Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 2:16

"and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?" — James 2:16 (ASV)

The proposition is now illustrated by a supposition bordering on the ludicrous. It is the case of a fellow-believer who is in dire need of clothes and food. The statement “Go, I wish you well” is a modern idiom used to represent James’s “Go in peace” (a standard Hebrew farewell). The translation “keep warm and well fed” may be somewhat misleading in suggesting that the person is already warm and fed, which is not the case. The form of these two verbs either suggests that it is someone else’s responsibility to clothe and feed the unfortunate person (“Be warmed and fed by someone else”), or it means, “Get yourself some warm clothes and some food,” without defining the source. The preposterousness of such a command is no doubt intentional. “What good is it?” James asks. Its seeming concern for the welfare of the poor person is a worthless facade.