James 2:6

You have dishonored by your treatment the poor man, whom God chose; while those rich men to whom ye pay such honor are just the very persons who

(1) oppress you and

(2) blaspheme God and Christ.

Poor rich. In the Old Testament we occasionally find the term "poor" parallel to "righteous"; (Amo_2:6 Amo_5:12) and rich" to "wicked". (Isa_53:9) St. James"s use here is somewhat similar. (see on Jam_1:9, etc.) "Christiani multi ex pauperibus erant: pauci ex divitibus" (Bengel). The "rich men" here alluded to are evidently such as was the Apostle Paul before his conversion.

(1) They dragged the poor Christians before the judgment-seat (elkousin uJmav eijv krithria). So Saul, "haling (surwn) men and women, committed them to prison". (Act_8:3)

(2) They blasphemed the honorable Name by which Christians were called. So Saul thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, and strove to make them blaspheme. (Act_26:9-11)

(3) All this they did in person (aujtoi); "themselves," just as Saul did. No difficulty need be felt about the presence of these rich men in the synagogues of the Christians (see Introduction, p. 8.). It will be noticed that St. James never calls them brethren. " Further, it must be remembered that, at this early date, the Church had not yet learnt by bitter experience the need for that secrecy with which in later days she shrouded her worship. At this time the Christian assemblies were open to any who chose to find their way in. All were welcome, as we see from 1Co_14:23, etc., where the chance entry of men unlearned or unbelieving" is contemplated as likely to happen. Hence there is no sort of difficulty in the presence of the "rich man" here, who might be eagerly welcomed, and repay his welcome by dragging them to the judgment-seat. Draw you before the judgment-seats. The account given by Josephus of the death of St, James himself affords a good illustration of the manner in which Christians were liable to this (see Introduction, p. 6.). But the tribunals need not be confined to Jewish ones. Other instances of similar treatment, illustrating the thoughts and language of the passage before us, may be found in Act_16:19 Act_17:6 Act_18:12. Litigation of an entirely different character between Christians themselves is alluded to and condemned by St. Paul in 1Co 6.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jas 2:6. Ἠτιμάσατε, ye have despised) while ye held the poor in too little esteem. A most expressive word.—οὐχ οἱ πλούσιοι, do not the rich) Not all the rich, but many of them, and none but they; for the poor have not the power, even if they wished. The apostle mentions this, not to excite the godly to envy, but to show the unworthiness of the rich.—αὐτοὶ, these) The demonstrative pronoun, as in Jas 2:7. In Hebrew, הם. These are they who act both with open violence, and yet with the appearance of justice.—ἕλκουσιν ὑμᾶς, drag you) with unreasonable violence.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jam_2:6. ὑμεῖς δέ] contrast to Θεός.

ἠτιμάσατε] contrast to ἐξελέξατο. The aorist is used with reference to the case stated in Jam_2:2-3, which is certainly of a general character (Wiesinger).[117]

ΤῸΝ ΠΤΩΧΌΝ, not = pauperem illum, but, to be understood generally, the poor man as such. That we are here specially to think on the Christian poor, is an incorrect supposition.

With οὐχ οἱ πλούσιοι] James turns to the rich as the class opposed to the poor, in order to point out from another side than he had already done the reprehensibleness of the conduct denounced. Already from this opposition it is intimated that not the Christian rich, but the rich generallynot exactly only the rich Gentiles or the Romans (Hengstenberg)are meant. This is also evident from what is said of them, and by which their conduct is designated as hostile to Christians (ὙΜῶΝ) who belong to the poor.[118] ΚΑΤΑΔΥΝΑΣΤΕΎΕΙΝ] only here and in Act_10:38, frequently in the LXX. and Apocrypha (see particularly Wis_2:20), means to use power against any to his hurt. Related ideas are κατακυριεύειν and ΚΑΤΕΞΟΥΣΙΆΖΕΙΝ, Mat_20:25. This exercise of power against the Christians might take place in various ways; what follows: ΚΑῚ ΑὐΤΟῚ ἝΛΚΟΥΣΙΝ ὙΜᾶς ΕἸς ΚΡΙΤΉΡΙΑ, mentions one chief mode.

ΚΑῚ ΑὐΤΟΊ] emphatically put firsteven they (Theile).

ἕλκειν] indicates the violence of the conduct (so in the classics). The courts of judgment (ΚΡΙΤΉΡΙΑ, as in 1Co_6:2; 1Co_6:4) may be both Gentile and Jewish; certainly not Christian. It is arbitrary, and not corresponding to the expression ἝΛΚΕΙΝ, to think here on a process quibus pauperes propter debita in judiciis vexabant (Hornejus; also de Wette and others).

Since James so strongly contrasts αὐτοί and ὙΜᾶς, the former cannot possibly be regarded as a part of the latter.

[117] According to Lange, the aorist is used to point to the historical fact in which Judaizing Jewish Christians have already taken part with the Jews, namely, the dishonouring of the Gentile Christians.

[118] If James had the Christian rich in view, he certainly would not have omitted to point to the contrast between their conduct to the poor and their Christian calling.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jas 2:6 . ἠτιμάσατε : Cf. , though in an entirely different connection, Sir 10:23 , οὐ δίκαιον ἀτιμάσαι πτωχὸν συνετόν ( δίκαιον is absent in the Hebrew); the R.V. “dishonoured” accurately represents the Greek, but the equivalent Hebrew word would be better rendered “despised” which is what the A.V. has. “Dishonouring” would imply the withholding of a right, “despising” would be rather the contempt accorded to the man because he was poor. There can be little doubt that it is the former which is intended here, but the idea of the latter must also have been present. οὐχ οἱ πλούσιοι καταδυναστεύουσιν ὑμῶν : the rich here probably refer to wealthy Jews, though it does not follow that “there could have been no question of rich Jews if the city and the temple had fallen” (Knowling), for the Epistle was addressed to Jews of the Dispersion, the bulk of whom were not affected, as far as their worldly belongings were concerned, by the Fall of Jerusalem. On the other hand, the possibility of the reference being to rich Jewish-Christians, or Gentile-Christians, cannot be dismissed off-hand, for on the assumption of a late date for the Epistle it is more likely that these would be meant. The writer is taxing his hearers both with bad treatment accorded to the poor, as well as pusillanimity with regard to the rich. The word καταδυν . only occurs once elsewhere in the N.T., Act 10:38 , … πάντας τοὺς καταδυναστευομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου ; but fairly frequently in the Septuagint, e.g. , Amo 8:4 ; Wis 2:10 ; Wis 15:14 . The accusative ὑμᾶς , which is the reading of א 1 A, etc., is in accordance with the frequent usage of the Septuagint, where καταδυν . often takes an accusative instead of the genitive. αὐτοὶ : “The pronoun αὐτὸς is used in the nominative, not only with the meaning ‘self’ when attached to a subject, as in classical Greek, but also when itself standing for the subject, with a less amount of emphasis, which we might render ‘he for his part,’ or ‘it was he who,’ as in the next clause; it is disputed whether it does not in some cases lose its emphatic force altogether, as in Luk 19:2 ; Luk 24:31 ” (Mayor). ἕλκουσιν : See Mat 10:7 ; Mat 10:18 . Cf. Act 16:19 , … ἐπιλαβόμενοι τὸν Παῦλον καὶ τὸν Σίλαν εἵλκυσαν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας . κριτήρια : Cf. 1Co 6:2 ; 1Co 6:4 , either Jewish ( cf. the Peshiṭtâ rendering בית דינא ) tribunals or Gentile ones.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Secondly, he proveth them to be mad men: for that the rich men are rather to be holden execrable and cursed, considering that they persecute the Church, and blaspheme Christ: for he speaketh of wicked and profane rich men, such as the most part of them have been always, against whom he setteth the poor and abject.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The world's judgment of the poor contrasted with God's.

ye--Christians, from whom better things might have been expected; there is no marvel that men of the world do so.

despised--literally, "dishonored." To dishonor the poor is to dishonor those whom God honors, and so to invert the order of God [CALVIN].

rich--as a class.

oppress--literally, "abuse their power against" you.

draw you--Translate, "is it not they (those very persons whom ye partially prefer, Jam 2:1-4) that drag you (namely, with violence)" [ALFORD].

before . . . judgment seats--instituting persecutions for religion, as well as oppressive lawsuits, against you.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Do not rich men oppress you] The administration of justice was at this time in a miserable state of corruption among the Jews; but a Christian was one who was to expect no justice any where but from his God. The words καταδυναστευουσιν, exceedingly oppress, and ελκουσινειςκριτηρια, drag you to courts of justice, show how grievously oppressed and maltreated the Christians were by their countrymen the Jews, who made law a pretext to afflict their bodies, and spoil them of their property.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6 Do not the rich. He seems to instigate them to vengeance by bringing forward the unjust rule of the rich, in order that they who were unjustly treated, might render like for like: and yet we are everywhere bid to do good to those who injure us. But the object of James was another; for he only wished to shew that they were without reason or judgment who through ambition honored their executioners, and in the meantime injured their own friends, at least those from whom they never suffered any wrong. For hence appeared more fully their vanity, that they were induced by no acts of kindness: they only admired the rich, because they were rich; nay, they servilely flattered those whom they found, to their own loss, to be unjust and cruel.

There are, indeed, some of the rich who are just, and meek, and hate all unrighteousness; but few of such men are to be found. James, then, mentions what for the most part usually happens, and what daily experience proves true. For as men commonly exercise their power in doing what is wrong, it hence happens, that the more power any one has, the worse he is, and the more unjust towards his neighbors. The more careful then ought the rich to be, lest they should contract any of the contagion which everywhere prevails among those of their own rank.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) But ye have despised the poor.—Better, ye dishonoured the poor man—i.e., when, as already mentioned (Jas_2:2-3), you exalted the rich unto the “good place” of your synagogue. Thus whom God had called and chosen, you refused. “It is unworthy,” observes Calvin on this passage, “to cast down those whom God lifts up, and to treat them shamefully whom He vouchsafes to honour. But God honoureth the poor; therefore whoever he is that rejects them perverts the ordinance of God.”

Do not rich men oppress you?—Or, lord it over you as a class; not assuredly that this can be said of each wealthy individual. It is the rich man, of the earth earthy, trusting in his riches (comp. Mat_10:24), who makes them a power for evil and not for good. Here is presented the other side of the argument, used on behalf of the poor, viz., observe first how God regards them (Jas_2:5), and next, judge their adversaries by their own behaviour.

Draw you before the judgment seats?—Better, Do they not drag you into courts of justice? “Hale” you, as the old English word has it. Summum jus summa injuria—extreme of right is extreme of wrong—a legal maxim oft exemplified. The purse-proud litigious man is the hardest to deal with, and the one who specially will grind the faces of the poor. No body of laws could on the whole be more equitable than the Roman, but their administration in the provinces was frequently in venal hands; and besides, the large fees demanded by the juris-consulti—“the learned in the law”—quite barred the way of the poorer suitors, such as, for the most part, were the Christians to whom this Letter was written.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. But ye have despised the poor] Better, ye have dishonoured, or done dishonour to, the word implying the outward act that expressed contempt. The Greek tense may point to the special instance just given as a supposed fact, “Ye dishonoured.…” The pronoun is emphatic, “God chose the poor, ye put them to shame.”

Do not rich men oppress you] Better, lord it over you. The word is like, though not identical with, those used in Mat_20:25; 1Pe_5:3, and means literally, to act the potentate over others. As a rule the wealthier class in Judæa tended to Sadduceeism (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 10. § 6), and St James’s reference to their treatment of the disciples agrees with the part that sect took, including, as it did, the aristocracy of the priesthood, in the persecutions of the earlier chapters of the Acts (Jas_4:1; Jas_4:6, Jas_5:17).

and draw you before the judgment seats?] Better, drag you to courts of Justice. The same noun appears in 1Co_6:2; 1Co_6:4. The Greek verb implies violence, as in Act_21:30. The words may point either to direct persecutions, such as that of Act_9:1-2, or to the indirect vexation of oppressive lawsuits. In the Greek the verb is preceded by an emphatic pronoun, “Is it not they that drag you.” There seems, at first, a want of logical coherence. The rich man first appears as gaining undue prominence in the assembly of Christians, and then as one of a class of persecutors and blasphemers. This, however, is just the point on which St James lays stress. Men honoured the rich Christian, not because he was a Christian, but because he was rich, i. e. because he was connected with a class, which, as such, had shewn itself bitterly hostile to them.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But ye have despised the poor,.... Or dishonoured, and reproached them, by showing respect of persons, in preferring the rich to them, and in distinguishing them in such a manner as was to their contempt and injury; which is a reproaching not only of them, but their Maker; and is in effect saying, that God has done either a weak or a wrong thing, in choosing them to be rich in faith, and heirs of a kingdom, it being directly contrary to his conduct:

do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? which may be understood either of rich men that were unbelievers; and these either the Heathen magistrates, who ruled over them in a tyrannical way, and with rigour, and often summoned them before them, and persecuted them with violence; or their own countrymen, the Jews, who stirred up the chief men of the Gentiles against them, and drew them to their judgment seats, as they drew Paul to the judgment seat of Gallio, Act 13:50 or else of rich professors of religion, who assumed a despotic power over the poor brethren of the church, and loved to have the pre-eminence over them, as Diotrephes did, and set up tribunals in the churches, and tried and condemned them in an arbitrary way; or else upon civil accounts had them before heathen magistrates, and went to law with them in their courts, before unbelievers, which is a practice condemned in Co1 6:1, and seeing now rich men used them so ill, the apostle mentions this as an argument to dissuade them from respect of persons; seeing they had but little reason to show so much regard unto them, who had treated them in so evil a manner: this is not to be understood of all rich men; nor is the apostle's design to destroy that natural and civil order there is among men, by reason of their different stations, offices, and circumstances; it being highly proper that honour should he given to whom honour is due, but not to the dishonour of another.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Ver. 6. Ye have despised the poor] Pauper ubique iacet. Zep 3:12, afflicted and poor are joined together; because poverty is an affliction, and makes a man trodden upon. Men go over the hedge where it is lowest. Therefore St Paul joins them together, "I have learned to want, and to be abased;" they that want shall be abased; Luk 15:30; "This thy son." He saith not, This my brother, because in poverty; which is therefore to be deprecated and prayed against, as Pro 30:8; Pro 1:1-33. Propter inediam, on account of starvation, as Gen 37:25; Gen 2:1-25. Propter iniuriam, On account of wrongs, Psa 10:9; Psa 3:1-8. Propter infamiam, On account of disgrace, as here. Our Saviour calls that good beggar Lazarus, that is, God help me, Luk 16:29; as proper a name for a beggar as could be given.

Oppress you] καταδυναστευουσιν, subjugate you, and bring your heads under their belts; trample upon you with the feet of pride and cruelty; yea, devour you, as the greater fish do the lesser. Ferae parcunt, aves pascunt, homines saeviunt, saith Cyprian. The wild beasts spare Daniel, the ravenous ravens feed Elias; only men rage and ravage, they tyranically oppress God’s poor people (as the word here imports), acting therein the devil’s part. See Act 10:38; (where the same word is used); there is neither equity nor mercy to be had at their hands. Hence they are called men eaters, cannibals, Psa 14:4, and charged with beating God’s people to pieces, and grinding the faces of the poor, Isa 3:15; with eating their very flesh and flaying their skins from off them, and breaking off their bones, and chopping them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron, Mic 3:3. This is a sin against race, grace, and place.

Draw you before the judgment seats] Vex you with lawsuits, and by might rob you of your right. Cedit viribus aequum.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But ye have despised the poor - Koppe reads this as an interrogation: “Do ye despise the poor?” Perhaps it might be understood somewhat ironically: “You despise the poor, do you, and are disposed to honor the rich! Look then, and see how the rich treat you, and see whether you have so much occasion to regard them with any peculiar respect.” The object of the apostle is to fix the attention on the impropriety of that partiality which many were disposed to show to the rich, by reminding them that the rich had never evinced towards them any such treatment as to lay the foundation of a claim to the honor which they were disposed to render them.

Do not rich men oppress you? - Referring probably to something in their conduct which existed particularly then. The meaning is not that they oppressed the poor as such, but that they oppressed those whom James addressed. It is probable that then, as since, a considerable portion of those who were Christians were in fact poor, and that this would have all the force of a personal appeal; but still the particular thought is, that it was a characteristic of the rich and the great, whom they were disposed peculiarly to honor, to oppress and crush the poor. The Greek here is very expressive: “Do they not imperiously lord it over you?” The statement here will apply with too much force to the rich in every age.

And draw you before the judgment-seats - That is, they are your persecutors rather than your friends. It was undoubtedly the case that many of the rich were engaged in persecuting Christians, and that on various pretences they dragged them before the judicial tribunals.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But ye have despised the poor; God’s poor, viz. by your respecting persons.

Do not rich men? Either those that were unbelieving Jews or heathen; or such as made a profession of Christianity, but were not cordial friends to it; or, both may be included.

Oppress you; insolently abuse you, and unrighteously, either usurping a power over you which belongs not to them, or abusing the power they have.

And draw you before the judgment-seats; especially before unbelieving judges, 1Co 6:1,6; they would colour their oppression with a pretence of law, and therefore drew the poor saints before the judgment-seat.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Ye—Unlike God.

Despised—Same (aorist) tense as chosen=chose. While God chose, ye despised. Both refer to the same objects and point of time.

The poor—Singular number; the poor man in the above picture.

Rich men oppress you—It is clear from this that it is not Christian rich men the apostle condemns.

Rich here is an epithet for men of persecuting power, whether Jews or pagans. Not their wealth but their oppressiveness that made them guilty. See note on Jas_5:6.

Draw—Greek, drag, a term of violence.

Judgment seats—To rob them by unjust lawsuits, or to punish them for being deserters from Judaism.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do not the rich often oppress you - By open violence; often drag you - Under colour of law.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Our apostle here charges them downright with that sin which he had been before condemning, namely, an undue respect of persons, despising the poor whom God himself had chosen and honoured: But ye have despised the poor. Despising the poor is a sin not only against the word, but against the works of God; it is against his word and express command, backed with a severe threatening, enter not into the vineyard of the poor; that is, oppress them not, for his avenger is mighty, and God will plead his cause for him. It is also against his works and his end in creation: for God never made any creature for contempt; he then that despiseth the poor reproacheth his Maker, that is, condemneth the wisdom of God; which is as much seen in making poor, as in making rich; in making valleys, as in making hills.

Observe farther, the apostle shews them what little reason and cause they had as to vilify the poor, so to idolize and adore the rich; do not rich men oppress you by tyranny, and draw you before the judgment seat, like the vilest malefactors? Do not they blaspheme the name of Christ? that worthy name from which you are called Christians, and spit in the very face of your holy religion?

Learn, 1. That wicked rich men are oft-times oppressors, sometimes persecutors; they have frequently both will and power, both disposition and occasion to do both.

2. That oppressors and persecutors are generally blasphemers; they blaspheme the name of Christ, that worthy name which whosoever nameth ought to depart from all iniquity, 2Ti 2:19.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. But ye have despised the poor. Those whom God accepts you reject. Do not rich men oppress you? The oppressors of the poor are usually the rich. They are the money lenders, those who bring suit for debt, and hence draw the poor before the judgment seats. Perhaps also there is an allusion to the fact that they were the persecutors.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

6. ἠτιμάσατε. The aorist points to the particular instance cited by the Apostle. You dishonoured the poor man—deprived him of his due τιμή or rank and dignity in the kingdom of heaven. The more technical term in this sense is ἀτιμόω.

οὐχ οἱ πλούσιοι κ.τ.λ. Not only did you degrade those whom Christ honoured, but you honoured those who have shewn themselves unworthy.

καταδυναστεύουσιν ὑμῶν, lord it over you, oppress you. See Act 10:38 τοὺς καταδυναστευομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, the only other passage where the word occurs in N.T., but comp. κατακυριεύειν, Mat 20:25, Mar 10:42, Act 19:16, 1Pe 5:3, and κατεξουσιάζειν, Mat 20:25, Mar 10:42.

The oppression of the poor by the unprincipled rich was an inveterate evil among the Israelites denounced from first to last by the Prophets. The widening breach between the Jews and Christians tended to deepen this hostility. See Psalms 10, 11 and Psa 140:12-13. See also Cheyne on Isa 53:9.

αὐτοί, with its proper sense of contrast, ‘they on their part’ in contrast with you who place them in the best seats of the synagogue.

ἕλκουσιν, drag with violence. εἷλκον αὐτὸν ἔξω τοῦ ἱεροῦ, Act 21:30. Comp. also Act 9:1 ὅπως ἐάν τινας εὔρῃ τῆς ὁδοῦ ὄντας, ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας, δεδεμένους ἀγάγῃ εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ.

εἰς κριτήρια. See 1Co 6:2; 1Co 6:4; also Mat 10:17, Act 9:2; Act 26:11. These were not heathen tribunals but Jewish courts which were recognised and permitted under the Roman government.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6.] Contrast to God’s estimate of the poor. But ye dishonoured the poor man (in the case just now put: with reference also to which the aor. is used. “Indignum est dejicere quos Deus extollit, et quos honore dignatur probrose tractare: atqui Deus pauperes honorat: ergo pervertit Dei ordinem quisquis eos rejicit.” Calv. This is his first argument. Now, vv. 6, 7, he brings in another, deduced from the conduct of rich men towards Christians and towards Christ Himself). Do not the rich (opposed as a class, to τοὺς πτωχούς above. This serves to shew that ὁ πλούσιος, when generally spoken of in the Epistle, as e. g. ch. 1:10, is not the Christian rich man, but the rich man as such, in his worldliness and enmity to God) oppress you (see ref. So κατακυριεύειν, Mat 20:25: 1Pe 5:3: κατεξουσιάζειν, Mat 20:25: all signifying to use power, or lordship, or licence, against any to his hurt), and is it not they that (such is the force of the αὐτοί, again repeated below: not that they themselves ἕλκουσιν κ.τ.λ.) drag you (so “a lictoribus trahi,” Livy ii. 27: see reff. The term implies violence) to courts of judgment (see ch. 5:6, κατεδικάσατε, ἐφονεύσατε τὸν δίκαιον. The words may refer either to persecutions, or to oppressive law-suits; or perhaps to both, as Apollinarius in the Catena, τοῦτο μὲν οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἄρχοντες, ἐκ τῶν καρποφοριῶν πλουτοῦντες· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ οἱ τὰ Ῥωμαίων διοικοῦντες πράγματα, εἰδωλολατροῦντες τότε.

See on the matter, ref. 1 Cor.)?

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. ἠτιμάσατε, “dishonoured,” i. e. by your truckling to the rich. On ἀτιμάζειν, cf. Pro 14:21 ὁ ἀτιμάζων πένητας ἀμαρτάνει, 22:22, Ecclus. 10:23, Act 5:41.

A.V. “despised” is a possible translation (cf. Field, Notes on the Translation of the New Testament (Otium norv. iii .2), 1899, p. 236, for good examples), but the context (v. 3) makes the R.V. “dishonoured” preferable.

τὸν πτωχόν, generic. Mayor well recalls 1Co 11:22 for another case of dishonour to the poor in early Christian life.

καταδυναστεύουσιν, “oppress,” cf. Wisd. 2:10, Amo 8:4, Jer 7:6, Eze 18:12.

For examples of such oppression, cf. Jas 5:4, Jas 5:6, and references in Spitta, p. 64, notes 9, 10, and 11; also Lucian, Nec. 20. ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ. Ἐπειδὴ πολλὰ καὶ παράνομα οἱ πλούσιοι δρῶσι παρὰ τὸν βίον ἁρπάζοντες καὶ βιαζόμενοι καὶ πάντα τροπον τῶν πενήτων καταφρονοῦντες κτλ.

αὐτοί, “Is it not they who,” etc. Similarly, v. 7. On αὐτός in nominative as personal pronoun with no intensive force, cf. Lex. s. v. αὐτός, II, 2.

ἕλκουσιν, so Act 16:19, of “dragging” into court, cf. Luk 12:58 κατασύρειν πρὸς τὸν κριτήν, Act 8:3 (σύρων), Act 17:6; a usual meaning, see Lex.

This does not seem to refer to religious persecution, which was at least as likely to proceed from the side of the poor as of the rich, but to other oppression, with legal action, arising from the ordinary working of social forces in an oriental community and having to do with wages, debts, rents, and the like.

Many think, indeed, of religious persecution (as Act 6:12). But this is not naturally suggested by καταδυναστεύουσιν (instead of which we should in that case expect διώκουσιν, cf. Mat 5:10, Luk 21:12, Act 7:52, Gal 1:13). Nor is it made necessary by βλασφημοῦσιν, which seems to refer to a different act of hostility and is properly so punctuated by WH.

εἰς κριτήρια, “before judgment-seats,” “into courts,” cf. Sus. 49. On established courts throughout Palestine, see EB, “Government,” §§ 30, 31; Schürer, GJV, § 23, II.

6-7. It is very evident that “the rich” here are not Christians. Those who maintain the opposite are driven to give to βλασφημοῦσιν the meaning rejected above. The rich are plainly neighbours who do not belong to the conventicle but may sometimes condescend to visit it.

No word, however, hints that the two classes do not worship the same God, and the whole tone of the passage seems to imply a less complete departure from the dominant religion of the community than would have been the case in Rome or any heathen city. If the whole surrounding population were heathen, the argument would have to be differently turned. Contrast the tone of Php 2:15 ff., Eph 4:17-19, Col 3:7, 1Co 6:1-9.

A settled and quiet state of things is indicated, in which the normal relations of the different classes of society prevail. The sense of missionary duty is not prominent.

The situation is thus that of a sect of some sort living in a community whose more powerful members, though worshipping the same God as the sect, do not belong to it.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Despised [ητιμασατε] . Not strong enough. They had manifested their contempt; had done despite to them. Rev., correctly, dishonored. From the use of the aorist tense, ye dishonored, which the A. V. and Rev. render as a perfect, ye have dishonored, the reference would appear to be to a specific act like that described in vv. 2, 3.

Oppress [καταδυναστευουσιν] . Only here and Act 10:38. The preposition kata, against, implies a power exercised for harm. Compare being lords over, 1Pe 5:3, and exercise dominion, Mt 20:25, both compounded with this preposition.

Draw [ελκουσιν] . Not strong enough. The word implies violence. Hence, better, as Rev., drag. Compare Livy's phrase, "a lictoribus trahi, to be dragged by the lictors to judgment;" Act 8:3, of Saul haling or hauling men and women to prison; and Luk 12:58.

Judgment - seats [κριτηρια] . Only here and 1Co 6:24.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.