to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 2nd person plural
judges
κριταὶkritai
G2923
a judge (genitive case or specially) · noun — nominative plural masculine
evil
πονηρῶν;¶ponērōn
G4190
hurtful · adjective — genitive plural masculine
thoughts
διαλογισμῶνdialogismōn
G1261
discussion · noun — genitive plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Job 34:19 How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his…
Psalms 58:1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
Psalms 82:2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
Malachi 2:9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in…
James 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judget…
Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on James 2:1-7
The apostle is here reproving a very corrupt practice. He shows how much mischief there is in the sin of prosōpolēpsia - respect of persons, which seemed to be a very growing evil in the churches of Christ even in those early ages, and which, in these after-times, has sadly corrupted and divided Christian nations and societies. Here we have,
I. A caution against this sin laid down in general: My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons, Jam 2:1. Observe here, 1. The character of Christians fully implied: they are such as have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ; they embrace it; they receive it; they govern themselves by it; they ente…
Are ye not . . . partial--literally, "Have ye not made distinctions" or "differences" (so as to prefer one to another)? So in Jde 1:22.
in yourselves--in your minds, that is, according to your carnal inclination [GROTIUS].
are become judges of evil thoughts--The Greek words for "judges" and for "partial," are akin in sound and meaning. A similar translation ought therefore to be given to both. Thus, either for "judges," &c. translate, "distinguishers of (that is, according to your) evil thoughts"; or, do ye not partially judge between men, and are become evilly-thinking judges (Mar 7:21)? The "evil thoughts" are in the judges themselves; as in Luk 18:6, the Greek, "judge of injustice," i…
Are ye not then partial - Ου διεκριθητε· Do ye not make a distinction, though the case has not been heard, and the law has not decided?
Judges of evil thoughts? - Κριται διαλογισμων πονηρων· Judges of evil reasonings; that is, judges who reason wickedly; who, in effect, say in your hearts, we will espouse the cause of the rich, because they can befriend us; we will neglect that of the poor, because they cannot help us, nor have they power to hurt us.
John Gill on James 2:4
The Church Fathers
Do you not judge among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? It follows:
Nor, indeed, in my opinion, are we to esteem it a trifling sin "to have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons," if we take the difference between sitting and standing, of which mention is made in the context, to refer to ecclesiastical honours; for who can bear to see a rich man chosen to a place of honour in the Church, while a poor man, of superior qualifications and of greater holiness, is despised? If, however, the apostle speaks there of our daily assemblies, who does not offend in the matter? At the same time, only those really offend here who cherish in their hearts the opinion that a man's worth is to be estimated according to his wealth; for this seems to be the meaning of the expression, "Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?"
have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? "have you not shown partiality." The conjunction, "And", abounds, that is, you have corrupted the power of judging which was in you, making no inquiry as to whether he is to be honored, the poor man who is upright and industrious, or the rich man who is lazy: but without judgment and with respect to persons, you honored the one indeed because of his riches, but you held the other in contempt because of his poverty. "among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" That is, unjust judges, affected by jealousy out of respect for persons. In this place, the conjunction καὶ abounds, that is, "and", as has been said, from the use of the former phrase. For since this discourse is a response to what has gone before, the conjunction is unnecessary. For the sentence should be arranged thus: For if a man wearing a gold ring, dressed in splendid clothing, enters your assembly, while a poor man in filthy clothing also enters, etc., you have not judged among yourselves and have become judges of evil thoughts: that is, corrupting the power of judging, you have chosen evil thoughts, honoring the one indeed, but holding the other in contempt: although yet the nature was the same in both.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Respect Of Persons · (Partiality)) — (Partiality))
Worldliness · 12:2; — 12:2;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Are ye not then partial in yourselves,.... That is, guilty of such partiality as must appear to yourselves, and your own consciences must accuse you of; or do not ye distinguish, or make a difference among yourselves, by such a conduct, towards the rich and the poor:
and are become judges of evil thoughts; or "are distinguishers by evil thoughts"; that is, make a distinction between the rich and the poor, by an evil way of thinking, that one is better than the other, and to be preferred before him.
John Calvin on James 2:1-4
James 2:1-4
1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
1 Fratres mei, ne in acceptionabus personarum fidem habeatis Domini Jesu Christi ex opinione, (vel, gloriae.)
2 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;
2 Si enim ingressus fuerit in coetum vestrum vir aureos anulos gestans, veste indudus spliendida; ingressus autem fuerit et pauper in sordida veste;
3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
3 Et…
It is natural to give special attention to wealthy people because of their social status, political power, and potential generosity as patrons. By serving and publicly honoring the wealthy, the church could gain whatever economic benefits they wished to give. James warns that this discrimination reflects evil motives, a division between loyalty to God (1:6) and a desire for the benefits of worldly wealth (4:4).
