English Standard Version
James 2:9
9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
James 2:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
- New International Version (NIV)But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- New Living Translation (NLT)But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
Context of James 2:9
7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Read all of James 2James 2:9 word by word
εἰ δὲ προσωπολημπτεῖτε, ἁμαρτίαν ἐργάζεσθε ἐλεγχόμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ὡς παραβάται.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Butδέde · thenG1161
- ifεἰei · ifG1487
- ye have respect to personsπροσωποληπτέωprosōpolēpteō · to favorG4380
- ye commitἐργάζομαιergazomai · to workG2038
- sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
- and are convincedἐλέγχωelegchō · to rebukeG1651
- ofὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
- the lawὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
- asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- transgressorsπαραβάτηςparabatēs · transgresorG3848
Cross-references for James 2:9
- James 2:1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
- Leviticus 19:15"You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
- John 8:9But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
- John 16:8And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
- 1 Corinthians 14:24But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all,
- Jude 1:15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
- Romans 3:20For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
- Romans 7:7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."
- Galatians 2:19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
- 1 John 3:4Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
Commentaries on James 2:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9But if ye have respect to persons - In judgment, or in any other way; ye commit sin against God, and against your brethren, and are convinced, , and are convicted, by the law; by this royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; as transgressors, having shown this sinful acceptance of persons, which has led you to refuse justice to the poor man, and uphold the rich in his oppressive conduct.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin - You transgress the plain law of God, and do wrong. See the references on James 2:1. And are convinced of the law as transgressors - Greek “By the law.” The word convinced is now used in a somewhat different sense from what it was formerly. It now commonly refers to the impression made on a man‘s mind by showing him the truth of a thing which before was doubted, or in respect to which the evidence was not…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Favoritism opposes the command to love your neighbor (2:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Respect of persons violates the command to love all alike "as thyself." ye commit sin--literally, "ye work sin," Mt 7:23, to which the reference here is probably, as in Jas 1:22. Your works are sin, whatever boast of the law ye make in words (see on Jas 2:8). convinced--Old English for "convicted." as transgressors--not merely of this or that particular command, but of the whole absolutely.Read the comment
Topics related to James 2:9
In the dictionaries
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
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