Hearken ( ἀκούσατε). This has been noticed as a coincidence with the speech of St. James in Acts 15:13. It is, however, too slight to be worth much (cf. Acts 7:2; Acts 13:16; Acts 22:1). For τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, read τῷ κόσμῳ ( א, A, B, C), "poor as to the world;" perhaps "in the estimation of the world."
These God chose (to be) rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, etc. The kingdom; mentioned hero only by St. James (and even here, א, A read ἐπαγγελίας); cf. νόμον βασιλικόν in verse 8. Which he hath promised.
As Dean Plumptre has pointed out, "it is scarcely possible to exclude a direct reference to the words of Christ, as in Luke 6:20; Luke 12:31, Luke 12:32; and so we get indirect proof of a current knowledge, at the early period at which St.
James wrote, of teaching which was afterwards recorded in the written Gospels."