{4} {d} Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: {5} behold, the judge standeth before the door.

(4) He commends Christian patience, for that which others through impatience use to accuse one another, the faithful on the other hand, do not complain though they receive injury.

(d) By grudging he means a certain inward complaining which indicates impatience.

(5) The conclusion: The Lord is at the door and will defend his own and avenge his enemies, and therefore we do not need to trouble ourselves.

People's New Testament

5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren. Murmur not (Revised Version). Do not bear grudges against one another.

Lest ye be condemned. The Lord will condemn this, and the

judge standeth before the door, for the coming of the Lord draweth near (Jas 5:8).

Wesley's Notes

5:9 Murmur not one against another - Have patience also with each other. The judge standeth before the door - Hearing every word, marking every thought.

King James Translators' Notes

Grudge not: or, Groan, or, Grieve not

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Grudge not-rather "Murmur not"; "grumble not." The Greek is literally, "groan": a half-suppressed murmur of impatience and harsh judgment, not uttered aloud or freely. Having exhorted them to patience in bearing wrongs from the wicked, he now exhorts them to a forbearing spirit as to the offenses given by brethren. Christians, who bear the former patiently, sometimes are impatient at the latter, though much less grievous.

lest . condemned-The best manuscript authorities read, "judged." James refers to Mt 7:1, "Judge not lest ye be judged." To "murmur against one another" is virtually to judge, and so to become liable to be judged.

judge . before the door-referring to Mt 24:33. The Greek is the same in both passages, and so ought to be translated here as there, "doors," plural. The phrase means "near at hand" (Ge 4:7), which in the oldest interpretations [Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem] is explained, "thy sin is reserved unto the judgment of the world to come." Compare "the everlasting doors" (Ps 24:7, whence He shall come forth). The Lord's coming to destroy Jerusalem is primarily referred to; and ultimately, His coming again visibly to judgment.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:7-11 Consider him that waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the husbandman, is not there something more worth waiting for? In every sense the coming of the Lord drew nigh, and all his people's losses, hardships, and sufferings, would be repaid. Men count time long, because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is as nothing to God; it is as a moment. To short-lived creatures a few years seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons thousands of years but so many days. God brought about things in Job's case, so as plainly to prove that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This did not appear during his troubles, but was seen in the event, and believers now will find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God, and bear our trials, as those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if we trust to him: all else is mere vanity, which soon will be done with for ever.