properly · verb — present active imperative, 2nd person singular
now
νῦνnun
G3568
"now" (as adverb of date · adverb
ye
οἱhoi
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — vocative plural masculine
say
λέγοντες·legontes
G3004
properly · verb — present active participle, vocative plural masculine
day
σήμερονsēmeron
G4594
on the (i.e. this) day (or night current or just passed) · adverb
or
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
morrow
αὔριονaurion
G839
properly · adverb
go
πορευσόμεθαporeusometha
G4198
to traverse · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 1st person plural
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
such
τήνδεtēnde
G3592
the same · demonstrative pronoun — accusative singular feminine
city
πόλινpolin
G4172
a town (properly · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
continue
ποιήσομενpoiēsomen
G4160
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — future active indicative, 1st person plural
there
ἐκεῖekei
G1563
there · adverb
a
ἕναhena
G1520
one · adjective — accusative singular masculine
year
ἐνιαυτὸνeniauton
G1763
a year · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
sell
ἐμπορευσόμεθαemporeusometha
G1710
to travel in (a country as a pedlar) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 1st person plural
and
καίkaí
G2532
and
gain
κερδήσομεν·kerdēsomen
G2770
to gain (literally or figuratively) · verb — future active indicative, 1st person plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Luke 12:17-20 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Genesis 11:3-4 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter…
Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
Isaiah 24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as…
Isaiah 56:11-12 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every…
Ezekiel 7:12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on James 4:11–end
In this part of the chapter,
I. We are cautioned against the sin of evil-speaking: Speak not evil one of another, brethren, Jam 4:11. The Greek word, katalaleite, signifies speaking any thing that may hurt or injure another; we must not speak evil things of others, though they be true, unless we be called to it, and there be some necessary occasion for the; much less must we report evil things when they are false, or, for aught we know, may be so. Our lips must be guided by the law of kindness, as well as truth and justice. This, which Solomon makes a necessary part of the character of his virtuous woman, that she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness (Pro 3…
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.
Adam Clarke on James 4:13
Go to now - Αγε νυν· Come now, the same in meaning as the Hebrew הבה habah, come, Gen 11:3, Gen 11:4, Gen 11:7. Come, and hear what I have to say, ye that say, etc.
To-day, or to-morrow, we will go - This presumption on a precarious life is here well reproved; and the ancient Jewish rabbins have some things on the subject which probably St. James had in view. In Debarim Rabba, sec. 9, fol. 261, 1, we have the following little story; "Our rabbins tell us a story which happened in the days of Rabbi Simeon, the son of Chelpatha. He was present at the circumcision of a child, and stayed with its father to the entertainment. The father brought out wine for his guests that was seven years old, say…
Some people go on endless journeys for the sake of business and the profits which they can make thereby, enduring even sea travel for their sake. Some fight in order to get some advantage over others by increasing their power. Still others fatten their purses by cheating and by extortion, bringing down fire and brimstone on their heads.
Behold now, you who say: "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and spend a year there, and trade, and make a profit," yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. He notes the folly in this kind of planning in many ways, since clearly they both consult about the increase of profit and assume they will live for a long time, and that it is within their power to spend a year there, and in all of these things they disdain to recall the judgment of the Supreme Judge to mind.
Whoever says, Today or tomorrow we will go to that city, and we will spend a year there, and we will trade and make a profit. "Whoever says, Today." It does not take away power or free will but shows that not everything is in his hands: for even the heavenly needs grace. For although one may strive, run, engage in business, and do all things necessary for life, one should not attribute these to one's own efforts, but to divine kindness. For Jeremiah says: "Lord, life is not in man himself." (Jer. 10:33) And the author of Proverbs (Παροιμιαστής) says: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." (Prov. 27:1)
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Providence — Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35; 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence…
Commerce · Called: Buying and selling — Called: Buying and selling
Happiness Of The Wicked, The · Is uncertain — Is uncertain
Life, Natural · Described as: Uncertain — Described as: Uncertain
Presumption · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Self-Delusion · Exhibited in thinking that: Our lives shall be prolonged — Exhibited in thinking that: Our lives shall be prolonged
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on James 4:13
Go to now, ye that say,.... The apostle passes from exposing the sin of detraction, and rash judgment, to inveigh against those of presumption and self-confidence; and the phrase, "go to now", is a note of transition, as well as of attention, and contains the form of a solemn and grave address to persons, who either think within themselves, or vocally express, the following words, or the like unto them:
today, or tomorrow, we will go into such a city; in such a country, a place of great trade and merchandise; as Tyre then was in Phoenicia, Thessalonica in Macedonia, Ephesus in Asia, and others: some render this as an imperative, or as an exhortation, "let us go", which does not alter the se…
James 4:13-17
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
13 Age nunc, qui dicitis, Hodie et cras eamus in civitatem, et transigamus illic annum unum, et mercemur et lucremur;
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
14 Qui nescitis quid cras futurum sit; quae enim est vita nostra? vapor est scilicet ad exiguum tempus apparens, deinde evanescens:
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
15 Quum dicere debeatis, Si Dominus voluerit, et vixerim…
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.
