James 4:12 (DBY)

Passage

One is the lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy: but who art *thou* who judgest thy neighbour?

Nearby Context

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before [the] Lord, and he shall exalt you.

James 4:11 Speak 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.

James 4:12 One is the lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy: but who art *thou* who judgest thy neighbour?

James 4:13 Go to now, ye who say, To-day or to-morrow will we go into such a city and spend a year there, and traffic and make gain,

James 4:14 ye who do not know what will be on the morrow, ([for] what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing,)

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lawgiver", "judge", "able", "save", "destroy", "thou", "judgest", and "neighbour". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lawgiver" and "judge", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Speak not against one another brethren He..." into verse 13's "Go to now ye who say To-day...", so "lawgiver" and "judge" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lawgiver" and "judge" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.