Which is of you kept back by fraud,— This was one of their wicked methods of heaping up riches; they were not only covetous and uncharitable, but also unjust: the phrase, crieth, &c. seems to be taken from the customs of the Eastern people, who, when they have suffered an injury, go to the judge with a horrible clamour,torequirevengeance;whichloudclamourtheyrepeatwithgreatvehemence, if the judge seems slow to wrath and punishment; and the same custom prevailed in the dark and feudal ages of Christianity. Those sins are said to cry unto heaven, which so affect the guilty, as to seem with a loud voice to require vengeance from God. It is an observation of the Hebrews, "that when God judgeth his creatures, he is called Aleim, GOD; when he doth mercy unto the world, he is called Jehovah: but when he warreth against the wicked, he is called Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts;"—the last part of which rule holds in this place.
Related Commentaries of James 5:4
James 5:4
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.