James 5:4

Jas 5:4. Behold, the hire of the labourers — The apostle alludes in this verse to Lev 19:13 : The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night: and to Deu 24:15, At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, &c., lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. In allusion to these passages, the apostle here mentions a two-fold cry; the cry of the hire unjustly kept back; that is, the cry of the sin against the sinner for vengeance; in which sense those sins chiefly cry to God concerning which human laws are silent; such are luxury, unchastity, and various kinds of injustice. But the cry of the labourers themselves is also here mentioned, to mark more strongly the greatness of the injustice committed. And “by representing the cries of the reapers defrauded of their hire as entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, that is, hosts, or armies, the apostle intimates that the great Ruler of the universe attends to the wrongs done to his creatures, and is affected by them as tender-hearted persons are affected by the cries of the miserable; and that he will, in due time, avenge them by punishing their oppressors. Let all oppressors consider this!” — Macknight.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:4 These rich people (5:1) were exploitive landowners. Like those in 2:6 who oppressed and dragged Christians into court, they were exploiting the day laborers whose work was to harvest their fields. • cries . . . have reached the ears of the Lord: God hears the prayers of the oppressed (see Deut 24:14-15). Even while the laborers are still suffering, the Lord has heard (see Exod 3:7). • the Lord of Heaven’s Armies (1 Sam 17:45; Ps 103:20-21; Rom 9:29): This title emphasizes God’s power to act when the oppressed cannot.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jas 5:4. [64]Κράζει, crieth) A cry ascends to heaven respecting those sins in particular, about which men are silent,[65] as unchastity and injustice.[66] Both the hire (of the labourers) kept back, and the labourers themselves send forth that cry. A double cry.—εἰσεληλύθασιν, have entered) The antecedent is here put by Metonymia for the consequent. The meaning is, Now the Lord comes as Avenger.

[64] τῶν ἀμησάντων, who have reaped) It is remarkable, that though so great variety of injustice exists, Job 22:6-9; Job 24:2-12; Job 31:7; Job 31:13, that particular one of harvest-reaping should be the only one specified here.—V. g.

[65] Or those sins which have a way of escape open to them in violence, so as that they may not pay the penalty in this world.—V. g.

[66] In our days, on account of the want of ecclesiastical discipline, the whole life and conversation of all Christians, who are so called, constitutes almost, so to speak, one crying sin. In which respect the fault lies with, not merely the daringly wicked, but also those who, when they discharge public functions, are too cold and inert in action.—V. g.

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

Jam_5:4. Description of the sins of the rich to the end of Jam_5:6, by reason of which they become liable to the judgment. The first sin mentioned is their injustice toward those who work for them.

ἰδού] an interjection often occurring in the N. T. to draw attention to the object in question.

τῶν ἐργατῶν] emphatically put first; comp. the proverb: ἄξιος ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὑτοῦ (1Ti_5:18). τῶν ἀμησάντων (ἀμᾷν = θερίζειν, in the N. T. ἅπ. λεγ.) τὰς χώρας ὑμῶν] χώρα = fields, as in Luk_12:16; Joh_4:35.

In the following words, expositors conjoin ἀφʼ ὑμῶν with ἀπεστερημένος (ἀποστερέω, to keep back, Plato, Gorg. 519c, so also LXX. Mal_3:5; Sir_34:26); whilst they either explain ἀπό = ὑπό, or, as Wiesinger, retaining the distinction of the prepositions, observes, that not the direct origin, but the proceeding of the act of robbery from them is indicated (comp. Winer, p. 332 [E. T. 464]; Al. Buttmann, p. 280 [E. T. 326]). But it would be more suitable to join ἀφʼ ὑμῶν to κράζει (so also Lange); the kept back hire crieth from the place where it is; comp. Gen_4:10 : φωνὴ αἵματος … βοᾷ … ἐκ τῆς γῆς; Exo_2:23 : ἀνέβη ἡ βοὴ αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων. The chief stress is put on ὁ ἀπεστερημένος; the same kind of conjunction as in chap. Jam_4:14. The injury of our neighbour, by diminished payment or withholding of the wages due to him, was expressly forbidden in the law; comp. Lev_19:13; Deu_24:14; Jer_22:13; particularly also Mal_3:5 : ἔσομαι μάρτυς ταχὺς ἐπὶ … τοὺς ἀποστεροῦντας μισθὸν μισθωτοῦ; comp. also Job_31:38-39; Tob_4:14; Ecclus. 34:27 (ἐκχέων αἵμα ὁ ἀποστερῶν μισθὸν μισθίου).

κράζει] Calvin: vindictam quasi alto clamore exposcit; comp. Gen_4:10.

In the following words it is stated that the cry has been heard by God; comp. on this expression, particularly Psa_18:7; Isa_5:9 : ἠκούσθη εἰς τὰ ὦτα κυρίου σαβαὼθ ταῦτα; besides Gen_18:21; Gen_19:13; Exo_2:23 f., Exo_3:9, Exo_22:22 f.; 2Sa_22:7, and other passages. By the designation of God as κυρίου σαβαώθ, His power as the Lord of the heavenly hosts is emphasized; the reference occurring in the O. T. likewise to the earthly hosts is here evidently not admissible (against Lange); it is the transference of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת, often occurring in the LXX., particularly in Isaiah; in other places the LXX. have κύριος παντοκράτωρ, 2Sa_5:10; 2Sa_7:27, or κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων, Psa_24:10.

James, in his graphic style, instead of the general word labourer, mentions specially the reapers, not on account of their multitude (de Wette), but because their laborious work in the sweat of their brow most strongly represents the work which is worthy of wages. Thus Calvin not incorrectly observes: quid est indignius quam eos, qui panem ex suo labore nobis suppeditant, inedia et fame conficere? It is more remote to explain it thus: because selfish hard-heartedness is here most sharply stated, when even the joy of the harvest does not induce them to give to the poor their hardly-earned portion (Brückner).[224]

[224] Here also Lange comes in with his symbolical interpretation, understanding by the harvest the time when the theocratic seed of God in Israel has ripened unto the harvest of God, and by the reapers the apostles and first Christians.

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 5:4 . ἰδοὺ : this interjection, though good Attic, is used by some N.T. writers with a frequency which is unclassical, (Mayor) e.g. , in this short Epistle it occurs six times, while on the other hand St. Paul uses it only nine times (once in a quotation) in the whole of his writings; its frequent occurrence is a mark of Jewish authorship, as Jews were accustomed to the constant use of an equivalent interjection ( הנה ) in their own tongue. ὁ μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν : μισθός occurs several times in Sir. in the sense of reward, but not in that of wages due; in the same book ἐργάτης occurs twice ( Sir 19:1 , Sir 40:18 ), but in neither case with the meaning “agricultural labourer,” which is its usual meaning in the N.T., cf. Mat 9:37 , but on the other hand Luk 10:7 , ἄξιος ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτοῦ . τῶν ἀμησάντων : ἅπ . λεγ . in N.T.; whatever difference of meaning there may have been originally between ἀμᾶν and θερίζειν they are used as synonyms in the Septuagint, and the same is true, according to Mayor, of classical Greek. τὰς χώρας ὑμῶν : often, as here, used in the restricted sense of “fields,” cf. for the variety of meaning which it can bear the three instances of its occurrence in Sir 10:16 ; Sir 43:3 ; Sir 47:17 ; for its meaning of “fields,” both in singular and plural, see Luk 12:16 ; Luk 21:21 ; Joh 4:35 . ὁ ἀφυστερημένος ἀφʼ ὑμῶν : “which is kept back by you,” “on your part,” or as Mayor renders as an alternative, “comes too late from you”; the ἀφʼ ὑμῶν is not really required, it is omitted by ff . The withholding of wages due was evidently a sin of frequent occurrence, see Lev 19:13 ; Deu 24:14-15 ; Job 24:10 ; Mic 3:10 ; Jer 22:13 ; Pro 3:27-28 ; Mal 3:5 ; Sirach 31 (34):22; Tob 4:14 . ἀφυστ . only here in N.T. κράζει : a thoroughly Hebraic idea which occurs several times in the O.T., cf. for the “crying out” of inanimate things, Gen 4:10 ; Job 24:12 ; Psa 84:2 ; Pro 8:1 ; Lam 2:18 ; Hab 2:11 . αἱ βοαὶ : only here in N.T., cf. Exo 2:23 . εἰς τὰ ὦτα κυρίου σαβαώθ : quoted from Isa 5:9 ; one of the many marks in this section, Jas 5:1-6 , which suggest that it did not originally belong to the N.T.; it is certainly extraordinary that the usual Septuagint rendering, Κύριος παντοκράτωρ or ὁ Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων , is not used here; though it is true σαβαώθ is sometimes transliterated, it is nevertheless exceptional. “Jahwe Sabaoth” was the ancient Israelite name of Jehovah as war-god.

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

The Lord who is more mighty than ye are, hath heard them.

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

Behold--calling attention to their coming doom as no vain threat.

labourers--literally "workmen."

of you kept back--So English Version rightly. Not as ALFORD, "crieth out from you." The "keeping back of the hire" was, on the part OF the rich, virtually an act of "fraud," because the poor laborers were not immediately paid. The phrase is therefore not, "kept back by you," but "of you"; the latter implying virtual, rather than overt, fraud. James refers to Deu 24:14-15, "At this day . . . give his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, lest he CRY against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee." Many sins "cry" to heaven for vengeance which men tacitly take no account of, as unchastity and injustice [BENGEL]. Sins peculiarly offensive to God are said to "cry" to Him. The rich ought to have given freely to the poor; their not doing so was sin. A still greater sin was their not paying their debts. Their greatest sin was not paying them to the poor, whose wages is their all.

cries of them--a double cry; both that of the hire abstractly, and that of the laborers hired.

the Lord of sabaoth--here only in the New Testament. In Rom 9:29 it is a quotation. It is suited to the Jewish tone of the Epistle. It reminds the rich who think the poor have no protector, that the Lord of the whole hosts in heaven and earth is the guardian and avenger of the latter. He is identical with the "coming Lord" Jesus (Jam 5:7).

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 4. The hire of the labourers] The law, Le 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, De 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 Mal 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 יהוה צבאות 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.

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

4 Behold, the hire. He now condemns cruelty, the invariable companion of avarice. But he refers only to one kind, which, above all others, ought justly to be deemed odious. For if a humane and a just man, as Solomon says in Proverbs 12:10, regards the life of his beast, it is a monstrous barbarity, when man feels no pity towards the man whose sweat he has employed for his own benefit. Hence the Lord has strictly forbidden, in the law, the hire of the laborer to sleep with us (Deuteronomy 24:15). Besides, James does not refer to laborers in common, but, for the sake of amplifying, he mentions husbandmen and reapers. For what can be more base than that they, who supply us with bread by their labor should be pined through want? And yet this monstrous thing is common; for there are many of such a tyrannical disposition, that they think that the rest of mankind live only for their benefit alone.

But he says that this hire crieth, for whatever men retain either by fraud or by violence, of what belongs to another; it calls for vengeance as it were by a loud voice. We ought to notice what he adds, that the cries of the poor come to the ears of God, so that we may know that the wrong done to them shall not be unpunished. They, therefore, who are oppressed by the unjust ought resignedly to sustain their evils, because they will have God as their defender. And they who have the power of doing wrong ought to abstain from injustice, lest they provoke God against them, who is the protector and patron of the poor. And for this reason also he calls God the Lord of Sabaoth, or of hosts, intimating thereby his power and his might, by which he renders his judgment more dreadful.

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.

(4) Behold, the hire of the labourers.—Not merely the wrong of the poor, but the wages kept back from him by the niggardly master, contrary to the merciful Jewish law (Lev_19:13), which permitted no delay in payment whatever (comp. Jer_22:13; Mal_3:5). And the indignant remonstrance of the text is “a swift witness” also against the like-minded of this generation—whose God is self, whose religion political economy, and whose one great object in life is to buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest: as if for these ignoble purposes the Lord God had given them a brain and a soul.

The hire of the labourers . . . kept back by fraud, crieth (out).—A question has arisen concerning the right position of the word translated “of,” or from you, in this clause; whether the withholden dues appeal “from the wronger to God,” or as the Authorised version has it above, “the hire of the labourers of you kept back by fraud.” The balance of opinion seems to be with the latter.

Are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.—“A sublime and awful picture” is in the mind of the Apostle. The Lord of Hosts, the name by which He is called, especially by the last of the prophets, Malachi, is seated as a judge on His throne, to hear the right; the charge is laid, the guilty called, the witnesses are heard: the cries of the wronged have entered into His ears:—

“The Lord of the Vineyard beholdeth afar;

The arm of His fury is bared to the war:

The day of His terrible wrath is at hand.”

It is the reflection of our own Bede that St. James thus speaks (comp. Rom_9:29) of the Lord of Sabaoth, or armies, to terrify those who suppose that the poor have no helpers. (Comp. Psa_72:12.) God’s majestic title is proclaimed, we may believe, by an Hebrew to Hebrews, for a warning against their darling sin of covetousness, and in hope that the vision of Isaiah (Isa_6:1-4) would move them to consider who and what the Lord of Hosts, of angels, of cherubim, of seraphim, might be “when He maketh inquisition for blood,” forgetting not the complaint of the poor” (Psa_9:12).

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

4. Behold, the hire of the labourers …] The evil was one of old standing in Judæa. The law had condemned those who kept back the wages of the hired labourer even for a single night (Lev_19:13). Jeremiah (Jer_22:13) had uttered a woe against him “that useth his neighbour’s service without wages.” Malachi (Jas_3:5) had spoken of the swift judgment that should come on those who “oppressed the hireling in his wages.” The grasping avarice that characterized the latter days of Judaism shewed itself in this form of oppression among others.

are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth] The divine Name thus used was pre-eminently characteristic of tie language of the Prophets. It does not appear at all in the Pentateuch, nor in Joshua, Judges, or Ruth; and probably took its rise in the Schools of the Prophets, founded by Samuel. Whether its primary meaning was that Jehovah was the God of all the armies of earth, the God, as we say, of battles, or that He ruled over the armies of the stars of heaven, or over the unseen hosts of angels, or was wide enough, as seems probable, to include all three ideas, is a question which cannot be very definitely answered. It is characteristic of St James that he gives the Hebrew form of the word, as also St Paul does in citing Isa_1:9 in Rom_9:29. For the most part the LXX. renders it by “Almighty” (Pantokratôr), and in this form it appears in Rev_4:8, where “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” answers to “Lord God of sabaoth,” or “of hosts” in Isa_6:3. This title is specially characteristic of Malachi, in whom it occurs not less than 23 times.

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.

Behold the hire of the labourers, which have reaped down your fields,.... The wages agreed for by the day, with the labourers in their fields, particularly their reapers; which one instance serves for many others; and is the rather mentioned, because reaping is a laborious work, and those who are employed in it have nothing to live upon but their hand labour; and especially because they are made use of in cutting down the corn when it is fully ripe, and in great plenty; wherefore, to detain their just wages from them argues great inhumanity and wickedness; and yet this was what was done by rich men:

which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; unto God for vengeance, as the blood of Abel did; and shows that such an evil, however privately and fraudulently it may be done, will be made public, and is a crying one:

and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth; that is, the Lord of hosts; of angels, and of men; of the host of heaven, and of the inhabitants of the earth; of Jews and Gentiles, and of rich and poor; and who has power to vindicate the cause of the latter against their rich oppressors, and will do it; his ears are open to their cries, he takes notice of them, and regards them, and will take vengeance on those that injure them. The reference is to Deu 24:15.

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

4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

Ver. 4. Kept back by fraud crieth] Bloodshed, Gen 4:10, unnatural lust, Gen 18:21, and oppression (whether by force or fraud), cry to God, and he will hear, for "he is gracious," Exo 22:27. Oppression is a bony sin, Amo 5:12-13.

" Clamitat in caelum vex sanguinis, et Sodomorum,

Vex oppressorum, et merces detenta laborum."

Lord of Sabaoth] Who hath all power in his hand, and can easily reach you.

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.

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields - In the previous verses the form of the sin which the apostle specified was that they had hoarded their property. He now states another form of their guilt, that, while doing this, they had withheld what was due from the very laborers who had cultivated their fields, and to whose labor they were indebted for what they had. The phrase “who have reaped down your fields,” is used to denote labor in general. This particular thing is specified, perhaps, because the reaping of the harvest seems to be more immediately connected with the accumulation of property. What is said here, however, will apply to all kinds of labor. It may be remarked, also, that the sin condemned here is one that may exist not only in reference to those who are hired to cultivate a farm, but to all in our employ - to day-laborers, to mechanics, to seamen, etc.

It will apply, in an eminent degree, to those who hold others in slavery, and who live by their unrequited toils. The very essence of slavery is, that the slave shall produce by his labor so much more than he receives for his own maintenance as to support the master and his family in indolence. The slave is to do the work which the master would otherwise be obliged to do; the advantage of the system is supposed to be that the master is not under a necessity of laboring at all. The amount which the slave receives is not presumed to be what is a fair equivalent for what he does, or what a freeman could be hired for; but so much less than his labor is fairly worth, as to be a source of so much gain to the master. If slaves were fairly compensated for their labor; if they received what was understood to be a just price for what they do, or what they would be willing to bargain for if they were free, the system would at once come to an end. No owner of a slave would keep him if he did not suppose that out of his unrequited toil he might make money, or might be relieved himself from the necessity of labor. He who hires a freeman to reap down his fields pays what the freeman regards as a fair equivalent for what he does; he who employs a slave does not give what the slave would regard as an equivalent, and expects that what he gives will be so much less titan an equivalent, that he may be free alike from the necessity of labor and of paying him what he has fairly earned. The very essence of slavery, therefore, is fraud; and there is nothing to which the remarks of the apostle here are more applicable than to that unjust and oppressive system.

Which is of you kept back by fraud - The Greek word here used is rendered defraud, in Mar 10:10; 1Co 6:7-8; 1Co 7:5; and destitute, in 1Ti 6:5. It occurs nowhere else, except in the passage before us. It means to deprive of, with the notion that that to which it is applied was due to one, or that he had a claim on it. The fraud referred to in keeping it back, may be anything by which the payment is withheld, or the claim evaded - whether it be mere neglect to pay it; or some advantage taken in making the bargain; or some evasion of the law; or mere vexatious delay; or such superior power that he to whom it is due cannot enforce the payment; or such a system that he to whom it is fairly due is supposed in the laws to have no rights, and to be incapable of suing or being sued. Any one of these things would come under the denomination of fraud.

Crieth - That is, cries out to God for punishment. The voice of this wrong goes up to heaven.

And the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth - That is, he hears them, and he will attend to their cry. Comp, Exo 22:27. They are oppressed and wronged; they have none to regard their cry on earth, and to redress their wrongs, and they go and appeal to that God who will regard their cry, and avenge them. On the phrase “Lord of sabaoth,” or Lord of hosts, for so the word sabaoth means, see the Isa 1:9 note, and Rom 9:29 note. Perhaps by the use of the word here it is implied that the God to whom they cry - the mighty Ruler of all worlds - is able to vindicate them. It may be added, that the cry of the oppressed and the wronged is going up constantly from all parts of the earth, and is always heard by God. In his own time he will come forth to vindicate the oppressed, and to punish the oppressor. It may be added, also, that if what is here said were regarded as it should be by all men, slavery, as well as other systems of wrong, would soon come to an end.

If everywhere the workman was fairly paid for his earnings; if the poor slave who cultivates the fields of the rich were properly compensated for his toil; if he received what a freeman would contract to do the work for; if there was no fraud in withholding what he earns, the system would soon cease in the earth. Slavery could not live a day if this were done. Now there is no such compensation; but the cry of oppressed millions will continue to go up to heaven, and the period must come when the system shall cease. Either the master must be brought to such a sense of right that he will be disposed to do justice, and let the oppressed go free; or God will so impoverish the lands where the system prevails as to make all men see that the system is unprofitable and ruinous as compared with free labor; or the oppressed will somehow become so acquainted with their own strength and their rights that they shall arise and assert their freedom; or under the prevalence of true religion better views will prevail, and oppressors, turned to God, shall relax the yoke of bondage; or God will so bring heavy judgments in his holy providence on the oppressors, that the system of slavery will everywhere come to an end on the earth.

Nothing is more certain than that the whole system is condemned by the passage of Scripture before us; that it is contrary to the genuine spirit of Christianity, and that the prevalence of true religion would bring it to an end. Probably all slaveholders feel that to place the Bible in the hands of slaves, and to instruct them to read it, would be inconsistent with the perpetuity of the system. Yet a system which cannot survive the most full and free circulation of the sacred Scriptures, must be founded in wrong.

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

Behold; this is either a note of demonstration, as Joh 1:29; q.d. The case is plain, and cannot be denied; or of excitation; q.d. Seriously consider it; or rather, of confirmation, to intimate, that the threatenings here denounced should certainly be made good upon them: see Jud 1:14.

The hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields; the wages of those by whose labour and sweat ye yourselves live and are nourished.

Which is of you kept back by fraud; either wholly denied them, or detained from them when due to them, contrary to the law, Lev 19:13; Deu 24:14,15. Deferring payment is a sort of defrauding, as it bereaves the creditor of the benefit of improvement; and so they are taxed here with injustice, as well as covetousness, in that they lived upon other men’s labours, and starved the poor to enrich themselves.

Crieth; viz. to God for vengeance, as such sins are said to do, which either are so openly and boldly committed, as to dare the justice of God, or so secretly, or securely, that they are like to escape the justice of men, Gen 4:10; 18:20,21. Among others, oppression of the poor is a loud crying sin, Exo 2:23; Job 24:11,12; Hab 2:9,11,12.

The Lord of sabaoth; i. e. the Lord of hosts, as having all the creatures above and below, of all sorts, ranked under him as their great Commander, whose will they are ready to execute. He mentions God by this title, not only for the encouragement of the poor oppressed, whose Patron and Protector he avows himself to be, Exo 22:23,24,27; Pr 23:11; but for terror to the powerful oppressors, who think themselves out of the reach of men’s judgment.

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

4. Hire of the labourers—The rich men were great landholders, who had, perhaps, thousands of tenants or serfs, kept to a barely living recompense. Their rightful wages were withheld, and misery and starvation were the result to the helpless toiler.

Crieth—Like the blood of Abel against his murderer, (Gen_4:10;) like the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen_18:20;) like the groaning of Israel against the oppression of Pharaoh, Exo_2:23-24.

Lord of Sabaoth— Especially are these predictions fulfilled in a nation like our own, which boasted of its Christianity and its freedom, while holding a stolen race in oppression. We have lately found the national crime an antecedent to a national day of slaughter.

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

Ver. 4 accounts for the miseries that are coming upon them. Their sins are the cause. The language is modeled upon the Old Testament, and the special sin denounced is one that is expressly forbidden in the Law. see Deu_24:14, Deu_24:15, "Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy. At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it: for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee;" cf." Mal_3:5, "I will be a swift witness against those that oppress the hireling in his wages (LXX, ejpi touv ajposterountav misqon misqwtou) Later allusions to the same sin are found in RAPC Tob 4:14; Ecc 34:22. Which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth. For ajpesterhmenov of the Received Text, read ajfusterhmenov (a, B). It is possible to join the words ajf uJmwn with krazei, but it is more natural to take them as the A.V with ajfusterhmenov. Reaped... reaped (ajmhsantwn qerisantwn); R.V, "mowed reaped." But it would seem that the words should have been reversed, as, judging by Old Testament usage, ajmaw is always used of Lev_25:11; Deu_24:19; Isa_17:5; Mic_6:15 while qerizein is the wider word, including all "harvesting," and used of cortov in Psalm 128. (127.) 7; Jer_9:22. Into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. These words are adoptedriov Isa_5:9, Ku Sabawq, a Grecized form of the Hebrew twabx hwhy, frequent in the LXX Found in the New Testament only here and; Rom_9:29 (in a quotation) elsewhere, e.g. in the Apocalypse, it is represented by pantokratwr; (Rev_1:8, etc.) so also in 2Co_6:18. (equivalent to 2Sa_7:8)

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

The hire of your labourers crieth - Those sins chiefly cry to God concerning which human laws are silent. Such are luxury, unchastity, and various kinds of injustice. The labourers themselves also cry to God, who is just coming to avenge their cause. Of sabaoth - Of hosts, or armies.

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

the Lord of sabaoth

i.e. Jehovah of hosts.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The next sin which our apostle convicts the rich of, and condemns them for, is the sin of oppression, and that of the worst sorts, even of labourers and servants; their covetousness was the cause of this oppression. There is no sin so heinous and base but covetousness may be a mother or a nurse to it: What more sordid than for the rich master to detain the wages of the poor labourer? Yet, Behold the hire of the labourers crieth: though they did not, durst not complain, yet their hire kept back did complain.

Learn hence, that as all oppression is very sinful, so especially the detaining of the labourers’ wages when their hire is delayed or denied, both are exceeding sinful; and accordingly we find oppressors in Scripture joined with the vilest of sinners, even with sorcerers, adulterers, and false swearers.

And to testify that God cannot want witnesses against oppressors, he tells us, their hire shall cry as well as the poor themselves: "The beam, and the stone out of the wall shall cry," Hab 2:11.

Remember we then that secret wrongs are known to God; the poor may not always know who wrongs them, but the Lord fully knows, and their wrongs and oppressions will cry against us, when they know not against whom to cry.

And note, the person gloriously described, who is the poor’s avenger; he is the Lord of Sabaoth, or the Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hand, and all creatures at his command. How bold and daring then is the oppressor to afflict the poor, who have the Lord of hosts for their avenger? Their cry is entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

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

4. Behold, the hire of the laborers. These rich men are censured for two sins; viz., the improper use of wealth, and the sinful acquisition of wealth. The Bible is everywhere the friend and protector of the laborer. To keep back the hire of the laborer is denounced everywhere. See Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14; Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; Job 24:6. The cries of them. Of the defrauded laborers. God will avenge them.

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.

Connecting Statement:

James continues to warn rich people about thier focus on pleasure and riches.

the pay of the laborers is crying out—the pay that you have withheld from those who harvested your fields

The money that should have been paid is spoken of as a person who is shouting because of the injustice done to him. AT: "the fact that you did not pay those you hired to work in your fields shows that you have done wrong" (See: Personification)

the cries of the harvesters have gone into the ears of the Lord of hosts

The shouts of the harvesters are spoken of as if they could be heard in heaven. AT: "the Lord of hosts has heard the cries of the harvesters" (See: Metaphor)

into the ears of the Lord of hosts

God is spoken of as if he had ears as humans have. (See: Metaphor)

You have fattened your hearts for a day of slaughter

Here people are viewed as if they were cattle, luxuriously fed on grain so they would become fattened to be slaughtered for a feast. However, no one will feast at the time of judgment. AT: "Your greed has only prepared you for harsh eternal judgment" (See: Metaphor)

your hearts

The "heart" was considered to be the center of human desire, and here stands for the entire person. (See: Metonymy)

You have condemned ... the righteous person

This is probably not "condemned" in the legal sense of a judge passing a sentence of death on a criminal. Instead, it probably refers to the wicked and powerful people who decide to mistreat the poor until they die.

the righteous person. He does not

"the people who do what is right. They do not." Here "the righteous person" refers to righteous people in general and not to a specific person. AT: "righteous people. They do not" (See: Generic Noun Phrases)

resist you

"oppose you"

translationWords

labor

harvest

Yahweh of hosts

heart

condemn

righteous

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

4. ἰδού: here as frequently in N.T. a vivid transitional particle. The Jews were agriculturists long before they were traders. It would be a natural step, as they grew in wealth, to acquire land in the countries of the Dispersion. It is probable that the land which Barnabas sold was in Cyprus.

ὁ μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν. Comp. Luk 10:7 ἄξιος ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτοῦ, and Lev 19:13, where the rule is given: οὐ μὴ κοιμηθήσεται ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ μισθωτοῦ παρὰ σοὶ ἕως πρωί. More fully Deu 24:14-15 οὐκ ἀπαδικήσεις μισθὸν πένητος καὶ ἐνδεοῦς ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου ἢ ἐκ τῶν προσηλύτων τῶν ἐν ταῖς πολεσίν σου· αὐθημερὸν ἀποδώσεις τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ· οὐκ ἐπιδύσεται ὁ ἥλιος ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, ὅτι πένης ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔχει τὴν ἐλπίδα, καὶ καταβοήσεται κατὰ σοῦ πρὸς Κύριον,. St James’ words enforce this passage from the law, and by a truly poetical touch transfer the cry for justice from the labourer to the wages unjustly withheld. Like the rust on the hoarded metal, the wage kept back by fraud cries for vengeance. For this poetical figure comp. Hab 2:11, Luk 19:40; and for prophetic denunciation of the same violation of the law see Jer 22:13 παρὰ τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐργᾶται δωρεάν, καὶ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ and Mic 3:10.

τῶν ἀμησάντων. ἀμᾶν here only in N. T. for the more usual θερίζειν. It is used in the classics in poetry and late prose of (a) reaping, ἤμων ὀξείας δρεπάνας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες Il. XVIII. 551, and in middle of (b) gathering, ταλάροισιν ἀμησάμενος (γάλα) Od. IX. 247. Curtius regards (a) as the root-meaning, connecting it with Latin meto, but see Lid. and Scott sub voc. The tense marks that the wages were due.

τὰς χώρας ὑμῶν, fields, farm lands, χώρα in the singular meaning a farm or estate: οἱ ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ ἐργάται, Xen. Hier. 10:5.

ἀφυστερημένος, still kept back; the perfect part. denotes that the act continues in its effects to the time implied.

ἀφʼ ὑμῶν, according to most editors to be taken with ἀφυστερημένος, but even in that case ἀπό would differ from ὑπό, indicating not the agent but the source of the injustice, ‘on your part’ or ‘by your fraud.’ Comp. Act 2:22 ἀποδεδειγμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, where see Page. Luk 17:25 ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης. In several passages the MSS. vary between ἀπό and ὑπό, as Mar 8:31, Luk 6:18, Act 4:36, Rom 13:1. In Modern Greek ἀπό is regularly used of the agent, and in common speech with the accus., ἀπὸ τὸν θεὸν ἔγειναν τὰ πάντα, Corfe, Mod. Grk Gram. p. 142. Another interpretation, however, connects ἀφʼ ὑμῶν with κράζει, the wage cries from you, with whom it is placed, οὐ μὴ κοιμηθήσεται παρὰ σοί (Hebr. lodge with thee), Levit. loc. cit. For this construction comp. Gen 4:10 φωνὴ αἵματος … βοᾷ … ἐκ τῆς γῆς, Exo 2:23 ἀνέβη ἡ βοὴ αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων.

κράζει, frequently used of the appeal against injustice or of the cry for deliverance: Jdg 4:3 καὶ ἐκέραξαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ πρὸς Κύριον, Psa 21:5 πρὸς σὲ ἐκέκραξαν καὶ ἐσώθησαν. Comp. also Isa 5:7 ἔμεινα τοῦ ποιῆσαι κρίσιν ἐποίησε δὲ ἀνομίαν καὶ οὐ δικαιοσύνην ἀλλὰ κραυγήν, ‘he looked … for righteousness but behold a cry’ R.V. In the Hebr. there is a play on the contrasted words ‘righteousness’ and ‘a cry.’

Κυρίου Σαβαώθ, here only in N.T.; in LXX. either untranslated as here, or rendered by Κύριος παντοκράτωρ, 2Sa 5:10; 2Sa 7:27, or κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων, Psa 24:10, Lord of hosts, either as commanding the armies of Israel or as Lord of the heavenly powers.

εἰσελήλυθαν. This aoristic termination of the perfect occurs Luk 9:36, Joh 17:6-7, Act 16:36, and elsewhere in N.T. This approach to uniformity in the forms of the aorist and perfect tenses is one of the marks of the post-classical period. See Simcox, The Language of the N.T., p. 35.

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.

4-6.] Specification of the sins, the incipient judgments for which hitherto have been hinted at under the figures of rust and moth.

And

4.] the unjust frauds of the rich, in non-payment of just debts. Behold (belongs to the fervid graphic style), the hire of the workmen (the sentence would be complete without the words τῶν ἐργατῶν but probably there is tacit reference to the well-known saying (see on 1Ti 5:18) used by our Lord, ref. Luke (Mat 10:10), ἄξιος ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτοῦ) who mowed (ἀμάω, from ἅμα, properly to gather together; but commonly used as here of reaping or mowing corn for harvest. So I1. σ. 551, ἔνθα δʼ ἔριθοι ἤμων, ὀξείας δρεπάνας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες. See Soph. Antig. 598, and Hermann’s note) your fields (reff.), which has been held back (for the sense cf. Lev 19:13: Jer 22:13, and esp. ref. Mal. In Sir. 31 (34):22, we have ἐκχεῶν αἷμα ὁ ἀποστερῶν μισθὸν μισθίου), crieth out (“Vindictam quasi alto clamore exposcit,” Caly. Cf. Gen 4:10) from you (this, which was suggested by Huther, is better than to take refuge in the idea that ἀπό = ὑπό, and to render, “which has been held back by you:” or than Wiesinger’s interpretation, which, recognizing the difference between the two prepositions, makes ἀπό designate, not the direct origin of the act, but the proceeding of the act of robbery from them: and so Winer, § 47, ἀπό, note [2, p. 464, Moulton’s Edn.]: but none of the examples which he gives at all come near this one. The most plausible, Luk 9:22 and 17:25, ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων κ.τ.λ., differs in this, that a Person is spoken of, whose ἀποδοκιμασία will come from the πρεσβύτεροι: whereas here, where a thing is in question, with which the ἀποστεροῦντες deal, we can hardly say that its ἀποστέρησις proceeds from them. The other construction is amply justified by reff. The μισθός, which was kept back, and rests with you, cries out from you, your coffers, where it lies): and the cries of them who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts (not only does the abstracted hire cry out from its place, but the defrauded victims themselves join, and the cry is heard of God. For the expressions see reff. This is the only place in the N. T. where κύριος Σαβαώθ is used by any writer: Rom 9:29 is a citation. The Jewish character of the whole will sufficiently account for it. gives another reason, which also doubtless was in the Apostle’s mind: “Dominum exercituum appellat, ad terrorem eorum, qui pauperes putant nullum habere tutorem”).

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

4. As an example of the way in which the rich have been treasuring up fire for themselves, James specifies injustice to farm labourers, a conspicuous form of oppression from early O. T. times down. Cf. also v. 6. Hermas, Vis. iii, 9:6, has many points of similarity.

μισθός, cf. Deu 24:15 αὐθημερὸν ἀποδώσεις τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ … ὅτι … καταβοήσεται κατὰ σοῦ πρὸς κύριον, Lev 19:13, Mal 3:5 τοὺς ἀποστεροῦντας μισθὸν μισθωτοῦ, Ecclus. 31(34):25-27, Tob. 4:14, Ps.-Phocylides, 19 μισθὸν μοχθήσαντι δίγου· μὴ θλῖβε πένητα.

ἐργατῶν, “labourers,” especially used of farm labourers.

In O. T. only Wisd. 17:17, Ecclus. 19:1, 40:18, 1 Macc. 3:6, Psa 94:16 (Sym.). The word has thus almost no LXX associations. In the N.T., beside this passage in James it is used freely by Matthew (six times) and by Luke and Acts (five times), and four times in the Pauline and Pastoral epistles.

ἀμησάντων, “reap.” Only here in N. T. Cf. Lev 25:11, Deu 24:19, Isa 17:5, Isa 37:30, Mic 6:15.

χώρας, “estates,” “farms,” cf. Luk 12:16, Luk 21:21, Joh 4:35, Amo 3:9, Amo 3:10, Amo 3:11, Amo 3:2 Macc. 8:6. E.V. “fields” suggests too small a plot of ground; χώρα means not a fenced subdivision but the whole estate under one ownership.

ἀφυστερημένος, “kept back,” an appropriate word, rare in Biblical Greek. Cf. Neh 9:20; used intransitively in Ecclus. 14:14.

ἀφυστερημένος] B*א.

ἀπεστερημένος] B3AP minnpler.

ἀποστερημένος] KL.

The rare word found in B*א has been emended to a more familiar one, cf. Mal 3:5, Ecclus. 4:1, 29:6, 31(34):27.

ἀφʼ ὑμῶν, “by you,” cf. 1:13. See Lex. s. v. ἀπό, II, 2, d. bb. col. 59b. Cf. Winer, § 47 (Thayer’s translation, p. 371), Buttmann, § 147. 6 (Thayer’s translation, pp. 325 f.).

κράζει, cf. Deu 24:15; Gen 4:10 (blood of Abel), 18:20 f. 19:13 (sin of Sodom), Enoch 47:1 (prayer and blood of the righteous).

εἰς τὰ ὦτα κυρίου σαβαώθ, cf. Isa 5:9, ἠκούσθη γὰρ εἰς τὰ ὦτα κυρίου σαβαὼθ ταῦτα (i. e. the aggressions of the rich), Psa 18:7.

κυρίου σαβαώθ, “Lord of Sabaoth,” “Lord of Hosts,” יהוה צְבָאוֹת. This term originally referred to Jahveh as the god of the armies of Israel, then as ruler of the “hosts of heaven,” i. e. the stars and heavenly powers. In LXX usually represented by παντοκράτωρ (see Lex. s. v.), but in all cases in Isaiah and in nine others transliterated, as here and Rom 9:29. See HDB, “Lord of Hosts,” EB, “Names,” Smith, DB, “Sabaoth,” Sanday on Rom 9:29. The term is here used (after Isa 5:9) to suggest the almighty power and majesty of Him who will make the cause of the labourers his own, so in 3 Macc. 6:17 f..

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

Reaped down [αμησαντων] . Only here in New Testament. The primary meaning is to reap corn; also in classical Greek of mowing down in battle. The secondary, which some mistake for the primary sense, is to gather, as for harvest. Rev., mowed.

Fields [χωρας] . The more general word, place, for ajgrov, the ordinary word for a field; though the usage is warranted by classical Greek, and occurs Luk 12:16; Joh 4:35, the only two instances besides this in the New Testament. It implies a larger tract than ajgrov, as is evident in all the New Testament passages cited. In two cases it refers to a rich man's estates; and in Joh 4:35, the Lord directs the attention of the disciples to a broad area or series of fields.

Crieth [κραζει] . An inarticulate cry. Compare Gen 4:10.

Lord of Sabaoth. Lord of hosts. The only instance in which the phrase is used by a New Testament writer. Rom 9:29, is quoted from Isa 1:9.

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