Bible Strands
James 4:17
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — James addresses the Twelve tribes in the dispersion, concluding a warning against boasting in proud intentions (v. 16). This verse is the ethical principle that undergirds that warning.
The words — εἰδὸτι (eidoti), the dative participle of "knowing," is the condition that converts inaction into guilt. ἁμαρτία (hamartia) here names sin as a state of culpability, not merely a single misstep.
The thread — Jesus makes the same move in John 9:41 and 15:22: those who claim knowledge or have been given it carry greater guilt for refusal. John 13:17 states the positive side — knowing and doing brings blessing.
Why it lands — It closes the door on "I meant to" as an excuse. Knowledge plus inaction is not neutrality; it is a moral act with a name.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Cross-references
- John 9:41 “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
- John 13:17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
- 2 Peter 2:21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.
- Luke 12:47 That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.
- Romans 1:32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- Romans 2:17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
- Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.
- Romans 7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.