James 2:16

ὑπάγετε, θερμαίνεσθε, χορτάζεσθε : these words do not seem to be spoken in irony; this is clear from the τί τὸ ὄφελος. They are spoken in all seriousness, and it is quite possible that those whom the writer is addressing were acting upon a mistaken application of Christ's words in Matthew 6:25 ff., Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.… Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. It was entirely in accordance with their idea of πίστις that these people should leave to their Heavenly Father what, according to both Jewish and Christian teaching, it was their duty to do. μὴ δῶτε δὲ : “The plural is often used after an indefinite singular” (Mayor). τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος : only here in the N.T., but often found in classical writers; Mayor gives instances. τί τὸ ὄφελος : in the earlier passage in which this phrase occurs there is no question of irony, it is a direct fallacy which is being combated; in this verse, too, the writer is correcting a mistaken idea, this comes out clearly in the next verse.