But woe While sin lasts, there must still be woes over against Beatitudes, as Ebal stands for ever opposite to Gerizim. In St Matthew also we find (Matthew 23) eight woes as well as eight Beatitudes. See too Jeremiah 17:5-8, but there the "cursed" precedes the "blessed."

woe unto you that are rich The -woe!" is not necessarily or wholly denunciatory; it is also the cry of compassion, and of course it only applies not to a Chuzas or a Nicodemus or a Joseph of Arimathaea, but to those rich who are notpoor in spirit, but trustin riches (Mark 10:24), or are not rich towards God (Luke 12:21) and have not got the true riches (Luke 16:11; Amos 6:1; James 5:1). Observe the many parallels between the Epistle of St James and the Sermon on the Mount, James 1:2; James 1:4-5; James 1:9; James 1:20; James 2:13-14; James 2:17-18; James 4:4; James 4:10-11; James 5:2; James 5:10; James 5:12.

ye have received your consolation Rather, ye have to the full, Philippians 4:18; comp. Luke 16:25, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst good things."

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