James 4:13-5:6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 4:11-17

In this part of the chapter, I. We are cautioned against the sin of evil-speaking: Speak not evil one of another, brethren, Jas. 4:11. The Greek word, katalaleite, signifies speaking any thing that may hurt or injure another; we must not speak evil things of others, though they be true, unless we be called to it, and there be some necessary occasion for the; much less must we report evil things when they are false, or, for aught we know, may be so. Our lips must be guided by the law of... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 4:13-17

4:13-17 Come now, you who say, "Today, or tomorrow, we will go into this city, and we will spend a year there, and we will trade and make a profit." People like you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life like? You are like a mist which appears for a little time and then disappears. And yet you talk like that instead of saying, "If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we shall do this or that." As it is, you make your arrogant claims in your braggart ways. All such arrogant... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 4:13

Go to now, ye that say ,.... The apostle passes from exposing the sin of detraction, and rash judgment, to inveigh against those of presumption and self-confidence; and the phrase, "go to now", is a note of transition, as well as of attention, and contains the form of a solemn and grave address to persons, who either think within themselves, or vocally express, the following words, or the like unto them: today, or tomorrow, we will go into such a city ; in such a country, a place of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 4:13

Go to now - Αγε νυν· Come now, the same in meaning as the Hebrew הבה habah , come, Genesis 11:3 , Genesis 11:4 , Genesis 11:7 . Come, and hear what I have to say, ye that say, etc. To-day, or to-morrow, we will go - This presumption on a precarious life is here well reproved; and the ancient Jewish rabbins have some things on the subject which probably St. James had in view. In Debarim Rabba, sec. 9, fol. 261, 1, we have the following little story; "Our rabbins tell us a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - James 4:13

Verse 13 13Go to now. He condemns here another kind of presumption, that many, who ought to have depended on God’s providence, confidently settled what they were to do, and arranged their plans for a long time, as though they had many years at their own disposal, while they were not sure, no not even of one moment. Solomon also sharply ridicules this kind of foolish boasting, when he says that “men settle their ways in their heart, and the Lord in the mean time rules the tongue.” (Proverbs... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 4:13

Go to ; ἄγε , properly, the imperative, but here used adverbially, a usage common in Greek prose, and found again in James 5:1 . The Received Text (Stephens) requires some correction in this verse. Read, σήμερον ἢ αὔριον with א , B the futures πορεύσομεθα ποιήσομεν ἐμπορευσόμεθα and κερδήσομεν (B, Latt., Syriac) instead of the subjunctives; and omit ἔνα after ἐνιαυτόν , with a, B, Latt., Coptic. Continue there a year ; rather, spend a year there , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 4:13-17

DENUNCIATION OF OVER - WEENING CONFIDENCE IN OUR OWN PLANS AND OUR ABILITY TO PERFORM THEM . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 4:13-17

The uncertainty of human plans and schemes. Best illustrated by the parable of the rich fool, boasting of his "much goods" laid up for "many years" on the very night on which his soul was required of him. It is such a spirit as his that St. James denounces so sternly; not the careful forethought and providence which Holy Scripture never condemns, but the forming plans and designs without the slightest reference in word or thought to that overruling will on which all depends. It is not the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 4:13-17

"Man proposes, but God disposes." The subject here is another prevalent manifestation of pride and worldliness; namely, the propensity to indulge in presumptuous self-reliance in relation to the future. I. THE SPIRIT OF VAIN CONFIDENCE WHICH THE APOSTLE REBUKES . ( James 4:13 ) He appeals directly to worldly-minded merchants and money-makers. The Jews, like ourselves, have been a nation of shopkeepers. In these early times many of them carried the products of one... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 4:13-17

"What is your life?" The life of the savage is characterized by an almost total lack of true foresight; no calculations of the future. True civilization, on the contrary, is largely built up on the principle of far-seeing prudence. Yet there may be a false use of a true principle. And so it may come to pass that we manifest an unchristian reliance on the future, and an absorbed engrossment in plans for its direction. It is this which James condemns, He sets forth the false glorying, and,... read more

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