James 2:3

3 and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool,"

James 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

James 2:3

And ye have respect to him that wears the gay clothing
Take notice of him, and show favour to him, to the neglect and contempt of the other. This is an instance of respect of persons condemned and dissuaded from:

and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place;
the best place; whether it be in a religious assembly, or in a civil court of judicature:

and say to the poor, stand thou there;
or in a lower and meaner place:

or sit thou here under my footstool;
this also was contrary to the Jewish canons ^F20, that one should sit, and another stand, while their cause was trying; the law runs thus:

``one shall not sit, and another stand, but both shall stand; but if the sanhedrim, or court, please to let them sit, they sit; but one does not sit above, and the other below; but one by the side of the other.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Maimon. ib. sect. 3. vid. T. Bab. Shebuot, fol. 30. 1.

James 2:3 In-Context

1 My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.

2 For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters,

3 and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool,"

4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts have "you stand there or be seated"