James 5:4

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - James 5:4

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields - In the previous verses the form of the sin which the apostle specified was that they had hoarded their property. He now states another form of their guilt, that, while doing this, they had withheld what was due from the very laborers who had cultivated their fields, and to whose labor they were indebted for what they had. The phrase “who have reaped down your fields,” is used to denote labor in general. This particular thing... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - James 5:4

James 5:4. Behold, the hire of the labourers The apostle alludes in this verse to Leviticus 19:13: The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night: and to Deuteronomy 24:15, At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, &c., lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. In allusion to these passages, the apostle here mentions a two-fold cry; the cry of the hire unjustly kept back; that is, the cry of the sin... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - James 5:1-6

Personal advancement without God (4:13-5:6)Another sign of worldliness appears when Christians arrange their lives as if God does not exist, as if they control the future. Christians should view life differently from non-Christians. They should not live as if their lives on earth are going to last for ever, but should consider the eternal purposes of God and arrange their affairs accordingly. Their chief consideration should be to do God’s will, not to look for personal gain and advancement... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - James 5:4

Behold . App-133 . hire = pay. Greek. misthos, Genitive translation "reward". have . Omit. reaped down . Greek. amao. Only here in N.T. occurs five times in Septuagint. Compare Micah 6:15 . of = on the part of. arising from . App-104 . kept back by fraud . Greek. apostereo. See 1 Corinthians 6:7 . cries . Greek. boe. Only here. reaped . Greek. therizo. Of frequently occurs in NT. LORD of Sabaoth . This O.T. expression (= LORD of hosts) is used only here by a N.T. writer. In... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - James 5:4

Behold the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.It was not merely the rejection of Christ that provoked the judgment of God upon the Jewish state, although that was sufficient; but it was their gross rebellion against the very law they pretended so much to adore. Leviticus 13:13, and Deuteronomy 24:15, and countless other passages forbade the withholding of... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - James 5:4

James 5:4. Which is of you kept back by fraud,— This was one of their wicked methods of heaping up riches; they were not only covetous and uncharitable, but also unjust: the phrase, crieth, &c. seems to be taken from the customs of the Eastern people, who, when they have suffered an injury, go to the judge with a horrible clamour,torequirevengeance;whichloudclamourtheyrepeatwithgreatvehemence, if the judge seems slow to wrath and punishment; and the same custom prevailed in the dark and... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - James 5:4

4. Behold—calling attention to their coming doom as no vain threat. labourers—literally "workmen." of you kept back—So English Version rightly. Not as ALFORD, "crieth out from you." The "keeping back of the hire" was, on the part OF the rich, virtually an act of "fraud," because the poor laborers were not immediately paid. The phrase is therefore not, "kept back by you," but "of you"; the latter implying virtual, rather than overt, fraud. James refers to Deuteronomy 24:14; Deuteronomy 24:15,... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - James 5:1-6

A. Warnings for the Rich 5:1-6It is characteristic of James’ well-balanced style that he opened and closed his exhortations (in James 2:1 to James 5:6) with references to the rich. There is also a return in this chapter to encouragement to persevere in the will of God when tempted to depart from it (cf. ch. 1). Thus the book demonstrates a somewhat chiastic structure.". . . wealth brings consternation [James 5:1], ends up in corrosion [James 5:2-3], and results in condemnation [James 5:4-6]."... read more

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

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - James 5:4

Some of James’ readers were evidently getting rich by cheating their hired workers out of their fair wages (cf. Deuteronomy 24:15). Cries for justice from these oppressed people had entered God’s ears, even though their employers were deaf to them (cf. Genesis 4:5; Genesis 18:20-21). The title "Lord of Sabaoth" (lit. Lord of Hosts, i.e., Lord Almighty; cf. Isaiah 5:9; Romans 9:29) emphasizes the sovereign omnipotence of God. Although the oppressed may appear to have no defenders on earth, they... read more

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