James 2:5 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Hath not God chosen the poor? Not that God hath chosen all the poor in the world, but his choice is chiefly of them, 1 Corinthians 1:26,28. Poor he means in the things of this world, and in the esteem of worldly men; they are opposed to those that Paul calls rich in this world, 1 Timothy 6:17,18. Rich: some insert the verb substantive to be between this and the former clause, and read: Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich, &c. So Romans 8:29, predestinate to be conformed: the like defective speeches we find, 1 Thessalonians 12:46 2 Corinthians 3:6. And the verb understood here is expressed, Ephesians 1:4, after the same word we have in this text. And yet if we read the words as they stand in our translation, they do not prove that foresight of faith is previous to election, any more than that being heirs of the kingdom is so too. In faith; either in the greatness and abundance of their faith, Matthew 15:28 Romans 4:20; or rather, rich in those privileges and hopes to which by faith they have a title. And heirs of the kingdom; an instance of their being rich, in that they are to inherit a kingdom. Which he hath promised to them that love him: see James 1:12, where the same words occur, only that which is here a kingdom, is there a crown.