James 4:13
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Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Go to now--"Come now"; said to excite attention. ye that say--boasting of the morrow. To-day or to-morrow--as if ye had the free choice of either day as a certainty. Others read, "To-day and to-morrow." such a city--literally, "this the city" (namely, the one present to the mind of the speaker). This city here. continue . . . a year--rather, "spend one year." Their language implies that when this one year is out, they purpose similarly settling plans for to come [BENGEL]. buy and sell--Their plans for the future are all worldly.
Open source ↗In this chapter we are directed to consider, I. Some causes of contention, besides those mentioned in the foregoing chapter, and to watch against them (Jam 4:1-5). II. We are taught to abandon the friendship of this world, so as to submit and subject ourselves entirely to God (Jam 4:4-10). III. All detraction and rash judgment of others are to be carefully avoided (Jam 4:11, Jam 4:12). IV. We must preserve a constant regard, and pay the utmost deference to the disposals of divine Providence (Jam 4:13 to the end).
Open source ↗4:13-16 Itinerant merchants depended on personal assertiveness as a solution to their poverty and low social status. James urges greater recognition of God’s providence and warns against arrogantly planning events which one cannot really control.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.
people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;
Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.