Digging Deeper James 5:4-6 with Commentary

Even in a practical book like the book of James there are sections that I need help understanding so I am thankful today we will be looking at what the Commentators have written.

James 5:4-6
Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Commentary
Recall that last week the ESV study notes gave an overview of verses 1-6:
"Warning to the Rich. James turns his attention from businesspeople ...to wealthy landowners (5:4) who controlled much of Galilee, and indeed much of the Roman Empire. He denounces them for their materialistic accumulation of wealth, for defrauding their workers, and for their self-indulgent actions that have led to the deaths of innocent, righteous people." [ESV Study Bible study notes pg. 2398]
"wages ... you kept back. The rich had gained some of their wealth by oppressing and defrauding their day laborers - a practice strictly forbidden in the OT...the Lord of Sabbaoth." (Lord of hosts) "An untranslated Greek word meaning 'hosts.' The One who hears the cries of the defrauded laborers, James warns, is the Lord of hosts (a name for God used frequently in the OT), the commander of the armies of heaven (angels)."

"pleasure and luxury. After robbing their workers to accumulate their wealth, the rich indulged themselves in an extravagant lifestyle. Pleasure has the connotation of wanton pleasure. Luxury leads to vice when a person becomes consumed with the pursuit of pleasure, since a life without self-denial soon becomes out of control in every area... a day of slaughter. Like fattened cattle ready to be slaughtered, the rich that James condemns had indulged themselves to the limit. This is a vivid depiction of divine judgment..."

"condemned...murdered. This describes the next step in the sinful progression of the rich. Hoarding led to fraud, which led to self-indulgence. Finally, that overindulgence has consumed the rich to the point that they will do anything to sustain their lifestyle...The implication is that the rich were using the courts to commit judicial murder..." [The MacArthur Bible Commentary by John MacArthur pg. 1895-1896]

Blessings,
Diane