Bible Commentaries

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you .

Go to now, ye rich men — Those rich wretches mentioned James 2:6-7 , that blasphemed God and oppressed men. Magna cognatio ut rei sic nominis, divitiis et vitiis.

Weep and howl — Better weep here, where there are wiping handkerchiefs in the hand of Christ, than to have your eyes whipped out in hell. Better howl with men than yell with devils.

That shall come upon you — Gr. επερχομεναις , that are even now stealing upon you.

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Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

Your riches are corrupted — Being subject to vanity and violence, Matthew 6:19 . See the note there. Provide yourselves therefore bags that wax not old; treasure that faileth not, …,Luke 12:33; Luke 12:33 .

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Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

And shall eat your flesh — i.e. With hell-fire, which shall consume your flesh, nay, your souls, with eternal torments. Some strong poison is made of the rust of metals; none worse than that of money.

For the last days — Wrath for the day of wrath; or store for old age, it being the old man’s care, as Plutarch observes, οτι ουκ εξει θαφοντας και θρεφοντας , that he shall not have what to keep him while alive, and what to bury him honestly when dead.

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Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

Kept back by fraud crieth — Bloodshed, Genesis 4:10 , unnatural lust, Genesis 18:21 , and oppression (whether by force or fraud), cry to God, and he will hear, for "he is gracious," Exodus 22:27 . Oppression is a bony sin, Amos 5:12-13 .

" Clamitat in caelum vex sanguinis, et Sodomorum,

Vex oppressorum, et merces detenta laborum. "

Lord of Sabaoth — Who hath all power in his hand, and can easily reach you.

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Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

Ye have lived in pleasure — Ye have lain melting in sensual delights, which have drawn out your spirits, and dissolved them, τρυφη , of θρυπτω .

Upon earth — No place of pleasure to good men, but of purgatory, banishment, and bondage. A place of that nature, that (as it is reported of the Straits of Magellan) which way soever a man bend his course (if homeward) he is sure to have the wind against him. It was a heavy charge laid upon Dives, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things," Luke 16:25 .

And been wanton — Fulness breeds forgetfulness,Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 32:15 . The word εσπαταλησατε properly signifies, Ye have petulantly skipped up and down, like young kids; ye are so wanton that ye know not whether to go on your heads or on your feet. This was the guise of these rich roiters.

As in a day of slaughter — For sacrifice; when they used to have good cheer, Proverbs 7:14 . And hereunto the wise man alludeth, Proverbs 17:1 . The apostle here seemeth to intimate that these rich sensualists lived upon the cream of sinning, and had such plenty that they picked out none but the sweetest bits to nourish their hearts also.

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Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

Ye have condemned and killed — Take it either properly, or metaphorically of usurers and extortioners, that not only rob, but ravish the poor that are fallen into their nets,Psalms 10:9; Psalms 10:9 , that is, their bonds, debts, mortgages, as Chrysostom interpreteth it; there is neither equity nor mercy to be had at their hands; hence they are called meneaters, cannibals, … One saith there is more justice to be found in hell than here among men; for in hell no innocent person is oppressed.

And he doth not resist you — Meekness of spirit commonly draws on injuries and indignities from unreasonable men. A crow will stand upon a sheep’s back, pulling off wool from her side, she dare not do so to a wolf or a mastiff. A large, powerful dog with a large head, drooping ears and pendulous lips, valuable as a watch-dog. ŒD Veterem ferendo iniuriam invitas novam. Bearing old wrongs encourages new ones.

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Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Be patient therefore — q.d. You poor oppressed ones, hold out faith and patience. You shall shortly have help. As the mother’s breasts ache to be sucklings so doth God’s heart yearn to be helping.

Unto the coming of the Lord — sc. By particular deliverance; and not only by the general judgment. Let patience have line and rope.

Waiteth for the precious fruit — Being in novum annum semper dives, as the proverb is ever rich against the next year. Spes alit agricolas, Hope holds up the husbandman’s heart.

And hath long patience — He looks not to sow and reap in a day, as the Hyperboreans are said to do, that sow shortly after the sunrising with them, and reap before the sun set; because the whole half year is one continual day with them. (Heresbach de re Rustic.)

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Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

For the coming — SeeJames 5:7; James 5:7 . And he when he comes shall set all to rights. We shall see so much reason in his proceedings, which now we comprehend not, that we shall yield him the "only wise God."

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