“But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?”
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you and dragging you into courts? — the irony cuts sharply: the very wealthy whom the church privileges often exploit and oppress the believers, dragging them to the basileia (courts) for debts and disputes. The displacement of honor from the poor to the rich is particularly absurd given that the wealthy demonstrate their contempt through economic and legal aggression. James forces the believers to confront the contradiction between their practice and their own interests.
Church Fathers on James 2:6
But we must remember whence that sentence is taken, and what goes before it, and in what connection it occurs. My brethren, he says, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with respect of persons. For if there come into your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and you have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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