ye complete, according to the Writing, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,', ye do well;

and if ye accept persons, sin ye do work, being convicted by the law as transgressors; 10. for whoever the whole law shall keep, and shall stumble in one [point], he hath become guilty of all; (James 2:6-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: James (Iakōbos), identified by the great majority of interpreters as the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19; Mark 6:3), leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18). He introduces himself simply as "a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), never as a relative.
Audience: Jewish believers outside Palestine, addressed as "the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad" (James 1:1). The congregations meet in a synagōgē (James 2:2) and include both poor members and wealthy visitors.
Location: Jerusalem, from which James led the mother church.
Time period: Date disputed. An early date (c. AD 44-49) would make this the earliest surviving Christian writing; a later one places it before James's death, which Josephus dates to AD 62 (Antiquities 20.200). The letter shows no awareness of the Gentile-circumcision controversy settled in Acts 15, which many take as evidence for the early date.

Theological reading

"If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well."

"The royal law." Nomon basilikon, the kingly law. The adjective may mean the law given by the King, the law that is supreme over the others, or the law that befits those in the kingdom; commentators divide, and the senses are not exclusive.

The quotation. Leviticus 19:18, the second of the two commandments Jesus names as the summary of the law (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31), and the one Paul says fulfills the whole law (Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14). Three New Testament writers converge on the same verse for the same purpose.

Why it is quoted here. The context is partiality: seating a rich visitor well and a poor one badly. James's charge is that the congregation was keeping the form of neighbor-love selectively, and verse 9 draws the conclusion: "if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."

The following verses. "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all" (verse 10). The argument is not that all sins are equal in gravity but that the law is one lawgiver's single will, so breaking it anywhere is breaking with Him. The word "neighbor" is also the same one used at James 4:12, which ties the letter's two great social commands together.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G0025 - agapao, agapao, Strong's G0025
G3551 - nomos, nomos, Strong's G3551

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Mosaic Law

Passages:

James 4.12

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.