(6) Ye have condemned and killed the just.--Better thus: Ye condemned, ye slew the just--as in the speech of Peter (Acts 3:14-15), or that of Stephen (Acts 7:52). Such a reference, however, has been disallowed by some commentators, as conveying too harsh an accusation against the whole Jewish people; and besides, it being unfair to forget that St. James was writing to Christian Jews, as well as to the anti-Christian. But, in a manner, all wrong and oppression tend towards the murder of the Just One, as every falsehood (see Note on James 3:13) is an attack on the Truth. And far beyond this, in the present case our Lord is rightly to be considered the victim of the Jews. His blood is on them and on their children (Matthew 27:25); they filled up "the measure of their fathers" (Matthew 23:32), that "the blood of all the righteous" might come upon them, from Abel to Zacharias (Matthew 23:35): the one crowning sin made them guilty of all. And not only is this backward participation true, but there is a forward one as well. Christ Himself was persecuted by Saul in the afflictions of His servants (Acts 9:4-5), and so onward ever till the martyr-roll be full. . . . Verse 6. - The climax of their sin. Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one. Does this allude to the death of our Lord? At first sight it may well seem so. Compare St. Peter's words in Acts 3:14, "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just (δでるたίκαιον);" St. Stephen's in Acts 7:52, "the coming of the Just One (τたうοおみくろんῦ δικαίοおみくろんυうぷしろん);" and St. Paul's in Acts 22:14, "to see the Just One (τたうὸνにゅー δでるたίκαιον)." But this view is dispelled when we remember how throughout this whole passage the ideas and expressions are borrowed from the Old Testament, and when we find that in Isaiah 3:10 (LXX.) the wicked are represented as saying, Δでるたήσωμεν τたうὸνにゅー δでるたίκαιον ὅτたうιいおた δでるたύσχρηστος ἡμみゅーῖνにゅー ἐσしぐまτたうί ( αあるふぁ passage which lies at the root of the remarkable section in Wisd. 2, "Let us oppress the poor righteous man .... Let us condemn him with a shameful death." It is probable, then, that passages such as these were in St. James's mind, and suggested the words, and thus that there is no direct allusion to the Crucifixion (which, indeed, could scarcely be laid to the charge of his readers), but that the singular τたうὸνにゅー δでるたίκαιον is used to denote the class collectively (cf. Amos 2:6; Amos 5:12). It is a remarkable coincidence, pointed out by most commentators, that he who wrote these verses, himself styled ὁ Δでるたίκαιος by the Jews, suffered death at their hands a very few years afterwards. He doth not resist you. According to the view commonly adopted, St. James simply means to say that the righteous man suffered this evil at their hands without resistance. Another interpretation seems more possible, taking the clause as interrogative, "Does he not resist you?" the subject, implied but not expressed, being God; as if he would say, "Is not God against you? " - that God of whom it has already been said that he resists (ἀντιτάσσεται) the proud (comp. Hosea 1:6, "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away (LXX., ἀλらむだλらむだ ηいーた} ἀντιτασσόμενος ἀντιτάξομαι αあるふぁὐτたうοおみくろんῖς)")

Parallel Commentaries ...


You have condemned
κατεδικάσατε (katedikasate)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2613: To condemn, pass sentence upon. From kata and a derivative of dike; to adjudge against, i.e. Pronounce guilty.

[and] murdered
ἐφονεύσατε (ephoneusate)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 5407: To murder, kill. From phoneus; to be a murderer.

the
τたうὸνにゅー (ton)
Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

righteous,
δίκαιον (dikaion)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1342: From dike; equitable; by implication, innocent, holy.

who did not resist
ἀντιτάσσεται (antitassetai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 498: From anti and the middle voice of tasso; to range oneself against, i.e. Oppose.

you.
ὑμみゅーῖνにゅー (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.


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NT Letters: James 5:6 You have condemned you have murdered (Ja Jas. Jam)