James 2:2

James 2:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
• New International Version (NIV)Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
• New King James Version (NKJV)For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,

Context of James 2:2

1My Christian friends, you must be kind to everyone. You trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who is great in heaven. So do not think that anyone is more valuable than any other person. When you are meeting together as believers, maybe two men will come to join with you. One of them is wearing beautiful clothes, and he has gold rings on his hands. The other man is poor, and he is wearing old clothes that are dirty. 3You are kind to the man who is wearing beautiful clothes. You say to him, ‘Please sit here in this good place.’ But you say to the poor man, ‘Go and stand over there.’ Or you may say to him, ‘Sit on the floor near my feet.’ 4If you do that, you are thinking bad thoughts. You have decided that one person among you is better than another person. You must not do that.

James 2:2 word by word

ἐὰν γὰρ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς συναγωγὴν ὑμῶν ἀνὴρ χρυσοδακτύλιος ἐν ἐσθῆτι λαμπρᾷ, εἰσέλθῃ δὲ καὶ πτωχὸς ἐν ῥυπαρᾷ ἐσθῆτιRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• there comeεἰσέρχομαιeiserchomai · to enterG1525
• untoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• assemblyὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• assemblyσυναγωγήsunagōgē · synagogueG4864
• a manἀνήρanēr · manG435
• with a gold ringχρυσοδακτύλιοςchrusodaktulios · gold-ringedG5554
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• goodlyλαμπρόςlampros · shiningG2986
• apparelἐσθήςesthēs · clothingG2066
• andδέde · thenG1161
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• a poor manπτωχόςptōchos · poorG4434
• vileῥυπαρόςrhuparos · filthyG4508

Cross-references for James 2:2

• Esther 3:10The king took his special ring from his finger and he gave it to Hammedatha's son, Haman, the Jews' great enemy.
• Esther 8:2The king had taken back his special ring from Haman. Now he took it off his own finger and he gave it to Mordecai. And Esther gave Mordecai authority over all the things that had belonged to Haman.
• Luke 15:22But the father shouted to his servants. “Hurry!” he said. “Fetch the most beautiful coat that we have. Put it on him and also put a ring on his finger. Put shoes on his feet.
• Genesis 27:15Then Rebekah took some of Esau's best clothes that were in her house. She put them on Jacob, her younger son.
• Matthew 11:8Did you go to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes? No! People like that do not live in the wilderness. They live in kings' great houses.
• Isaiah 64:6Our sins have made us all like unclean people, who cannot worship you. Even the good things that we try to do are like dirty bits of cloth. Our sins will blow us all away, as the wind blows away dead leaves.
• Zechariah 3:3Joshua was wearing very dirty clothes and he stood in front of the angel.

Commentaries on James 2:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2If there come unto your assembly - · Into the synagogue. It appears from this that the apostle is addressing Jews who frequented their synagogues, and carried on their worship there and judicial proceedings, as the Jews were accustomed to do. Our word assembly does not express the original; and we cannot suppose that these synagogues were at this time occupied with Christian worship, but that the Christian Jews continued to frequent them for the purpose…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2For if there come into your assembly - Margin, as in Greek, “synagogue.” It is remarkable that this is the only place in the New Testament where the word “synagogue” is applied to the Christian church. It is probably employed here because the apostle was writing to those who had been Jews; and it is to be presumed that the word synagogue would be naturally used by the early converts from Judaism to designate a Christian place of worship, or a Christian…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2your meeting (literally your synagogue): This term refers to the gathering of people, not the building where they met. The rich wear fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, while the poor wear shabby clothes. This shows the difference in their socioeconomic status.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-32-3. "If there chance to have come" [Alford]. assembly--literally, "synagogue"; this, the latest honorable use, and the only Christian use of the term in the New Testament, occurs in James's Epistle, the apostle who maintained to the latest possible moment the bonds between the Jewish synagogue and the Christian Church. Soon the continued resistance of the truth by the Jews led Christians to leave the term to them exclusively (Re 3:9). The "synagogue"…Read the comment

Topics related to James 2:2

• Commandments
• Faith
• Poor
• Respect of Persons
• Synagogue
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• Convince
• Dead
• Draw
• Justify
• Offend
• Respect
• Rich
• Ring
• Sister
• Assembly

Commentaries on James 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings