Do you not judge within yourselves, and are become judges of unjust thoughts?
και ου διεκριθητε εν εαυτοις και εγενεσθε κριται διαλογισμων πονηρων
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
We must think the same thing about one another. A poor man has come; be attentive to him. Do not attach great importance to wealth. In Christ there is neither poor nor rich. Therefore do not be ashamed because of outward circumstances, but receive him according to his inward faith.
The conjunction “and” is placed here according to an ancient manner of expression. Since this continues what was said above, the conjunction “and” is superfluous.
The course of the speech is this: “If someone should enter your assembly,” and so on, then, “have you not made distinctions among yourselves?” This is the second part of the sentence.
Therefore the meaning of the speech should be this: because you did not judge as you ought, you became judges with evil thoughts.
“Have you not made distinctions?” That is, you have corrupted your judgment by making no prior inquiry whether the poor man is diligent or the rich man lazy.
Your lack of discernment led you into partiality. It made you praise one man as rich and despise the other as poor.
“And you became judges of evil thoughts,” that is, you became unjust judges, surrendering to wickedness through partiality.
Who could endure it if a rich man were chosen for a place of honor in the Church, while a poor man, more educated and more pious, suffered neglect? When it is a matter of daily assemblies, if anyone sins, is it not the man who reasons within himself so that a person seems better to him the richer he is?
The conjunction “and” here is superfluous and is a custom of ancient expression, as Theophylact and Oecumenius interpret. They again cite what was said above: “If there should enter your assembly a man wearing a gold ring,” and so forth.
Then: “Have you not made distinctions among yourselves?” That is, you have corrupted your faculty of discernment. For this reason from the beginning you make no judgment at all in your considerations.
You do not judge whom one should prefer, the poor and virtuous man or the rich and careless man.
Therefore this lack of discernment leads you to partiality. As a result, the rich man sits among you in the first place because of his wealth, while you have dishonored the poor man because of his poverty, though both have one nature.
“And you have become judges with evil thoughts” shows that, because you preferred the rich man, you became unjust judges and turned aside into wickedness, because of the partiality that you practice.
In some manuscripts there is a question mark, so that the saying is read this way: “And have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
That is, if in the court you preferred the rich man from among two, tell me, by this preference do you not already fail to exercise any discernment in yourselves?
Do you not become wicked and unjust judges? Yes, you certainly do. For what will follow from this preference?
Saint Mitrophan answers that the poor man who entered the court to take part in it, seeing how you seat the rich man beside you and despise him, will reflect within himself on such partiality.
He will give up absolutely everything, and the decision will go in favor of the rich man, who is set apart from him.
Or even if he remains silent, counting on another, righteous judgment, it will be good if he finds it. But if death overtakes him before he finds a just judgment, then the rich man will unjustly and unlawfully retain all his money and property.
The sons and daughters of the poor man, having become orphans, will be deprived of those things belonging to their father on which they might have hoped, so as somehow to order their life in such misfortune.
What condemnation is deserved by the one who has done such a thing? Certainly a great and severe one.
Thus the prophet Micah writes about such judges: “Alas for me, my soul! For the pious man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men.
All contend in bloodshed. Each one afflicts his neighbor with affliction. They prepare their hands for evil. The ruler asks, and the judge speaks peaceful words, but it is the desire of his soul” (Mic 7:2-3).
And again: “Is it not for you to know judgment, you who hate good and seek evil, who tear their skins from them and their flesh from their bones?
As they devoured the flesh of My people, stripped their skin from their bones, crushed their bones, and broke them as flesh in a cauldron and as meat in a pot, so they will cry to the Lord and He will not hear them” (Mic 3:1-4).
The prophet Amos also writes about them: “Therefore, because you beat the poor with fists and took choice gifts from them, you built adorned houses, but you shall not dwell in them.
You planted desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink wine from them. For I know your many impieties and your mighty sins, you who trample the righteous, take bribes, and turn aside the poor at the gates” (Am 5:11-12).
Habakkuk speaks in agreement: “Judgment has come against me, and the judge takes. Therefore the law is destroyed, and judgment is not brought to completion.
For the ungodly overpowers the righteous. Therefore perverted judgment goes forth” (Hab 1:3-4).
Solomon also wants the rich and the poor to be honored and received without preference, because both are God’s creation. It is said: “The rich and the poor meet one another, and the Lord made them both” (Prov 22:2).
Gregory the Theologian interprets this: “Again, when you hear the words, ‘The rich and the poor meet one another; the Lord made them both’ (Prov 22:2), do not think that the Lord made one poor and the other rich.
Do not think He did this so that you might be able to attack the poor man still more. It is unknown whether such a division came from God.
In these words of Scripture only this is shown: both the poor man and the rich man were equally created by God, although their outward lot is not the same.
Let this move you to compassion and brotherly love. If, looking upon your wealth, you should ever become proud, let the thought of the common Creator humble you and bring you within the bounds of modesty” (Homily on Love for the Poor).
“Have you not made distinctions among yourselves?” More precisely, “Have you not doubted within yourselves,” that is, in your heart; compare Mk 11:23. This is how the Greek word κρίνεσθαι must be understood here.
According to the course of the speech and the construction of the expression, it was used twice above in this sense (Jas 1:6).
The expression means this: by acting with such partiality toward the rich and the poor in the assembly, do you not testify that you are not firm in faith? Have you not doubted the truth that in Christ both poor and rich are one and equal?
Have you not doubted that the perfect law, the law of Christ, does not allow such distinction and partiality? By acting so, you violate the law and therefore are not firm in the faith of the Lord of glory.
“And have you not become judges with evil thoughts?” That is, unrighteous judges; compare Lk 18:6. You judge incorrectly concerning the moral qualities of the rich and the poor. You anticipate the righteous judgment of the Lord of glory concerning them.
Consequently, you again contradict the perfect law. By this you show the same instability of your faith and the absence of pure and undefiled piety (Jas 2:1; Jas 1:27).
Blessed Theophylact paraphrases and interprets this saying with the following shade of meaning: “Because you did not judge as you ought, you became judges with evil thoughts.
“Have you not made distinctions? That is, you corrupted your judgment by making no prior inquiry whether the poor man is diligent or the rich man lazy.
“Your lack of discernment led you into partiality. It made you praise one man as rich and despise the other as poor.
“And you became judges of evil thoughts, that is, you became unjust judges, surrendering to wickedness through partiality” (Theophylact).
This is the evil which, according to the perfect law, the Apostle sees in such partiality.
Having spoken at the end of the first chapter about the care of widows and orphans, the Apostle now speaks of the poor, of unjust treatment toward them, and of partiality in general.
Persuading his readers to put aside partiality and the preference of the rich over the poor, he reminds them of God’s chosen ones. In both the Old Testament, among the prophets, and the New, among the Apostles, they were chiefly poor in the world, yet rich in faith.
“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:27), says the Apostle Paul.
That wealth often does not lead to the glory of God is shown quite often by examples in Scripture (see Lk 12:21; 1 Tim 6:9). The Apostle James shows that even among Christians there were rich people unworthy of the name of Christian.
Yet it was precisely to such persons that preference was often shown, and even in assemblies. Truly, this was an action done neither according to conscience nor according to discernment.
If partiality is incompatible with faith in Christ, then those who act against this demand clearly deserve strict rebuke. Faith makes all equal before the Lord of glory. It binds all with the bonds of spiritual brotherhood and therefore requires equal honor and love toward all, without distinction of rank or condition.
To rebuke them, the Apostle James says, “Have you not made distinctions among yourselves,” forgetting the spiritual brotherly unity in Christ Jesus? And have you not “become judges with evil thoughts,” when, for example, in church assemblies you assign honorable places to some and humiliate others before them?
A man enters the church in rich clothing and with a gold ring on his hand. You obligingly offer him a special seat in some visible place, where he may sit comfortably throughout the service, or at least during the readings and instructions.
But when a poor Christian enters the church assembly, you place him somewhere far from the place where the divine service is celebrated. When sitting is permitted during the service, you seat him on the floor at your footstool.
Such discrimination in dealing with rich and poor was observed in Jewish synagogues. Christians from among the Jews could not at once detach themselves from Jewish customs. They continued to follow them in the places of their church assemblies, which the Apostle therefore calls synagogues.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 10 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS