James 5:3

James 5:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
• New International Version (NIV)Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Context of James 5:3

1Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. 4For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.

James 5:3 word by word

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.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yourσύsu · youG4771
• goldὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• goldχρυσόςchrusos · goldG5557
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• silverἄργυροςarguros · silverG696
• is cankeredκατιόομαιkatioō · to corrodeG2728
• the rustἰόςios · poison/rustG2447
• of themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• shall beεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• a witnessμαρτύριονmarturion · testimonyG3142
• againstεἰςeis · towardG1519
• shall eatφαγεῖνphagō · to eatG5315
• fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561
• as it wereὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• fireπῦρpur · fireG4442
• Ye have heaped treasure togetherθησαυρίζωthēsaurizō · to store upG2343
• forἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the lastἔσχατοςeschatos · last/leastG2078
• daysἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250

Cross-references for James 5:3

• 2 Timothy 2:17This kind of talk spreads like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus.
• Genesis 31:48Then Laban declared, “This pile of stones will stand as a witness to remind us of the covenant we have made today.” This explains why it was called Galeed—“Witness Pile.”
• Joshua 24:27Joshua said to all the people, “This stone has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God.”
• Job 16:8As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.
• Jeremiah 19:9I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’
• Micah 3:3Yes, you eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.
• Revelation 17:16The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire.
• Revelation 20:15And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
• Revelation 21:8“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
• Deuteronomy 32:33Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
• Job 14:16For then you would guard my steps, instead of watching for my sins.
• Romans 2:5But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
• Genesis 49:1Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.
• Isaiah 2:2In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
• Micah 4:1In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
• Acts 2:17‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

Commentaries on James 5:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Your gold and silver is cankered - Instead of helping the poor, and thus honoring God with your substance, ye have, through the principle of covetousness, kept all to yourselves. The rust of them shall be a witness against you - Your putrefied stores, your moth-eaten garments, and your tarnished coin, are so many proofs that it was not for want of property that you assisted not the poor, but through a principle of avarice; loving money, not for the sake…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Your gold and silver is cankered - That is, that you have heaped together, by injustice and fraud, a large amount, and have kept it from those to whom it is due, James 5:4, until it has become corroded. The word rendered is “cankered” ( ́ katiōtaidoes not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It properly means “to cause to rust; to rust out” (Passow); “to be corroded with rust” (Robinson); to be spotted with rust. It is true that gold and silver do not…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Material wealth, like gold and silver, is worthless when facing God's judgment. It will actually speak against them because they obtained it unfairly and used it wickedly ( 5:4, 5–6).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. is cankered--"rusted through" [Alford]. rust ... witness against you--in the day of judgment; namely, that your riches were of no profit to any, lying unemployed and so contracting rust. shall eat your flesh--The rust which once ate your riches, shall then gnaw your conscience, accompanied with punishment which shall prey upon your bodies for ever. as ... fire--not with the slow process of rusting, but with the swiftness of consuming fire. for the last…Read the comment

Topics related to James 5:3

• Rich, the
• Riches
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Last Days
• Canker
• Convert
• Grudge
• Howl
• Nourish
• Pitiful
• Tender
• Wanton
• Cankered

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