The Pulpit Commentary — James — Section 74

in 11H' J,nw (B<'C Dent.. xxi.,, 14, 15, "Thou from the Old Testnment., nn<l when we find •hnlt not. oppr0ss Rn hirer! E<'r.,nnt that is that in Isn. iii. 10 (LXX.) tho wicked nre ]"'or nnd IH'edy . . . , At his dn.y thou ~halt reprrscnted as saying, tJ.-f,uo,µ,11 'TOJI 6lrca,ov l'i,·e him his hiro, n()ithrr shall the sun go 1:1_.. , 6Mxp>1uTos 1J,""' foTl-n pnssngo which down upon it: for lie is poor, and settcth his hcs at the root nf tho remarkable section in heart upon it: I.est he cry against tJi.ce 111110 the Wisd. ii.," Let us oppress the poor righteous Lurd, anrl it be sin unto thee;" cf. Mai. iii. man .... Let us condemn him with a shame- 5, "I will be a swift witness . . . ngainst ful death." It is probable, thou, that passages those that oppress the hireling in his wages such as these were in St. Jamcs's mind, and (LXX., Fwl -roUs Cl.1rotTT€poiiwras µ.urtJOv µ.ur8cr suggested the words, and thus that there is .,-oii)." Ln ter all us ions to the same sin are no direct allusion to the Crucifixion (whioh, found in Tobit iv. H; Ecclus. xui,. 22. indeed, could scarcely be laid to the charge Whioh is of you kept baok by fraud, orieth. of his readers), but that the singular ..1,., For a.1r,u.,..p11µ,vas of the Ifoceirnd Text, 6(,cawv is used to denote the class colleoti vely read a.cpvu.,..p71µ,vos (N, B). It is possible to (cf. Amos ii. 6; v. 12). It is a remarkable joiu the words a,p' i,µi;,v with ,cpd.(«, but it is coincidence, pointed out by most commen- ruore natural to take them as the A.V. with tators, that he who wrote these verses, him- a.cpv<r'T<p71µ,vos. Reaped ... reaped(aµ71u<ivT"'" self styled <I tJ.(,c,uos by the J ewe, suffel'ed ... 6,p,ua.V'Twv); R.V., "mowed ... reaped." death at their hands e. very few yea.re after- But it would seem that the words should wards. He doth not resist you. According ha"e been reversed, as, judging by Old to the view commonly adopted, St. James Testament usage, aµ&,,, is always used of simply means to say that the righteous man corn (Le.,, xxv. 11; Deut. mv. 19; Isa. suffered this evil at their hands without nii. 5; =x,ii. 30; Micah vi. 15); while resistance. Another interpretation seems 6,pi(.,v is the wider word, including all more possible, taking the clause as interro- "harvesting," and used or xopTos in Pa. gative, "Does he not resist you?" the sub- cxx,iii. (cxxvii.) 7; Jer. ix. :i!2. Into the ject, implied but not expressed, being God; ea.n of the Lord of Sabaoth. These words RB if he would say, " Is not God age.inst are adopted from Isa. v. 9, K6pws "%r,{Jruf,6, you? "-that God of whom it has already a Grecized form of the Hebrew mt-::::i:i: mi"l', been said that he resists (b.vT1Ta.uu,-ra,) the frequent in the LXX. Found in the New proud ( comp. Hos. i. 6, "I will no more Tostament only here and Rom. ix. 29 (in have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I a quotation); elsewhere, e.g. in the Apoca- will utterly take them a.way (LXX., ltN..' lypse, it is represented by wrLJl'To1<p&rwp (Rev. J) b.vnTa<T<rOµE11os b.J1'T<Ta.!oµr,1 av'Toi,) "). i. 8, etc.); so e.lso in 2 Cor. ri. 18 (equiva,- Vers. 7-20.-CoNCLUDING EXHORTATIONS lcnt to 2 Sam. vii. 8). (1) TO PATIENCE (vers. 7-11); (2) AGAINST T"er. 5.-Further description of their sin. SWEARING (ver. 12); (3) TO PRACTIOAL CON• Ye have lived in pleuure Urpvtp{1uan, here DUCT IN HEALTH AND IN SroKNESB (ver. 13, ouly) on the earth, e.n.d been wanton (~uwa- etc.). NLT-r,<ran, only here e.nd l Tim. v. 6); ye Vere. 7-11.-&hortation to patience. have nourished your hee.rts in a de.y of Ver. 7.-Be patient therefore. In his con- slaughter. The ws of the Received Text cluding remarks St. James reverts to the (" as in a day,'' etc., A. V.) is quite wrong; point from which he started (comp. eh. i. it is wanting in Ill', A, B, Latt., llfomphitic. 3, 4). IYla,c;,oBvµ,'iv is here given e. wider The cle.use seems to imply that they were meaning than that which generally attaches like brute beasts, feeding securely on ihe to it. As was pointed out in the notes on very day of their slaughter. Vulgate (Clem.), eh. i. 3, it ordinarily refers to patience in in die occisionis; but Codex Ami.at., in diem respect of persons. Here, however, it cer- occisionis. The actual expression, iv 1}µ•p'f tainly includes endure.nee in respect of cnf>a")l11s, may have been suggested by Jer. things, so that the husbe.ndman is said :xii. 3, " Prepare them for the day of slaugh- µr,,cpo6vµ<'iv where we should rather have ter (LXX., ,is 71µ,pav <r</Ja')'1/< avTiiw)." expected i,,roµ<v,w ( cf. Lightfoot on Col. i. Ver. 6.-The climaz of their sin. Ye have 11). Unto the oomi!J.g of the Lord (f,,,s T,js oondemned, ye he.ve killed the righteoUB one. ,rapovulas Toii Kvplov); Vulgate, tUque ad Does this allude to the death of our Lord? adventum Domini. The word ,rapovula. had At first sight it may well seem so. Com- been used by our Lord himself of his return pare St. Peter's words in Acts iii. 14, " Ye to judge, in Me.tt. x.xiv. 3, 27, 37, 39. It is denied the Holy One and the Just (6/,cr,1011);" also found in St. Paul's writings, only, how- St. Stephen's in Acts vii 52, "the coming ever (in this sense), in Thessalon ians (1 These. of the Just 0De (roi:i 6,,calov);" and St. Paul's ii. 19; iii. 13; iv. 15; v. 23; 2 These. ii. 1, in Acts x.xii. 14. " to see the Just One ( rov 6£- 8) e.nd 1 Cor. xv. 23. St. Peter uses it in 11awv )." But ti',is view is dispelled when we his Second Epistle (i. 16; iii. 4, 12), as does remember !,ow throughout this whole pas- St. John (1 John ii. 28). Behold, the hUB- ~age the idel!.B and expressioD11 e.re borrowed be.ndme.n, ete. Consideration, e/UJiting to on, -v.1-20.] TE:E GENERAL EPISTLE OF JA.MES.