In this chapter the apostle gives the true cause of contentions and strifes; and cautions against intemperance, covetousness, pride, detraction, and vain confidence.

From whence come wars and fightings among you? &c.] Which are to be understood, not of public and national wars, such as might be between the Jews and other nations at this time; for the apostle is not writing to the Jews in Judea, as a nation, or body politic, but to the twelve tribes scattered…

Ye lust, and have not The apostle proceeds to show the unsuccessfulness of many in their desires and pursuits after worldly things; some might be like the sluggard, whose soul desireth all good things, and yet he has nothing, because he does not make use of any means, even of such as are proper and…

Ye ask, and receive not Some there were that did ask of God the blessings of his goodness and providence, and yet these were not bestowed on them; the reason was, because ye ask amiss; not in the faith of a divine promise; nor with thankfulness for past mercies; nor with submission to the will of…

Ye adulterers and adulteresses Not who were literally such, but in a figurative and metaphorical sense: as he is an adulterer that removes his affections from his own wife, and sets them upon another woman; and she is an adulteress that loves not her husband, but places her love upon another man;…

Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain? &c.] Some think that the apostle refers to a particular passage of Scripture in the Old Testament, and that he took it from as some; or from , as others; or from (Deut. 7:2, Deut.

But he giveth more grace The Arabic version adds, “to us”; the Ethiopic version, “to you”; and the Syriac version reads the whole thus; “but our Lord gives more grace to us”; or “greater grace”; than the world can give, whose friendship is courted by men; the least measure of grace, of faith, and…

Submit yourselves therefore to God To the will of God, with respect to worldly things, and be content with such things as are enjoyed, and be satisfied with the portion that is allotted; it is right and best for the people of God to leave themselves with him, to choose their inheritance for them,…

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you This must be understood consistently with the perfection of God’s immensity and omnipresence: the saints draw nigh to God when they present their bodies in his sanctuary; when they tread in his courts, and attend his ordinances; where they always find…

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep Not in a bare external way; not by afflicting the body with fastings and scourgings, by renting of garments, and clothing with sackcloth, and putting ashes on the head, and other such outward methods of humiliation; but afflicting the soul is meant, an inward…

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord Which is done, when men, before the Lord, and from their hearts, and in the sincerity of their souls, acknowledge their meanness and unworthiness, their vileness, sinfulness, and wretchedness, and implore the grace and mercy of God in Christ, as did…

Speak not evil one of another, brethren The apostle here returns to his former subject, concerning the vices of the tongue, he had been upon in the preceding chapter, , and here mentions one, which professors of religion were too much guilty of, and that is, speaking evil one of another; which is…

There is one lawgiver The Alexandrian copy, and others, and the Syriac, Ethiopic, and Vulgate Latin versions, add, “and judge”. Who is the one only Lord God, .

Go to now, ye that say The apostle passes from exposing the sin of detraction, and rash judgment, to inveigh against those of presumption and self-confidence; and the phrase, “go to now”, is a note of transition, as well as of attention, and contains the form of a solemn and grave address to…

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow Whether there would be a morrow for them or not, whether they should live till tomorrow; and if they should, they knew not what a morrow would bring forth, or what things would happen, which might prevent their intended journey and success: no man can…

For that ye ought to say Instead of saying we will go to such and such a place, and do this, and that, and the other thing, it should be said, if the Lord will, and we shall live, and do this and that; the last “and” is left out in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions; and the…

But now ye rejoice in your boastings Of tomorrow, and of the continuance of life, and of going to such a place, and abiding there for such a time, and of trading and trafficking with great success, to the obtaining of much gain and riches; see all such rejoicing is evil; wicked and atheistical, as…

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good This may regard not only the last particular of referring all things to the will of God, the sovereign disposer of life, and all events, which some might have the knowledge of in theory, though they did not practise according to it; but all the good things…