Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 4:11

"Speak 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." — James 4:11 (ASV)

The prohibition introducing this verse is more accurately translated “Do not speak against one another” rather than “Do not slander” (GK 2895). To slander is to make false charges or misrepresentations that damage the reputation of another person; the verb used here, however, refers to any form of speaking against someone else. What is said may be true in its content but harsh and unkind in the manner of its presentation. The specific grammatical construction used here usually forbids the continuation of a practice already in progress. James’s readers had fallen into the habit of criticizing one another, and so he says, “Stop speaking against one another.” The reason he gives is that the one who criticizes or judges a fellow- Christian “speaks against the law and judges it.” The law referred to is probably the command of Lev 19:18: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” To speak against your neighbor is to violate this law. Those who do so place themselves above the law and, by their actions, declare that law to be a bad or unnecessary statute. Rather than submitting to it and “keeping it,” they pass judgment on its validity and set it aside.