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Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - James 5:1-18

VI. MONEY AND PATIENT ENDURANCE 5:1-18The final practical problem James addressed involves money. He wrote these instructions to warn his readers of a danger, to inform them of the ramifications of the problem, and to exhort them to deal with the situation appropriately. This is his third reference to the rich and the poor (cf. James 1:9-11; James 2:1-12). We might also consider James 4:13-17, as well as James 5:1-6, as dealing with the rich. [Note: For some helpful insights on the way... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - James 5:1-20

Rebuke and Encouragement2. Are corrupted, etc.] prophetic tense, in which the future is spoken of as though it were already come to pass. 3. For the last days] RV ’in the last days.’ The warning was fulfilled during the siege of Jerusalem, when many rich Jews were slain by Zealots (Jos. ’Wars,’5. 10). 4. Lord of Sabaoth] an OT. phrase = ’Lord of Hosts.’ It is not found elsewhere in the NT., except once in a quotation (Romans 9:29). 5. As in a day of slaughter] omit ’as,’ and cp. Jeremiah 12:3;... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - James 5:1

(1) Go to now, ye rich.—As in James 4:3, it was “Woe to you, worldly,” so now “Woe to ye rich: weep, bewailing”—literally, howling for your miseries coming upon you. Comp. Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 14:31; Isaiah 15:3, where (in the LXX.) the same term is used;—a picture word, imitating the cry of anguish,—peculiar to this place in the New Testament. Observe the immediate future of the misery; it is already coming. Doubtless by this was meant primarily the pillage and destruction of Jerusalem, but... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - James 5:1-20

James 5:1 'I had an hour's baiting from Mrs. yesterday. She got upon political preaching abused it very heartily acknowledged that religion had to do with man's political life, but said a clergyman's duty is to preach obedience to the powers that be was rather puzzled when I asked her whether it were legitimate to preach from James 5:1 , "Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and howl," etc. asked whether it was possible for old women and orphans to understand such subjects; to which I replied, "No;... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - James 5:1-6

Chapter 23THE FOLLIES AND INIQUITIES OF THE RICH; THEIR MISERABLE END.James 5:1-6HERE, if anywhere in the Epistle, the writer glances aside from the believing Jews of the Dispersion, to whom the letter as a whole is addressed, and in a burst of righteous indignation which reminds us of passages in the old Hebrew Prophets, denounces members of the twelve tribes who not even in name are Christians. In the preceding section such a transition is in preparation. When he is condemning the godless... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - James 5:1-20

V. THE COMING OF THE LORD AND THE LIFE OF FAITH CHAPTER 5 1. The oppression by the rich and their coming doom (James 5:1-6 ) 2. Be patient unto the coming of the Lord (James 5:7-12 ) 3. The prayers of faith and the life of faith (James 5:13-20 ) James 5:1-6 The two classes whom James addresses stand out very prominently in this final chapter of his Epistle. The rich oppressors certainly are not believers but the unbelieving rich; they are not addressed as “brethren”; but others are in... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - James 5:1

5:1 Go {1} to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon [you].(1) He denounces utter destruction to the wicked and profane rich men, and such as are drowned in their riotousness, mocking their foolish confidence when there is nothing indeed more vain than such things. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - James 5:1-20

Verses 1 Timothy 6:0 are addressed to rich men, and no doubt specially to those who make some claim of having the knowledge of God. They are bidden to weep and howl for the miseries that will take them, in contrast to their present living in luxury. How transient and empty are earthly richest God sees them as corrupted, decaying, and quickly at an end; and the garments of wealth as moth-eaten, not won from use, but from hanging, disused, in a closet. The language here is sharp and scathing.... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - James 5:1-20

WORLDLY MINDEDNESS Like other divisions of this epistle this is so connected with the last, and grows out of it so naturally, that it is difficult to say where the division occurs. The writer had been speaking of envying and strife in expression through the tongue, and now puts in his plow deeper to show their source in the antecedent condition of the heart. “Lust” is not to be taken in the limited sense of sensuality, but in the broader sense of worldly pleasure or gratification of any kind.... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - James 5:1-20

Curious Identifications Jam 5:11 Let us notice how very curiously, and in some cases how very eccentrically and frivolously, some men are identified in Holy Scripture. The texts might be a hundred in number: one will do to start with "Ye have heard of the patience of Job." Thus we hear of men in little points, striking aspects, wise or silly anecdotes. Who knows anything about Job, except his patience? Who can quote any argument of the great sufferer? Who can recite his curse upon his... read more

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