Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Are rusted (katiwtai). Perfect passive indicative (singular for xrusov and argurov are grouped as one) of katiow, late verb (from iov, rust) with perfective sense of kata, to rust through (down to the bottom), found only here, Sirach 12:11, Epictetus (Diss. 4, 6, 14).
Rust (iov). Poison in James 3:8; Romans 3:13 (only N.T. examples of old word). Silver does corrode and gold will tarnish. Dioscorides (V.91) tells about gold being rusted by chemicals. Modern chemists can even transmute metals as the alchemists claimed.
For a testimony (eiv marturion). Common idiom as in Matthew 8:4 (use of eiv with accusative in predicate).
Against you (umin). Dative of disadvantage as in Mark 6:11 (eiv marturion autoiv) where in the parallel passage (Luke 9:5) we have eiv marturion ep autouv. "To you" will make sense, as in Matthew 8:4; Matthew 10:18, but "against" is the idea here as in Luke 21:13.
Shall eat (fagetai). Future middle (late form from efagon) of defective verb esqiw, to eat.
Your flesh (tav sarkav). The plural is used for the fleshy parts of the body like pieces of flesh (Revelation 17:16; Revelation 19:18, Revelation 19:21). Rust eats like a canker, like cancer in the body.
As fire (wv pur). Editors differ here whether to connect this phrase with fagetai, just before (as Mayor), for fire eats up more rapidly than rust, or with the following, as Westcott and Hort and Ropes, that is the eternal fire of Gehenna which awaits them (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:44). This interpretation makes a more vivid picture for eqhsaurisate (ye have laid up, first aorist active indicative of qhsaurizw, Matthew 6:19 and see Proverbs 16:27), but it is more natural to take it with fagetai.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing James 5:3:
Luke 6:24
Romans 3:13
2 Corinthians 12:14
2 Timothy 3:1
James 3:8
James 4:6
James 5:1
James 5:7
1 Peter 1:5
Revelation 17:16
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