James 2:11
in James 2For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
KJV
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
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This verse in James 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWhy does James choose these two commandments as his examples? Because they are the ones which deal most closely with loving and with hating one's neighbors.
This site's exposition
the royal law
on James 2:8-11
Love your neighbor as yourself, from Leviticus 19:18, is named the royal law, and keeping it is doing well. Favoritism breaks it, and whoever stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. The one Lawgiver gave both Do not commit adultery and Do not murder.
This site's exposition
you have become a lawbreaker
One voice gave Do not commit adultery and Do not murder, so the man who keeps one and breaks the other has become a lawbreaker. Both commands govern love and hatred of a neighbor, the theme of the chapter since 2:8.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And whosoever shall keep the whole Law, but offends in one: is made guilty of all. For he that said, You shall not commit adultery, said also, You shall not kill. And if you do not commit adultery, but shall kill: you are made a …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The apostle is here reproving a very corrupt practice. He shows how much mischief there is in the sin of prosopolepsia -- 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.
Thus, if you look to the law of the old, you stand condemned; for cursed is every that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them, Gal. iii. James directs Christians to govern and conduct themselves more especially by the law of Christ.
For he that said, Do not commit adultery,.... That same lawgiver, who is but one, and is God, that gave out the seventh command, and forbids adultery, said also, Do not kill; delivered the sixth command, which forbids murder.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He is One who gave the whole law; therefore, they who violate His will in one point, violate it all [BENGEL]. The law and its Author alike have a complete unity. adultery . . . kill--selected as being the most glaring cases of violation of duty towards one's neighbor.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For he that said - That is, the authority that gave one commandment gave also the rest; and he who breaks one resists this authority; so that the breach of any one commandment may be justly considered a breach of the whole law. It was a maxim also among the Jewish doctors that, if a man kept any one commandment carefully, though he broke all the rest, he might assure himself of the favor of God; for while they taught that “He who transgresses all the precepts of the law has broken the yoke, dissolved the covenant, and exposed the law to contempt, and so has he done who has broken even one precept,” (Mechilta, fol. 5, Yalcut Simeoni, part 1, fol. 59), they also taught, “that he who observed any principal command was equal to him who kept the whole law;” (Kiddushin, fol. 39); and they give for example, “If a man abandon idolatry, it is the same as if he had fulfilled the whole law,” (Ibid., fol. 40.) To correct this false doctrine James lays down that in the 11th verse. Thus they did and undid.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill - That is, these are parts of the same law of God, and one is as obligatory as the other. If, therefore, you violate either of these precepts, you transgress the law of God as such, and must be held to be guilty of violating it as a whole. The penalty of the law will be incurred, whatever precept you violate.
The words behind it
18 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | The [One] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| εἰπὼν | eipon | having said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| μὴ | me | Not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| μοιχεύσῃς, | moicheuses | you may commit adultery, | G3431 → | |
| εἶπεν | eipen | said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μὴ | me | Not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| φονεύσῃς. | phoneuses | you may murder. | G5407 → | 12 times |
| εἰ | ei | If | G1487 → | 508 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| μοιχεύεις | moicheueis | you do commit adultery | G3431 → | |
| φονεύεις | phoneueis | do commit murder | G5407 → | 12 times |
| δέ, | de | however, | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| γέγονας | gegonas | you have become | G1096 → | 667 times |
| παραβάτης | parabates | a transgressor | G3848 → | |
| νόμου. | nomou | of [the] law. | G3551 → | 192 times |
ὁThe [One]
hoG3588 →19766 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
εἰπὼνhaving said
eiponG2036 →925 times
μὴNot
meG3361 →1066 times
μοιχεύσῃς,you may commit adultery,
moicheusesG3431 →
εἶπενsaid
eipenG2036 →925 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μὴNot
meG3361 →1066 times
φονεύσῃς.you may murder.
phoneusesG5407 →12 times
εἰIf
eiG1487 →508 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
μοιχεύειςyou do commit adultery
moicheueisG3431 →
φονεύειςdo commit murder
phoneueisG5407 →12 times
δέ,however,
deG1161 →2765 times
γέγοναςyou have become
gegonasG1096 →667 times
παραβάτηςa transgressor
parabatesG3848 →
νόμου.of [the] law.
nomouG3551 →192 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 13:9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
it leads to
- Exodus 20:12–17
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 5:16–21
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 22:39
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Mark 12:31
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- Exodus 20:12–17
Through
Matthew 19:18“Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,
it leads to
- Mark 10:19
You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.’”
- Luke 18:20
You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’”
- James 2:10–11
Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
- Mark 10:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
On this verse
On this chapter
About James
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on James; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on James.