Theophylact of Ohrid, on Jas 4:15

“For what is your life? It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away. For that you should say: If the Lord will, and if we shall live, we will do this or that.”

“Having interrupted the discourse midway with this comparison, he returns to it again and continues. Here is the connection: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, and buy and sell and make a profit'" (Jas. 4:13)... "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'" (Jas. 4:15). Having interrupted the connection of the discourse with the example by which the apostle wished to show more strikingly the vanity of worldly cares proceeding from pride, he then adds what was omitted. The course of the speech is this: "You, in your arrogance, boast." Who? "You who do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life..." and so forth. With the words "what is your life?" he prepared for himself the way to this subtle precept; then he adds the instruction itself, doing so most appropriately.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.