James 2:6
in James 2But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
KJV
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
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This verse in James 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseDo not the rich oppress you by power, and drag you into courts? Do they not blaspheme the honorable name which was invoked upon you? Here he shows more clearly who are the rich, concerning whose humiliation and destruction he previously disputed. Truly, those who …
This site's exposition
Has not God chosen the poor
on James 2:5-7
Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom, the Lord's first beatitude. The churches honored the rich who oppress you and drag you into court and blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called.
This site's exposition
drag you into court
James turns the church's flattery back on itself. The rich men given the best seats are the rich who oppress you and drag you into court. The verbs are harsh ones, to oppress exceedingly and to drag, as Adam Clarke notes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Bear their greed as patiently as you can! Those people destroy themselves, not you. For while they rob you of your money, they strip themselves of God's favor and help. For the one who bases his life on greed and gathers all the wealth of the world around him is in fact the poorest of all.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But you have dishonored the poor. For the one to whom it was said: You stand there, when it was said to the one with the gold ring: You sit here well.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Respecting persons, in the sense of this place, on account of their riches or outward figure, is shown to be a very great sin, because of the mischiefs which are owing to worldly wealth and greatness, and the folly which there is in Christians' paying undue regards to those who had so little regard either to their God or them: " Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seat?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
But ye have despised the poor,....
Take notice further, Believing Christians are rich in title, and in being heirs of a kingdom, though they may be very poor as to present possessions. What is laid out upon them is but little; what is laid up for them is unspeakably rich and great. Note again, Where any are rich in faith, there will be also divine love; faith working by love will be in all the heirs of glory.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Do not rich men oppress you - The administration of justice was at this time in a miserable state of corruption among the Jews; but a Christian was one who was to expect no justice any where but from his God. The words καταδυναστευουσιν, exceedingly oppress, and ἑλκουσιν εις κριτηρια, drag you to courts of justice, show how grievously oppressed and maltreated the Christians were by their countrymen the Jews, who made law a pretext to afflict their bodies, and spoil them of their property.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But ye have despised the poor - Koppe reads this as an interrogation: “Do ye despise the poor?” Perhaps it might be understood somewhat ironically: “You despise the poor, do you, and are disposed to honor the rich! Look then, and see how the rich treat you, and see whether you have so much occasion to regard them with any peculiar respect.” The object of the apostle is to fix the attention on the impropriety of that partiality which many were disposed to show to the rich, by reminding them that the rich had never evinced towards them any such treatment as to lay the foundation of a claim to the honor which they were disposed to render them. Do not rich men oppress you? - Referring probably to something in their conduct which existed particularly then. The meaning is not that they oppressed the poor as such, but that they oppressed those whom James addressed. It is probable that then, as since, a considerable portion of those who were Christians were in fact poor, and that this would have all the force of a personal appeal; but still the particular thought is, that it was a characteristic of the rich and the great, whom they were disposed peculiarly to honor, to oppress and crush the poor. The Greek here is very expressive: “Do they not imperiously lord it over you?” The statement here will apply with too much force to the rich in every age. And draw you before the judgment-seats - That is, they are your persecutors rather than your friends. It was undoubtedly the case that many of the rich were engaged in persecuting Christians, and that on various pretences they dragged them before the judicial tribunals.
Modern Voices1 voice
The power of wealth, and that power at its vilest, is increasing in the modern world. A very good and just people, without this temptation, might not need, perhaps, to make clear rules and systems to guard themselves against the power of our great financiers. …
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὑμεῖς | humeis | You yourselves | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἠτιμάσατε | etimasate | dishonored | G818 → | |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πτωχόν. | ptochon | poor. | G4434 → | 34 times |
| οὐχ | ouch | Surely | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πλούσιοι | plousioi | rich | G4145 → | 28 times |
| καταδυναστεύουσιν | katadunasteuousin | are oppressing | G2616 → | |
| ὑμῶν | humon | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αὐτοὶ | autoi | they themselves | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἕλκουσιν | helkousin | dragging | G1670 → | |
| ὑμᾶς | humas | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| κριτήρια; | kriteria | court? | G2922 → |
ὑμεῖςYou yourselves
humeisG4771 →2973 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
ἠτιμάσατεdishonored
etimasateG818 →
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
πτωχόν.poor.
ptochonG4434 →34 times
οὐχSurely
ouchG3756 →1664 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
πλούσιοιrich
plousioiG4145 →28 times
καταδυναστεύουσινare oppressing
katadunasteuousinG2616 →
ὑμῶνyou
humonG4771 →2973 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αὐτοὶthey themselves
autoiG846 →5565 times
ἕλκουσινdragging
helkousinG1670 →
ὑμᾶςyou
humasG4771 →2973 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
κριτήρια;court?
kriteriaG2922 →
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
Proverbs 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:5
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 22:2
The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.
- Proverbs 22:16
Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.
- Proverbs 19:17
Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
- 1 John 4:21
And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
- Proverbs 17:5
Through
Proverbs 17:5He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
it leads to
- Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- Job 31:29
If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
- Obadiah 1:11–13
On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them.
- Proverbs 14:31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About James
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; GK Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles, Some Policemen and a Moral (1909); John Chrysostom, CATENA; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.