“For in many things we offend all” or “For we all stumble in many ways” in James 3:2?

"For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." (James 3:2, KJV)

To try to discredit the KJV rendering of James 3:2, James R. White, author of The King James Only Controversy, asks the rhetorical question, “Do Christians offend all people?” as if that is what the KJV says (The King James Version Only Controversy p. 226). However, the word “people” does not appear in the KJV. “πολλα γαρ πταιομεν απαντες” literally translates as “many things for we offend all.” “All” modifies the “we.” In contemporary English we seldom split the subject (i.e. “we”) and “all” by placing a verb (i.e. “offend”) in between. But we still do this all the time with modal verbs: e.g. “we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51, ESV, NIV, NASB). In this construction we understand that “all” modifies the “we” even with the verb (i.e. “shall”) in between. The syntax in James 3:2 in the KJV is similar to this familiar construction.

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