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James 5:6

in James 5

You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you.

KJV

Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

This verse in James 5

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on James · Written before 1107.

By the words "you have murdered the just," the apostle undoubtedly has in mind Christ Himself. However, with the addition "He does not resist you," he generalizes the discourse, extending it to others who suffered similarly from the Jews, and perhaps prophetically speaks of his …

This site's exposition

the wages you withheld from the workmen

on James 5:4-6

The wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you, with Deuteronomy 24:14-15 behind the charge. Their cries reach the Lord of Hosts, sabaoth kept in Hebrew. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter, like cattle before the knife.

This site's exposition

condemned and murdered the righteous

Clarke reads the righteous as the poor man in general, condemned in judgment with no one to plead for him, and then murdered. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place Christ, the Just One, first. They include every righteous man condemned and murdered, even James, called the Just.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on James · Written before 550.

proposed

You have made merry upon the earth: and in riotousness you have nourished your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have presented, and slain the Just One: and he did not resist you. "You have made merry upon the earth." The Jewish leaders were …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Ye have condemned and killed the just,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Thus far the address to sinners goes. We have next subjoined an address to saints. Some have been ready to despise or to condemn this way of preaching, when ministers, in their application, have brought a word to sinners, and a word to saints; but, from the apostle's here taking this method, we may conclude that this is the best way rightly to divide the word of truth.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you - Several by τον δικαιον, the just one, understand Jesus Christ, who is so called, Act 3:14; Act 7:52; Act 22:14; but the structure of the sentence, and the connection in which it stands, seem to require that we should consider this as applying to the just or righteous in general, who were persecuted and murdered by those oppressive rich men; and their death was the consequence of their dragging them before the judgment seats, Jas 2:6, where, having no influence, and none to plead their cause, they were unjustly condemned and executed.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Ye have condemned . . . the just--The Greek aorist expresses, "Ye are accustomed to condemn . . . the just." Their condemnation of Christ, "the Just," is foremost in James' mind. But all the innocent blood shed, and to be shed, is included, the Holy Spirit comprehending James himself, called "the Just," who was slain in a tumult.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Ye have condemned and killed the just - τὸν δίκαιον ton dikaion - “the just one,” or “the just man” - for the word used is in the singular number. This may either refer to the condemnation and crucifixion of Christ - meaning that their conduct towards his people had been similar to the treatment of the Saviour, and was in fact a condemnation and crucifixion of him afresh; or, that by their rejection of him in order to live in sin, they in fact condemned him and his religion; or, that they had condemned and killed the just man - meaning that they had persecuted those who were Christians; or, that by their harsh treatment of others in withholding what was due to them, they had deprived them of the means of subsistence, and had, as it were, killed the righteous. Probably the true meaning is, that it was one of their characteristics that they had been guilty of wrong towards good men. Whether it refers, however, to any particular act of violence, or to such a course as would wear out their lives by a system of oppression, injustice, and fraud, cannot now be determined. And he doth not resist you - Some have supposed that this refers to God, meaning that he did not oppose them; that is, that he bore with them patiently while they did it. Others suppose that it should be read a question - “and doth he not resist you?” meaning that God would oppose them, and punish them for their acts of oppression and wrong. But probably the true reference is to the “just man” whom they condemned and killed; meaning that they were so powerful that all attempts to resist them would be vain, and that the injured and oppressed could do nothing but submit patiently to their acts of injustice and violence. […]

Modern Voices1 voice

A commentator

GK Chesterton

Alarms and Discursions, The Man and His Newspaper (1910) (1910)

proposed

He had slowly built up in the village a small business as a photographer, and he was engaged to a girl at one of the lodges, whom he loved with passion. "I'm the sort that 'ad better marry," he said; and for all his frail …

The words behind it

7 Greek words

Every 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.

  • κατεδικάσατε,You have condemned

    katedikasateG2613 →

  • ἐφονεύσατε[and] have put to death

    ephoneusateG5407 →12 times

  • τὸνthe

    tonG3588 →19766 times

  • δίκαιον·righteous;

    dikaionG1342 →

  • οὐκnot

    oukG3756 →1664 times

  • ἀντιτάσσεταιdoes he resist

    antitassetaiG498 →

  • ὑμῖν.¶you.

    huminG4771 →2973 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 8:32

    The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 53:7–8

      He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not…

    • 1 Peter 2:21–24

      For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

    • Jeremiah 51:40

      I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.

    • Romans 8:36

      As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

    • Jeremiah 11:19

      For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from…

  • Through

    Isaiah 53:7

    He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not…

    it leads to

    • Acts 8:32–33

      The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

    • Matthew 26:63

      But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

    • 1 Peter 2:23

      When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

Where this verse is studied

About James

Saint James the Younger, El Greco, 1600. Public domain.
Saint James the Younger, El Greco, 1600. Public domain.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); GK Chesterton, Alarms and Discursions, The Man and His Newspaper (1910); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on James and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James.