Passage

James 3.1

Book: James · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment."

"2. For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3. Now if we put the horses' bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also." (James 3:1-3, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment."

"2. For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3. Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body." (James 3:1-3, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. ^{condemnation: or, judgment}"

"2. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body." (James 3:1-3, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Many teachers become not, my brethren, having known that greater judgment we shall receive,"

"2. for we all make many stumbles; if any one in word doth not stumble, this one [is] a perfect man, able to bridle also the whole body; 3. lo, the bits we put into the mouths of the horses for their obeying us, and their whole body we turn about;" (James 3:1-3, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

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.

TBD
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Quoted in

Teacher

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.