the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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King James Version
James 2:5
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Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
Listen up cowboys! Didn't the Boss choose the poor and ragtag to be rich in faith and in line for the ultimate inheritance for those who love to ride for him?
Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?
Hear, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen the poor as to the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him?
Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn't God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him?
Listen, my dearly-loved brethren. Has not God chosen those whom the world regards as poor to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He has promised to those that love Him?
Hearken, my beloued brethren, Hath not God chosen the poore of this world, rich in faith, and heires of the kingdome, which hee hath promised to them that loue him?
Hear, my beloved brothers, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to the ones loving Him?
Harken my deare beloued brethre. Hath not God chosen the poore of this worlde, which are ryche in faith, and heyres of the kyngdom which he promysed to the that loue him?
consider, my dear brethren, has not God chose the poor of this world to be rich by faith, and to inherit the kingdom he has promised to those who love him?
Listen, dear friends. Isn't it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world's down-and-out as the kingdom's first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn't it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren't they the ones who scorn the new name—"Christian"—used in your baptisms?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?
Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?
Harken my deare beloved brethren. Hath not God chosen the poore of this worlde which are ryche in fayth and heyres of the kyngdom which he promysed to them that love him?
Listen, my beloved brothers; did not God choose those that are poor as to the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those that love him?
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Hearken, my brethren beloved, did not God choose the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the reign that He promised to those loving Him?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! God chose the poor in the world to be rich with faith and to receive the kingdom God promised to those who love him.
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
My dear friends, pay attention. God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him.
Listen, my dear brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to receive the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
Hearken my beloued brethren, hath not God chosen the poore of this worlde, that they should be rich in faith, and heires of the kingdome which he promised to them that loue him?
Hear this, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of the world who are rich in faith, to be heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to those who love him?
Listen, my dear brothers: Didn't God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him?
Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn't God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him, has he not?Exodus 20:6; 1 Samuel 2:30; Proverbs 8:17; Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20; John 7:48; 1 Corinthians 1:26,28; 2:9; 1 Timothy 6:18; 2 Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; Revelation 2:9;">[xr]
Listen, my beloved brethren: Hath not Aloha chosen the poor of the world, but rich in faith, to be heirs in that kingdom which Aloha hath promised to them who love him ?
Hear, my beloved brethren; hath not God chosen the poor of the world, but the rich in faith, to be heirs in the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?
Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?
Listen, my dear Christian brothers, God has chosen those who are poor in the things of this world to be rich in faith. The holy nation of heaven is theirs. That is what God promised to those who love Him.
Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
Hearken! my brethren beloved: - Hath not, God, chosen the destitute in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Hearken, my dearest brethren: Hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?
Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
Hearken my deare beloued brethren. Hath not God chosen the poore of this worlde, such as are riche in fayth, and heyres of the kyngdome, which he promised to them that loue hym?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. God chose the poor people in the world to be rich in faith. He chose them to receive the kingdom God promised to those who love him.
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: did God not choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.
Heere ye, my moost dereworthe britheren, whethir God chees not pore men in this world, riche in feith, and eiris of the kyngdom, that God bihiyte to men that louen him?
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Hearken: Judges 9:7, 1 Kings 22:28, Job 34:10, Job 38:14, Proverbs 7:24, Proverbs 8:32, Mark 7:14, Acts 7:2
Hath not: James 1:9, Isaiah 14:32, Isaiah 29:19, Zephaniah 3:12, Zechariah 11:7, Zechariah 11:11, Matthew 11:5, Luke 6:20, Luke 9:57, Luke 9:58, Luke 16:22, Luke 16:25, John 7:48, 1 Corinthians 1:26-28, 2 Corinthians 8:9
rich: Proverbs 8:17-21, Luke 12:21, 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, 2 Corinthians 4:15, 2 Corinthians 6:10, Ephesians 1:18, Ephesians 3:8, 1 Timothy 6:18, Hebrews 11:26, Revelation 2:9, Revelation 3:18, Revelation 21:7
heirs: Matthew 5:3, Matthew 25:34, Luke 12:32, Luke 22:29, Romans 8:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, 2 Thessalonians 1:5, 2 Timothy 4:8, 2 Timothy 4:18, 1 Peter 1:4, 2 Peter 1:11
the: or, that which, James 1:12, Exodus 20:6, 1 Samuel 2:30, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 5:3, Luke 6:20, Luke 12:32, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 2 Timothy 4:8
Reciprocal: Exodus 23:6 - General Leviticus 5:7 - he be not able to bring a lamb Leviticus 14:21 - poor Leviticus 25:35 - thy brother Leviticus 25:47 - sojourner or stranger wax rich Deuteronomy 1:17 - ye shall hear Deuteronomy 30:6 - to love the Lord Joshua 22:5 - love Judges 5:31 - them that 1 Samuel 2:8 - set them 1 Kings 3:3 - loved 2 Kings 4:2 - save a pot of oil 2 Chronicles 23:11 - put upon Nehemiah 5:5 - our flesh Job 12:9 - the hand Job 22:25 - defence Job 34:19 - regardeth Psalms 5:11 - love Psalms 9:18 - For the Psalms 18:27 - save Psalms 31:19 - laid up Psalms 40:17 - I am poor Psalms 69:36 - they Psalms 72:13 - shall save Psalms 74:19 - forget Psalms 86:1 - for I am Psalms 91:14 - set Psalms 97:10 - Ye that Psalms 106:5 - may see Psalms 113:7 - raiseth Psalms 119:141 - small Psalms 145:20 - preserveth Proverbs 8:18 - Riches and honour Proverbs 14:21 - that despiseth Proverbs 19:1 - Better Ecclesiastes 5:13 - riches Isaiah 25:4 - thou hast Isaiah 26:6 - General Isaiah 41:9 - called Isaiah 56:6 - to love Jeremiah 5:5 - but these Jeremiah 20:13 - for Daniel 9:4 - the great Zechariah 12:7 - save Matthew 6:20 - General Matthew 13:38 - the good Matthew 13:43 - in Matthew 17:27 - that take Mark 4:3 - Hearken Mark 10:23 - How Mark 12:37 - And the Luke 1:48 - regarded Luke 1:53 - filled Luke 4:18 - to preach Luke 7:22 - to Luke 14:21 - Go Luke 16:11 - true Luke 16:20 - a certain Luke 18:24 - How Acts 2:14 - hearken Acts 3:6 - Silver Acts 13:50 - honourable Acts 26:18 - inheritance Romans 5:17 - shall reign Romans 8:28 - them Romans 12:16 - condescend to men of low estate Romans 15:26 - the poor 1 Corinthians 8:3 - love 1 Corinthians 11:22 - that have not 2 Corinthians 8:2 - their deep Galatians 3:29 - heirs Ephesians 1:4 - as Ephesians 1:11 - we 2 Thessalonians 3:5 - into Titus 3:7 - made Philemon 1:17 - thou count Hebrews 1:14 - heirs Hebrews 6:17 - the heirs James 1:16 - my James 2:15 - General
Cross-References
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Hearken, my beloved brethren,.... As to a matter of importance, and worthy of attention and regard; being an instance of the divine conduct towards the poor, and carries in it a strong argument against respect of persons:
hath not God chosen the poor of this world? this interrogative is equal to a strong affirmative; and the sense is, that God has chosen the poor of this world; and which is to be understood, not of the choice of them to an office, either in church or state; though sometimes this has been the case, as the instances of David, and the apostles of Christ, show; nor merely to the Gospel, and the outward means of grace, though the poor have the Gospel preached unto them; nor of the effectual calling, though this is true; but of eternal election, which is the act of God the Father, and passed before the foundation of the world; and is an act of sovereign grace, and is irrespective of faith, holiness, and good works; and is the source of all grace, and remains immutable and irrevocable: now the objects of this are, "the poor of this world"; that is, who are poor with respect to the things of this world, but not with respect to the things of another world; for they are chosen to be heirs of a kingdom, and shall enjoy it; though these are not all chosen by God, nor are they the only persons that are chosen; there are some poor men that are not chosen, and are miserable here and hereafter; and there are some rich men that are chosen; but for the most part, or generally speaking, they are not many mighty, nor noble, but the poorer sort, which God has made choice of to partake both of grace and glory. It may be the apostle has some peculiar respect to the poor among the Gentiles, whom God had chosen; it was usual with the Jews to call the Gentiles the world, and they were Jews the apostle now writes to, and who were scattered abroad among the Gentiles; and therefore he might very aptly call them "this world", among whom they lived; and suggest to them, that God had chosen some of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, and even some of the poorer sort of them; and it was usual with the Jews to distinguish between
עניי ישראל, "the poor of Israel", and עניי עולם, "the poor of the world", or עניי אומות העולם "the poor of the nations of the world" u: the Alexandrian copy, and some others, leave out the word "this", and so the Syriac and Arabic versions, which makes the phrase more agreeable to the Jewish way of speaking. The Gentiles, in common, were despicable with the Jews, and especially the poor of them; and yet God chose these:
rich in faith; not that they were so, or were considered as such, when chosen, and so were chosen because of their faith; for then also they were, or were considered as heirs of the kingdom, which would be monstrously absurd; and yet there is as much reason, from the text, for the one, as for the other; but the sense is, that they were chosen "to be rich in faith"; and so the Syriac version supplies in the next clause, "that they might be heirs"; which if it had been placed before this clause also, would have been right; election to grace is signified in the one, and election to glory in the other: men are chosen, not because they do believe, or shall believe, but that they might believe; and which faith they have in consequence of election; and which when they have, they are rich: faith is a rich precious grace itself; it is a part of the riches of grace, and is more worth than thousands of gold and silver; and it is the means of receiving and enjoying much riches, as Christ the pearl of great price himself, and all spiritual blessings along with him; such as the rich robe of his righteousness, full pardon of sin, which is according to the riches of his grace, and adoption, which makes men heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, and even the eternal inheritance itself, both the promise of it, and a right unto it; all which are said to be received by faith; and therefore believers, how poor soever they may be, to this world's goods, are truly rich men:
and heirs of the kingdom; of glory, which is prepared for all the chosen ones, from the foundation of the world; and is freely given to them by their Father, and to which they are called in the effectual calling; and hence they are made kings and priests unto God, and have crowns and thrones provided for them: the Alexandrian copy reads, "heirs of the promise which he hath promised to them that love him"; that is, which God has promised them, as the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read; not that their love to God is the cause of this kingdom, or of their choice to it, or of the promise of it to them; all which flow from the love of God to them; but this is descriptive of the persons who shall enjoy it, and may expect to enjoy it, as in James 1:12.
u T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 30. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 10. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Hearken, my beloved brethren - The apostle now proceeds to show that the rich, as such, had no special claim on their favor, and that the poor in fact might be made more entitled to esteem than they were. For a view of the arguments by which he does this, compare the analysis of the chapter.
Hath not God chosen the poor of this world? - Those who are poor so far as this world is concerned, or those who have not wealth. This is the first argument which the apostle suggests why the poor should not be treated with neglect. It is, that God has had special reference to them in choosing those who should be his children. The meaning is not that he is not as willing to save the rich as the poor, for he has no partiality; but that there are circumstances in the condition of the poor which make it more likely that they will embrace the offers of the gospel than the rich; and that in fact the great mass of believers is taken from those who are in comparatively humble life. Compare the notes at 1 Corinthians 1:26-28. The fact that God has chosen one to be an “heir of the kingdom” is as good a reason now why he should not be treated with neglect, as it was in the times of the apostles.
Rich in faith - Though poor in this world’s goods, they are rich in a higher and more important sense. They have faith in God their Saviour; and in this world of trial and of sin, that is a more valuable possession than piles of hoarded silver or gold. A man who has that is sure that he will have all that is truly needful for him in this world and the next; a man who has it not, though he may have the wealth of Croesus, will be utterly without resources in respect to the great wants of his existence.
“Give what thou wilt, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.”
Faith in God the Saviour will answer more purposes, and accomplish more valuable ends for man, than the wealth of the Indies could: and this the poor may have as well as the rich. Compare Revelation 2:9.
And heirs of the kingdom ... - Margin, “that.” Compare the notes at Matthew 5:3.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse James 2:5. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world — This seems to refer to Matthew 11:5: And the poor have the Gospel preached to them. These believed on the Lord Jesus, and found his salvation; while the rich despised, neglected, and persecuted him. These had that faith in Christ which put them in possession of the choicest spiritual blessings, and gave them a right to the kingdom of heaven. While, therefore, they were despised of men, they were highly prized of God.
