and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
Parallel Translations
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and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
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and ye have a respecte to him that weareth the gaye clothynge and saye vnto him. Sit thou here in a good place: and saye vnto the poore stonde thou there or sit here vnder my fotestole:
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And ye haue a respect to him that weareth the gaie clothing; and say vnto him, Sit thou here in a goodly place, and say vnto the poore, Stand thou there, or sit here vnder my footestoole,
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to James 2:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.
- James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
- Luke 7:44-46 Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
- Isaiah 65:5 who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
- Jude 1:16 These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain advantage.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In a worshipful and honorable place.
In a worshipful and honorable place.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth…
3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Ver. 3. That weareth the gay cloth] As Hospinian tells us of the dogs that kept Vulcan’s temple, and as others say of the Bohemian curs, that they will fawn upon a good suit, but fly upon one that is in ragged apparel. So is it with many; Vestis virum.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And ye have respect to him; Greek, look upon,…
And ye have respect to him; Greek, look upon, viz. with respect and veneration, or a care and concern to please him.
Sit thou here in a good place; an honourable place, either contrary to the usual orders of the churches, according to which, (as some say) the elder sat in chairs, the next to them on benches; and the novices on the pavement at their feet; the apostle taxing their carnal partiality in disposing these places to the people as rich, not as Christians; or it may note their disposing church offices to them that were rich, or favouring them in their causes rather than the poor.
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Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool; the meanest places, and belonging to the youngest disciples: both are expressions of contempt.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And ye have respect to him that wears the…
And ye have respect to him that wears the gay clothing,.... Take notice of him, and show favour to him, to the neglect and contempt of the other. This is an instance of respect of persons condemned and dissuaded from:
and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place; the best place; whether it be in a religious assembly, or in a civil court of judicature:
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and say to the poor, stand thou there; or in a lower and meaner place:
or sit thou here under my footstool; this also was contrary to the Jewish canons (t), that one should sit, and another stand, while their cause was trying; the law runs thus:
"one shall not sit, and another stand, but both shall stand; but if the sanhedrim, or court, please to let them sit, they sit; but one does not sit above, and the other below; but one by the side of the other.''
(t) Maimon. ib. sect. 3. vid. T. Bab. Shebuot, fol. 30. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Ye look upon him - With respect.
Ye look upon him - With respect.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Sit here under my footstool] Thus evidently…
Verse 3. Sit here under my footstool] Thus evidently prejudging the cause, and giving the poor man to see that he was to expect no impartial administration of justice in his cause.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And ye have respect to him that weareth the…
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing - If you show him superior attention on account of his rich and gay apparel, giving him a seat by himself, and treating others with neglect or contempt. Religion does not forbid proper respect to rank, to office, to age, or to distinguished talents and services, though even in such cases it does not require that we should feel that such persons have any peculiar claims to salvation, or that they are not on a level with all others, as sinners before God; it does not forbid that a man who has the means of procuring for himself an eligible pew in a church should be permitted to do so; but it requires that men shall be regarded and treated according to their moral worth, and not according to their external adorning; that all shall be considered as in fact on a level before God, and entitled to the privileges which grow out of the worship of the Creator. A stranger coming into any place of worship, no matter what his rank, dress, or complexion, should be treated with respect, and everything should be done that can be to win his heart to the service of God.
And say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place - Margin, as in Greek, “well” or “seemly;” that is, in an honorable place near the pulpit; or in some elevated place where he would be conspicuous. The meaning is, you treat him with distinguished marks of respect on the first appearance, merely from the indications that he is a rich man, without knowing any thing about his character.
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And say to the poor, Stand thou there - Without even the civility of offering him a seat at all. This may be presumed not often to occur in a Christian church; yet it practically does sometimes, when no disposition is evinced to furnish a stranger with a seat.
Or sit here under my footstool - Perhaps some seats in the places of worship were raised, so that even the footstool would be elevated above a lower seat. The meaning is, that he would be treated as if he were not worth the least attention.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain have respect to him, &c.--though ye know not who…
have respect to him, &c.--though ye know not who he is, when perhaps he may be a heathen. It was the office of the deacons to direct to a seat the members of the congregation [CLEMENT OF ROME, Apostolical Constitutions, 2.57, 58].
unto him--not in the best manuscripts. Thus "thou" becomes more demonstratively emphatic.
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there--at a distance from where the good seats are.
here--near the speaker.
under my footstool--not literally so; but on the ground, down by my footstool. The poor man must either stand, or if he sits, sit in a degrading position. The speaker has a footstool as well as a good seat.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3, 4. Say—Huther well contrasts the opposite speeches: Thou……
3, 4. Say—Huther well contrasts the opposite speeches: Thou… thou… sit… stand… here… there… in a good place… under (rather, at) my footstool. The dignified speaker has a footstool, and seems to be an official of the synagogue. It seems to be a regularly officered Church, with an edifice, and a furnishing; all indicating a mature period. The two clauses beginning with sit, stand, with an or between them, form not two, but one directive speech.
Partial in yourselves—A much debated interpretation. Huther gives a large number of explications, all of which he justly rejects because they do not give the exact meaning of the Greek verb here used, which usually signifies to doubt, to hesitate, or, as used by St. James in Jas_1:6, to waver. But Alford, following Huther and others, adopts the first of these two definitions, and interprets it of a doubt of their own Christianity! He gives the following far-fetched paraphrase: “Did you not, in making such distinction between rich and poor, become of the number of those who doubt respecting their faith?” But certainly this discrimination was no doubt of the Christian faith! If, however, our English version had translated it as in Jas_1:6, waver, they would have furnished the true thought. If ye so discriminated, did you not waver (from the straight course)? The writer charges, that, under the fascinations of the gorgeous attire, they were induced to veer and vibrate from Christian integrity. Judges (possessed) of evil thoughts—The evil thoughts were the inward quality of the judges. They became evil-thoughted judges. The word judges is used, not in a judicial, but in an opinionative or discriminative sense, and might be rendered discriminators. Translate the whole, then, If ye have done all this, have ye not wavered (as Christians) and become evil-thoughted discriminators?
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. And ye have respect to] Better, look with…
3. And ye have respect to] Better, look with respect upon. The same word is used in Luk_1:48; Luk_9:38. The English version weakens the dramatic vividness of the Greek.
the gay clothing] The English presents a needless variation from the Greek, which has the same words as in the preceding verse. The translators would seem to have acted on their principle of bringing in as many English words as they could by way of fairness. See Preface to the Authorised Version.
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Sit thou here in a good place] The English paraphrases the Greek, which runs literally, as in the margin, Sit here honourably. In practice the seats most coveted among the Jews were those near the end of the synagogue which looked towards Jerusalem, and at which stood the ark that contained the sacred roll of the Law. We do not know whether the first meeting-places of the Christian society followed the same arrangements, or whether then, as at a later period, the Table of the Lord took the place which had been occupied by the ark, and led them to covet the places that were near it, and therefore well placed for seeing and hearing the officiating elder.
Stand thou there …] The Christian, probably the elder or deacon, is supposed to point the poor man to his place at the other end of the synagogue, far from sight and hearing, giving him, it may be, the alternative of a seat on the ground, just below what we should call the “stall,” in which the rich man was invited to take his place, with a stool for his feet to rest on.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) And ye have respect to him that weareth…
(3) And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing (or, bright apparel).—Look on him, that is, because of his fine appearance, with undue respect and consideration.
And say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place (or, as margin, well); and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool.—The sidesman or elder in charge of the church finds a stall for the person of substantial presence, while anything does for the poor one; but—most considerate offer—he can stand; or, if he prefer it, sit under the great man’s footstool, lower down, that is, on the floor beneath. We know Christ’s words for those who loved of old “the chief seats in the synagogues” (Mat_23:6), nor can there be doubt as to their full application now. What is to be urged in excuse for the special pews in churches and chapels, hired and appropriated, furnished luxuriously, and secured by bolt and lock? If in the high places sit the men and women in goodly raiment still, while the poorly clad are crowded into side benches and corners, or beneficently told to stand and wait till room be found somewhere beneath the daintier feet,—how can there be escape from condemnation on the charge which follows?—namely this—
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 3. And have respect. Show respect not to the…
3. And have respect. Show respect not to the character but to the clothes, by giving one a welcome and a good seat, while the other is treated contemptuously, allowed to stand or to sit in a very uncomfortable place. Does not this describe the spirit of half the churches of our time?
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:3-4 It is natural to give special attention to…
2:3-4 It is natural to give special attention to wealthy people because of their social status, political power, and potential generosity as patrons. By serving and publicly honoring the wealthy, the church could gain whatever economic benefits they wished to give. James warns that this discrimination reflects evil motives, a division between loyalty to God (1:6) and a desire for the benefits of worldly wealth (4:4).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.