Hilary of Arles

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 167 passages across 8 books

Commentary

141–160 of 167

For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Why does James choose these two commandments as his examples? Because they are the ones which deal most closely with loving and with hating one’s neighbors.

James 2:12

So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

By the New Testament law everyone is born again, free and equal with one another.

James 2:13

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

If you are merciful and lenient to the poor in your judgment, you will have nothing to fear from the judgment of God.

James 2:15

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

These are the words of faith, spoken to those who know that there is only one God, who is the Father of all his children. True love has two sides to it—help for the body and help for the soul. Here James concentrates on the first of these because he is speaking especially to those who are rich.

James 2:17

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Works give life to faith, faith gives life to the soul, and the soul gives life to the body.

James 2:19

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Those who believe but who do not fear God are even worse than the devils. And those who believe and tremble but who do not practice what they preach are just like the devils.

James 2:21

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

When Abraham went up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, he took four things with him—a sword, fire, a heavy heart and a pile of wood. What does the fire stand for if not the suffering of Christ? What does the sword signify, if not death? What does the wood indicate, if not the cross? And what is the importance of Abraham’s heavy heart, if it does not stand for the compassion of the Father and the angels as they beheld the death of Christ? Isaac was an earthly type of Christ and was offered up for us all. According to tradition this occurred on 25 March, the day on which the world was created, the day on which the last judgment will occur. The place where it happened was none other than the one which God would later choose for the site of his temple on Mount Zion, which is so called because Zion means “mirror of life,” for it was there that Abraham saw as in a mirror the life which was to be revealed in the New Testament.

James 3:1

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

The apostle here prohibits a large number of teachers, for even our Lord Jesus Christ chose only a few for this role. He had only twelve disciples, and not all of them went on to become teachers of the gospel.

James 3:2

For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

Perfection consists of righteousness, and silence is the way to achieve it. This is why James connects perfection with keeping one’s mouth shut.

James 3:6

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

Iniquity stains us in the same way as wood is scorched by fire, and hell burns as if it were a fire.

James 3:11

Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

The spring is the heart of man, the flowing stream of water is his speech, and the opening through which it pours is his mouth. The sweet water is sound doctrine, while the bitter water is just the opposite.

James 4:4

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Love of honor and pride and boastfulness is hostile to God, for these things were the undoing of the fallen angels as well as of the first human couple, which is why to this day they are described as “enemies of God.”

James 4:12

There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

The law of the Bible was given through many agents, like Moses and Elijah and John the Baptist, but ultimately it is still only one law, and there is only one lawgiver.

James 5:1

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

The rich must repent while there is still time for them to do so. James is speaking here of those rich people who have shown themselves to be too stingy to offer any help to the poor.

James 5:3

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

It is true of course that gold does not rust, but James is comparing it to material things which do rust in the course of time.

James 5:4

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

What James means here is not that God has ears but that he can use his power to put right the wrongs which exist on earth.

James 5:14

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

This sickness is the sickness of sin. If someone is struck down by his own thoughts, then he should pray on his own, but if he has committed some sin he should ask for the church’s prayers. The custom mentioned here is followed even today, for the grace of mercy is symbolized by oil.

James 5:15

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

The prayer of faith is the consensus of the whole church, as it is said in the Gospel: “Whatever you ask in my name shall be done for you.”

James 5:17

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

The apostle regards himself as inferior to the prophets, who performed such miracles. The three years and six months represent the time of the antichrist, but the three years may also stand for the three ages of human history from the creation to the time of David, or they may symbolize the patriarchs, the prophets and the apostles. The miracle mentioned here is meant to encourage believers to persevere in their struggle against the unrighteous, for as in the case of Elijah, even if only one person prays, his prayer represents the common mind of all the righteous.

James 5:20

Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Someone who preaches to sinners in order to convert them will save his soul, even if the people he preaches to are not actually converted.

All writers

Who was this?

Hilary of Arles, also known as Hilarius, served as a bishop in Southern France during the fifth century. He died in 449. He is recognized as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, where his feast day is observed on 5 May.

Wikipedia

Works cited

INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER 40
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 2 PETER 38
INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES 38
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN 30
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 3 JOHN 7
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON JUDE 6
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 2 JOHN 5
HONORATUS, PREFACE 3 1
INTRODUCTORY OMMENTARY ON 2 JOHN 1

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