James 2:10

2:1-13 Those who profess faith in Christ as the Lord of glory, must not respect persons on account of mere outward circumstances and appearances, in a manner not agreeing with their profession of being disciples of the lowly Jesus. St. James does not here encourage rudeness or disorder: civil respect must be paid; but never such as to influence the proceedings of Christians in disposing of the offices of the church of Christ, or in passing the censures of the church, or in any matter of religion. Questioning ourselves is of great use in every part of the holy life. Let us be more frequent in this, and in every thing take occasion to discourse with our souls. As places of worship cannot be built or maintained without expense, it may be proper that those who contribute thereto should be accommodated accordingly; but were all persons more spiritually-minded, the poor would be treated with more attention that usually is the case in worshipping congregations. A lowly state is most favourable for inward peace and for growth in holiness. God would give to all believers riches and honours of this world, if these would do them good, seeing that he has chosen them to be rich in faith, and made them heirs of his kingdom, which he promised to bestow on all who love him. Consider how often riches lead to vice and mischief, and what great reproaches are thrown upon God and religion, by men of wealth, power, and worldly greatness; and it will make this sin appear very sinful and foolish.

Keep (τηρήσῃ) See on James 2:8. Offend (πταίσῃ) Lit., as Rev., stumble. He is guilty (γέγονεν ἔνοχος) Lit., he is become guilty. Ἔνοχος, guilty, is, strictly, holden; within the condemning power of. Compare Matthew 26:66; Mark 3:29; 1 Corinthians 11:27. Huther cites a Talmudic parallel: "But if he perform all, but omit one, he is guilty of every single one."

{5} For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of {g} all. (5) A new argument to prove the same conclusion: Those who neglect some and ambitiously honour others do not love their neighbours. For they do not obey God if they remove from the commandments of God those things that are not convenient for them. Rather they are guilty of breaking the whole law, even though they observe part of it. (g) Not that all sins are equal, but because he who breaks one small part of the law, offends the majority of the given law.

10. The best manuscripts read, "Whosoever shall have kept the whole law, and yet shall have offended (literally, 'stumbled'; not so strong as 'fall,' Ro 11:11) in one (point; here, the respecting of persons), is (hereby) become guilty of all." The law is one seamless garment which is rent if you but rend a part; or a musical harmony which is spoiled if there be one discordant note [Tirinus]; or a golden chain whose completeness is broken if you break one link [Gataker]. You thus break the whole law, though not the whole of the law, because you offend against love, which is the fulfilling of the law. If any part of a man be leprous, the whole man is judged to be a leper. God requires perfect, not partial, obedience. We are not to choose out parts of the law to keep, which suit our whim, while we neglect others.

Verse 10. - In this verse the subjunctives τηρήσῃ πταίσῃ , are rightly read by the Revisors, with א , B, C. The Law was express on the need of keeping all the commandments; see Leviticus 19:37 (the same chapter to which St. James has already referred), Καὶ φυλάξωσθε πάντα τὸν νόμον μου καὶ πάντα τὰ προστάγματά μου καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτά ) . He is guilty of all. The very same thought is found in rabbinical writers (Talmud, 'Schabbath,' fol. 70); a saying of R. Johanan: "Quodsi racist omnia unum vero omitter omnium est singulorum reus." Other passages to the same effect may be seen in Schottgen, 'Horae Hebraicae,' vol. 1. p. 1017, etc.; and cf., 'Pirqe Aboth,' 4:15. Was it a false inference from St. James's teaching in this verso that led the Judaizers of Acts 15 . to lay down the law " Except ye be circumcised after the customs of Moses ye cannot be saved"? " Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all ," might seem to suggest such an inference: " To whom," says St. James himself, " we gave no commandment" ( Acts 15:24 ). (On the teaching of this tenth verse there is an interesting letter of Augustine's to Jerome, which well repays study: 'Ep.' 167.) James 2:10

For whosoever shall keep: this is not an assertion, that any man doth keep the whole law so as to offend but in one point, but a supposition that if, or admitting, such a one were. The whole law; all the rest of the law, that one point only of the whole being excepted. And yet offend in one point; slip, or trip, or stumble at; it seems to signify the least failing in any point of the law. He is guilty of all; guilty of the breach, and obnoxious to the punishment, of all; not distributively, or separately, as if he transgressed every precept distinctly; but: 1. Conjunctively or copulatively; he is guilty of not keeping the whole law, though not of breaking each particular command; he breaks the whole law, though not the whole of the law: as he that wounds a man’s arm wounds the whole man, though not the whole of the man; he that breaks one link breaks the whole chain, and he that fails in one musical note spoils the whole harmony. 2. He sins against charity, which is the sum of the law, and upon which all the commands depend; and so though he keep most of them, as to the substance, yet he keeps none of them in a right manner, because none out of love, which should be the principle out of which he observes all of them. 3. He sins against the authority of the whole law, which is the same in every command. 4.

He is liable to the same punishment, though not the same degree of it, as if he had broken all the commandments, Galatians 3:1 ; and his keeping most, cannot exempt him from the punishment due for the breach of that one. This he speaks either in opposition to the Pharisees among the Jews, who thought themselves righteous if they kept most of the law, though in some things they came short; or rather, against hypocrites among Christians, who would pick and choose duties, obey some commands and neglect others; whereas no obedience to God is right, but that which is impartial, and respects all the commands, Psalm 119:6 Matthew 5:19 .

(10) For whosoever shall keep . . . —Better, have kept the whole Law, but shall have offended in one, has become guilty of all. As a chain is snapped by failure of the weakest link, so the whole Law, in its harmony and completeness as beheld by God, is broken by one offence of one man; and the penalty falls, of its own natural weight and incidence, on the culprit.

10 . in one point ] The noun, as the italics shew, is not in the Greek, but the English is a satisfactory rendering. Guided by what follows we might perhaps say “in one commandment .” he is guilty of all ] Better, he has become guilty , i. e. liable to condemnation under an indictment which includes all the particular commandments included in the great Law. This seems at first of the nature of an ethical paradox, but practically it states a deep moral truth. If we wilfully transgress one commandment we shew that in principle we sit loose to all. It is but accident, or fear, or the absence of temptation, that prevents our transgressing them also. Actual transgression in one case involves potential transgression in all. A saying of Rabbi Jochanan is recorded in the Talmud ( Sabbath , fol. 70) identical with this in its terms, and including in its range what were classed as the 39 precepts of Moses. St James was urging upon devout Jews, whether they believed in Christ or no, the highest ethical teaching of their own schools. It is probable enough, that the Pharisees who misrepresented the teaching of St James in the Church of Antioch, laid stress on these words as including circumcision and the ceremonial Law, as well as the precepts which were moral and eternal ( Acts 15:1 ; Acts 15:5 ; Acts 15:24 ). See Introduction , ch. 3

Jam 2:10 . τηρήσῃ : τηρεῖν is used here with a force precisely corresponding to the Hebrew שׁמר when used in reference to the Law, or a statute, the Sabbath, etc.; the idea is that of guarding something against violation.— πταίσῃ δὲ ἐν ἑνί : πταίειν = the Hebrew כשׁל , “to stumble over” something; the picture is that of a παραβάτης stumbling over the border which marks the way; cf. the oft-used expression in Jewish writings of making a “hedge” or “fence” around the Torah, e.g., Pirqe Aboth. , i. 1. With the verse before us cf. Sir 37:12 , … ὃν ἂν ἐπιγνῷς συντηροῦντα ἐντολάς … καὶ ἐὰν πταίσῃς συναλγήσει σοι , and Jam 2:15 καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις δεήθητι Ὑψίστου ἵνα εὐθύνῃ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ τὴν ὁδόν σου .— ἐν ἑνί : used in a pregnant sense, “in one matter” or “in any single point”.— γέγονεν πάντων ἔνοχος : While there are a certain number of passages in Rabbinical writings which are in agreement with this teaching ( e.g., Bemidbar Rabb. , ix. on Numbers 5:14 ; Shabbath , 70 b; Pesikta , 50 a; Horaioth , 8 b ; quoted by Mayor), there can be no doubt that the predominant teaching was in accordance with the passage quoted by Taylor (in Mayor, op. cit. , p. 89) from Shemoth Rabb . xxv. end: “The Sabbath weighs against all the precepts”; as Taylor goes on to say: “If they kept it, they were to be reckoned as having done all; if they profaned it, as having broken all”. Rashi teaches the same principle.

This is quite in accordance with the Jewish teaching regarding the accumulation of מצוות (“commandments,” i.e. , observances of the Law); a man was regarded as “righteous” or “evil” according to the relative number of מצוות or evil deeds laid to his account; the good were balanced against the bad; according as to which of the two preponderated, so was the man reckoned as among the righteous or the wicked (see the writer’s article in the Expositor , April, 1908, “The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard”).— πάντων is equivalent to all the precepts of the Torah . For ἔνοχος cf. Matthew 26:66 ; 1 Corinthians 11:27 ; Galatians 3:10 ; see also Deuteronomy 27:26 , and Resch, op. cit. , p. 47.