Texts in Conversation
Pirkei Avot 2:1 tells people to treat a minor command as carefully as a weighty one. James makes the same point, warning that whoever keeps the whole law but breaks it at one point is guilty of all of it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
James 2:10
New Testament
9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. 10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law.
Pirkei Avot 2:1
Mishnah
Rabbinic
1 Rabbi said: which is the straight path that a man should choose for himself? One which is an honor to the person adopting it and which brings him honor from others. Be as careful with a light commandment as with a grave one, for you do not know the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments. Weigh the loss incurred by fulfilling a commandment against its reward, and the gain from a transgression against the loss it entails. Apply your mind to three things and you will not come into the clutches of sin: Know what there is above you: an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a book. 2 Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi Judah Hanasi said: excellent is the study of the Torah when combined with a worldly occupation, for toil in them both keeps sin out of one's mind; but study of the Torah which is not combined with a worldly occupation comes to be neglected in the end and becomes the cause of sin. And all who labor with the community should labor with them for the sake of Heaven, for the merit of the community's forefathers sustains them, and their righteousness endures forever. As for you, God says: I credit you with a rich reward, as if you had accomplished it all yourselves.
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Notes and References
... These 'ways' of behavior, in turn, are explicitly attached to religious motivations that also resemble those in James. The observance of the law is taking on the yoke of the kingdom (Pirke Aboth 3:5), and gives the one who observes it a sort of kingship (Pirke Aboth 6:1 = James 2:8). Humans are created in the image of God (Pirke Aboth 3:15 = James 3:9), and God is both their creator and their judge (Pirke Aboth 2:21; 4:22 = James 4:12), who judges the world by mercy (Pirke Aboth 3:16 = James 2:13). Both 'heavy' and 'light' commandments must be observed (Pirke Aboth 2:1; 4:11; see especially 4:2 = James 2:10–11). Abraham is called 'our father' (Pirke Aboth 5:2, 19 = James 2:21) and the ten trials of Abraham—including the binding of Isaac—are listed (Pirke Aboth 5:3 = James 2:21). ...
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