James 5:1

4. Denunciatory appeal to the rich for their oppression, self-indulgence, and persecution, James 5:1-6.

1. Go to now Note on James 4:13.

Rich men The rich men of St. James were something different from the honest and charitable possessors of wealth of which our Christianity has since furnished so many specimens. They displayed great outward pomp, James 2:2-3; they were political dynasts, ( καταδυναστευουσιν ,) or potentates, James 2:6; they were blasphemers and persecutors, James 2:7; they used their power to defraud the labourers upon their broad acres, James 5:4; they held judicial positions, and used them to put the just man to death, James 5:6. They are, therefore, the Jewish ruling tyrant-class of the day, called rich men, because their gorgeous display of pomp and opulence is their prominent aspect to the Christian eye. Of the rich men of St. James’s day in the Roman empire generally, see note on James 5:6. But the strangest thing in interpreting the words of St. James is, the fact that leading commentators imagine these rich men to be Christians! Howl and shall come are both participles in the present tense. A literal rendering of the whole verse would be, Ho, now, ye rich men, weep! howling upon the miseries coming on. The howling aggravates the weep, likening them to a pack of eastern dogs.