James 4:13

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 Jewish Christians, the unbelieving Jews, the ungodly and rich in this world. Three reasons have been assigned in support of the opinion that unbelievers are here addressed. 1. The address ‘Go to,' again repeated (chap. James 5:1), seems to indicate that the words in the two apostrophes are addressed to those without the Church. 2. Those addressed are not designated as ‘brethren,' as is the usual custom of St. James, nor are any marks given to indicate that they are Christians. 3. Their ungodly conduct is so described that it can only be applicable to those without the church, and their doom is pronounced without any call to repentance. Others affirm that we are ignorant of the extent of moral corruption in the early Church, and that it was not the practice of the sacred writers to address those who were outside of the Christian community. Perhaps the most correct opinion is to assume that the first part of the passage, to the end of the fourth chapter, is an admonition to the worldly members of the Church; and that the second part, commencing at the beginning of the fifth chapter, is an apostrophe to the rich and the ungodly in the world. The passage is divided into two distinct portions, each beginning with the address ‘Go to;' and there is no reason to conclude that the persons thus similarly addressed in both paragraphs were the same. We consider, then, that those here addressed in the first paragraph were members of the Christian Church.

Go to, a call to attention, found only here and in the beginning of the next chapter.

now: this being the case; an inference from the preceding warning against worldliness and presumptuous confidence.

ye that say, Today or tomorrow; other manuscripts read ‘today and tomorrow;' but the difference in meaning is slight.

we will go into such a city: literally, into this city or the city in the intention of the speaker.

and continue there a year: literally, ‘spend a year.' Other manuscripts read, ‘Let us go into such a city, and let us spend there a year.'

and buy and sell: literally, ‘traffic.'

and get gain. There could be nothing wrong in the mere merchandise; the sin consisted in a presumptuous confidence in themselves, and in a want of realization of their dependence on God. The practice referred to is still very common in the East. Merchants journey to some distant city with their stock of goods, and continue there until the whole is disposed of.