James 4:1-12. St. James warns his readers against those evil passions which gave rise to wars and fightings among them. They must moderate their desires, and guard against self-gratification. If they placed their chief affections on the things of the world, they were alienated from God, for no one c... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:1. FROM WHENCE COME WARS AND FIGHTINGS AMONG YOU? Other manuscripts read, Whence wars and whence fightings among you? The connection is as follows: St. James had been reproving his readers for envy and party-strife, which was the occasion of contentions among them (James 3:16); and he now pr... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:2. YE LUST AND HAVE NOT. This verse further describes the origin or genesis of these external strifes. First, then, is the evil desire; then this desire, being ungratified, leads to hatred and envy; and hatred and envy lead to wars and fightings (comp. James 1:15). The objects of desire are... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:3. YE ASK, AND RECEIVE NOT: as if to anticipate the reply of his readers that they did ask, but still did not receive the object of their desires. BECAUSE YE ASK AMISS: or wrongly, wickedly; either in an improper spirit, without faith in God as the Hearer of prayer; or rather for improper... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:4. YE ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES. The best manuscripts read only ‘ye adulteresses,' a reading more suitable to the metaphor employed. This appellation might be taken literally, it we referred it to the unbelieving Jews; but, as referring to the Jewish Christians, it can only be understood i... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:5. The meaning of this verse is very difficult: it is one of the dark sayings of Scripture. This difficulty arises from two causes: from the fact that no such passage, as St James apparently quotes, is to be found in the Old Testament; and from the supposed quotation itself being obscure, an... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:6. BUT HE, that is, God, or rather the indwelling Spirit, the immediate antecedent. GIVETH MORE, or greater, GRACE. Here also there is a difficulty in determining what ‘more' refers to: this depends on the meaning given to the former clause. Some render it ‘greater than the world gives:' o... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:7. Now follow several exhortations to enforce humility and the subjection of the passions. SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE TO GOD. Because God resisteth the proud, therefore submit yourselves to Him. Submission is the first step of the sinner's return to Cod; and the same spirit of submission... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:8. DRAW NIGH TO GOD: not to be limited to prayer, but to be understood of our intercourse with God generally. AND HE WILL DRAW NIGH TO YOU. Compare the words of Zechariah: ‘Turn ye unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts' (Zechariah 1:3). CLEANSE YOUR HANDS, YE SINNE... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:9. BE AFFLICTED, AND MOURN, AND WEEP namely, over your envy and hatred, your strifes and contentions, and the miseries occasioned by them. The epithets ‘sinners' and ‘double-minded' imply the necessity of repentance; and true repentance must ever be accompanied with godly sorrow. LET YOUR... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:10. HUMBLE YOURSELVES. All the above exhortations are enforcements of humility. IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD: that is, before the Lord, as in His presence. The Lord is, as is usual in the Epistle of St. James, not Christ, but God. AND HE SHALL LIFT YOU UP, or rather exalt you, both in this wo... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:11. Here a new sentence begins, and yet in close connection with the preceding. St. James returns to the sins of the tongue, and cautions his readers against that sinful judging and censuring which was the effect of their bitter contentions. SPEAK NOT EVIL ONE OF ANOTHER, BRETHREN. Evil spe... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:12. THERE IS ONE LAWGIVER. Most manuscripts read, ‘There is one Lawgiver and Judge:' and this is more suitable to the context, as it is the province of a judge that is adverted to. These are not many, but one: one pre-eminently and exclusively. All human lawgivers and judges derive their aut... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:13. It is a matter of dispute and considerable difficulty to whom this passage is addressed; whether James is here addressing unworthy members of the Christian Church, who had not yet laid aside the Jewish vices of their unconverted state; or whether he admonishes the oppressors of the Jewis... [ Continue Reading ]
St. James, having warned his readers against worldliness, and exhorted them to humility before God, proceeds to censure the rich for their forgetfulness of their dependence upon God, their proud confidence in their worldly plans, and their arrogant boasting as if they were their own masters; he remi... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:14. WHEREAS YE KNOW NOT WHAT SHALL BE ON THE MORROW. You are ignorant of what shall happen to you; your health and lives are not at your own disposal. Compare the similar thought in Proverbs: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth' (Proverbs 27:1).... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:15. FOR THAT YE OUGHT TO SAY: literally, ‘instead of your saying.' This verse is directly connected with the 13th, and the 14th verse is to be considered as a parenthesis. Ye say, ‘Today or tomorrow we shall go into such a city;' instead of saying, ‘If the Lord will.' Ye assert your self-dep... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:16. BUT, in contrast to this spirit of dependence on God; instead of acknowledging God in all your ways. NOW, as matters now stand; as is actually the case. ye rejoice, literally ‘ye glory,' IN YOUR BOASTINGS, in your vauntings, in your vainglory. Ye take a pleasure in this arrogant and pr... [ Continue Reading ]
James 4:17. THEREFORE: not a mere general inference drawn from what St. James has said in the previous part of his Epistle, but a particular inference drawn from this spirit of vain boasting. TO HIM THAT KNOWETH TO DO GOOD: not to be limited to mere benevolent actions, ‘knoweth to do good works,'... [ Continue Reading ]