The coming of the Lord
5
Rich oppressors will be judged
1 Ἄγε νῦν, οἱ πλούσιοι, κλαύσατε ὀλολύζοντες ἐπὶ ταῖς ταλαιπωρίαις ὑμῶν ταῖς ἐπερχομέναις. 2 Ὁ πλοῦτος ὑμῶν σέσηπεν καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια ὑμῶν σητόβρωτα γέγονεν. 3 Ὁ χρυσὸς ὑμῶν καὶ ὁ ἄργυρος κατίωται, καὶ ὁ ἰὸς αὐτῶν εἰς μαρτύριον ὑμῖν ἔσται καὶ φάγεται τὰς σάρκας ὑμῶν ὡς πῦρ—ἐθησαυρίσατε ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις. 4 Ἰδού, ὁ μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν τῶν ἀμησάντων τὰς χώρας ὑμῶν, ὁ ἀπεστερημένος ἀφ᾿* ὑμῶν, κράζει, καὶ αἱ βοαὶ τῶν θερισάντων εἰς τὰ ὦτα Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ εἰσεληλύθασιν. 5 Ἐτρυφήσατε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐσπαταλήσατε, ἐθρέψατε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς† ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σφαγῆς. 6 Κατεδικάσατε, ἐφονεύσατε τὸν δίκαιον—οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται ὑμῖν.
Patience and perseverance
7 Μακροθυμήσατε οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἕως τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἰδού, ὁ γεωργὸς ἐκδέχεται τὸν τίμιον καρπὸν τῆς γῆς, μακροθυμῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν‡ ἕως ἂν§ λάβῃ ὑετὸν* πρώϊμον† καὶ ὄψιμον. 8 Μακροθυμήσατε καὶ ὑμεῖς. Στηρίξατε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὅτι ἡ παρουσία τοῦ Κυρίου ἤγγικεν. 9 Μὴ στενάζετε κατ᾿ ἀλλήλων, ἀδελφοί,‡ ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε.§ Ἰδού, ὁ Κριτὴς πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν ἕστηκεν. 10 Ὑπόδειγμα λάβετε, ἀδελφοί,* τῆς κακοπαθείας καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας τοὺς προφήτας οἳ ἐλάλησαν ἐν τῷ† ὀνόματι Κυρίου. 11 Ἰδού, μακαρίζομεν τοὺς ὑπομένοντας‡—τὴν ὑπομονὴν Ἰὼβ ἠκούσατε, καὶ τὸ τέλος Κυρίου εἴδετε,§ ὅτι πολύσπλαγχνός* ἐστιν† καὶ οἰκτίρμων.
12 Πρὸ πάντων δέ, ἀδελφοί μου, μὴ ὀμνύετε, μήτε τὸν οὐρανὸν μήτε τὴν γῆν μήτε ἄλλον τινὰ ὅρκον. Ἤτω δὲ ὑμῶν τὸ Ναὶ ναὶ καὶ τὸ Οὒ οὔ, ἵνα μὴ εἰς ὑπόκρισιν‡ πέσητε.
Righteous prayer is powerful
13 Κακοπαθεῖ τις ἐν ὑμῖν; Προσευχέσθω. Εὐθυμεῖ τις; Ψαλλέτω. 14 Ἀσθενεῖ τις ἐν ὑμῖν; Προσκαλεσάσθω τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ προσευξάσθωσαν ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν, ἀλείψαντες αὐτὸν§ ἐλαίῳ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου. 15 Καὶ ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα, καὶ ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος· κἂν ἁμαρτίας ᾖ πεποιηκώς, ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ. 16 Ἐξομολογεῖσθε* ἀλλήλοις τὰ παραπτώματα† καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων, ὅπως ἰαθῆτε. Πολὺ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου, ἐνεργουμένη. 17 Ἠλίας ἄνθρωπος ἦν ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν, καὶ προσευχῇ προσηύξατο τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι· καὶ οὐκ ἔβρεξεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐνιαυτοὺς τρεῖς καὶ μῆνας ἕξ. 18 Καὶ πάλιν προσηύξατο καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς ὑετὸν ἔδωκεν καὶ ἡ γῆ ἐβλάστησεν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς.
Help the wanderer
19 Ἀδελφοί,‡ ἐάν τις ἐν ὑμῖν πλανηθῇ ἀπὸ§ τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ ἐπιστρέψῃ τις αὐτόν, 20 γινωσκέτω ὅτι ὁ ἐπιστρέψας ἁμαρτωλὸν ἐκ πλάνης ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ σώσει ψυχὴν ἐκ θανάτου* καὶ καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν.†
* 5:4 αφ f35 ℵA,B [95%] RP,HF,OC,TR,NU ¦ υφ [5%] CP † 5:5 ως f35 048v [98.5%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ — ℵ(A)B [1.5%] NU ‡ 5:7 αυτον f35 [80%] RP,HF,CP ¦ αυτω ℵA,B,048 [20%] OC,TR,NU § 5:7 αν f35 ℵ [53%] TR,CP ¦ — A,B,048 [45.5%] RP,HF,OC,NU ¦ ου [1.5%] (The farmer doesn’t really know if it’s going to rain, or not.) * 5:7 λαβη υετον f35 A (96.8%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ 1 B,048 (1.8%) NU ¦ 1 καρπον (1%) ¦ 1 καρπον τον ℵ ¦ one other variant † 5:7 πρωιμον f35 (92.7%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ προιμον ℵA,B (7.3%) NU ‡ 5:9 κατ αλληλων αδελφοι f35 (ℵ) (79.6%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ ~ 312 B (7.6%) NU ¦ ~ 3 μου 12 A (4.6%) ¦ 12 (7.4%) ¦ μετ 23 (0.8%) § 5:9 κριθητε f35 ℵA,B [98%] RP,HF,OC,CP,NU ¦ κατακριθητε [1%] TR ¦ two other variants * 5:10 αδελφοι f35 (A)B [35%] NU ¦ 1 μου (ℵ) [62%] RP,HF,OC(TR)CP ¦ — [3%] (The possessive pronoun would be a natural addition.) † 5:10 εν τω f35 B [40%] NU ¦ 2 A [58%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ 1 ℵ [0.6%] ¦ επι 2 [1.4%] (The preposition makes the semantic connection overt, which we would expect of a Jewish author.) ‡ 5:11 υπομενοντας f35 [86%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ υπομειναντας ℵA,B [14%] NU § 5:11 ειδετε f35 ℵB [53%] HF,OC,TR,CP,NU ¦ ιδετε A [45%] RP (One other variant, and ECM lists four MSS as ambiguous.) (The indicative is correct. The imperative does not fit the context, probably arising from haplography.) * 5:11 πολυσπλαγχνος f35 ℵA,B [65%] RP,HF,OC,TR,NU ¦ πολυευσπλαγχνος [35%] CP † 5:11 εστιν f35 (88.2%) RP,HF,CP ¦ 1 ο κυριος ℵA(B) (11.8%) OC,TR,NU ‡ 5:12 εις υποκρισιν f35 [95%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ υπο κρισιν ℵA,B [5%] NU (The more one talks, the more he pretends; the Alexandrian variant is inferior.) § 5:14 αυτον f35 ℵA [95.5%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP[NU] ¦ — B [4.5%] * 5:16 εξομολογεισθε f35 [89%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ 1 ουν ℵA,B,048v [11%] NU † 5:16 τα παραπτωματα f35 (90.4%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ τας αμαρτιας ℵA,B,048v (9.6%) NU ‡ 5:19 αδελφοι f35 [72%] RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ 1 μου ℵA,B,048 [28%] NU (Again, a natural addition.) § 5:19 απο rell ¦ 1 της οδου ℵ [18%] * 5:20 εκ θανατου f35 (92.2%) RP,HF,OC,TR,CP ¦ αυτου 12 ℵ(A)048v (6.4%) NU ¦ 12 αυτου B (1.4%) (The Alexandrian addition is unwarranted.) † 5:20 The citation of f35 is based on forty-four MSS—18, 35, 141, 149, 201, 204, 328, 386, 394, 432, 604, 664, 757, 824, 928, 986, 1072, 1075, 1100, 1248, 1249, 1503, 1548, 1637, 1725, 1732, 1754, 1761, 1768, 1855, 1864, 1865, 1876, 1892, 1897, 2221, 2303, 2352, 2431, 2466, 2554, 2587, 2626 and 2723—all of which I collated myself. 18, 1864, 2554 and 2723 are ‘perfect’ representatives of f35 in James as they stand, as were the exemplars of 35, 1503, 1865, 2221 and 2303. For 18, 1864, 2554 and 2723 to have no variants after all the centuries of transmission is surely an eloquent demonstration of the faithfulness and accuracy of that transmission. Since these MSS come from all over the Mediterranean world (Sinai, Jerusalem, Patmos, Constantinople, Bucharest, Aegean, Trikala, Meteora, Athens, Sparta, Ochrida, Mt. Athos [nine different monasteries], Grottaferrata, Vatican, etc.) they are certainly representative of the family, giving us the precise family profile—it is reflected in the Text without exception.ECM collated 162 continuous text manuscripts (MSS) for James, including some fragments, which number represents a full 25% of the extant (known) MSS. By a careful comparison of TuT and ECM I believe we can arrive at some reasonably close extrapolations. Thus I venture to predict, if complete collations ever become available, that for any non-Byzantine variants listed with 5 to 1% support (in my apparatus) the margin of error should not exceed ±1%; for non-Byzantine variants listed with 10 to 6% support the margin of error will hardly exceed ±2%; where there is some division among the Byzantine witnesses the margin of error will rarely exceed ±5%. However, I guarantee the witness of Family 35. Please see the last footnote for Matthew for further information.