James 2:6 - Exposition

You have dishonored by your treatment the poor man, whom God chose; while those rich men to whom ye pay such honor are just the very persons who

Poor … rich. In the Old Testament we occasionally find the term "poor" parallel to "righteous" ( Amos 2:6 ; Amos 5:12 ); and " rich " to "wicked" ( Isaiah 53:9 ). St. James's use here is somewhat similar (see on James 1:9 , etc). "Christiani multi ex pauperibus erant: pauci ex divitibus" (Bengel). The "rich men" here alluded to are evidently such as was the Apostle Paul before his conversion.