and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
Parallel Translations
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and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
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and the ryche in that he is made lowe. For even as the flower of the grasse shall he vanysshe awaye.
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Againe hee that is rich, in that hee is made lowe: for as the flower of the grasse, shall he vanish away.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to James 1:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Peter 1:24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
- 1 John 2:17 The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.
- Job 14:2 He grows up like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.
- Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
- Psalms 103:15 As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
- Psalms 90:5-6 You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass. In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry.
- Isaiah 40:6 The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
- Matthew 6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
- James 4:14 Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
- Psalms 37:2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
- Psalms 102:11 My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.
- 1 Corinthians 7:31 and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.
- Psalms 37:35-36 I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil. But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
- Isaiah 66:2 For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but I will look to this man, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
- Isaiah 57:15 For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- Philippians 3:8 Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10 But the rich, in that he is made…
10 But the rich, in that he is made low, or, in his lowness. He has mentioned the particular for the general; for this admonition pertains to all those who excel in honor; or in dignity, or in any other external thing. He bids them to glory in their lowness or littleness, in order to repress the haughtiness of those who are usually inflated with prosperity. But he calls it lowness, because the manifested kingdom of God ought to lead us to despise the world, as we know that all the things we previously greatly admired, are either nothing or very little things. For Christ, who is not a teacher except of babes, checks by his doctrine all the haughtiness of the flesh. Lest, then, the vain joy of the world should captivate the rich, they ought to habituate themselves to glory in the casting down of their carnal excellency.
As the flower of the grass. Were any one to say that James alludes to the words of Isaiah, I would not much object; but I cannot allow that he quotes the testimony of the Prophet, who speaks not only of the things of this life and the fading character of the world, but of the whole man, both body and soul; [Isaiah 40:6-8;] but here what is spoken of is the pomp of wealth or of riches. And the meaning is, that glorying in riches is foolish and preposterous, because they pass away in a moment. The philosophers teach the same thing; but the song is sung to the deaf, until the ears are opened by the Lord to hear the truth concerning the eternity of the celestial kingdom. Hence he mentions brother; intimating that there is no place for this truth, until we are admitted into the order of God’s children.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain An argument taken of the very nature of the…
An argument taken of the very nature of the things themselves, for that they are most vain and uncertain.
Before he concludeth, he giveth a doctrine contrary to the former: to wit, how we ought to use prosperity, which is plenty of all things: to wit, so that no man therefore please himself, but be so much the more void of pride.
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Who hath all things at his will.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 But the rich, in that he is made…
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
Ver. 10. In that he is made low] Drawn from that high esteem of outward excellencies. He is now made a greater man, because he seems too big for them; or low, that is, lowly.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain But the rich; viz. broher, he that is in…
But the rich; viz. broher, he that is in a high, honourable, or plentiful condition in the world.
In that he is made low; supply from the former verse, let him rejoice in that he is made low; not as to his outward state, (for he is supposed to be rich still), but his inward disposition and frame of mind, God having given him a lowly heart in a high condition, and thereby prepared him for the cross, though as yet he be not under it.
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Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away: the reason why the rich brother should be humble in his greatest abundance, viz. because of the uncertainty of his enjoying what at present he possesseth; he is neither secure of his life, nor his wealth; he and his enjoyments pass away, and his pomp vanisheth as easily as the flower of the grass, which fades as soon as it flourisheth.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Here the apostle exhorts suffering Christians to patience, by…
Here the apostle exhorts suffering Christians to patience, by the example of the Old-Testament saints, who were exceeding dear to God, employed in special services for God, yet exercised with long and sharp affliction for him. Now, their nature was as tender and as frail as ours, and we have the same blessed Spirit to comfort and assist us with them.
Note thence, 1. That the examples of excellent persons who have gone in the thorny path of affliction before us, and beaten it for us, are for excellent use to suppress our fears, to support our spirits under all our conflicts, and to rouse our courage in all our encounters.
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Note, 2. That it is our great duty to eye the encourging examples of those that have trod the path of sufferings before us, and strive to imitate and follow such worthy patterns. The first sufferers had the hardest task; strange and untried torments are most terrible; they knew not the strength of their enemy which they were to engage, but we fight with an enemy which has been often beaten and triumphed over by our brethren that went before us; certainly we that live in these last times have the best helps ever any had to subdue our fears; Take we then the prophets, and primitive saints, for an example both of grievous sufferings and of great patience.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But the rich, in that he is made low,....…
But the rich, in that he is made low,.... That is, the rich brother; for there were rich men in the churches in those times, and which James often takes notice of in this epistle. Such an one should rejoice or glory in his lowness, or low estate; in the consideration of the low estate, out of which he was raised, by the good providence of God, and was not owing to any merit of his; and in the low estate into which he may be at present reduced, through the violence of persecution being stripped of all his riches for Christ's sake, of which he might make his boast, and count it his greatest glory; or in that low estate he may quickly expect he shall be brought into, either in the above manner, or by some calamity or another, and at least by death, which will put him upon a level with others: or this may have respect to the temper of his mind, which he has, through the grace of God, and the station he is in, in the church of God, being a brother, and no more than a brother, and upon an equal foot with the meanest member in it; and which yet is matter of rejoicing, that he is one, and that he is so blessed with the grace of humility, as not to lift up himself above others, not to mind high things, but to condescend to men of low estate; and such a deportment the apostle exhorts rich saints unto, from the consideration of the instability and inconstancy of worldly riches.
Because, as the flower of the grass he shall pass away; shortly, and suddenly; either he himself by death, or his riches at death, or before, and therefore are not to be gloried in; nor should the possessors of them be proud and haughty and elate themselves with them, but should behave humbly and modestly to their fellow creatures and Christians, as knowing that in a short time they will all be upon a par, or in an equal state; See Job 14:2. The metaphor here used is enlarged upon in the following verse, for the further illustration of the fickleness, perishing, and transitory nature of earthly enjoyments.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain But the rich, in that he is made low…
But the rich, in that he is made low - Is humbled by a deep sense of his true condition. Because as the flower - Beautiful, but transient. He shall pass away - Into eternity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. But the rich, in that he is…
Verse 10. But the rich, in that he is made low] εν τη ταπεινωσει. In his humiliation - in his being brought to the foot of the cross to receive, as a poor and miserable sinner, redemption through the blood of the cross: and especially let him rejoice in this, because all outward glory is only as the flower of the field, and, like that, will wither and perish.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But the rich, in that he is made low…
But the rich, in that he is made low - That is, because his property is taken away, and he is made poor. Such a transition is often the source of the deepest sorrow; but the apostle says that even in that a Christian may find occasion for thanksgiving. The reasons for rejoicing in this manner, which the apostle seems to have had in view, were these:
(1)Because it furnished a test of the reality of religion, by showing that it is adapted to sustain the soul in this great trial; that it can not only bear prosperity, but that it can bear the rapid transition from that state to one of poverty; and,
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(2)Because it would furnish to the mind an impressive and salutary illustration of the fact that all earthly glory is soon to fade away.
I may remark here, that the transition from affluence to poverty is often borne by Christians with the manifestation of a most lovely spirit, and with an entire freedom from murmuring and complaining. Indeed, there are more Christians who could safely bear a transition from affluence to poverty, from prosperity to adversity, than there are who could bear a sudden transition from poverty to affluence. Some of the loveliest exhibitions of piety which I have ever witnessed have been in such transitions; nor have I seen occasion anywhere to love religion more than in the ease, and grace, and cheerfulness, with which it has enabled those accustomed long to more elevated walks, to descend to the comparatively humble lot where God places them. New grace is imparted for this new form of trial, and new traits of Christian character are developed in these rapid transitions, as some of the most beautiful exhibitions of the laws of matter are brought out in the rapid transitions in the laboratory of the chemist.
Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away - That is, since it is a fact that he will thus pass away, he should rejoice that he is reminded of it. He should, therefore, esteem it a favor that this lesson is brought impressively before his mind. To learn this effectually, though by the loss of property, is of more value to him than all his wealth would be if he were forgetful of it. The comparison of worldly splendor with the fading flower of the field, is one that is common in Scripture. It is probable that James had his eye on the passage in Isa 40:6-8. See the notes at that passage. Compare the notes at 1Pe 1:24-25. See also Psa 103:15; Mat 6:28-30.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain So far as one is merely "rich" in worldly…
So far as one is merely "rich" in worldly goods, "he shall pass away"; in so far as his predominant character is that of a "brother," he "abideth for ever" (Jo1 2:17). This view meets all ALFORD'S objections to regarding "the rich" here as a "brother" at all. To avoid making the rich a brother, he translates, "But the rich glories in his humiliation," namely, in that which is really his debasement (his rich state, Phi 3:19), just as the low is told to rejoice in what is really his exaltation (his lowly state).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. But the rich, in that he is made…
10. But the rich, in that he is made low] Better, in his humiliation or lowliness. The context implies that the rich man also is a “brother.” Such an one was tempted to exult in his wealth as that which raised him above his fellow-men. The view which Christ had taught him to take was, that it placed him on a level lower than that of the poor. His true ground for exultation would be to accept that lower position, to glory in it, as it were, as St Paul gloried in his infirmities (2Co_12:9), and to make himself, by the right use of his wealth, a servant of servants unto his brethren. The two other interpretations which have been given of the words, (1) that suggested by the English, that the rich man is to rejoice when he is brought low by adversity, and (2) that the sentence is to be filled up not by an imperative but an indicative, “but the rich man” (on this assumption, not a “brother”) “exults in what is indeed his degradation,” are, it is believed, less satisfying. Possibly, still keeping the imperative, the words may be taken as ironical “let him glory in his shame.” The whole passage, however interpreted, shews, like chap. Jas_4:11; 1Pe_5:6, the impression that had been made on the minds of the disciples by the teaching of their Master in Mat_23:12; Luk_14:11; Luk_18:14.
because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away] This, so the train of thought runs, is that which is most humbling to the man of wealth. His riches are transient. They vanish often during life. He can carry nothing with him when he dies. For the third time in this chapter we notice a close parallelism of thought and language with St Peter (1Pe_1:24), both drawing from Isa_40:6, as a common source.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) But the rich, in that he is made…
(10) But the rich, in that he is made low (or, better, in his humiliation).—And, on the other hand, let a change of state be a cause of joy to the rich man, hard though the effort thereto must confessedly be.
There is an antithesis between his humiliation and the humility of “the brother of low degree:” “God putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psa_75:7). Such seems to be the primary meaning of this passage, though, doubtless, there is a more spiritual significance underlying, which would teach the poorest that he may be “rich toward God,” and win from the most wealthy the acknowledgment of his deep poverty beside the Lord of all “good treasure” (Deu_28:12). “I know thy poverty,” said the Spirit unto the Church in Smyrna, “but thou art rich” (Rev_2:9); and to the Laodiceans, “Thou sayest, I am rich . . ., but thou art poor” (Rev_3:17).
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Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.—No more simple and striking simile of human instability and vanity can be found than “the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven” (Mat_6:30); and the thought suggests a picture to the mind of the writer, which he draws with strong and yet most tender lines. Our English version misses the setting of his graceful idyl, the exquisite beauty of which can hardly be transferred from the Greek; but the following attempt is at least nearer the original:—
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. The rich, in that he is made low.…
10. The rich, in that he is made low. The one should rejoice in exaltation; the other in humiliation. He is taught that his riches have no power to save, and that his life is as uncertain as that of the grass of the field.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:10 those who are rich should boast: With irony,…
1:10 those who are rich should boast: With irony, James is describing the dreadful fate of the ungodly rich who elevate themselves by oppressing poor and vulnerable people (see 2:6-8; 5:1-6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.