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Jam_5:5. A second sin of the rich, namely, their luxurious and gluttonous life, which forms a sharp contrast to the toilsome life of the labourers.
ἐτρυφήσατε … ἐσπαταλήσατε ] synonymous terms: τρυφᾶν , in the N. T. ἅπ . λεγ , in the LXX. Neh_9:25; Isa_66:11 (Isa_57:4). σπαταλᾷν , only here and in 1Ti_5:6; in the LXX. Eze_16:49; Amo_6:4, and other places. Hottinger thus states the distinction between them: τρυφᾷν deliciarum est et exquisitae voluptatis; σπαταλᾶν luxuriae atque prodigalitatis; comp. the description of the rich man in Luk_16:19. These and the following verbs are in the aorist, not “because the conduct of the rich is described as viewed from the day of judgment” (1st ed. of this commentary; similarly also Wiesinger), for “this does not suit the present ἀντιτάσσεται ” (Gunkel), but because James will mark the present conduct as a constant occurrence. The addition ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ] forms a sharp contrast to the preceding εἰς τὰ ὦτα κυρίου σαβαώθ . Whilst the Lord in heaven hears the complaints of the unjustly oppressed, the rich on earth enjoy their lusts, undisturbed by the wrath of God, which shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom_1:18).
ἐθρέψατε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ] does not add a new idea to the preceding, but brings forward the fact that the rich in their luxurious living find the satisfaction of the desires of their heart. Luther’s translation: “Ye have pastured your heart,” does not sufficiently correspond to the idea τρέφειν ; something bad is evidently denoted by it. Since τρέφειν is literally “to make firm, thick,” it is best here to render it by “to satiate.” Other expositors translate it by “to fatten; “Lange, by “to make fat.” τὰς καρδίας is equivalent neither to τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν nor to ὑμᾶς ; comp. Act_14:17, and Meyer on that passage;[225] Winer, p. 141 [E. T. 195].
ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σφαγῆς ] corresponds to the preceding ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις . These last times are designated by James with reference to the rich as ἡμέρα σφαγῆς , the day of slaughter, because the sentence of death, which they have incurred, will be directly executed, upon them at the approach of the παρουσία of Christ (comp. Jam_5:7) and the judgment; so also Wiesinger, Brückner, Lange, only the latter arbitrarily understands by the day of slaughter, the day of Israel’s judgment, comprehending the time from the death of Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem. This designation of the day of judgment is also found in the O. T., particularly Jer_12:3, LXX.: ἅγνισον αὐτοὺς εἰς ἡμέραν σφαγῆς αὐτῶν ; Jer_25:34. By the reading ὡς before ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σφ . a comparison occurs, namely, with the beasts who are to be slaughtered, so that Pott after ὡς directly supplies θρέμματα . De Wette explains it: “Ye have pastured your hearts as in the day of slaughter; i.e. according to the comparison with beasts, who on the day on which they are to be slaughtered feed carelessly and devour greedily;” so also Bouman. But the idea “carelessly and greedily” is introduced; also the comparison is unsuitable, since beasts on the day of slaughter do not eat more greedily than on other days. Other expositors, as Wolf, Augusti, Hottinger, and others, take ἐν as equivalent to εἰς ; Hottinger: corpora vestra aluistis, tanquam pecora, quae saginari solent ad mactationem; but this change of prepositions is arbitrary. Several expositors, as Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Laurentius, Bengel, and others, understand by ἡμέρα σφαγῆς the day of sacrifice; Calvin: addit similitudinem, sicut etc., quia solebant in sacrificiis solemnibus liberalius vesci. quam pro quotidiano more; the meaning then is: tota vita vestra est quasi perpetuum epulum ac festum continuum (Laurentius); but that expression never elsewhere occurs in this signification. Had James thought on the sacrificial feast or the like, he would have expressed it more definitely; besides, by this explanation the reference to the judgment is entirely awanting, and only the luxurious life is described; but this contradicts the character of the whole section, for if James, from Jam_5:4 onwards, assigns the reason of ταλαιπωρίαι , he does this not without an earnest pointing to the judgment and its nearness.
[225] Meyer: “The heart is filled with food, inasmuch as the sensation of being filled, the pleasant feeling of satisfaction, is in the heart.”