James 5:1
in James 5Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
KJV
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
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This verse in James 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe thrift and stinginess of the rich often makes them weep. But the apostle makes them howl, that is, weep bitterly, because they heap up their wealth for corruption and do not distribute it to the poor, for wealth is preserved only when it is …
This site's exposition
ye rich men, weep and howl
on James 5:1-3
The register is the prophets' own: go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl, addressed past the churches to the oppressors themselves, as Amos and Isaiah spoke over Israel's heads to her exploiters. The indictment reads their vaults as evidence, riches corrupted, garments motheaten, gold and silver cankered, the three ancient forms of wealth all perishing, and the rust shall be a witness against you and eat your flesh, hoarded metal turned prosecutor and executioner. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days is the bitter irony: they stockpiled for a future that is the judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
God delays the judgment because of his love for humanity, so that those who repent may not suffer along with those who are condemned.
A commentator
Hilary of ArlesINTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES · Written before 449.
proposed
The rich must repent while there is still time for them to do so. James is speaking here of those rich people who have shown themselves to be too stingy to offer any help to the poor.
Act now you rich men, weep, howling in your miseries which shall come to you. "Act now." The greed and frugality of the rich are made evident by their lamentation, commanding them to weep, that is, to mourn, as those who hide their wealth for …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
You have not a single instance of misery only coming upon you, but miseries. The ruin of your church and nation is at hand; and there will come a day of wrath, when riches shall not profit men, but all the wicked shall be destroyed. " (2.) The very apprehension of such miseries as were coming upon them is enough to make them weep and howl.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Go to now, ye rich men,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
Go to now - See on Jas 4:13. Weep and howl for your miseries - St. James seems to refer here, in the spirit of prophecy, to the destruction that was coming upon the Jews, not only in Judea, but in all the provinces where they sojourned. He seems here to assume the very air and character of a prophet; and in the most dignified language and peculiarly expressive and energetic images, foretells the desolations that were coming upon this bad people.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἄγε | age | do come | G71 → | |
| νῦν | nun | now | G3568 → | 145 times |
| οἱ | hoi | you who [are] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πλούσιοι, | plousioi | rich, | G4145 → | 28 times |
| κλαύσατε | klausate | do weep | G2799 → | |
| ὀλολύζοντες | ololuzontes | wailing | G3649 → | |
| ἐπὶ | epi | over | G1909 → | 883 times |
| ταῖς | tais | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ταλαιπωρίαις | talaiporiais | miseries | G5004 → | |
| ὑμῶν | humon | upon you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ταῖς | tais | that [are] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐπερχομέναις. | eperchomenais | coming. | G1904 → |
Ἄγεdo come
ageG71 →
νῦνnow
nunG3568 →145 times
οἱyou who [are]
hoiG3588 →19766 times
πλούσιοι,rich,
plousioiG4145 →28 times
κλαύσατεdo weep
klausateG2799 →
ὀλολύζοντεςwailing
ololuzontesG3649 →
ἐπὶover
epiG1909 →883 times
ταῖςthe
taisG3588 →19766 times
ταλαιπωρίαιςmiseries
talaiporiaisG5004 →
ὑμῶνupon you
humonG4771 →2973 times
ταῖςthat [are]
taisG3588 →19766 times
ἐπερχομέναις.coming.
eperchomenaisG1904 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 11:4Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He…
- Proverbs 10:2
Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Genesis 7:1
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- Ezekiel 7:19
They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their…
- 1 Timothy 4:8
For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
- Zephaniah 1:18
Through
Proverbs 11:28He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
- Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not…
- Psalms 52:7–8
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About James
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hesychius of Jerusalem, CATENA; Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on James and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James.