James 5:4
in James 5Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
KJV
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.
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This verse in James 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseBehold, the wages of the workers who have reaped your fields, which were withheld by you, cry out. How great is the iniquity of the proud, who, although they have sufficient wealth, not only disdain to welcome and refresh the poor coming everywhere, but also …
This site's exposition
the hire of the labourers
on James 5:4-6
The specific crime is wage theft: the hire of the labourers who reaped your fields, kept back by fraud, crieth, the withheld coin itself given a voice as Abel's blood had one, and Deuteronomy 24:14-15 stands behind the charge. The cries have entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth, the LORD of hosts, the armies' God retained in Hebrew as if no Greek word carried the threat. Living in pleasure, they have nourished their hearts as in a day of slaughter, cattle feeding on the morning of the knife, and ye have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you, the unresisting righteous man whom many old readers heard as a portrait of the Just One himself.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Hilary of ArlesINTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES · Written before 449.
proposed
What James means here is not that God has ears but that he can use his power to put right the wrongs which exist on earth.
The Medieval Church1 voice
This is an exposure and shaming of the Jewish leaders, who tended the poor and glutted themselves with honors from all, but were themselves being prepared for slaughter at the hands of the Roman authorities, especially for having condemned the only Righteous One — the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
Behold the hire of the labourers, which have reaped down your fields,....
Take heed of this sin of defrauding and oppressing, and avoid the very appearances of it. (3.) Another sin here mentioned is sensuality and voluptuousness.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields - In the previous verses the form of the sin which the apostle specified was that they had hoarded their property. He now states another form of their guilt, that, while doing this, they had withheld what was due from the very laborers who had cultivated their fields, and to whose labor they were indebted for what they had. The phrase “who have reaped down your fields,” is used to denote labor in general. This particular thing is specified, perhaps, because the reaping of the harvest seems to be more immediately connected with the accumulation of property. What is said here, however, will apply to all kinds of labor. It may be remarked, also, that the sin condemned here is one that may exist not only in reference to those who are hired to cultivate a farm, but to all in our employ - to day-laborers, to mechanics, to seamen, etc. It will apply, in an eminent degree, to those who hold others in slavery, and who live by their unrequited toils. The very essence of slavery is, that the slave shall produce by his labor so much more than he receives for his own maintenance as to support the master and his family in indolence. The slave is to do the work which the master would otherwise be obliged to do; the advantage of the system is supposed to be that the master is not under a necessity of laboring at all. The amount which the slave receives is not presumed to be what is a fair equivalent for what he does, or what a freeman could be hired for; but so much less than his labor is fairly worth, as to be a source of so much gain to the master. If slaves were fairly compensated for their labor; if they received what was understood to be a just price for what they do, or what they would be willing to bargain for if they were free, the system would at once come to an end. […]
The words behind it
26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἰδοὺ | idou | Behold | G2400 → | 200 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μισθὸς | misthos | wage | G3408 → | |
| τῶν | ton | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐργατῶν | ergaton | workmen | G2040 → | |
| τῶν | ton | who | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀμησάντων | amesanton | having harvested | G270 → | |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| χώρας | choras | fields | G5561 → | |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ὁ | ho | which | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀπεστερημένος | apesteremenos | kept back | G650 → | |
| ἀφ᾽ | aph᾽ | by | G575 → | 640 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| κράζει | krazei | cries out | G2896 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αἱ | hai | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| βοαὶ | boai | cries | G995 → | |
| τῶν | ton | of those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θερισάντων | therisanton | having harvested | G2325 → | |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὰ | ta | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὦτα | ota | ears | G3775 → | |
| κυρίου | kuriou | of [the] Lord | G2962 → | 711 times |
| σαβαὼθ | sabaoth | of Hosts | G4519 → | |
| εἰσεληλύθασιν. | eiseleluthasin | have entered. | G1525 → | 194 times |
ἰδοὺBehold
idouG2400 →200 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
μισθὸςwage
misthosG3408 →
τῶνof the
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἐργατῶνworkmen
ergatonG2040 →
τῶνwho
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἀμησάντωνhaving harvested
amesantonG270 →
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
χώραςfields
chorasG5561 →
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
ὁwhich
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἀπεστερημένοςkept back
apesteremenosG650 →
ἀφ᾽by
aph᾽G575 →640 times
ὑμῶνyou
humonG4771 →2973 times
κράζειcries out
krazeiG2896 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αἱthe
haiG3588 →19766 times
βοαὶcries
boaiG995 →
τῶνof those
tonG3588 →19766 times
θερισάντωνhaving harvested
therisantonG2325 →
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὰthe
taG3588 →19766 times
ὦταears
otaG3775 →
κυρίουof [the] Lord
kuriouG2962 →711 times
σαβαὼθof Hosts
sabaothG4519 →
εἰσεληλύθασιν.have entered.
eiseleluthasinG1525 →194 times
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
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:11
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Malachi 2:14
Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your…
- James 5:8–9
Through
Romans 9:29It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:9
Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 1:9
Through
Leviticus 19:13You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 3:5
Through
Jeremiah 22:13“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Where this verse is studied
About James
This page draws on 10 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); Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James.