The blessedness of
converting a sinner from the error of his way,
19,20.
Verse 1. Go to now
See Clarke on James
4:13.
Weep and howl for your
miseries
St. James seems to refer here, in
the spirit of prophecy, to the destruction that was coming
upon the Jews, not only in Judea, but in all the provinces
where they sojourned. He seems here to assume the very air and
character of a prophet; and in the most dignified
language and peculiarly expressive and energetic images,
foretells the desolations that were coming upon this bad
people.
Verse 2. Your riches are
corrupted
σεσηπε. Are putrefied. The
term πλουτος, riches, is to be taken here, not for
gold, silver, or precious stones, (for
these could not putrefy,) but for the produce of the
fields and flocks, the different stores of grain, wine, and
oil, which they had laid up in their granaries, and the
various changes of raiment which they had amassed in their
wardrobes.
Verse 3. Your gold and silver is
cankered
Instead of helping the poor, and
thus honouring God with your substance, ye have, through the
principle of covetousness, kept all to yourselves.
The rust of them shall be a
witness against you
Your putrefied stores,
your moth-eaten garments, and your tarnished coin, are so many
proofs that it was not for want of property that you assisted
not the poor, but through a principle of avarice; loving
money, not for the sake of what it could procure, but for
its own sake, which is the genuine principle of the
miser. This was the very character given to this people
by our Lord himself; he called them φιλαργυροι, lovers of
money. Against this despicable and abominable disposition,
the whole of the 12th chapter of St. Luke is levelled; but it
was their easily besetting sin, and is so to the present day.
Shall eat your flesh as it were
fire.
This is a very bold and sublime
figure. He represents the rust of their coin as becoming a
canker that should produce gangrenes and phagedenous ulcers in
their flesh, till it should be eaten away from their bones.
Ye have heaped treasure
together
This verse is variously
pointed. The word ως, like as, in the preceding
clause, is left out by the Syriac, and some others; and
πυρ, fire, is added here from that clause; so that the
whole verse reads thus: "Your gold and your silver is
cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you,
and shall consume your flesh. Ye have treasured up FIRE
against the last days." This is a bold and fine image: instead
of the treasures of corn, wine, and oil, rich
stuffs, with silver and gold, which ye
have been laying up, ye shall find a treasure, a
magazine of fire, that shall burn up your city,
and consume even your temple. This was literally true; and
these solemn denunciations of Divine wrath were most
completely fulfilled. See the notes on Matt. 24, where all the
circumstances of this tremendous and final destruction are
particularly noted.
By the last days we are not to understand the day
of judgment, but the last days of the Jewish
commonwealth, which were not long distant from the date of
this epistle, whether we follow the earlier or
later computation, of which enough has been spoken in
the preface.
Verse 4. The hire of the
labourers
The law, Leviticus
19:13, had ordered: The wages of him that is hired
shall not abide with thee all night until the
morning, every day's labour being paid for as soon as
ended. This is more clearly stated in another law, Deuteronomy
24:15: At his day thou shalt give him his hire; neither
shall the sun go down upon it;-lest he cry against thee
unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. And that
God particularly resented this defrauding of the hireling we
see from Malachi
3:5: I will come near to you in judgment, and will be a
swift witness against those who oppress the hireling in
his wages. And on these laws and threatenings is built
what we read in Synopsis Sohar, p. 100, l. 45: "When a
poor man does any work in a house, the vapour proceeding from
him, through the severity of his work, ascends towards heaven.
Wo to his employer if he delay to pay him his wages." To this
James seems particularly to allude, when he says: The cries
of them who have reaped are entered into the ears of
the Lord of hosts; and the rabbins say, "The vapour
arising from the sweat of the hard-worked labourer ascends
up before God." Both images are sufficiently expressive.
The Lord of
sabaoth.
St. James often conceives in
Hebrew though he writes in Greek. It is well
known that Yehovah tsebaoth, Lord of hosts, or Lord of
armies, is a frequent appellation of God in the Old Testament;
and signifies his uncontrollable power, and the infinitely
numerous means he has for governing the world, and defending
his followers, and punishing the wicked.
Verse 5. Ye have lived in
pleasure
ετρυφησατε. Ye have
lived luxuriously; feeding yourselves without fear,
pampering the flesh.
And been wanton
εσπαταλησατε. Ye have lived lasciviously. Ye have
indulged all your sinful and sensual appetites to the
uttermost; and your lives have been scandalous.
Ye have nourished your
hearts
εθρεψατε. Ye have fattened
your hearts, and have rendered them incapable of
feeling, as in a day of slaughter, ημερααφαγης,
a day of sacrifice, where many victims are offered at
once, and where the people feast upon the sacrifices; many, no
doubt, turning, on that occasion, a holy ordinance into a
riotous festival.
Verse 6. Ye have condemned and
killed the just; and he doth not resist
you.
Several by τονδικαιον, the just
one, understand Jesus Christ, who is called, Acts
3:14;; 7:52;;
22:14;
but the structure of the sentence, and the connection in which
it stands, seem to require that we should consider this as
applying to the just or righteous in general,
who were persecuted and murdered by those oppressive rich men;
and their death was the consequence of their dragging them
before the judgment seats, James
2:6, where, having no influence, and none to plead their
cause, they were unjustly condemned and executed.
And he doth not resist you.-In this, as in τονδικαιον,
the just, there is an enallege of the
singular for the plural number. And in the word
ουκαντιτασσεται, he doth not resist, the idea is
included of defence in a court of justice. These poor
righteous people had none to plead their cause; and if they
had it would have been useless, as their oppressors had all
power and all influence, and those who sat on these judgment
seats were lost to all sense of justice and right. Some think
that he doth not resist you should be referred
to GOD; as if he had said, God permits you to go on in this
way at present, but he will shortly awake to judgment, and
destroy you as enemies of truth and righteousness.
Verse 7. Be patient,
therefore
Because God is coming to execute
judgment on this wicked people, therefore be patient till he
comes. He seems here to refer to the coming of the Lord to
execute judgment on the Jewish nation, which shortly
afterwards took place.
The husbandman
waiteth
The seed of your deliverance
is already sown, and by and by the harvest of your salvation
will take place. God's counsels will ripen in due time.
The early and latter
rain.
The rain of seed time; and the
rain of ripening before harvest: the first fell in
Judea, about the beginning of November, after the seed
was sown; and the second towards the end of April, when
the ears were filling, and this prepared for a full harvest.
Without these two rains, the earth would have been unfruitful.
These God had promised: I will give you the rain of
your land in his due season, the first rain and the
latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy
wine, and thy oil, Deuteronomy
11:14. But for these they were not only to wait
patiently, but also to pray, Ask ye of the Lord rain in
the time of the latter rain; so shall the Lord make
bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every
one grass in the field; Zechariah
10:1.
Verse 8. Be ye also
patient
Wait for God's deliverance, as ye
wait for his bounty in providence.
Stablish your
hearts
Take courage; do not sink under your
trials.
The coming of the Lord draweth
nigh.
ηγγικε. Is at hand. He is
already on his way to destroy this wicked people, to raze
their city and temple, and to destroy their polity for ever;
and this judgment will soon take place.
Verse 9. Grudge not
μηστεναζετε. Groan not; grumble not; do not murmur
through impatience; and let not any ill treatment which you
receive, induce you to vent your feelings in imprecations
against your oppressors. Leave all this in the hands of God.
Lest ye be
condemned
By giving way to a spirit of this
kind, you will get under the condemnation of the wicked.
The judge standeth before the
door.
His eye is upon every thing that is
wrong in you, and every wrong that is done to
you; and he is now entering into judgment with your
oppressors.
Verse 10. Take-the
prophets
The prophets who had spoken to
their forefathers by the authority of God, were persecuted by
the very people to whom they delivered the Divine message; but
they suffered affliction and persecution with patience,
commending their cause to him who judgeth righteously;
therefore, imitate their example.
Verse 11. We count them happy which
endure.
According to that saying of our
blessed Lord, Blessed are ye when men shall
persecute and revile you-for persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. Matthew
5:11,12,
Ye have heard of the patience of
Job
Stripped of all his worldly
possessions, deprived at a stroke of all his children,
tortured in body with sore disease, tempted by the devil,
harassed by his wife, and calumniated by his friends, he
nevertheless held fast his integrity, resigned himself to the
Divine dispensations, and charged not God foolishly.
And have seen the end of the
Lord
The issue to which God brought
all his afflictions and trials, giving him children,
increasing his property, lengthening out his life, and
multiplying to him every kind of spiritual and secular good.
This was God's end with respect to him; but the
devil's end was to drive him to despair, and to cause
him to blaspheme his Maker. This mention of Job shows
him to have been a real person; for a fictitious person would
not have been produced as an example of any virtue so highly
important as that of patience and perseverance. The end of
the Lord is a Hebraism for the issue to
which God brings any thing or business.
The Lord is very pitiful, and of
tender mercy.
Instead of πολυσπλαγχνος,
which we translate very pitiful, and which might be
rendered of much sympathy, from πολυς, much, and
σπλαγχνον, a bowel, (because any thing that affects us
with commiseration causes us to feel an indescribable emotion
of the bowels,) several MSS. have πολυενσπλαγχνος, from παλυς,
much, ευ, easily, and σπλαγχνον, a bowel,
a word not easy to be translated; but it signifies one
whose commiseration is easily excited, and whose
commiseration is great or abundant.
Verse 12. Above all things-swear
not
What relation this exhortation can have
to the subject in question, I confess I cannot see. It may not
have been designed to stand in any connection, but to be a
separate piece of advice, as in the several cases which
immediately follow. That the Jews were notoriously guilty of
common swearing is allowed on all hands; and that
swearing by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the
temple, the altar, different parts of the
body, was not considered by them as binding
oaths, has been sufficiently proved. Rabbi Akiba taught
that "a man might swear with his lips, and annul it in
his heart; and then the oath was not binding." See
Clarke on Matthew
5:33. the subject is considered in great detail.
Let your yea be yea, yea with your
lips, and annul it in your heart; let the
yea or the nay which you express be
bona fide such. Do not imagine that any mental
reservation can cancel any such expressions of
obligation in the sight of God.
Lest ye fall into
condemnation.
ιναμηυποκρισινπεσητε. Lest
ye fall under judgment. Several MSS. join υπο and κρισιν
together, υποκρισιν, and prefix εις, into, which makes
a widely different reading: Lest ye fall into
hypocrisy. Now, as it is a fact, that the Jews did teach
that there might be mental reservation, that
would annul the oath, how solemnly soever it was taken;
the object of St. James, if the last reading be genuine, and
it is supported by a great number of excellent MSS., some
versions, and some of the most eminent of the
fathers, was to guard against that hypocritical
method of taking an oath, which is subversive of all moral
feeling, and must make conscience itself callous.
Verse 13. Is any among you
afflicted? let him pray
The Jews taught
that the meaning of the ordinance, Leviticus
13:45, which required the leper to cry, Unclean!
unclean! was, "that thus making known his calamity,
the people might be led to offer up prayers to God in his
behalf," Sota, page 685, ed. Wagens. They taught also,
that when any sickness or affliction entered a family, they
should go to the wise men, and implore their prayers. Bava
bathra, fol. 116,1.
In Nedarim, fol. 40,1, we have this relation:
"Rabba, as often as he fell sick, forbade his domestics to
mention it for the first day; if he did not then begin to get
well, he told his family to go and publish it in the highways,
that they who hated him might rejoice, and they that loved him
might intercede with God for him."
Is any merry? let him sing
psalms.
These are all general but very
useful directions. It is natural for a man to sing when
he is cheerful and happy. Now no subject can be
more noble than that which is Divine: and as God alone is the
author of all that good which makes a man happy, then
his praise should be the subject of the song of him who
is merry. But where persons rejoice in iniquity, and not in
the truth, God and sacred things can never be the subject of
their song.
Verse 14. Is any sick among you? let
him call for the elders
This was also a
Jewish maxim. Rabbi Simeon, in Sepher Hachaiyim, said:
"What should a man do who goes to visit the sick? Ans.
He who studies to restore the health of the body, should first
lay the foundation in the health of the soul. The wise men
have said, No healing is equal to that which comes from the
word of God and prayer. Rabbi Phineas, the son
of Chamma, hath said, 'When sickness or disease enters into a
man's family, let him apply to a wise man, who will implore
mercy in his behalf.'" See Schoettgen.
St. James very properly sends all such to the elders of the
Church, who had power with God through the great Mediator,
that they might pray for them.
Anointing him with
oil
That St. James neither means any kind
of incantation, any kind of miracle, or such
extreme unction as the Romish Church prescribes, will
be sufficiently evident from these considerations: 1. Be was a
holy man, and could prescribe nothing but what was holy. 2. If
a miracle was intended, it could have been as well
wrought without the oil, as with it. 3. It is
not intimated that even this unction is to save the sick man,
but the prayer of faith, James
5:15. 4. What is here recommended was to be done as a
natural means of restoring health, which, while they used
prayer and supplication to God, they were not to neglect. 5.
Oil in Judea was celebrated for its sanative
qualities; so that they scarcely ever took a journey without
carrying oil with them, (see in the case of the Samaritan,)
with which they anointed their bodies, healed their wounds,
bruises, Oil was and in frequently used in the east as
a means of cure in very dangerous diseases; and in Egypt it is
often used in the cure of the plague. Even in Europe it
has been tried with great success in the cure of
dropsy. And pure olive oil is excellent for
recent wounds and bruises; and I have seen it tried in this
way with the best effects. 7. But that it was the custom of
the Jews to apply it as a means of healing, and that St. James
refers to this custom, is not only evident from the case of
the wounded man ministered to by the good Samaritan, Luke
10:34, but from the practice of the Jewish rabbins. In
Midrash Koheleth, fol. 73,1, it is said: "Chanina, son
of the brother of the Rabbi Joshua, went to visit his uncle at
Capernaum; he was taken ill; and Rabbi Joshua went to him and
anointed him with oil, and he was restored."
They had, therefore, recourse to this as a natural
remedy; and we find that the disciples used it also in this
way to heal the sick, not exerting the miraculous power but in
cases where natural means were ineffectual. And they cast
out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were
sick, and healed them; Mark
6:13. On this latter place I have supposed that it might
have been done symbolically, in order to prepare the
way for a miraculous cure: this is the opinion of many
commentators; but I am led, on more mature consideration, to
doubt its propriety, yet dare not decide. In short,
anointing the sick with oil, in order to their
recovery, was a constant practice among the Jews. See
Lightfoot and Wetstein on Mark
6:13. And here I satisfied that it has no other meaning
than as a natural means of restoring health; and that
St. James desires them to use natural means while
looking to God for an especial blessing. And no wise man would
direct otherwise. 8. That the anointing recommended
here by St. James cannot be such as the Romish Church
prescribes, and it is on this passage principally that they
found their sacrament of extreme unction, is evident
from these considerations: 1. St. James orders the sick person
to be anointed in reference to his cure;
but they anoint the sick in the agonies of death, when
there is no prospect of his recovery; and never
administer that sacrament, as it is called, while there
is any hope of life. 2. St James orders this
anointing for the cure of the body, but they
apply it for the cure of the soul; in reference to
which use of it St. James gives no directions: and what is
said of the forgiveness of sins, in James
5:15, is rather to be referred to faith and
prayer, which are often the means of restoring lost
health, and preventing premature death, when natural
means, the most skillfully used, have been useless. 3. The
anointing with oil, if ever used as a means or
symbol in working miraculous cures, was only
applied in some cases, perhaps very few, if any;
but the Romish Church uses it in every case; and makes
it necessary to the salvation of every departing
soul. Therefore, St. James' unction, and the extreme
unction of the Romish Church, are essentially different.
See below.
Verse 15. And the prayer of faith;
shall save the sick
That is, God will often
make these the means of a sick man's recovery; but there often
are cases where faith and prayer are both
ineffectual, because God sees it will be prejudicial to the
patient's salvation to be restored; and therefore all faith
and prayer on such occasions should be exerted on this ground:
"If it be most for thy glory, and the eternal good of this
man's soul, let him be restored; if otherwise, Lord, pardon,
purify him, and take him to thy glory."
The Lord shall raise him
up
Not the elders, how faithfully
and fervently soever they have prayed.
And if he have committed
sins
So as to have occasioned his present
malady, they shall be forgiven him; for being the
cause of the affliction it is natural to conclude that,
if the effect be to cease, the cause must be
removed. We find that in the miraculous restoration to health,
under the powerful hand of Christ, the sin of the party is
generally said to be forgiven, and this also
before the miracle was wrought on the body:
hence there was a maxim among the Jews, and it seems to be
founded in common sense and reason, that God
never restores a man miraculously to health till he has
pardoned his sins; because it would be incongruous for God to
exert his miraculous power in saving a body, the
soul of which was in a state of condemnation to eternal
death, because of the crimes it had committed against its
Maker and Judge. Here then it is GOD that remits the
sin, not in reference to the unction, but in
reference to the cure of the body, which he is
miraculously to effect.
Verse 16. Confess your faults one to
another
This is a good general direction to
Christians who endeavour to maintain among themselves the
communion of saints. This social confession tends much to
humble the soul, and to make it watchful. We naturally wish
that our friends in general, and our religious friends in
particular, should think well of us; and when we confess to
them offences which, without this confession, they could never
have known, we feel humbled, are kept from self-applause, and
induced to watch unto prayer, that we may not increase our
offences before God, or be obliged any more to undergo the
painful humiliation of acknowledging our weakness, fickleness,
or infidelity to our religious brethren.
It is not said, Confess your faults to the ELDERS
that they may forgive them, or prescribe
penance in order to forgive them. No; the members of
the Church were to confess their faults to each
other; therefore auricular confession to a
priest, such as is prescribed by the Romish Church, has no
foundation in this passage. Indeed, had it any foundation here
it would prove more than they wish, for it would require the
priest to confess his sins to the
people, as well as the people to confess theirs to the
priest.
And pray one for
another
There is no instance in
auricular confession where the penitent
and the priest pray together for pardon; but here the
people are commanded to pray for each other that they may be
healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
The words
δεησιςενεργουμενη signify energetic supplication, or
such a prayer as is suggested to the soul and
wrought in it by a Divine energy. When God
designs to do some particular work in his Church he pours out
on his followers the spirit of grace and supplication; and
this he does sometimes when he is about to do some especial
work for an individual. When such a power of prayer is
granted, faith should be immediately called into exercise,
that the blessing may be given: the spirit of prayer is the
proof that the power of God is present to heal. Long
prayers give no particular evidence of Divine
inspiration: the following was a maxim among the ancient
Jews, the prayers of the righteous are short.
This is exemplified in almost every instance in the Old
Testament.
Verse 17. Elias was a man subject to
like passions
This was Elijah, and a
consistency between the names of the same persons as
expressed in the Old and the New Testaments should be kept up.
The word ομοιοπαθης signifies of the same
constitution, a human being just as ourselves are. See the
same phrase and its explanation in Acts
14:15, and the note there. There was some reason to
apprehend that because Elijah was translated, that
therefore he was more than human, and if so, his
example could be no pattern for us; and as the design of St.
James was to excite men to pray, expecting the Divine
interference whenever that should be necessary, therefore he
tells them that Elijah was a man like themselves, of
the same constitution, liable to the same
accidents, and needing the same supports.
And he prayed
earnestly
προσευχηπροσηυξατο. He prayed
with prayer; a Hebraism for, he prayed
fervently.
That it might not
rain
See this history, 1 Kings
17:1,
And it rained not on the
earth
επιτηςγης. On that land, viz.
the land of Judea; for this drought did not extend elsewhere.
Three years and six
months.
This is the term mentioned by our
Lord, Luke
4:25; but this is not specified in the original history.
In 1 Kings
18:1, it is said, In the third year the word of the
Lord came to Elijah, that is, concerning the rain;
but this third year is to be computed from the time of
his going to live at Zarephath, which happened many days after
the drought began, as is plain from this, that he
remained at the brook Cherith till it was dried up, and
then went to Zarephath, in the country of Zidon; 1 Kings
17:7-9. Therefore the three years and six
months must be computed from his denouncing the drought,
at which time that judgment commenced. Macknight.
Verse 18. And he prayed
again
This second prayer is not
mentioned in the history in express words, but as in 1 Kings
18:42, it is said, He cast himself down upon the earth,
and put his face between his knees; that was
probably the time of the second praying, namely, that rain
might come, as this was the proper posture of prayer.
Verse 19. Err from the
truth
Stray away from the Gospel of Christ;
and one convert him-reclaim him from his error, and
bring him back to the fold of Christ.
Verse 20. Let him
know
Let him duly consider, for his
encouragement, that he who is the instrument of converting a
sinner shall save a soul from eternal death, and a body from
ruin, and shall hide a multitude of sins; for in being
the means of his conversion we bring him back to God, who, in
his infinite mercy, hides or blots out the
numerous sins which he had committed during the time of his
backsliding. It is not the man's sins who is the means of his
conversion, but the sins of the backslider, which are here
said to be hidden. See more below.
1. MANY are of opinion that the hiding a multitude of
sins is here to be understood of the person who converts
the backslider: this is a dangerous doctrine, and what the
Holy Spirit never taught to man. Were this true it would lead
many a sinner to endeavour the reformation of his neighbour,
that himself might continue under the influence of his own
beloved sins and conversion to a particular creed would
be put in the place of conversion to God, and thus the
substance be lost in the shadow. Bishop Atterbury,
(Ser. vol. i. p. 46,) and Scott, (Christian Life, vol.
i. p. 368,) contend "that the covering a multitude of
sins includes also, that the pious action of
which the apostle speaks engages God to look with greater
indulgence on the character of the person that performs
it, and to be less severe in marking what he has
done amiss." See Macknight. This from such
authorities may be considered doubly dangerous; it argues
however great ignorance of God, of the nature of Divine
justice, and of the sinfulness of sin. It is besides
completely antievangelical; it teaches in effect that
something besides the blood of the covenant will
render God propitious to man, and that the performance of a
pious action will induce God's justice to show
greater indulgence to the person who performs it, and
to be less severe in marking what he has done
amiss. On the ground of this doctrine we might confide
that, had he a certain quantum of pious acts, we
might have all the sins of our lives forgiven, independently
of the sacrifice of Christ; for if one pious act
can procure pardon for a multitude of sins, what may
not be expected from many?
2. The Jewish doctrine, to which it is possible St.
James may allude, was certainly more sound than that
taught by these Christian divines. They allowed that
the man who was the means of converting another had done a
work highly pleasing to God, and which should be rewarded; but
they never insinuate that this would atone for sin. I
shall produce a few examples:-
In Synopsis Sohzar, p. 47, n. 17, it is said:
Great is his excellence who persuades a sick person
to turn from his sins.
Ibid, p. 92, n. 18: Great is his reward who
brings back the pious into the way of the blessed
Lord.
Yoma, fol. 87,1: By his hands iniquity is not
committed, who turns many to righteousness; i.e.
God does not permit him to fall into sin. What is the
reason? Ans. Lest those should be found in
paradise, while their instructer is found in hell.
This doctrine is both innocent and godly in comparison of
the other. It holds out a motive to diligence and zeal,
but nothing farther. In short, if we allow any thing to
cover our sins beside the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus, WE shall err most dangerously
from the truth, and add this moreover to the
multitude of OUR sins, that we maintained that
the gift of God could be purchased by our puny acts of
comparative righteousness.
3. As one immortal soul is of more worth than all the
material creation of God, every man who knows the worth of his
own should labour for the salvation of others. To be the means
of depriving hell of her expectation, and adding even one soul
to the Church triumphant, is a matter of infinite moment; and
he who is such an instrument has much reason to thank God that
ever he was born. He who lays out his accounts to do good to
the souls of men, will ever have the blessing of God in his
own. Besides, God will not suffer him to labour in vain, or
spend his strength for naught. At first he may see little
fruit; but the bread cast upon the waters shall be found after
many days: and if he should never see it in this life, he may
take for granted that whatsoever he has done for God, in
simplicity and godly sincerity, has been less or more
effectual.
After the last word of this epistle αμαρτιων, of
sins, some versions add his, others theirs;
and one MS. and the later Syriac have Amen. But
these additions are of no authority.
The subscriptions to this epistle, in the VERSIONS, are the
following: The end of the Epistle of James the
apostle.-SYRIAC. The catholic Epistle of James the apostle is
ended.-SYRIAC PHILOXENIAN. The end.-AETHIOPIC. Praise be to
God for ever and ever; and may his mercy be upon us.
Amen.-ARABIC. The Epistle of James the son of Zebedee,
is ended.-ITALA, one copy. Nothing.-COPTIC. Nothing.-Printed
VULGATE. The Epistle of James is ended.-Bib. VULG.
Edit. Eggestein. The Epistle of St. James the apostle
is ended.-Complutensian.
In the MANUSCRIPTS: Of James.-Codex Vaticanus, B.
The Epistle of James.-Codex Alexandrinus. The end of
the catholic Epistle of James.-Codex Vaticanus, 1210.
The catholic Epistle of James the apostle.-A Vienna MS.
The catholic Epistle of the holy Apostle James.-An ancient MS.
in the library of the Augustins, at Rome. The end of
the Epistle of the holy Apostle James, the brother of
God.-One of Petavius's MSS., written in the
thirteenth century. The same is found in a
Vatican MS. of the eleventh century. The most
ancient MSS. have little or no subscription.
Two opinions relative to the author are expressed in these
MSS. One copy of the Itala, the Codex
Corbejensis, at Paris, which contains this epistle only,
attributes it to James, the son of Zebedee; and
two, comparatively recent, attribute it to James,
our Lord's brother. The former testimony, taken
in conjunction with some internal evidences, led Michaelis,
and some others, to suppose it probable that James the
elder, or the son of Zebedee, was the author. I
should give it to this apostle, in preference to the other,
had I not reason to believe that a James, different
from either; was the author. But who or what he
was, at this distance of time, it is impossible to say. Having
now done with all comments on the text, I shall conclude with
some particulars relative to James, our Lord's brother,
and some general observations on the structure and importance
of this epistle.
I have entered but little into the history of this James,
because I was not satisfied that he is the author of this
epistle: however, observing that the current of modern authors
are decided in their opinion that he was the author, I
perceive I may be blamed unless I be more particular
concerning his life; as some of the ancients have related
several circumstances relative to him that are very
remarkable, and, indeed, singular. Dr. Lardner has collected
the whole; and, although the same authors from whom he has
taken his accounts are before me, yet, not supposing that I
can at all mend either his selections or arrangement, I shall
take the accounts as he states them.
"I should now proceed," says this learned man, "to write
the history of this person (James) from ancient
authors; but that is a difficult task, as I have found, after
trying more than once, and at distant spaces of time. I shall
therefore take DIVERS passages of Eusebius and others, and
make such reflections as offer for finding out as much truth
as we can.
"Eusebius, in his chapter concerning our Saviour's
disciples, (Eccl. Hist. lib. i., cap. 12,) speaks of James, to
whom our Lord showed himself after his resurrection, 1 Corinthians
15:7, as being one of the seventy disciples.
"The same author has another chapter, (Hist. Eccl., lib.
ii., cap. 1,) entitled, Of Things constituted by the Apostles
after our Saviour's Ascension, which is to this purpose:-
"The first is the choice of Matthias, one of Christ's
disciples, into the apostleship, in the room of Judas; then
the appointment of the seven deacons, one of whom was Stephen,
who, soon after his being ordained, was stoned by those who
had killed the Lord, and was the first martyr for Christ; then
James, called the Lord's brother, because he was the son of
Joseph, to whom the Virgin Mary was espoused. This James,
called by the ancients the just, on account of his eminent
virtue, is said to have been appointed the first bishop of
Jerusalem; and Clement, in the sixth book of his Institutions,
writes after this manner: That after our Lord's ascension,
Peter, and James, and John, though they had been favoured by
the Lord above the rest, did not contend for honour, but chose
James the just to be bishop of Jerusalem; and in the seventh
book of the same work he says, that after his resurrection the
Lord gave to James the just, and Peter, and John, the gift of
knowledge; and they gave it to the other apostles, and the
other apostles gave it to the seventy, one of whom was
Barnabas: for there were two named James, one the just, who
was thrown down from the battlement of the temple and killed
by a fuller's staff; the other is he who was beheaded. Of him
who was called the just, Paul also makes mention, saying,
Other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's
brother.
"I would now take a passage from Origen, in the tenth vol.
of his Commentaries upon Matthew
13:55,56: Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his
mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joses,
and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all
with us? They thought, says Origen, that he was the son of
Joseph and Mary. The brethren of Jesus, some say, upon the
ground of tradition, and particularly of what is said in the
gospel according to Peter, or the book of James, were the sons
of Joseph by a former wife, who cohabited with him before
Mary. They who say this are desirous of maintaining the honour
of Mary's virginity to the last, (or her perpetual virginity,)
that the body chosen to fulfil what is said, The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest
shall overshadow thee, Luke
1:35, might not know man after that: and I think it very
reasonable that, as Jesus was the first fruits of virginity
among men, Mary should be the same among women; for it would
be very improper to give that honour to any besides her. This
James is he whom Paul mentions in his Epistle to the
Galatians, saying, Other of the apostles, saw I none, save
James the Lord's brother. This James was in so
great repute with the people for his virtue, that Josephus,
who wrote twenty books of the Jewish antiquities, desirous to
assign the reason of their suffering such things, so that even
their temple was destroyed, says that those things were owing
to the anger of God for what they did to James, the brother of
Jesus, who is called Christ. And it is wonderful that he, who
did not believe our Jesus to be the Christ, should bear such a
testimony to James. He also says that the people thought they
suffered those things on account of James. Jude, who wrote an
epistle, of a few lines indeed, but filled with the powerful
word of the heavenly grace, says, at the beginning, Jude, a
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. Of Joses
and Simon we know nothing.
"Origen, in his books against Celsus, quotes Josephus again
as speaking of James; to the like purpose; but there are not
now any such passages in Josephus, though they are quoted as
from him by Eusebius also. As the death of James has been
mentioned, I shall now immediately take the accounts of it
which are in Eusebius, and I will transcribe a large part of
the twenty-third chapter of the second book of his
Ecclesiastical History: 'But when Paul had appealed to Caesar,
and Festus had sent him to Rome, the Jews being disappointed
in their design against him, turned their rage against James,
the Lord's brother, to whom the apostles had consigned the
episcopal chair of Jerusalem, and in this manner they
proceeded against him: having laid hold of him, they required
him, in the presence of all the people, to renounce his faith
in Christ; but he, with freedom and boldness beyond
expectation, before all the multitude declared our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. They, not enduring
the testimony of a man who was in high esteem for his piety,
laid hold of the opportunity when the country was without a
governor to put him to death; for Festus having died about
that time in Judea, the province had in it no procurator. The
manner of the death of James was shown before in the words of
Clement, who said that he was thrown off the battlement of the
temple, and then beat to death with a club. But no one has so
accurately related this transaction as Hegesippus, a man in
the first succession of the apostles, in the fifth book of his
Commentaries, whose words are to this purpose: James, the
brother of our Lord, undertook together with the apostles, the
government of the Church. He has been called the just by all,
from the time of our Saviour to ours: for many have been named
James; but he was holy from his mother's womb. He drank
neither wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat any animal food;
there never came a razor upon his head; he neither anointed
himself with oil, nor did he use a bath. To him alone was it
lawful to enter the holy place. He wore no woollen, but only
linen garments. He entered into the temple alone, where he
prayed upon his knees; insomuch that his knees were become
like the knees of a camel by means of his being continually
upon them, worshipping God, and praying for the forgiveness of
the people. Upon account of his virtue he was called the just,
and Oblias, that is, the defence of the people, and
righteousness. Some, therefore, of the seven sects which were
among the Jews, of whom I spoke in the former part of these
Commentaries, asked him, Which is the gate of Jesus? or, What
is the gate of salvation? and he said, Jesus is the Saviour,
or the way of salvation. Some of them therefore believed that
Jesus is the Christ. And many of the chief men also believing,
there was a disturbance among the Jews and among the scribes
and Pharisees, who said there was danger lest all the people
should think Jesus to be the Christ. Coming therefore to James
they said, We beseech thee to restrain the error of this
people; we entreat thee to persuade all who come hither at the
time of passover to think rightly concerning Jesus, for all
the people and all of us put confidence in thee. Stand
therefore on the battlement of the temple, that being placed
on high thou mayest be conspicuous, and thy words may be
easily heard by all the people; for because of the passover
all the tribes are come hither, and many Gentiles. Therefore
the scribes and Pharisees before named placed James upon the
battlement of the temple, and cried out to him and said, O
Justus, whom we ought all to believe, since the people are in
an error, following Jesus, who was crucified, tell us what is
the gate of Jesus. And he answered with a loud voice, Why do
you ask me concerning the Son of man? He even sitteth in the
heaven, at the right hand of the great Power, and will come in
the clouds of heaven. And many were fully satisfied and well
pleased with the testimony of James, saying, Hosanna to the
Son of David! But the same scribes and Pharisees said one to
another, We have done wrong in procuring such a testimony to
Jesus. Let us go up and throw him down, that the people may be
terrified from giving credit to him. And they went up
presently, and cast him down, and said, Let us stone James the
just: and they began to stone him because he was not killed by
the fall. But he turning himself, kneeled, saying, I entreat
thee, O Lord God the Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. As they were stoning him, one said, Give over.
What do ye? The just man prays for you. And one of them, a
fuller, took a pole, which was used to beat clothes with, and
struck him on the head. Thus his martyrdom was completed. And
they buried him in that place; and his monument still remains
near the temple. This James was a true witness, both to Jews
and Gentiles, that Jesus is the Christ. Soon after Judea was
invaded by Vespasian, and the people were carried captive.' So
writes Hegesippus at large, agreeably to Clement. For certain,
James was an excellent man, and much esteemed by many for his
virtue; insomuch that the most thoughtful men among the Jews
were of opinion that his death was the cause of the siege of
Jerusalem, which followed soon after his martyrdom: and that
it was owing to nothing else but the wickedness committed
against him. And Josephus says the same in these words: 'These
things befell the Jews in vindication of James the just, who
was brother of Jesus, called the Christ. For the Jews killed
him; who was a most righteous man.'
"The time of the death of James may be determined without
much difficulty; he was alive when Paul came to Jerusalem at
the pentecost, in the year of Christ 58, and it is likely that
he was dead when St. Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews at
the beginning of the year 63. Theodoret, upon Hebrews
13:7supposes the apostle there to refer to the martyrdoms
of Stephen, James the brother of John, and James the just.
According to Hegesippus, the death of James happened about the
time of passover, which might be that of the year 62; and if
Festus was then dead, and Albinus not arrived, the province
was without a governor. Such a season left the Jews at liberty
to gratify their licentious and turbulent disposition, and
they were very likely to embrace it."
I have said but little relative to the controversy
concerning the apostleship of James, our Lord's
brother; for, as I am still in doubt whether he was the author
of this epistle, I do not judge it necessary to enter into the
question. I proceed now to some general observations on the
epistle itself, and the evidence it affords of the learning
and science of its author.
1. I have already conjectured that this epistle ranks among
the most ancient of the Christian writings; its total
want of reference to the great facts which distinguish the
early history of the Church, viz., the calling of the
Gentiles, the disputes between them and the Jews, the
questions concerning circumcision, and the obligation of the
law in connection with the Gospel
place, or that they must have been wholly unknown to the
author; which is incredible, allowing him to have been a
Christian writer.
2. The style of this epistle is much more elevated
than most other parts of the New Testament. It abounds with
figures and metaphors, at once bold, dignified, just, and
impressive. Many parts of it are in the genuine prophetic
style, and much after the manner of the Prophet
Zephaniah, to whom there is a near resemblance in
several passages.
3. An attentive reader of this epistle will perceive the
author to be a man of deep thought and considerable
learning. He had studied the Jewish prophets closely, and
imitated their style; but he appears also to have read the
Greek poets: his language is such as we might
expect from one who had made them his study, but who avoided
to quote them. We find a perfect Greek hexameter in James
1:17, and another may be perceived in ; 4:4;
but these are probably not borrowed, but are the spontaneous,
undesigned effort of his own well cultivated mind. His
science may be noted in several places, but
particularly in James
1:17, on which see the note and the diagram, and its
explanation at the end of the chapter. Images from natural
history are not unfrequent; and that in James
1:14,15is exceedingly correct and appropriate, but will
not bear a closely literal translation.
4. His constant attention and reference to the writings
and maxims of his own countrymen is peculiarly
observable. Several of his remarks tend to confirm the
antiquity of the Talmud; and the parallel passages in
the different tracts of that work cast much light on
the allusions of St. James. Without constant reference to the
ancient Jewish rabbins, we should have sought for the meaning
of several passages in vain.
5. St. James is in many places obscure; this may
arise partly from his own deep and strong conceptions, and
partly from allusions to arts or maxims which
are not come down to us, or which lie yet undiscovered in the
Mishna or Talmud. To elucidate this writer I
have taken more than common pains, but dare not say that I
have been always successful, though I have availed myself of
all the help within my reach. To Schoettgen's Horae
Hebraicae I am considerably indebted, as also to Dr.
Macknight, Kypke, Rosenmuller, these, and others
of the same class, and followed my own light.
6. On the controversy relative to the doctrine of
justification, as taught by Paul and James, I have not
entered deeply; I have produced in the proper places what
appeared to me to be the most natural method of reconciling
those writers. I believe St. James not to be in opposition to
St. Paul, but to a corrupt doctrine taught among his own
countrymen relative to this important subject. The
doctrine of justification by faith in Christ
Jesus, as taught by St. Paul, is both rational and
true. St. James shows that a bare belief in the God of
Israel justifies no man; and that the genuine faith
that justifies works by love, and produces obedience to all
the precepts contained in the moral law; and that this
obedience is the evidence of the sincerity of that faith which
professes to have put its possessor in the enjoyment of the
peace and favour of God.
7. This epistle ends abruptly, and scarcely appears
to be a finished work. The author probably intended to have
added more, but may have been prevented by death. James, our
Lord's brother, was murdered by the Jews, as we have already
seen. James, the son Zebedee, had probably a short race; but
whether either of these were its author we know not. The work
was probably posthumous, not appearing till after the
author's death; and this may have been one reason why it was
so little known in the earliest ages of the primitive Church.
8. The spirit of Antinomianism is as dangerous in
the Church as the spirit of Pharisaism; to the
former the Epistle of James is a most powerful
antidote; and the Christian minister who wishes to improve
and guard the morals of his flock will bring its important
doctrines, in due proportion, into his public ministry. It is
no proof of the improved state of public morals that many, who
call themselves evangelical teachers, scarcely ever
attempt to instruct the public by texts selected from this
epistle.
For other particulars, relative to the time of writing this
epistle, the author, his inspiration,
apostleship, refer to Michaelis and Lardner, and to the
preface.
Millbrook, Dec. 9,1816 Finished correcting this epistle for
a new edition, Dec. 31,1831.
