James 5:3 - Exposition

With this and the preceding verse contrast our Lord's words of treasure laid up in heaven, "where moth and rust do not corrupt" ( Matthew 6:19 ). Cankered ( κατίωται ); better, rusted. Only here in the New Testament; never in the LXX . except Ecclesiasticus 12:11. The rust of them. ἰός : used here for "rust" as in the LXX . in Ezekiel's parable of the boiling pot ( Ezekiel 24:6 , etc)—a passage which (according to one interpretation) may have suggested the following clause, "and shall eat your flesh," etc. (see verses 9-12). Shall he a witness against you ( εἰς μαρτύριον ὑμῖν ). The rendering of the A.V. is quite defensible, but it is equally possible to take the words as the R.V. margin," for a testimony unto you." "The rust of them," says Alford, "is a token of what shall happen to yourselves; in the consuming of your wealth you see depicted your own." Two interpretations of the latter part of the verse are possible, depending on the punctuation adopted.