The climax of the last paragraph leads to a diagnosis of the disease that poisoned quarrelsome Jewish communities. Faction fights were the logical outcome of unbridled passions; they campaign against man's self (1 Peter 2:11), and weaken his power of control. James 4:2 is best rendered, You covet, a... [ Continue Reading ]
JAMES 4:11 F. A return to the topic of James 1:26; James 2:12; James 3:1. Backbiting was a conspicuous habit among these Jews, who applied to one another some of the censoriousness they freely dealt out to the Gentiles. Judge, here as elsewhere, means condemn there is no opening for a judge's impart... [ Continue Reading ]
This and the next paragraph denounce the vices of the rich, in the spirit of Amos and Isaiah; that they are Jews, and not Christians, seems obvious, if this epistle is to be got into the first centuries of Christian history, when the rich had small power to oppress the poor. First comes a warning su... [ Continue Reading ]