Albert Barnes Commentary James 5:2

"Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten." — James 5:2 (ASV)

Your riches are corrupted. The word translated corrupted (shpw) does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It means to cause to rot, to corrupt, to destroy. The reference here is to their hoarded treasures; the idea is that they had accumulated more than they needed for their own use and, instead of distributing them to do good to others or employing them in any useful way, they kept them until they rotted or spoiled.

It should be remembered that a considerable part of the treasures which a man in the East would lay up consisted of perishable materials, such as garments, grain, oil, etc. Such articles of property were often stored up, expecting that they would furnish a supply for many years in case of the prevalence of famine or wars. Compare Luke 12:18-19. A suitable provision for the future cannot be forbidden; but the reference here is to cases in which great quantities had been laid up, perhaps while the poor were suffering, and which were kept until they became worthless.

Your garments are moth-eaten. The same idea is substantially expressed here in another form. As the fashions in the East did not change as they do with us, wealth largely consisted of garments that were laid up for show or for future use. See Barnes on Matthew 6:19.

Q. Curtius says that when Alexander the Great was going to take Persepolis, the riches of all Asia were gathered there together, which consisted not only of a great abundance of gold and silver, but also of garments (Lib. vi. c. 5). Horace tells us that when Lucullus the Roman was asked if he could lend a hundred garments for the theatre, he replied that he had five thousand in his house, of which they were welcome to take part or all. Of course, such property would be liable to be moth-eaten; and the idea here is that they had amassed a great amount of this kind of property which was useless to them, and which they kept until it was destroyed.