Bibelkommentare

In this chapter the apostle denounces the judgments of God upon those rich men who oppress the poor, showing them how great their sin and folly are in the sight of God, and how grievous the punishments would be which should fall upon themselves, Jam 5:1-6. Hereupon, all the faithful are exhorted to patience under their trials and sufferings, Jam 5:7-11. The sin of swearing is cautioned against, Jam 5:12. We are directed how to act, both under affliction and in prosperity, Jam 5:13. Prayer for the sick, and anointing with oil, are prescribed, Jam 5:14,15. Christians are directed to acknowledge their faults one to another, and to pray one for another, and the efficacy of prayer is proved, Jam 5:16-18. And, lastly, it is recommended to us to do what we can for bringing back those that stray from the ways of truth.

The subjects which are introduced in this chapter are the following:

I. An address to rich men, and a severe condemnation of the manner in which they lived, James 5:1-6. There have been various opinions in regard to the persons here referred to.

(1) some have supposed that the address is to unbelieving Jews, and that the punishment which the apostle threatens was that which was about to be brought on the nation by the Roman armies. But, as Benson well observes, it can hardly be presumed that the apostle supposed that his letter would be read by the Jews, and it is not probable, therefore, that he would in this manner directly address them.

(2) another opinion has been, that this, like the rest of the Epistle, is addressed to professed Christians who had been Jews, and that the design is to reprove faults which prevailed among them. It is not supposed indeed, by those who hold this opinion, that all of those who were rich among them were guilty of the sins here adverted to, nor even that they were very prevalent among them. The rebuke would be proper if the sins here referred to existed at all, and were practiced by any who bore the Christian name. As to any improbability that professed Christians would be guilty of these faults, it might be remarked that the period has been rare in the church, if it has occurred at all, in which all that is here said of "rich men" would not be applicable to some members of the church. Certainly it is applicable in all those countries where slavery prevails; in countries where religion is allied to the state; in all places where the mass are poor, and the few are rich. It would be difficult now to find any extended church on earth in relation to which the denunciation here would not be applicable to some of its members. But still it can hardly be supposed that men were tolerated in the church, in the times of the apostles, who were guilty of the oppressions and wrongs here referred to, or who lived in the manner here specified. It is true, indeed, that such men have been, and are still found, in the Christian church; but we should not, without the clearest proof, suppose that such cases existed in the times of the apostles.

(3) the correct opinion therefore seems to be, that the design of the apostle in this chapter was to encourage and strengthen poor and oppressed Christians; to impart consolation to those who, under the exactions of rich men, were suffering wrong. In doing this, nothing would be more natural than for him first to declare his views in regard to those who were guilty of these wrongs, and who made use of the power which wealth gave to injure those in the humble walks of life. This he does in the form of an address to rich men - not perhaps expecting that they would see what he had written, but with a design to set before those to whom he wrote, and for whose benefit the statement is made, in a vivid manner, the nature of the wrongs under which they were suffering, and the nature of the punishment which must come upon those who oppressed them. Nothing would tend more effectually to reconcile those to whom he wrote to their own lot, or do more to encourage them to bear their trials with patience. At the same time, nothing would do more to keep them from envying the lot of the rich, or desiring the wealth which was connected with such a mode of life.

II. The apostle exhorts these who were suffering under these wrongs to exercise patience, James 5:7-11. He encourages them with the hope that the Lord would come; he refers them to the example of the farmer, who waits long for the fruit of the earth; he cautions them against indulging in hard feelings and thoughts against others more prospered than they were; he refers them, as examples of patience, to the prophets, to the case of Job, and to the Lord Jesus himself.

III. He adverts to a fault among them on the subject of swearing, James 5:12. This subject is introduced here apparently because they were in danger, through impatience, of expressing themselves in a severe manner, and even of uttering imprecations on those who oppressed them. To guard against this, be exhorts them to control their temper, and to confine themselves in their conversation to a simple affirmative or denial.

IV. He refers to the case of those who were sick and afflicted among them, and directs them what to do, James 5:14-18. The duty of those who were sick was to employ prayer - as the duty of those who were in health and prosperity was praise. The afflicted were to pray; the sick were to call for the elders of the church, who were to pray over them, and to anoint them with the oil in the name of the Lord, not as "extreme unction," or with a view to their dying, but with a view to their living. To encourage them thus to call in the aid of praying men, he refers them to an illustrious instance of the power of prayer in the case of Elijah.

V. In the close of the chapter and of the Epistle, the apostle adverts to the possibility that some among them might err from the truth, and urges the duty of endeavoring to convert such, James 5:19-20. To encourage them to do this, he states the important consequences which would follow where such an effort would be successful, He who should do this, would have the satisfaction of saving a soul from death, and would hide from the universe a multitude of sins, which otherwise, in the case of the erring brother, could not but have been exposed in the great day of judgment.

The profligate rich are in danger of God's judgments, because of their pride, fraudulent dealings, riotous living, and cruelty, James 5:1-6. The oppressed followers of God should be patient, for the Lord's coming is nigh; and should not grudge against each other, James 5:7-9. They should take encouragement from the example of the prophets, and of Job, James 5:10, James 5:11. Swearing forbidden, James 5:12. Directions to the afflicted, James 5:13-15. They should confess their faults to each other, James 5:16. The great prevalence of prayer instanced in Elijah, James 5:17, James 5:18. The blessedness of converting a sinner from the error of his way, James 5:19, James 5:20.

INTRODUCTION TO James 5

In this chapter the apostle reproves the vices of rich men, and denounces the judgments of God upon them; exhorts the saints to patience under sufferings; warns them from vain and profane swearing, and presses to various duties and branches of religious worship, private and public, and to the performance of several good offices of love to one another. He represents the miseries of wicked rich men as just at hand, James 5:1 because they made no use of their riches, either for themselves, or others, and because of the trust they put in them, heaping them up against a time to come, James 5:2, and because of their injustice in detaining the hire of labourers from them, James 5:4 and because of their wantonness and luxury, James 5:5 and because of their cruelty to the innocent, James 5:6 and such who suffer at their hands are exhorted to exercise patience, from the instance of the husbandman waiting patiently for the fruit of the earth, and the rain to produce it; and from the consideration of the coming of Christ, the Judge, being near at hand, James 5:7 and from the example of the prophets of the Lord, who suffered much, and were patient, and so happy; and particularly from the instance of Job, his patience, the end of the Lord in his afflictions, and his pity and compassion towards him, James 5:10. But of all things the apostle entreats them, that they would take care of profane swearing, and all vain oaths, since these bring into condemnation, James 5:12 and from hence he passes to various exercises of religion; the afflicted he advises to prayer; and those in comfortable circumstances of body and mind to singing of psalms, James 5:13, and such that are sick, to send for the elders of the church to pray over them, and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord, whereby not only the sick man would be delivered from his sickness, the Lord raising him up, but even his sins would be declared to be forgiven, James 5:14. And not only it became the elders to pray for sick persons, but also the saints in general, one for another, and to acknowledge their faults to each other, since the fervent prayer of every righteous man is of great avail with God, James 5:16 of which an instance is given in Elias, whose prayer, though a man subject to like passions as other men, against, and for rain, was very successful, James 5:17. And Christians should not only be concerned for the health of each other's bodies, but also for the good of their souls; wherefore, whenever it is observed that any are straying from the path of truth, methods should be taken to restore them, and turn them from the error of their ways; and whoever is the happy instrument of such a restoration is the means of saving a soul from death, and hiding a multitude of sins, James 5:19.

V.

The first six verses, condemnatory of the trust in riches, ought to follow James 4:17 without a break, and thus end the proper division of the Epistle. Our present arrangement of chapter and verse here, as in so many cases, tends to confusion rather than clearness.

Chap. 5 contains five distinct sections; of great interest is the fact that the first two—1–6, 7–11—deal respectively with Jewish and Christian Eschatology; this subject will be dealt with presently; Jam 5:12 is a short section containing an adaptation of some words from the “Sermon on the Mount”; 13–18 deals with the subject of the visitation of the sick in the early Church; while Jam 5:19-20 bring the Epistle to an abrupt termination with a very pronounced utterance upon the Jewish doctrine of works. Each of these sections is self-contained, and it would be impossible to have a clearer or more pointed illustration than this chapter offers of the “patchwork” character of our Epistle.

It will not be necessary, in dealing with the very large subject of Jewish Eschatology, to do more than indicate very briefly its connection with the section Jam 5:1-6 of this chapter; at the same time, a slight reference to its leading ideas is essential, as some of these are referred in this passage; one of these is the punishment about to overtake the wicked—who are often identified with the rich—in the “last days”. Jewish Eschatology, or the “Doctrine of the last things,” is based on the teaching of the O.T. prophets regarding the “Day of the Lord,” or, as the phrase runs, “the last day,” or “last time”; another formula which occurs frequently is “in those days”. “By the time of the New Testament period Judaism was in possession of most, if not all, of its eschatological ideas. These had been developed during the two eventful centuries that immediately preceded the rise of Christianity. It was these centuries which saw the rise of the Apocalyptic Movement with its vast eschatological developments that were essentially bound up with the doctrine of a future life, and a belief in a judgment after death, with rewards and punishments” (Oesterley and Box, op. cit., p. 211). The four outstanding subjects that the doctrine of the last things comprises are: (1) The signs of the approach of the “Messianic Era”—this latter took the place of the “Day of the Lord” in the development of eschatological thought, (2) the actual advent of the Messiah, together with the great events that should then come to pass, viz., the ingathering of Israel and the resurrection of the dead; (3) The judgment upon the wicked; (4) The blessedness of the righteous (Cf. the writer’s The Doctrine of the Last Things). In the passage before us (Jam 5:1-6) three of the above are referred to, viz., the Messianic Era; the punishment of the wicked, and (implicitly) the blessedness of the righteous. In Jam 5:3 the phrase ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις points indubitably to the times of the Messiah; the language is that of Jewish Eschatology based on prophetic teaching (cf. Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1; Hosea 3:5; Joel 3:1; Amos 8:11; Amos 9:11; Zechariah 8:23). In Jam 5:1; Jam 5:3 the punishment of the wicked is referred in the words, κλαύσατε ὀλολύζοντες ἐπὶ ταῖς ταλαιπωρίαις ὑμῶν ταῖς ἐπερχομέναις: … καὶ ὁ ἰὸς αὐτῶν … φάγεται τὰς σάρκας ὑμῶν ὡς πῦρ; as illustrating this cf. Book of Enoch xcvi. 8, “Woe unto you mighty who violently oppress the righteous, for the day of your destruction will come; in that time many happy days will come for the righteous, then shall ye be condemned”; xciv. 7, 8, 9, “Woe to those that build their houses with sin …; and those who acquire gold and silver will perish in judgment suddenly. Woe to you, ye rich, for ye have trusted in your riches.… Ye have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness, and have become ready for the day of slaughter and the day of darkness and the day of the great judgment”; xcv. 7, “Woe to you sinners, for ye persecute the righteous …; xcvi, 4, “Woe unto you, ye sinners, for your riches make you appear like the righteous … and this word shall be a testimony against you”; many other similar quotations could be given, the striking resemblance in thought and language with our passage cannot fail to be observed; see further below, Jam 5:1. And lastly, in Jam 5:6, there is an implicit reference to the happiness of the righteous, in the words, κατεδικάσατε, ἐφονεύσατε τὸν δίκαιον· οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται ὑμῖν; that is to say, the righteous can afford to suffer such ill-treatment because he knows that the time of essedness is coming for him; this is also frequently referred to in the Book of Enoch, e.g., xcvi. 1, “Be hopeful, ye righteous; for suddenly will the sinners perish before you, and ye will have lordship over them according to your desires; 3, Wherefore, fear not, ye that suffer; for healing will be your portion”. The non-mention in our passage of the actual advent of the Messiah by name was characteristic of Jewish usage at certain periods, and is significant here. On the other hand, the section comprising Jam 5:7-11 is wholly Christian; the utterly different tone and language of this, as compared with the section Jam 5:1-6, cannot be accounted for by saying that the one is addressed to the wicked, the other to the righteous; because in the latter there is a distinct reference to those who are in danger of being judged on account of murmuring against one another (Jam 5:9). But there are one or two points whereby the respectively Jewish and Christian form of Eschatology may be clearly discerned. (1) The language on which Jewish eschatological ideas are based is that of the prophets; the section Jam 5:1-6 is steeped in O.T. phraseology; on the other hand, the actual references to the Advent in Jam 5:7-11 are in N.T. language; the O.T. references in this section have nothing to do with the Advent. (2) It is characteristic of Jewish Eschatology that, generally speaking, there is indefiniteness as to when the Messianic Era will be inaugurated; it differs herein somewhat from the prophetical teaching, owing, as a matter of fact, to the rise of apocalyptic conceptions: on the other hand, the Christian, like the prophetical, view of the Advent is that it will take place in the very near future (“… behold the judge standeth at the door”). (3) In Jewish pre-Christian eschatological literature the Messianic Era is frequently depicted without any reference to the personality of the Messiah; on the other hand, in the N.T., it is the rule that when the second Advent is referred to Christ is mentioned under the titles of the “Son of Man” or the “Lord” (cf. Matthew 10:23; Matthew 13:41-42; Matthew 16:27-28; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 25:31-33, etc., Php 4:5, ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς, 1 Corinthians 16:22, μαρὰν ἀθά, and see Didache, x. 6, εἴ τις ἅγιός ἐστιν, ἐρχέσθω· εἴ τις οὐκ ἐστί, μετανοείτω· μαρὰν ἀθά. ἀμήν). (4) Besides there being no reference to the personality of the Messiah in the Jewish eschatological section there is the further contrast between it and the Christian section that in the latter the distinctively Christian expression ἡ παρουσία τοῦ κυρίου twice occurs; against this the Jewish section makes use of the distinctively Jewish title for God, the “Lord of Sabaoth”.

It is thus difficult to resist the conclusion that we have here, in the section Jam 5:1-6, a passage which did not originally belong to the Epistle at all, but was taken or adapted from some Jewish eschatological work; it will be generally acknowledged that this section has absolutely nothing specifically Christian about it. That the writer (compiler?) should have incorporated this in his Epistle is quite natural, seeing that he was writing to Jews; equally as natural is it that he should, as a Christian writing to (Jewish-) Christians, add the developed Christian form of the same subject, interspersing it with O.T. references for the sake of his hearers [see further, Bk. of Jubilees, i. 29, Jam 5:12, xxiii. 26–30; Enoch, x. 13, xvi. 1; Ass. of Moses, i. 18, x. 13; Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Reuben, vi. 8; Apoc. Bar. xxvii. 15, xxix. 8, lvi. 2; 4 Esdr. 9:5].

CHAPTER 5

Jam 5:4. Instead of εἰσεληλύθασιν the form εἰσελήλυθαν is, with Tisch. and Lachm., to be preferred (on this form see Ph. Buttm. Ausführl. Gr. Gr. § 87, 8, Note 5, and Winer, p. 70 f. [E. T. 93]).

Jam 5:5. The ὡς of the Rec. (after G K, etc.) before ἐν ἠμέρᾳ is, according to the testimonies of A B א, to be regarded as an explanatory addition, and, with Lachm. and Tisch., to be left out; so also Wiesinger, Lange, Brückner; Reiche and Bouman, however, judge otherwise.

Jam 5:7. The Rec. after the second ἕως has the particle ἄν (so in א and many min.). Tisch. has omitted it, as, according to his statement, it is not found in A B G K, etc.; Lachm. has retained it (according to Tischendorf’s note: ex errore); so also Buttmann, who adduces no authority for its omission. Already Griesbach regarded ἄν as suspicious. Lachm. and Tisch. have omitted ὑετόν; it is in A G K, etc., but is wanting in B א, etc.; its addition is easily explained, particularly as in the LXX. it is never wanting with πρώϊμος καὶ ὄψιμος.

Jam 5:9. The address ἀδελφοί, in A B, etc. (Lachm. Tisch.), stands before, in G א, etc. (Rec.), after κατʼ ἀλλήλων; in K, etc., it is entirely wanting. Instead of κατακριθῆτε the simple verb κριθῆτε is, with Griesbach, Scholz, Lachm. Tisch., to be read, according to almost all authorities; so also the article ὁ before κριτής (which in the Rec. is wanting, against almost all authorities) is to be adopted.

Jam 5:10. The address according to the Rec. is ἀδελφοί μου (G K, א, etc.); in A B, etc., μου is wanting (Lachm. Tisch.); its correct position is after λάβετε, not after κακοπαθείας.

Instead of κακοπαθείας, א alone reads καλοκαγαθίας.

Before τῷ ὀνόματι, B א, etc., have the preposition ἐν (Lachm.): a correction apparently for the sake of simplification.—א alone omits τῷ.

Jam 5:11. It is difficult to decide whether we are to read, with the Rec. and Tisch., ὑπομένοντας (G K, etc.), or, with Lachm. and Wiesinger, ὑπομείναντας (A B א, etc.); yet the reading of the Rec. appears to have arisen from an endeavour to generalize the reference of the idea: Bouman certainly judges otherwise.

The Rec. εἴδετε, after B* (teste Majo) K א, etc., Oecumenius (Lachm.), is as a correction to be changed for the more difficult reading ἴδετε, attested by A B G, etc. (Tisch.).

After ἐστιν the Rec. has ὁ κύριος, according to A B (in B, however, the article is wanting) א, several min. vss. etc. (Lachm.); Griesbach regarded it as suspicious, and Tisch. has omitted it, after C K, many min. etc.; the omission can easily be explained from the fact that κυρίου directly precedes (so also Lange; Bouman wavers).

Jam 5:12. The reading εἰς ὑπόκρισιν (Ed. Steph., after G K, etc.) has probably arisen from the original ὑπὸ κρίσιν, these two words being taken as one, and then a preposition placed before them.

Jam 5:14. The αὐτόν after ἀλείψαντες is wanting in B; it was omitted as being self-evident.

Lachm. and Tisch. have, after A and some min., left out the article τοῦ before κυρίου; yet G K א, many min. etc., attest its genuineness; in B also κυρίου is wanting; nevertheless Buttmann has received it, but without the article.

Jam 5:16. The reading of the Rec. is ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰ παραπτώματα, καὶ εὔχεσθε κ.τ.λ. (Tisch.); instead of which A B read ἐξομολογεῖσθε οὖν ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ προσεύχεσθε κ.τ.λ. (Lachm.); for οὖν also K א, several min. Vulg. etc. testify: accordingly οὖν is to be considered as genuine; yet precisely this οὖν might mislead one to find in this verse an extension of the thought going before, and on this account to change the new expressions with the preceding, and thus, instead of παραπτώματα, to put again ἁμαρτίας, and instead of εὔχεσθε, for which also א testifies, and to put again προσεύχεσθε, whereas the opposite change cannot be well explained.

Jam 5:18. The Rec. ὑετὸν ἔδωκεν is found in B G K, almost all min. etc. (Tisch.); A, on the contrary, has ἔδωκεν ὑετόν (Lachm.); so also א, but with τόν before ὑετόν. It is possible that this change was occasioned by the following ἐβλάστησεν τὸν καρπόν.

Jam 5:19. Tisch. has omitted the pronoun μου after ἀδελφοί, yet the most important authorities, A B K א, etc., attest its genuineness.—א alone has, instead of the simple τῆς ἀληθείας, the combination τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας.

Jam 5:20. The reading γινώσκετε in B is occasioned by the address ἀδελφοί. Instead of the Rec. ψυχήν, after G K, many min. (Tisch.) Lachm. and Buttm. have adopted ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. This αὐτοῦ is found in A א, some min. vss. etc. B has it, probably by an error of the scribe, not after ψυχήν, but after θανάτου.

B has as subscription Ἰακώβου; A: Ἰακώβου ἐπιστολή; others differently.