2:10–11

Verses 2:10–11 explain how someone who favors rich people is a lawbreaker. When someone shows favoritism, he is not keeping the part of the law that tells him to love his neighbor as himself. He has broken this one commandment in the law, so he has broken all the law.

In some languages, James’ explanation will be clearer if some clauses in 2:10–11 are reordered. See the General Comment on 2:10–11 at the end of 2:11e for an example.

2:10a

In Greek, 2:10 begins with a conjunction that most English versions translate as “for.” The Greek word introduces an explanation of 2:9. The Berean Standard Bible has left this conjunction implicit. Consider whether you need a conjunction or phrase in your language to make the relationship between 2:9 and 2:10–11 clear.

Some other ways to translate this conjunction are:

Because
-or-
The reason I said this is

the whole law: The phrase the whole law refers to all the commands and instructions that are part of God’s law. See the note at 2:8a where God’s law is called “the royal law.”

2:10b

stumbles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stumbles is used figuratively. Here in the context of following God’s laws and rules, it means “does not obey every one of God’s commands” or “does something wrong.”

Some other ways to translate this word are:

fails to obey (New Century Version)
-or-
does not keep
-or-
does not do what God has said

just one point: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as just one point refers to any one commandment of the law. The way in which this person has gone wrong is that he has broken only one out of all the commandments.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

only one commandment/law
-or-
only one part
-or-
in one single matter

2:10c

is guilty: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as is guilty is literally “has become guilty” (as in the Revised Standard Version). The verb “has become” emphasizes the person’s situation. It can also be translated as “is” (as in the Berean Standard Bible).

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

is responsible
-or-
has become accountable (English Standard Version)

of breaking all of it: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all of it is literally “all.” It refers to breaking/disobeying the law as a whole or as a unit (even though the law as a whole is made up of individual commands).

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

of disobeying the whole law
-or-
of failing to keep the entire law of God
-or-
of breaking God’s laws/commands

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.