5:6a

You have condemned and murdered the righteous: James accused the rich men of misusing their power in the law courts. Rich men were leaders among the people. They had friends who were judges. They used their power to oppress ordinary people even as far as having them condemned to death.

You have condemned: The word condemned means “declare/judge to be guilty (because he has done something wrong).” It can also imply “decide the punishment.” The rich men asked judges to do these things.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

You have judged guilty (New Century Version)
-or-
You^(plur) have caused innocent men to be declared guilty
-or-
You have made judges declare that innocent men have broken the law

murdered: The word murdered means “caused them to be killed.” This word refers to influencing a judge to condemn a person to die and then have him executed.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

punished by death
-or-
executed/killed

the righteous: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the righteous literally says “the righteous person.” Most commentators agree that this does not refer here to one individual person, but to righteous people in general who obey the laws.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

those who are not guilty
-or-
those who keep/follow God’s laws
-or-
people who do what is right/just
-or-
people who have done nothing wrong

5:6b

who did not resist you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as who did not resist you is literally “and he does not resist you.” James meant that the righteous people did not oppose the rich men while the rich men persecuted them. At no point did they attempt to resist or fight back.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

who do not resist you (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
They did not fight back.

resist: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as resist occurs also in 4:6 (“opposes”). It means actively resisting, not just a feeling of hatred.

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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.