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Don`t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Verse Takeaways
1
Criticism Is More Than Slander
Commentators clarify that the command to not “speak against” one another is broader than just avoiding slander. It includes any form of harsh, unkind, or critical speech, even if the content is factually true. The sin lies in the spirit of judgment and the failure to operate under what one scholar calls the “law of kindness.”
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Book Overview
James
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8
18th Century
Presbyterian
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. It is not known to whom the apostle here particularly refers, nor is it necessary to know. It is …
Speak not one against another (μη καταλαλειτε αλληλων). Prohibition against such a habit or a command to quit doing it, with μη an…
19th Century
Anglican
Speak not evil . . .—Do not “back-bite,” as the same word is translated in Romans 1:30 and [Reference 2 Corinthians 12:20…
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Baptist
If you cease to think what is evil, you will also cease to speak evil. If I speak evil of my brother, I have condemned the law which commands me to…
The prohibition introducing this verse is more accurately translated “Do not speak against one another” rather than “Do not slander” (GK 2895). To …
16th Century
Protestant
Speak not evil, or, defame not. We see how much labor James takes in correcting the lust for slandering. For hypocrisy is always …
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17th Century
Reformed Baptist
Speak not evil one of another, brethren The apostle here returns to his former subject, concerning the vices of the …
Our lips must be governed by the law of kindness, as well as truth and justice. Christians are brothers and sisters. And to break God's commands is…
