James 5:9 - Exposition

Grudge not, brethren ; better, with R.V., murmur not— a meaning which "grudge" had in the seventeenth century; cf. Psalms 59:15 (Prayer-book version), "They will run here and there for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied." What is the connection of this verse with the preceding? "Murmuring" implies sitting in judgment upon others, which has been expressly forbidden by the Lord himself. It is also the opposite to that μακροθυμία to which St. James has been exhorting his readers. Lest ye be condemned ; rather, that ye be not judged. ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε , as in Matthew 7:1 . κατακριθῆτε of the Received Text has absolutely no authority, nor has the omission of the article before κριτής in the following clause. Behold, the Judge , etc. The nearness of the judgment is expressed by saying that the Judge is actually standing "before the doors ( πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν )." So also our Lord, in his great discourse on the judgment, says ( Matthew 24:33 ), "When ye see all these things, know that he is nigh, even at the doors ( ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἐπὶ θύραις );" and comp. Revelation 3:20 , where he says , "Behold, I stand at the door ( ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν ), and knock."