James 4:11
What does James 4:11 mean?
A plain-English look at James 4:11 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What James 4:11 means
Slandering or harshly judging a brother is not merely unkind; it is an assault on God’s law. To speak against a fellow believer is to set oneself above the law that commands love and mercy, treating it as inadequate and acting as its critic rather than its doer. James exposes the arrogance beneath a censorious spirit. When we take the judge’s seat, we stop obeying and start usurping. True humility lives under the law, applying it first to oneself. James is not forbidding all moral discernment, but the proud, condemnatory posture that tears down rather than restores, forgetting that we too stand under God’s judgment and grace.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Do not say evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother's judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law: and in judging the law you become, not a doer of the law but a judge.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Detract not one another, my brethren. He that detracteth his brother, or he that judgeth his brother, detracteth the law and judgeth the law. But if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Speak not against one another, brethren. He that speaks against [his] brother, or judges his brother, speaks against [the] law and judges [the] law. But if thou judgest [the] law, thou art not doer of [the] law, but judge.
Context
Having called for humility before God (vv. 7–10), James now applies humility to relationships within the church. Verse 11 warns against speaking against or judging a brother, arguing that such speech sets one over God’s law rather than under it. The next verse will reinforce the point by reminding readers that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge. This shift shows that worldliness manifests not only in private desires but also in destructive speech within the community.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.
- Romans 2:13
for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified;
- 1 Timothy 3:11
Women in like manner must be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
- James 5:9
Murmur not, brethren, one against another, that ye be not judged: behold, the judge standeth before the doors.
- Romans 14:10
But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.
- Romans 2:1
Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things.
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