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King James Version
James 2:10
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For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
You can't pick and choose which of the Boss's standards you want to follow. If you willingly ignore one, then you might as well ignore 'em all.
For anyone who keeps all the law, but makes a slip in one point, is judged to have gone against it all.
For whoever shall keep the whole law and shall offend in one [point], he has come under the guilt of [breaking] all.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is guilty of all.
A man who has kept the Law as a whole, but has failed to keep some one command, has become guilty of violating all.
For whosoeuer shall keepe the whole Law, & yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
For whoever shall keep all the Law, but stumbles in one, he has become guilty of all.
Whosoeuer shal kepe the whole lawe, and yet fayle in one poynt, he is gyltie in all.
for he that violates but one precept of the whole law, is as obnoxious to punishment, as if he had broke thro' all the rest.
For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
Whosoever shall kepe the whole lawe and yet fayle in one poynt he is gyltie in all.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one [point], he has become guilty of all.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.
for whoever the whole law shall keep, and shall stumble in one [point], he hath become guilty of all;
A person who follows all of God's law but fails to obey even one command is guilty of breaking all the commands in that law.
For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all.
For a person who keeps the whole Torah, yet stumbles at one point, has become guilty of breaking them all.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
For whosoeuer shall keepe the whole Lawe, and yet faileth in one poynt, hee is guiltie of all.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, except that he fail in but one statute, he is guilty as to the whole law.
For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it all.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point is guilty of breaking all of it.Deuteronomy 27:26; Matthew 5:19; Galatians 3:10;">[xr]
For he who keepeth the whole law, and in one offendeth, of the whole LAW he is guilty.
For he that shall keep the whole law, and yet fail in one [fn] , is obnoxious to the whole law.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws.
If you obey all the Laws but one, you are as guilty as the one who has broken them all.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
For, a man who shall keep, the whole law, but shall stumble in one thing, hath become, for all things, liable, -
And whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all.
For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point only has become guilty of all of it.
Whosoeuer shal kepe the whole lawe, and yet fayle in one poynt, he is gyltie of all.
You might follow all of God's law. But if you fail to obey only one command, you are guilty of breaking all the commands in that law.
For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.
Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all.
And who euere kepith al the lawe, but offendith in oon, he is maad gilti of alle.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
For: While the Jews 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 only broken one precept;" they also taught, "that he who observed any principal command was equal to him who kept the whole law," and gave for an example the forsaking of idolatry. To correct this false doctrine was the object James had in view.
whosoever: Deuteronomy 27:26, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:19, Galatians 3:10
Reciprocal: Genesis 44:8 - how then Numbers 6:12 - but the Deuteronomy 5:18 - General Deuteronomy 6:25 - General Deuteronomy 27:1 - Keep all Deuteronomy 28:1 - to do all Psalms 119:6 - I have Jeremiah 32:23 - they have Ezekiel 18:28 - turneth Matthew 7:12 - for Matthew 19:18 - Which Mark 10:21 - One thing Luke 19:21 - I feared Romans 2:12 - in the law Romans 3:20 - Therefore Romans 5:16 - for the Romans 7:5 - which Romans 7:9 - but Romans 9:31 - hath Galatians 5:3 - a debtor
Cross-References
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
For whosoever shall keep the whole law,.... Or the greatest part of it, excepting only in one point, as follows: Adam, in a state of innocence, was able to keep the whole law, but by sin he lost that power, nor can any of his posterity now keep it perfectly: they are all transgressors of it, and liable to its penalty; unregenerate men are not obedient to it, and have an aversion to it, and despise it, and cast it behind their backs; regenerate persons, who love it, and delight in it, after the inner man, do not keep it perfectly; the several parts of the law may be indeed kept by a believer, and that sincerely, but not to a perfect degree, for in many things they all offend; Christ only has perfectly kept it, and is the fulfilling end of it for righteousness; men of a pharisaical disposition may fancy they have kept it wholly, as the young man in the Gospel, and Saul, before his conversion; but this is but a fancy, and a sad mistake: the case in the text is only a supposed one, and, as it is here put, implies perfection; for it follows,
and yet offend in one point; sin, which is a transgression of the law, is an offense to God the Father, who is of purer eyes than to behold it; to Jesus Christ, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and to the blessed Spirit who is grieved and vexed by it; and to the justice of God, which being injured by it, demands satisfaction; and to the law of God, which accuses, convinces, reproves, and condemns for it. The word used signifies to "fall", and designs more than stumbling, even an open breach and violation of the law; and which being made, by any, in a single instance,
he is guilty of all: this seems to agree with some common sayings of the Jews, that he that is suspected in one thing, is suspected in the whole law y; and he that keeps this or the other command, keeps the whole law; and he that breaks this, or the other command, breaks the whole law; as whether it respects the sabbath, or adultery, or that command. Thou shall not covet, or any other z: and this must be understood, not of every particular command in the law, as if he that is guilty of murder is in that instance also guilty of adultery; or he that is guilty of adultery is in that instance guilty of murder; but the sense is, that he is guilty of the breach of the whole law, though not of the whole of the law; as he that breaks anyone condition of a covenant, which may consist of many, though he does not violate every condition, yet breaks the whole covenant; so he that transgresses in anyone point of the law, breaks the whole, commits sin, and is deserving of death, and is treated by the law as a transgressor of it, let it be in what instance it will. But it does not follow from hence, that all sins are equal, as the Stoics say a, for there are greater and lesser sins, John 19:11 though not some venial, and others mortal, for the wages of every sin is death; nor that the punishment of sin will be alike, as all sins were punishable alike by Draco's laws, but not by the law of God, Matthew 11:22 but this may be fairly concluded from hence, that there can be no justification in the sight of God, by an imperfect obedience to, the law, or by a partial righteousness: the law requires perfect obedience, and in failure of that, though but in one point, curses and condemns; and likewise it may be inferred from hence, that a man is not at liberty to obey and neglect what commandments of the law he pleases, but should have respect to them all; which seems greatly the design of the apostle, as appears by what follows.
y T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 69. 1. z Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 192. 3. Zohar in Exod. fol. 20. 2. & 37. 1. & in Lev. fol. 32. 3. Shemot Rabba, sect. 25. fol. 109. 3. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 39. 2. & Menachot, fol. 43. 2. & Abkath Rochel, par. 1. p. 3. a Zeno & Chrysippus apud Laert. Vit. Zeno, p. 510.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
For whosoever shall keep the whole law - All except the single point referred to. The apostle does not say that this in fact ever did occur, but he says that if it should, and yet a man should have failed in only one particular, he must be judged to be guilty. The case supposed seems to be that of one who claimed that he had kept the whole law. The apostle says that even if this should be admitted for the time to be true in all other respects, yet, if he had failed in any one particular - in showing respect to persons, or in anything else - he could not but be held to be a transgressor, The design of this is to show the importance of yielding universal obedience, and to impress upon the mind a sense of the enormity of sin from the fact that the violation of any one precept is in fact an offence against the whole law of God. The whole law here means all the law of God; all that he has required; all that he has given to regulate us in our lives.
And yet offend in one point - In one respect; or shall violate any one of the commands included in the general word law. The word offend here means, properly, to stumble, to fall; then to err, or fail in duty. See the notes at Matthew 5:29; Matthew 26:31.
He is guilty of all - He is guilty of violating the law as a whole, or of violating the law of God as such; he has rendered it impossible that he should be justified and saved by the law. This does not affirm that he is as guilty as if he had violated every law of God; or that all sinners are of equal grade because all have violated some one or more of the laws of God; but the meaning is, that he is guilty of violating the law of God as such; he shows that be has not the true spirit of obedience; he has exposed himself to the penalty of the law, and made it impossible now to be saved by it. His acts of obedience in other respects, no matter how many, will not screen him from the charge of being a violator of the law, or from its penalty. He must be held and treated as a transgressor for that offence, however upright he may be in other respects, and must meet the penalty of the law as certainly as though he had violated every commandment.
One portion of the law is as much binding as another, and if a man violates any one plain commandment, he sets at nought the authority of God. This is a simple principle which is everywhere recognised, and the apostle means no more by it than occurs every day. A man who has stolen a horse is held to be a violator of the law, no matter in how many other respects he has kept it, and the law condemns him for it. He cannot plead his obedience to the law in other things as a reason why he should not be punished for this sin; but however upright he may have been in general, even though it may have been through a long life, the law holds him to be a transgressor, and condemns him. He is as really condemned, and as much thrown from the protection of law, as though he had violated every command. So of murder, arson, treason, or any other crime. The law judges a man for what he has done in this specific case, and he cannot plead in justification of it that he has been obedient in other things.
It follows, therefore, that if a man has been guilty of violating the law of God in any one instance, or is not perfectly holy, he cannot be justified and saved by it, though he should have obeyed it in every other respect, any more than a man who has been guilty of murder can be saved from the gallows because he has, in other respects, been a good citizen, a kind father, an honest neighbor, or has been compassionate to the poor and the needy. He cannot plead his act of truth in one case as an offset to the sin of falsehood in another; he cannot defend himself from the charge of dishonesty in one instance by the plea that he has been honest in another; he cannot urge the fact that he has done a good thing as a reason why he should not be punished for a bad one. He must answer for the specific charge against him, and none of these other things can be an offset against this one act of wrong. Let it be remarked, also, in respect to our being justified by obedience to the law, that no man can plead before God that he has kept all his law except in one point. Who is there that has not, in spirit at least, broken each one of the ten commandments? The sentiment here expressed by James was not new with him. It was often expressed by the Jewish writers, and seems to have been an admitted principle among the Jews. See Wetstein, in loc., for examples.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, c.] This is a rabbinical form of speech. In the tract Shabbath, fol. 70, where they dispute concerning the thirty-nine works commanded by Moses, Rabbi Yochanan says: But if a man do the whole, with the omission of one, he is guilty of the whole, and of every one. In Bammidar rabba, sec. 9, fol. 200, and in Tanchum, fol. 60, there is a copious example given, how an adulteress, by that one crime, breaks all the ten commandments, and by the same mode of proof any one sin may be shown to be a breach of the whole decalogue. The truth is, any sin is against the Divine authority and he who has committed one transgression is guilty of death; and by his one deliberate act dissolves, as far as he can, the sacred connection that subsists between all the Divine precepts and the obligation which he is under to obey, and thus casts off in effect his allegiance to God. For, if God should be obeyed in any one instance, he should be obeyed in all, as the authority and reason of obedience are the same in every case; he therefore who breaks one of these laws is, in effect, if not in fact, guilty of the whole. But there is scarcely a more common form of speech among the rabbins than this, for they consider that any one sin has the seeds of all others in it. See a multitude of examples in Schoettgen.
