Chrysodaktylios is a compound adjective meaning 'gold-ringed' or 'wearing a gold ring,' combining 'gold' (chrysos) with 'finger' (daktylos). James uses it to illustrate the sin of showing partiality in the church: 'if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing..., have you not then made distinctions among yourselves?' The gold ring marked wealth and status in the Greco-Roman world, and James condemns any favoritism based on such external markers. God's assembly should be radically egalitarian, judging by faith rather than by social status symbols.