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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Theophylact of Ohrid
The apostle likens wealth to the flower of grass, wishing to show how quickly it passes away. He used the word "face" not in its proper meaning, for it is used only of a person, and is not used of other objects. By "pursuits" he means undertakings in the present life.
Oecumenius
For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower thereof falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. "in his ways." James speaks of ways or paths of the rich, in prosperous success, or business, among which he unexpectedly receives a change to unhappiness and misfortune.
Western Saints
Bede
For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls. The scorching heat of the sun is taken to mean the stern sentence of the judge, by which the temporal glory of the reproved comes to an end. However, the elect also flourish, but not like the grass. For the righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Ps. XCI). The unrighteous flourish temporarily, who will quickly wither like grass, and like the herbs of the field will soon fall. …
Bonaventure
In the allegorical sense, the sun signifies Christ. It rises in the nativity, it goes down in death; it orbits through noon in the ascension; it is inclined to the north in the judgment. Concerning the judgment, James says: "For the sun rises with a burning heat and parches the grass, and its flower falls."
Translation