Charles Ellicott Commentary James 1:19

"Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:" — James 1:19 (ASV)

We come now to the third subdivision of the chapter. Because of the Divine benevolence, the Apostle urges his readers to:

1. To meekness,
2. To self-knowledge,
3. To practical religion.

Therefore, my beloved brothers.—There appears to be some small error in the manuscripts here, but the alteration is only just worth mentioning: you know, my beloved brothers, seems the correct version, the very abruptness of which may serve to arrest attention. Indeed, Have you not known? might well be asked further in the indignant language of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:21).

Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.—For all these cautions are required in the building up of the new life. “The quick speaker is the quick kindler;” and we are told later on how great a matter a little fire kindleth (James 3:5). And what do we have to do with wrath at all, much less should our whole life—as unhappily it often is—be wasted with such bitterness? Anger, no doubt, is a wholesome tonic for some minds and for certain weaknesses; but he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city (Proverbs 16:32).