ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

James 4.12

Book: James · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you. 11. Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?

  1. Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain: 14. whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:10-14, ASV)
WEB

10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. 11. Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12. Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

  1. Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.” 14. Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. (James 4:10-14, WEB)
KJV

10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 11. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

  1. Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. It: or, For it is (James 4:10-14, KJV)
YLT

10. be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you. 11. Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;

12. one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; thou, who art thou that dost judge the other?

  1. Go, now, ye who are saying, 'To-day and to-morrow we will go on to such a city, and will pass there one year, and traffic, and make gain;' 14. who do not know the thing of the morrow; for what is your life? for it is a vapour that is appearing for a little, and then is vanishing; (James 4:10-14, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

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

"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?"

The argument. Verse 11 has just prohibited speaking against a brother, on the ground that judging a fellow believer amounts to judging the law rather than doing it. Verse 12 supplies the reason: there is one Lawgiver and Judge, and the person passing sentence has taken a seat that is occupied.

"Able to save and to destroy." The phrase echoes Deuteronomy 32:39 and Matthew 10:28. The point is a competence claim: the one entitled to judge is the one who can execute either verdict, which no human being can.

What is and is not forbidden. Katalalia, speaking against, is the specific target, along with the posture of setting oneself over the law. The New Testament plainly requires discernment and correction elsewhere (Matthew 18:15-17; Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 5:12), so the verse cannot mean that no assessment of conduct is ever permitted. It targets the assumption of a judicial role over another person's standing before God.

A common misuse. The verse, like Matthew 7:1, is often deployed to end any moral conversation. James himself spends the letter making sharp moral judgments about partiality, speech, and wealth, so whatever he meant, he did not mean that. See Christians Cannot Judge Objection Defeater.

"Your neighbor." The same word as the royal law of James 2:8, which is not accidental: the person you are judging is the one you were commanded to love.

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.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Passages:

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.