Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
- KJV Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
- NKJV Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
- NASB Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
- NLT Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Speaking against and judging a fellow believer is to set oneself above God's law. Slander usurps a role belonging to God alone.
Overview
James forbids slander and censorious judgment among believers, calling it a presumptuous setting aside of God's law, especially the command to love one's neighbor. The one who condemns a brother acts as if he stands over the law rather than under it as a doer. This guards the unity of the church and reflects Jesus' warning against hypocritical judging (Matthew 7:1-5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Pet 2:1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- Jas 5:9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
- Rom 2:1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
- Luke 6:37Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
- Matt 7:1–2“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Ps 140:11May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence.
- Eph 4:31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
- Rom 14:10–12Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
- 2 Cor 12:20For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
- 2 Tim 3:3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,
- Rom 7:12–13So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
- 1 Tim 3:11In the same way, the women must be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things.
- Rom 14:3–4The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
- Rom 7:7What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
- Rom 2:13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.
- Titus 2:3Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.
- Jas 1:22–23Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- Jas 1:25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
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Original language
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