CHAP IV. _We are to strive against covetousness, intemperance, pride, detraction, and rash judgment of others; and not to be confident in the good success of worldly business; but, mindful ever of the uncertainty of this life, to commit ourselves and all our affairs to God's providence._ _Anno Do... [ Continue Reading ]
WHENCE COME WARS AND FIGHTINGS AMONG YOU?— Dr. Benson is of opinion, that St. James could here intend no reference to the unbelieving Jews at this time in theirdispersions; but that what he condemned was the quarrels and contentions which too frequently happened among the _Jewish_ Christians, and wh... [ Continue Reading ]
YE KILL, AND DESIRE TO HAVE,— We must take the word φονευετε, _ye kill,_ in a softer sense than the common meaning of the word. As _wars_ and _fightings,_ in the first verse, are interpreted _quarrels and contentions;_ so here, _ye kill, and desire to have,_ may be interpreted, "Ye are ready to murd... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES,— Great wickedness, and especially _idolatry,_ among the Jews, is often represented as _adultery._ What follows in this verse shews, that by adultery St. James meant _spiritual idolatry,_ or a love of the world more than of God. See Matthew 6:24; Matthew 12:30. Luke 12... [ Continue Reading ]
DO YE THINK, &C.— Dr. Benson paraphrases the passage as follows: "Do you think that the scripture speaketh in vain, or without a very good reason, when it condemns such a worldly temper?—No, _that_ you cannot rationally suppose. Do you imagine that the Spirit of God, which dwells in us Christians, l... [ Continue Reading ]
SUBMIT YOURSELVES— _"Subject yourselves therefore to God,_ and, being listed in his army, keep the rank which he hath assigned you." Thus much is implied by the word υποταγητε.... [ Continue Reading ]
DRAW NIGH TO GOD,— This seems to be an allusion to the manner in which the Jews in general, or rather the priests, drew nigh to God, by going to the temple, while the _Shechinah,_ the glorious emblem of the divine presence, was there. Christians may all of them now draw nigh to God, as a _holy natio... [ Continue Reading ]
BE AFFLICTED, AND MOURN,— We may and ought to rejoice in the Lord, that is, in the consciousness of his favour, and in the prospect of the happiness which is promised in the gospel; but in pride and envy, voluptuousness, or covetousness, we may not rejoice. The having been guilty of such things ough... [ Continue Reading ]
HUMBLE YOURSELVES, &C.— "In this manner lay yourselves at the foot of God with the lowest prostration and self-abasement, as offenders against his sacred Majesty, and with an affecting conviction that he knows your hearts and principally looks at them, and observes all the secret workings of corrupt... [ Continue Reading ]
SPEAK NOT EVIL, &C.— St. James here returns to what he had touched upon, ch. James 3:9. By the _law_ in this place we understand _the law of Christ,_ which is so called, Galatians 6:2. St. James calls it _the perfect law of liberty_ (ch. James 1:25 James 2:12.); and in the next verse Christ is calle... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS ONE LAWGIVER,— Dr. Bentley would close the last verse with the words, _Thou art not a doer of the law,_ and begin the present, _But there is one Judge—the Lawgiver._ Christ is here called the _Lawgiver,_ most probably in opposition to those who were so fond of the law given by Moses, and so... [ Continue Reading ]
WE WILL GO INTO SUCH A CITY,— That is, to _Rome_ or _Alexandria, Tyre_ or _Sidon, Corinth_ or _Ephesus;_ according to the countries into which the Jewish Christians were dispersed, or the trades they carried on. The next verse ought to be read in a parenthesis, as an important piece of advice which... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THAT YE OUGHT TO SAY,— _Instead of which you ought to say, If the Lord will, and we shall live, we will do this, or that._ Pious men have such a tacit sense of their dependance upon God, when they do not express it in words; so ought we to understand Romans 15:28. 1 Corinthians 16:5. Indeed, the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW YE REJOICE, &C.— _But you, on the contrary, glory in your boasting projects,—_(respecting the gain they were to make by their traffic, James 4:13.)—_you take pleasure in this confident and arrogant manner of talking._ See 1 John 2:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE, TO HIM THAT KNOWETH TO DO GOOD, &C.— "Perhaps some of you, who so much value yourselves for your uncommon wisdom and knowledge, may object and say, These are plain obvious truths, and what we knew so well before, that there was no occasion to speak of them. But, in answer to such an objec... [ Continue Reading ]