Jameschapter 5
20 verses · James, by tradition · AD 44 to 49 · The general letters
Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.
Introduction
James, by tradition, The general letters, James Overview.
This chapter closes the letter of James, and it speaks first to the rich and then to the poor they wronged. Its hearers were day labourers in a farming country, some of them unpaid, and congregations with the sick in their homes and few doctors. The chapter begins like a prophet's oracle against the powerful. Listen for the three examples of waiting it offers, from the field, from the prophets and from one man's long suffering. Listen also for how often it names prayer in its last verses. The letter ends on a brother brought back, with no farewell at all.
Context
- Who
- Day laborers cheated of pay, and the sick in congregations with no doctors
- What
- A warning of judgment to the rich, a call to patient waiting for the Lord's coming, and closing counsel on oaths, prayer, the sick and the wanderer.
- Where
- The fields and villages of a farming country, among day labourers, landowners and small congregations.
- When
- The earliest years of the church, about AD 45 to 48 on the traditional dating, with some placing the letter in the AD 60s.
- Why
- To assure wronged labourers that the Lord has heard them and to equip the congregation to care for its own.
Historical context
The law was explicit about wages. A hired man had to be paid the same day, before sunset, because he lived on that day's coin. Withholding it was not sharp practice; it was theft from a man who would go to bed hungry.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Wealth in that world was stored in three forms: grain, cloth, and metal. James strikes all three, the grain rots, the fine garments are moth-eaten, and the gold and silver corrode. Wardrobes of costly cloth were a genuine store of value, and moths were their genuine enemy.
The farmer's patience is a rainfall calendar. That country depends on the early rains in the autumn to soften the ground for sowing and the late rains in the spring to fill the grain. Between them a farmer can do nothing but wait, and everyone in an agricultural community understood how long that felt.
Anointing the sick with oil sat where medicine and prayer met. Olive oil was the standard remedy of the ancient world, rubbed on wounds and used for almost everything, so calling the elders to pray and anoint combined the ordinary treatment with the request that God act.
Significance
For laborers whose pay had been kept back, the letter says the wages themselves are crying out and the Lord has heard. Someone was finally taking their side out loud.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The closing instructions gave a congregation its own equipment: confess to one another, pray for one another, and go after the brother who has wandered off. Elijah is offered as the example precisely because he was a man with the same nature as theirs.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Rusted Gold Cries Out Against the Rich
James 5:1-3
Come now, you who are rich: , weep and wail speaks past the churches to the oppressors, as Amos and Isaiah did. Riches, clothes, gold and silver are the ancient forms of wealth, and their corrosion will testify against you. You have hoarded treasure in the last days, stored for judgment.
James 5:1
“Go to now - Notes, Jas 4:13. Ye rich men - Not all rich men, but only that class of them who are specified as unjust and oppressive. There is no sin in merely being rich; where sin exists peculiarly among the rich, it arises from the manner in which wealth is acquired, the spirit which it tends to engender in the heart, and the way in which it is used. Compare the Luk 6:24 note; 1Ti 6:9 note. Weep and howl - Greek: “Weep howling.” This would be expressive of very deep distress.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
James 5:1
“Weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you - Quickly and unexpectedly. This was written not long before the siege of Jerusalem; during which, as well as after it, huge calamities came on the Jewish nation, not only in Judea, but through distant countries.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Your riches have rotted: Clarke observes that gold and silver cannot rot, so the riches that rotted here must be stores of grain, wine and oil. The clothes eaten by moths are the changes of clothing laid up in wardrobes. Treasure hoarded and held back from use spoils where it lies.
James 5:2
“Your riches are corrupted - Σεσηπε· Are putrefied. The term πλουτος, riches, is to be taken here, not for gold, silver, or precious stones, (for these could not putrefy), but for the produce of the fields and flocks, the different stores of grain, wine, and oil, which they had laid up in their granaries, and the various changes of raiment which they had amassed in their wardrobes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Your gold and silver are corroded: The verb for corroded, katiotai, occurs only here in the New Testament, Barnes notes. He links the hoarded gold to the wages withheld from the workmen in 5:4, kept back until it corroded. Wesley hears the corrosion testify to buried talents.
James 5:3
“Will be a testimony against you - Of your having buried those talents in the earth, instead of improving them according to your Lord's will. And will eat your flesh as fire - Will occasion you as great torment as if fire were consuming your flesh. Ye have laid up treasure in the last days - When it is too late; when you have no time to enjoy them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:3
“Your gold and silver is cankered - That is, that you have heaped together, by injustice and fraud, a large amount, and have kept it from those to whom it is due, Jas 5:4, until it has become corroded. The word rendered is “cankered” (κατίωται katiōtai,) does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It properly means “to cause to rust; to rust out” (Passow); “to be corroded with rust” (Robinson); to be spotted with rust.”
James 5:3
“ALFORD translates more literally, "In these last days (before the coming judgment) ye laid up (worldly) treasure" to no profit, instead of repenting and seeking salvation (see on Jas 5:5).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 5:4-6
the wages you withheld from the workmen: who mowed your fields are crying out against you, with Deuteronomy 24:14-15 behind the charge. Their cries reach the Lord of Hosts, sabaoth kept in Hebrew. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter, like cattle before the knife.
James 5:4
“The hire of the laborers - The law, Lev 19:13, had ordered: The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning, every day’s labor being paid for as soon as ended. This is more clearly stated in another law, Deu 24:15: At his day thou shalt give him his hire; neither shall the sun go down upon it; - lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:4
“The hire of your labourers crieth - Those sins chiefly cry to God concerning which human laws are silent. Such are luxury, unchastity, and various kinds of injustice. The labourers themselves also cry to God, who is just coming to avenge their cause.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 5:4
“Sins peculiarly offensive to God are said to "cry" to Him. The rich ought to have given freely to the poor; their not doing so was sin. A still greater sin was their not paying their debts.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
lived on earth in luxury: Barnes notes that the verb for luxury, truphao, names a life of ease lived for pleasure. Matthew Henry weighs the words on earth. The oppressors fattened their hearts on the very earth where the righteous live as strangers and pilgrims.
James 5:5
“Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth - One of the things to which the rich are peculiarly addicted. Their wealth is supposed to be of value, because it furnishes them the means of doing it. Compare Luk 12:19; Luk 16:19. The word translated “lived in pleasure, (τρυφάω truphaō) occurs only here in the New Testament. It means, to live delicately, luxuriously, at ease. There is not in the word essentially the idea or vicious indulgence, but that which characterizes those who live for enjoyment.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:5
“Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth,.... This is said of other rich men; for all that is here said is not to be understood of the same individuals, but some things of one, and some of another; some made no use of their riches, either for themselves, or others; some did make use of them, and employed the poor, and then would not give them their wages; and others lived a voluptuous and luxurious life, indulged themselves in carnal lusts and pleasures, and gratified the senses by eating, drinking, gaming, and so were dead while they lived.”
James 5:5
“God does not forbid us to use pleasure; but to live in them as if we lived for nothing else is a very provoking sin; and to do this on the earth, where we are but strangers and pilgrims, where we are but to continue for a while, and where we ought to be preparing for eternity--this, this is a grievous aggravation of the sin of voluptuousness.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
condemned and murdered the righteous: Clarke reads the righteous as the poor man in general, condemned in judgment with no one to plead for him, and then murdered. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place Christ, the Just One, first. They include every righteous man condemned and murdered, even James, called the Just.
James 5:6
“Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you - Several by τον δικαιον, the just one, understand Jesus Christ, who is so called, Act 3:14; Act 7:52; Act 22:14; but the structure of the sentence, and the connection in which it stands, seem to require that we should consider this as applying to the just or righteous in general, who were persecuted and murdered by those oppressive rich men; and their death was the consequence of their dragging them before the judgment seats, Jas 2:6, where, having no influence, and none to plead their cause,…”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
James 5:6
“Ye have condemned . . . the just--The Greek aorist expresses, "Ye are accustomed to condemn . . . the just." Their condemnation of Christ, "the Just," is foremost in James' mind. But all the innocent blood shed, and to be shed, is included, the Holy Spirit comprehending James himself, called "the Just," who was slain in a tumult.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Patient as a Farmer Waiting for Rain
James 5:7-9
Be patient, then, brothers: , until the Lord’s coming, makrothumia, as the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil through the fall and spring rains. Both rains are needed and neither can be hurried. Do not complain about one another, for the Judge is standing at the door.
James 5:7
“Be patient therefore, brethren - That is, under such wrongs as the apostle had described in the previous verses. Those whom he addressed were doubtless suffering under those oppressions, and his object was to induce them to bear their wrongs without murmuring and without resistance.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:7
“If God delays the punishment of sinners, waiting for them to repent, it is not because his character has changed, so that now he loves sin. Rather he is giving them time to repent.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · CATENApatristic
James 5:7
“Even if English Version be retained, the receiving of the early and latter rains is not to be understood as the object of his hope, but the harvest for which those rains are the necessary preliminary.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
strengthen your hearts: Matthew Henry reads the strengthening as a firm faith, a steady practice of good, and fixed resolve. He names the trial it answers, the prosperity of the wicked and the affliction of the righteous that 5:1 to 6 describe. Clarke reads the near coming as the fall of Jerusalem.
James 5:8
“Be ye also patient - Wait for God’s deliverance, as ye wait for his bounty in providence. Stablish your hearts - Take courage; do not sink under your trials. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh - Ηγγικε· Is at hand. He is already on his way to destroy this wicked people, to raze their city and temple, and to destroy their polity for ever; and this judgment will soon take place.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Do not complain about one another: Barnes notes that the verb for complain, stenazo, first means to groan in affliction, as in Romans 8:23. Impatience turns the groan into complaint. Matthew Henry warns that brothers who complain against one another bring more judgment on themselves than they know.
James 5:9
“James means that we should stop mocking the poor and doing them harm, complaining about them at the same time, because we shall be judged according to our cruelty and condemned by the righteous judge.”
Ishodad of Merv · written before 850 · COMMENTARIESpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:9
“Grudge not one against another - Margin, “groan, grieve.” The Greek word (στενάζω stenazō) means, “to sigh, to groan,” as of persons in distress, Rom 8:23; and then to sigh or groan through impatience, fretfulness, ill-humor; and hence “to murmur, to find fault, to complain.” The exact idea here is, not that of grudging in the sense of dissatisfaction with what others possess, or of being envious; it is that of being fretful and impatient - or, to use a common word which more exactly expresses the sense that of grumbling.”
James 5:9
“The Greek is the same in both passages, and so ought to be translated here as there, "doors," plural. The phrase means "near at hand" (Ge 4:7), which in the oldest interpretations [Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem] is explained, "thy sin is reserved unto the judgment of the world to come." Compare "the everlasting doors" (Ps 24:7, whence He shall come forth).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 5:10-11
take the prophets who spoke: Two examples carry the call: the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, and Job’s perseverance, endurance that held while it argued. The outcome from the Lord, telos, is God's work in Job 42. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, polusplagchnos.
James 5:10
“Take - the prophets - The prophets who had spoken to their forefathers by the authority of God, were persecuted by the very people to whom they delivered the Divine message; but they suffered affliction and persecution with patience, commending their cause to him who judgeth righteously; therefore, imitate their example.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
how blessed we consider those: Barnes notes that the verb for counting blessed occurs elsewhere only in Luke 1:48. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown separate the last two words. Full of compassion names the feeling of the Lord toward those who persevered, and mercy names His act, the outcome Job saw.
James 5:11
“Behold, we count them happy which endure,.... Affliction, with courage, constancy, and patience, and hold out to the end; for such shall be saved; theirs is the kingdom of heaven; they are happy now, and will be so hereafter: the Spirit of God, and of glory, now rests upon them; and it is an honour done them that they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ; and they will be glorified with him to all eternity; the consideration of which may serve to encourage and increase patience.”
James 5:12-13
Above all, my brothers, do not swear: , not by heaven or earth, the Lord's teaching of Matthew 5:34-37, aimed at oaths graded by their formula. Readers divide on the civil oath. Verse 13 opens the letter's closing call: the one suffering should pray, and the cheerful should sing praises.
James 5:12
“Let the witness of our life be stronger than an oath, and if some shameless person dares to ask an oath from you, let your yes be yes and your no be no, instead of swearing an oath. James forbids us to swear by heaven or by earth for this reason, that we should not give the creation more value than it has by deifying it. For those who swear, swear by something greater than themselves, as the apostle says.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · CATENApatristic
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:12
“Above all things - swear not - What relation this exhortation can have to the subject in question, I confess I cannot see. It may not have been designed to stand in any connection, but to be a separate piece of advice, as in the several cases which immediately follow. That the Jews were notoriously guilty of common swearing is allowed on all hands; and that swearing by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the temple, the altar, different parts of the body, was not considered by them as binding oaths, has been sufficiently proved.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 5:12
“But above all--as swearing is utterly alien to the Christian meek "endurance" just recommended. swear not--through impatience, to which trials may tempt you (Jas 5:10, 11).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The Prayer of Faith and the Wanderer Brought Back
Is any one of you suffering?: Barnes reads the word for suffering, kakopathei, as affliction of any kind, from sickness to persecution and loss. Matthew Henry notes that affliction draws out complaint, and he sends it to the Lord in prayer. Verse 9 forbade the same complaint against a brother.
James 5:13
“Afflictions naturally draw out complaints; and to whom should we complain but to God in prayer? It is necessary to exercise faith and hope under afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means both for obtaining and increasing these graces in us.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 5:14-15
Is any one of you sick?: The sick should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil. The oil is read as medicine or the sign of Mark 6:13, the power lying in the prayer offered in faith. The Lord will raise him up names recovery as the aim.
James 5:14
“If you are sick, your part is to call for the elders of the church. It is their part to anoint and pray for you in faith, and then the whole situation rests with the Lord.”
3 more voices on this verse
James 5:14
“This was the whole process of physic in the Christian church, till it was lost through unbelief. That novel invention among the Romanists, extreme unction, practiced not for cure, but where life is despaired of, bears no manner of resemblance to this.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 5:14
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders - This was also a Jewish maxim. Rabbi Simeon, in Sepher Hachaiyim, said: “What should a man do who goes to visit the sick? Ans. He who studies to restore the health of the body, should first lay the foundation in the health of the soul. The wise men have said, No healing is equal to that which comes from the word of God and prayer.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 5:14
"Let them use oil who can by their prayers obtain recovery for the sick: let those who cannot do this, abstain from using the empty sign" [WHITAKER]. Romish extreme unction is administered to those whose life is despaired of, to heal the soul, whereas James' unction was to heal the body.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the prayer offered in faith: Barnes reads this prayer as confidence that God will do what is best, with the sick one left in His hands. Wesley reads the promise of forgiveness as covering any sin that brought on the sickness. Verse 16 then calls every believer to confess and pray.
James 5:15
“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,.... That is, the prayer of the elders, being put up in faith by them, and in which the sick person joins by faith; such a prayer is a means of bringing down from God a blessing on the sick man, and of restoring him to his former health: and the Lord shall raise him up; from his bed of sickness, on which he is laid, and bring him forth to praise his name, and to fear and glorify him.”
3 more voices on this verse
James 5:15
“And the prayer of faith - The prayer offered in faith, or in the exercise of confidence in God. It is not said that the particular form of the faith exercised shall be that the sick man will certainly recover; but there is to be unwavering confidence in God, a belief that he will do what is best, and a cheerful committing of the cause into his hands. We express our earnest wish, and leave the case with him.”
James 5:15
“And the prayer offered in faith shall save the sick - From his sickness; and if any sin be the occasion of his sickness, it shall be forgiven him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 5:15
“In a time of sickness, it is not the cold and formal prayer that is effectual, but the prayer of faith. We should observe the success of prayer. The Lord shall raise up; that is, if he be a person capable and fit for deliverance, and if God have any thing further for such a person to do in the world.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 5:16-18
confess your sins to each other: The call to confess your sins to each other and pray for each other brings healing into the congregation. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail, energoumene, at work. Elijah was a man just like us, and his prayer shut and opened the heavens (Luke 4:25).
James 5:16
“A righteous man's prayer is always heard generally, but his particular request for the healing of another was then likely to be granted when he was one possessing a special charism of the Spirit. ALFORD translates, "Availeth much in its working." The "righteous" is one himself careful to avoid "faults," and showing his faith by works (Jas 2:24).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
4 more voices on this verse
James 5:16
“Confess your faults - Whether ye are sick or in health. To one another - He does not say, to the elders: this may, or may not, be done; for it is nowhere commanded. We may confess them to any who can pray in faith: he will then know how to pray for us, and be more stirred up so to do.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 5:16
“You can't pray very long in an unrighteous condition without God taking you to the real issue, your heart.”
James 5:16
“He hears the confession of our sins in Christ's stead, and he forgives our sins in Christ's name. He keeps the secret of our confessions as God keeps it. When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer · Life Together (1939)Confessing Church
James 5:16
“Confess your faults one to another - This is a good general direction to Christians who endeavor to maintain among themselves the communion of saints. This social confession tends much to humble the soul, and to make it watchful.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
He prayed earnestly: Matthew Henry notes that the original says in prayer he prayed, a doubled phrase for earnest asking. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown find the prayer implied in 1 Kings 17:1, where Elijah says the rain will come only at his word. The prophet's word rested on his prayer.
James 5:17
“In prayer we must not look to the merit of man, but to the grace of God. Only in this we should copy after Elijah, that he prayed earnestly, or, as it is in the original, in prayer he prayed. It is not enough to say a prayer, but we must pray in prayer.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
3 more voices on this verse
James 5:17
“Elias - The common way of writing the word “Elijah” in the New Testament, Mat 11:14; Mat 16:14; Mat 17:3, etc. Was a man subject to like passions as we are - This does not mean that Elijah was passionate in the sense in which that word is now commonly used; that is, that he was excitable or irritable, or that he was the victim of the same corrupt passions and propensities to which other men are subject; but that he was like affected; that he was capable of suffering the same things, or being affected in the same manner.”
James 5:17
“Elijah was a man of like passions - Naturally as weak and sinful as we are.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 5:17
“ALFORD is wrong in saying, Elias' prayer that it might not rain "is not even hinted at in the Old Testament history." In 1Ki 17:1 it is plainly implied, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." His prophecy of the fact was according to a divine intimation given to him in answer to prayer.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Again he prayed: Clarke finds this second prayer in 1 Kings 18:42, where Elijah bows to the earth with his face between his knees. The history records it by posture alone. Bede asks how much more the frequent prayer of many righteous men is worth, when one man prayed and heaven gave rain.
James 5:18
“And he prayed again - This second prayer is not mentioned in the history in express words, but as in 1Ki 18:42, it is said, He cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees; that was probably the time of the second praying, namely, that rain might come, as this was the proper posture of prayer.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 5:19-20
if one of you should wander from the truth: The letter ends mid-rescue: if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back. Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins, Proverbs 10:12.
James 5:19
“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth - Either doctrinally and speculatively, by embracing error; or practically, by falling into sinful practices. Either of these may be called “erring from the truth,” because they are contrary to what the truth teaches and requires. What is here said does not appear to have any connection with what precedes, but the apostle seems to have supposed that such a case might occur; and, in the conclusion of the Epistle, he called their attention to the importance of endeavoring to save an erring brother, if such an instance should happen.”
3 more voices on this verse
James 5:19
“As if he had said, I have now warned you of those sins to which you are most liable; and, in all these respects, watch not only over yourselves, but every one over his brother also. labour, in particular, to recover those that are fallen. If any one err from the truth - Practically, by sin.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 5:19
“The blessing of reclaiming an erring sinner by the mutual consent and intercessory prayer just recommended. do err--more literally, "be led astray." the truth--the Gospel doctrine and precepts. one--literally, "any"; as "any" before. Everyone ought to seek the salvation of everyone [BENGEL].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 5:19
“Some interpret these verses as an apology which the apostle is making for himself that he should so plainly and sharply reprove the Jewish Christians for their many faults and errors. And certainly James gives a very good reason why he was so much concerned to reclaim them from their errors, because in thus doing he should save souls, and hide a multitude of sins.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
cover over a multitude of sins: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold that the sins covered are those of the sinner turned back, covered before God by the atonement of Christ. Origen applies the promise to the one who turns a sinner, whose own sins are forgiven. Whose sins are covered divides the two readings.
James 5:20
“And then, by such conversion of heart and life, a multitude of sins shall be hid. A most comfortable passage of scripture is this. We learn hence that though our sins are many, even a multitude, yet they may be hid or pardoned; and that when sin is turned from or forsaken it shall be hid, never to appear in judgment against us.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
James 5:20
“The Greek verb in the middle voice requires this. Pr 10:12 refers to charity "covering" the sins of others before men; James to one's effecting by the conversion of another that that other's sins be covered before God, namely, with Christ's atonement.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 5:20
“A man who converts others will have his own sins forgiven.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Sermons on Leviticus 2.4patristic
How this psalm is built
The form: A prophetic warning to the rich, followed by counsel to the church on patience and prayer, as Ohrid classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Three stores of wealth, all perishing | Verses 2 and 3 name riches that have rotted, clothes the moths have eaten, and gold and silver that have corroded. The corrosion then becomes a witness in court against its owner. The rich are addressed as if the judgment had already come.the site's count of the Berean text, the verses of James 5 in the store, translation id 3, the Berean Standard Bible. | James 5:2, James 5:3 |
| Three examples of waiting | Verse 7 points to the farmer who waits for the rains, verse 10 to the prophets who suffered, and verse 11 to Job's perseverance and its outcome from the Lord. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown draw the lesson from Job's happy end, that one much tried should endure to the end. Bonaventure sets Christ above Job as the greater example of patience.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on James 5:11. | James 5:7, James 5:10, James 5:11 |
| Prayer, named seven times | In verses 13 to 18 the words pray, prayer and prayed stand seven times, once or twice in every verse. The suffering pray, the elders pray, the prayer offered in faith restores the sick, believers pray for each other, and Elijah prays twice. The letter's last teaching is a teaching on prayer.the site's count of the Berean text, the verses of James 5 in the store, translation id 3, the Berean Standard Bible. | James 5:13, James 5:14, James 5:15, James 5:16, James 5:17, James 5:18 |
How the chapter is built
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 to 6 are an oracle against the rich, opened by the same come now that opened 4:13. Verses 7 to 11 turn to the brothers and call them to patience until the Lord's coming. Verse 12 forbids oaths, in words close to Matthew 5:34 to 37. Verses 13 to 18 give the counsel on prayer, and verses 19 and 20 close on restoring a wanderer. The letter began with trials that produce perseverance, and it ends with Job's perseverance and its outcome.
The debate: the anointing of the sick
Verse 14 tells the sick to call the elders to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Bede records that the church of his day anointed the sick with consecrated oil by the presbyters, as the apostles had done. The Council of Trent grounded the sacrament of anointing on this verse (Session 14, On the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, chapter 1, 1551). John Wesley holds that the practice was the whole of healing in the early church until it was lost through unbelief. He judges that extreme unction, given where life is despaired of, bears no likeness to it. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown make the same contrast, since James's anointing was for the healing of the body. Matthew Henry observes that the verse ascribes the saving of the sick to the prayer of faith. Each reading keeps the prayer of the elders at the centre.
A second question: the righteous one of verse 6
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold that the condemnation of Christ, the Just One, stands foremost in verse 6, with all innocent blood included, and James himself later called the Just. Theophylact of Ohrid also reads Christ first and then widens the line to others who suffered. Adam Clarke holds that the sentence speaks of the righteous poor in general, murdered by the oppressive rich.
Where it draws on the Old Testament and on Jesus
The cry of withheld wages answers Deuteronomy 24:14 and 15 and Leviticus 19:13. The Lord of Hosts hearing the cry recalls Isaiah 5:9. The ban on oaths repeats Matthew 5:34 to 37. Elijah's prayer is told in 1 Kings 17 and 18, and Luke 4:25 gives the same three years and six months of drought. The covering of a multitude of sins echoes Proverbs 10:12, which 1 Peter 4:8 also takes up.
Where to go deeper
The ban on oaths has its own page at /featured/oaths, the elders at /featured/elders-and-deacons, and healing at /featured/healing. Elijah's prayer on Carmel stands at /featured/elijah-carmel, and the Lord's coming at /featured/second-coming. The anointing of the sick and the law of the hired worker's wage are listed as owed feature pages.
Keep studying
Words12
Subjects4
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, on James 5:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on James 5:12 and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James, on James 5:1.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, SERMONS ON LEVITICUS 2.4.