James 5:4

James 5:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

Context of James 5:4

2Your wealth has rotted and is ruined and your [fine] clothes have become moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up your treasure in the last days [when it will do you no good]. Look! The wages that you have [fraudulently] withheld from the laborers who have mowed your fields are crying out [against you for vengeance]; and the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5On the earth you have lived luxuriously and abandoned yourselves to soft living and led a life of wanton pleasure [self-indulgence, self-gratification]; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and have put to death the righteous man; he offers you no resistance.

James 5:4 word by word

ἰδοὺ 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.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Beholdὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• the hireμισθόςmisthos · wageG3408
• of the labourersἐργάτηςergatēs · workerG2040
• reaped downἀμάωamaō · to mowG270
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• fieldsχώραchōra · countryG5561
• which is ofἀπόapo · away fromG575
• kept back by fraudἀποστερέωapostereō · to defraudG650
• criethκράζωkrazō · to cryG2896
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the criesβοήboē · outcryG995
• which have reapedθερίζωtheridō · to reapG2325
• are enteredεἰσέρχομαιeiserchomai · to enterG1525
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the earsοὖςous · earG3775
• of the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
• of sabaothσαβαώθsabaōth · hostsG4519

Cross-references for James 5:4

• Leviticus 19:13‘You shall not oppress or exploit your neighbor, nor rob him. You shall not withhold the wages of a hired man overnight until morning.
• Deuteronomy 24:14“You shall not take advantage of a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether [he is] one of your countrymen or one of the strangers (resident aliens, foreigners) who is in your land inside your cities.
• Job 24:10They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing, And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.
• Job 31:38“For if my land has cried out against me, And its furrows weep together;
• Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves]. So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness; [He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.
• Jeremiah 22:13“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds his house by [acts of] unrighteousness And his upper chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without pay And does not give him wages [for his work],
• Habakkuk 2:11For the stone will cry out from the wall [to accuse you—built in sin!] And the rafter will answer it out of the woodwork.
• Malachi 3:5“Then I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, and against those who oppress the laborer in his wages and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away the alien [from his right], and those who do not fear Me [with awe-filled reverence],” says the Lord of hosts.
• Colossians 4:1Masters, [on your part] deal with your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
• Genesis 4:10The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice].
• Exodus 2:23Now it happened after a long time [about forty years] that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel (Jacob) groaned and sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out. And their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God.
• Exodus 3:9Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
• Exodus 22:22You shall not harm or oppress any widow or fatherless child.
• Deuteronomy 24:15You shall give him his wages on the day that he earns them before the sun sets—for he is poor and is counting on it—so that he does not cry out to the Lord against you, and it becomes a sin for you.
• Job 34:28So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And He heard the cry of the afflicted.
• Psalms 9:12For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people); He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.

Commentaries on James 5:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The hire of the laborers - The law, Leviticus 19:13, had ordered: The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning, every day's labor being paid for as soon as ended. This is more clearly stated in another law, Deuteronomy 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Behold, 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4These wealthy individuals were landowners who exploited their workers (5:1). They are like those in 2:6 who oppressed and took Christians to court. These rich people exploited the day laborers who harvested their fields. cries … have reached the ears of the Lord: God hears the prayers of the oppressed (see Deuteronomy 24:14–15). Even while the laborers are still suffering, the Lord has heard them (see Exodus 3:7). the Lord of Hosts (1 Samuel 17:45; Psalm…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to James 5:4

• Dishonesty
• Employee
• Employer
• Labor
• Master
• Oppression
• Poor
• Riches
• Servant
• Wages

In the dictionaries

• Convert
• Grudge
• Howl
• Nourish
• Pitiful
• Sabaoth
• Tender
• Wages
• Wanton
• Ear

Commentaries on James 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings