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James

About this book
Chapter 5

1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you.⁠ 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.⁠ 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you.⁠ It will consume your flesh like fire.⁠ It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.⁠ 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.⁠ 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. 7 So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives the early and late rains. 8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged.⁠ See, the judge stands before the gates! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. 11 Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 12 And above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.⁠ 13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.⁠ 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up—and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.⁠ 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!⁠ 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest. 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,⁠ 20 he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person’s soul from death⁠ and will cover a multitude of sins.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 4:10 and James 5:4

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

James alludes to Genesis with the phrase “cry out” when Abel’s blood calls from the ground. In Genesis, it signals injustice and prompts divine response. James applies it to withheld wages and the voices of exploited laborers in his criticism of wealth.

Passages

Genesis 4:10

Hebrew Bible
8 Cain spoke to his brother Abel.21 While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” 10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 So now you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

James 5:4

New Testament
2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in James

References

"... The use of 'krazein' continues the personification of the wealth. In verse 3, its rust bore witness against the hoarders. Now, as wealth gained by oppression and fraud, it 'cries out.' The verb echoes the 'crying out' of Israel to the Lord when in distress (Exodus 5:8; 22:22; 32:17; Numbers 11:2; Judges 1:14; 3:9; 4:3; 6:7; Psalm 3:5; 17:42; 21:3; 27:1; 64:14; Micah 3:4; Isaiah 19:20). the cries of the reapers: The use of 'therisantes' ("those who have harvested") is synonymous with 'amesantes' in the previous clause. The use of the aorist participle is again significant: they have completed the task and now are owed. They join their cries to those of the expropriated wages. James again chooses a particularly evocative term (boai). The blood of the innocent Abel 'cried out' (boan) to God and led to the punishment of Cain (Genesis 4:10). Likewise, the 'cries' (boai) of the defrauded Israelites in Egypt reached God (Exodus 2:23) ..."
Luke Timothy Johnson, The Letter of James: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 1995), 302.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 4:10 and James 5:4

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