James 2:5 - Exposition

Hearken ( ἀκούσατε ) . This has been noticed as a coincidence with the speech of St. James in Acts 15:13 . It is, however, too slight to be worth much (cf. Acts 7:2 ; Acts 13:16 ; Acts 22:1 ). For τοῦ κόσμου τούτου , read τῷ κόσμῳ ( א , A, B, C), "poor as to the world;" perhaps "in the estimation of the world." These God chose (to be) rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, etc. The kingdom ; mentioned hero only by St. James (and even here, א , A read ἐπαγγελίας ); cf. νόμον βασιλικόν in verse 8. Which he hath promised. As Dean Plumptre has pointed out, "it is scarcely possible to exclude a direct reference to the words of Christ, as in Luke 6:20 ; Luke 12:31 , Luke 12:32 ; and so we get indirect proof of a current knowledge, at the early period at which St. James wrote, of teaching which was afterwards recorded in the written Gospels."