Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · James Kapitel 2

James 2:1. With respect of persons.— The word Προσωποληψια signifies the respect of persons in judgment, not purely according to the merits of the cause, but according to external respects which relate not to it. As for instance, 1st, The dread of any man's power, or the fear of what he may do to us if we judge against him. See Leviticus 19:15.Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 1:17. Or, 2nd, The poverty of any man, which renders him less able to suffer punishment or loss. See Exo 3:3 rdly, It is respecting persons in judgment, if we favour a cause by reason of any gift or hope of gain. See Deuteronomy 16:19. Or, 4thly, By reason of relation, affinity, friendship, or affection. In spiritual or evangelical matters, it is to have respect to men, in reference to things which render them neither better nor worse, neither more nor less acceptable in the sight of God. As for instance, To respect them, 1st, in regard to their nation or their offspring. See Act 10:34-35 for God will have no respect to nations, or external professions, in his future recompences. See Romans 6:9-10. Or, 2nd, With respect to their condition, as being masters or servants. See Ephesians 6:9. Col 3:25. 1 Peter 1:17. Or, 3rdly, To their quality. This is the thing here censured,—not as it respects the due subordination of ranks, which is necessary to the existence of society, but merely as it regards judicial matters; and in this latter and only true sense, the rule may be carried in its essence and spirit into every department of religious, civil, social, and domestic life.

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James 2:2. Unto your assembly— That here the apostle speaks of consistories for civil judicatures, is argued, 1st, From the accepting of persons, Jam 2:1 which in the Old Testament and the New, as often as it is applied to men, respects human judicatures. 2nd, From the footstool mentioned, Jam 2:3 which obtained in their judicial consistories, and which was proper to princes on their thrones, and judges on their tribunals. 3rdly, From the judges mentioned, Jam 2:4 and the judgment-seats mentioned, James 2:6. And lastly, from the canon of the Jews, by which it is provided, that, "When the rich and poor have a suit together in their consistories, either both must sit, or both stand, to avoid all marks of partiality." See R. Levi Barcinon, 50: 142. Juris Hebraici.

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James 2:4. Are ye not then partial in yourselves,— Do you not put a difference, or discrimination among yourselves on those accounts which are foreign to the cause? That this is the frequent sense of the words διακρινομενοι and διακρινεσθαι, see Act 15:9 where the words ουδεν διεκρινε are rendered, He put no difference betwixt us and them: and, Jud 1:22 where we read, Of some have compassion, διακρινομενοι, making a difference.

An are become judges of evil thoughts?— That is, Who pass judgment from your own evil thoughts, as considering the rich worthy of respect in judgment, for his gorgeous attire and outward appearance, and the poor fit to be despised for his outward meanness.

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James 2:5. Hath not God chosen the poor, &c.— Christianity was not spread by the power or contrivance of courtiers and great men, or to advance a secular interest; but the God and Father of all chose this method in his infinitewisdom for the reformation and renovation of all who will yield to be saved by grace: but such as set their hearts upon the riches and grandeur of thisworld, are not of that number. No ellipsis is more common than that of the verb to be: we have an instance here,—chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith.

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James 2:7. Worthy— Honourable.

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James 2:12. So speak ye, and so do, &c.— "Let it therefore be your care, that ye so speak and so act as those that shall be judged by the law of liberty, by the glorious gospel, which is a dispensation that sets us at liberty from the bondage of the Jewish ritual, and directs us to all the branches of that virtue and holiness, which is the truest liberty of the mind, and which, being so excellent, must subject us to the severest punishment, if we presume to contemn it."

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James 2:13. For he shall have judgment without mercy, &c.— "For he whose faith does not work by love, according to the grace and obligation of the gospel, so as to shew compassion to his poor brethren, shall pass under a severe sentence of condemnation and wrath, to be executed upon him in the day of judgment, without any mixture of that mercy, which is held forth in the doctrine of Christ: and, on the contrary, he who, as the fruit of his faith, exercises tenderness and loving-kindness toward them, shall rejoice in his deliverance from condemnation and wrath, and the fear of being cast in judgment: and divine mercy, according to the gospel, shall triumph in his favour, and glory over strict justice according to the law, in the final day of account, agreeably to our Lord's own representation of it, Matthew 25:34-46."

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James 2:14.— The Jews retained the highest reverence for their law, and would adhere to it as the method of justification or acceptance with God, even after the coming of the gospel of Christ. Whereas the apostles assured them, that faith, or the gospel method, was the only way in which they could hope for acceptance. Some of the JewishChristians,hearingfaithextolledso much above the law, seem to have wilfully misrepresented the design of the apostles, as if by faith they had meant no more than a bare assent to the word of God; and that if men believed the doctrines, there was no necessity for obeying the commands of Christ; but that they were freed from all moral and religious works whatever, as well as from the works of the ceremonial or Jewish law; and that such a faith or mere assent to the word of God, was sufficient to justify and save them. To prevent the spreading of such a dreadful doctrine, and the manyunhappy consequences which it would have drawn after it, St. James had, in the preceding chapter, insisted upon their being doers of the word, as well as hearers of it;upontheirbridlingtheir tongues, and upon their relieving the fatherless and widows in their distresses, unless they would render all their pretences to religion vain. In the beginning of the present chapter he condemns respect of persons; and in Jam 2:13 points out the necessity of mercy towards men, in all such as hope for mercy with God. But now he proceeds to insist more particularly upon the necessity ofa holy life; and in the most express manner assures them, that as charity to the poor does not consist in giving them good words only, without affording them some relief, so faith in the Christian doctrine, without a holy life, ought not to be looked upon as the true Christian faith;—that the saying, "we have faith," and actually believing or assenting to the truth, is doing no more than the wicked demons, who not only believe but tremble;—that the only way of manifesting that we have true faith, is to shew it by our pious and holy lives: that, by such a faith, or in such a way, the great patriarch Abraham was justified; for he not only assented to the truths which he had received from God, but manifested his faith in God, by performing such works as he commanded him; by which means he obtained that honourable title of The Friend of God. In like manner Rahab, not only believed that God would bestow the land of Canaan upon the Israelites, but she manifested that faith by her kindness to the spies whom they sent to view the country; and thereupon she was delivered from the common destruction, and taken into the number of the people of God. From all which the apostle concludes, that as a lifeless carcase is not a man, so the faith which does not produce good works, is only the dead carcase of faith, and not the genuine Christian faith, James 2:14-26.

What doth it profit, my brethren,— In the preceding verses the apostle had enjoined them so to speak and act, as they who were to be judged by the gospel, or the law of liberty: intimating that they should be condemned if they did not. He now further enforces that injunction by asking them, "What can it signify for a man to pretend to hold the Christian faith in the greatest soundness and purity, and yet neglect the practice of good works? Is it possible that such a fruitless faith can be the means of salvation?"—I am surprised, says Dr. Doddridge, at the immense pains which commentators have taken to reconcile St. Paul and St. James, and the many hypotheses they have formed for that purpose; whereas to me nothing is more evident, than that the ideas which they affix to the word faith and works are entirely different. St. James, by the word faith, means simply an assent to the truth of the gospel, or of religious principles, without determining whether that assent be or be not effectual; and then declares, that in case this assent does not produce good works, that is, the solid virtues of the heart and life, it cannot be accepted by God: whereas St. Paul, by the word faith, means a cordial and vital assent to divine truth, which influences the heart to an holy temper; and, according to the gracious terms of the gospel, entitles a man to divine acceptance, without any regard at all to the Mosaic law, and previous to the production of any of those good works which will naturally be the fruit of it.

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James 2:17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, &c.— See the preceding note. St. Paul (says Dr. Heylin,) had used the term faith as it was understood in the Jewish schools; (and still in our own schools, where it is said, "Objectum formale fidei, est veritas prima;") and as our Lord often used it, particularly when he condemned the Pharisees for their neglect of it, though a principal point of their own law: but some Christian professors soon let go the primitive sense of the word, and meant by it only an historical belief of the gospel. St. James, judiciously avoiding to dispute about words, uses the term in the signification which theygave it;—and this perhaps is the reason why here, when he proposes the subject, he says not "what advantage is it for a man to have faith, if he has not works;" but "what advantage is it for a man to say that he has faith, &c.?"—And then, to shew the absurdity of supposing that there could be a salutary faith without good works, he puts a parallel case in the duty of charity; James 2:15-16,

We may, and we sometimes do, call a dead corpse a man; but very improperly: and as the carcase differs from a living man, so the nominal faith differs from that which is real and salutary.

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James 2:18. Shew me thy faith, &c.— "You talk mightily of your faith, without giving any proof of its sincerity; and I, on the contrary, instead of taking up with high swelling words and professions of faith, have evangelical works of love and obedience to bear witness that my faith has its proper influence upon me." The reading which our version follows, is not only the reading of Jam 2:20 but is supported by sufficient authority, and is more agreeable to the context: therefore I prefer it to the marginal reading.

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James 2:19. Thou believest that there is one God;— All that is said from this place to Jam 2:23 is by way of answer to the inquiry made Jam 2:18 namely, which was the way to manifest that a man had true faith;—by words and actions, and every other mode of evidencing holy tempers and dispositions.

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James 2:20. O vain man!— The word Κενε answers to the Syriac word Raca, Mat 5:22 which is there condemned, when it proceeded from unjust anger, and was used by way of insult and reproach; but here it is used out of compassion and good will to the person, and as a grave and just reproof of a very dangerous error. Many words and actions may be right or wrong, according to the temper of mind, or the principles or views from which they proceed.

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James 2:21. Was not Abraham our father justified— "Take an instance of the truth of what I have advanced under Divine inspiration, in the most celebrated of all the patriarchs; I mean, the instance of Abraham, our great and illustrious father: was he not plainly justified by works, when, in consequence of that full persuasion which he had of a divine commission and command to do it, he offered his son Isaac upon the altar, intending, in obedience to what he apprehended to be the will of God, actually to have slain him, and to have trusted in God to accomplish the promise of a numerous seed todescend from him, by raising him from the dead?" Though Abraham did not actually sacrifice his son, yet his readiness to do so, was looked upon by Almighty God as if he had actually done it. And, in all cases, what we would do, if permitted, is, in its due degree and proportion, regarded by God as if we actually did it. Then it is, and then only, that he accepts the will for the deed.

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James 2:22. By works was faith made perfect?— Faith is not perfect, without producing good works, wherever there is an opportunity for it, after men have believed: but, in such an instance as that of the thief upon the cross, there is no opportunity for manifesting the truth of faith by a pious holy life; because he died so soon after he first believed. However, such instances are very rare, and not like the case of Christians in general.

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James 2:23. And the scripture was fulfilled, &c.— The passage here referred to, is recorded Gen 15:6 and is there applied to Abraham's firm trust in the promise of God, concerning a son and heir. Now that was about fifty years before his binding Isaac as a victim upon the altar (Genesis 22:9; Genesis 22:24.); by which act of obedience St. James here intimates, that the passage mentioned, Gen 15:6 was fulfilled; not that that passage was a prophesy, or prediction of this event, but that the words which were then used concerning the faith of Abraham, were now in a higher sense applicable to that patriarch; because he had now fully demonstrated his faith by a most signal act of obedience. The Jews used this, or the like expression, that such or such a scripture was fulfilled, in a very great latitude. Frequently, indeed, they understood by it an accomplishment of a prediction in the strict and primary sense; but very often they intended no more by it than to say, that a similar event happened; that there was a very remarkable agreement in particular circumstances between former and latter things; that a general rule or saying was applicable to a particular case: and finally, they often used such expressions, when they meant no more than that the words of Holy Scripture, or of some antient prophet, might be aptly accommodated to the case in hand, or were very proper to express their present meaning. This text itself is sufficient to shew us, that they did not always intend by it the accomplishment of a prophesy: but there are many other passages, both in the New Testament, and in the writings of the Jewish Rabbis, to confirm this interpretation. See on Romans 10:13.

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James 2:24. Ye see then, &c.— "You see then by this instance of the great father of the faithful, if the characters of the children are to be estimated in the same manner as those of the father, that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only: it is by no means enough that the great principles of religion be credited, if they have not also their practical influence on the heart and life."

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James 2:25. Was not Rahab—justified by works,— It ought to be observed, that Rahab is not here celebrated for "lying, and betraying her country to its enemies," as some have objected. With respect to lies, they are every where condemned in the Holy Scriptures, and the truth is represented as sacred and inviolable: and as to the inhabitants of her country, they were devoted to destruction because of their idolatry and other great vices, and she appears to have been assured of this by a divine revelation, as well as by the events which had happened (see Joshua 2:9; Joshua 2:24.). Her discovering of the spies would not have prevented the ruin of the nation. The lie which Rahab told is not to be vindicated, but was a crime partly owing to her fear, and perhaps partly owing to her being educated among a loose and idolatrous people. What she is here commended for, is her faith, her ready renouncing of idolatry, and acknowledging the true God; and her acting, in consequence of that faith, in the manner which she apprehended most agreeable to the divine will. Whatever Rahab once was, she proved afterwards a pious and holy woman. See Joshua 2:1; Jos 2:24 particularly James 2:9-11.

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