James 5:10

Jam_5:10

An example of suffering affliction--

Good examples

Man is so formed by nature that examples, whether good or bad, have a great influence upon him.

The bad, indeed, have more power to corrupt than the good to reform the world: nevertheless, upon all who are well disposed, good examples are not without a considerable effect. Good examples in general tend to establish us in the belief of the infinite advantages of true religion, which appears with most convincing evidence when, in the lives and actions of those who profess it, we behold a lovely counterpart of its Divine doctrines and admirable precepts. The cause is known by its effects, the fountain by its streams. Good examples are further advantageous as they are corrective: they strongly operate upon the principles of an ingenuous shame, and therefore contribute to reform the vicious and to improve the virtuous. We may also observe that such good and amiable models are powerfully attractive. Their lustre is truly bright, their beauty truly alluring: they seize on our esteem, steal our affections, and so insinuate themselves into the soul as by insensible degrees to transform it into their own likeness. When the sincere follower of Christ contemplates the illustrious patterns held up to him in Scripture, he will naturally be led to reflect that he is not single in the difficulties of the human race. Through the Divine blessing and assistance he will determine to tread the same path, and, like them, despise the allurements and terrors of the world. It is highly useful to attend not only to the patterns proposed in Scripture, but also to all those good examples which through any other means fall within the sphere of our knowledge; more particularly of such persons as have been persecuted for righteousness sake, and have with heroic fortitude borne witness to the truth in the face of sufferings and death. If we have borne any particular relation to persons eminent for piety and virtue, their examples ought to be peculiarly beneficial to us. It may be presumed that, by our greater affection for such endeared friends, we shall be better prepared to receive the influence of their good examples. If we have had the benefit of their instructions and reproofs, of their admonitions, prayers and counsels, we shall be the more inexcusable if we are not disposed to resemble them. Eminent examples of piety and virtue, whether near or more remote, are like lights set up in the world for the direction of mankind in general, and for the comfort of the good: some of these, like the luminaries of heaven, extend their influence to all nations and times. In order to induce us to imitate those excellent examples which are held forth to us in Scripture, or which by any other means come within the circle of our knowledge, let us attend to the following encouraging considerations.

1. We serve the same God and Father. He is as deserving of the zeal and fidelity of His servants now as ever, has the same blessings treasured up in Himself, the same power in heaven, and the same care of His people here on earth. If we cultivate repentance and faith, piety and virtue, we have the same hopes of acquiring His favour, for He is no respecter of persons.

2. Another encouraging circumstance is that we profess the same doctrine in general even with those who lived before the time of Christ.

3. Again, we are blessed with the same assistance, we are favoured with the same outward means and institutions, we are blessed with the public worship of God, the benefit of prayer, of the preaching His Word, and of the administration of the sacraments; we have moral and religious treatises in abundance, doctrinal, practical and devotional. Nor is there any want of internal assistance and consolation that either our own weakness, the irregularity of our passions, or the temptations with which we are encompassed, may render necessary to encourage us in our Christian course.

4. To conclude all, let it be considered that we have the promise and expectation of the same reward with them. Attentively, therefore, let us eye all the good examples with which we are acquainted that we may catch a portion of that heavenly ardour which animated them. (B. C. Sowden.)

What is affliction?

Affliction is the dark soil in which is deposited the heavenly seed, that germinates, and brings forth fruit to the glory of God. Affliction is a furnace, in whose ardent flame the Refiner of souls is consuming our human imperfections. Affliction is a rod, under whose kindly chastisement the Father of Spirits is educating us for immortality. Affliction is a baptism, from whose cleansing wave the saints of the Most High come forth fit for the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Affliction is a cup, whose bitter draught is administered by the good Physician to purify our spiritual natures. Affliction is a dark cloud, on which the God of covenant has painted the rainbow of hope, and which He has irradiated with the halo of celestial glory. Would you, then, bring forth much fruit? would you be purified of remaining imperfections? would you be trained for immortality? would you be fitted for the marriage-supper? would you be sanctified in your spiritual nature? would you be encircled in the bow of promise or adorned with the halo of glory? You must needs suffer affliction; for it is through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom.

The uses of affliction

1. God visits with sickness to cause careless sinners to bethink themselves concerning their souls estate, who, perhaps, never had a serious thought about it before.

2. God visits us with sickness in order to instruct and teach us things we know not (Psa_90:12). The path of the cross is the path of light.

3. God sends such trials and distresses in order to mortify and kill sin in us.

4. God sends sickness to awaken in us the spirit of prayer and supplication, and make us more earnest and importunate in our addresses to the throne of grace.

5. Another end is to loosen our hearts from the things of the world, and cause us to look and long for heaven.

6. God designs to make the world bitter, and Christ sweet to us.

7. God visits with sickness and distress in order both to prove and improve His peoples graces (Deu_8:2; Rev_2:10). Grace is hereby both tried and strengthened.

8. Gods aim is to awaken us to redeem time, to prepare for flitting, and clear up our evidence for heaven. (The Study.)

And of patience

Patience aids every virtue

Patience to the soul is as bread to the body, the staff of either the natural or spiritual life; we eat bread with all our meats, both for health and relish; bread with flesh, bread with fish, bread with broths and fruits. Such is patience to every virtue; we must hope with patience, and pray in patience, and love with patience, and whatsoever good thing we do, let it be done in patience.

Patience reduces pain

As the lid is made to open and shut, to save the eye; so patience is set to keep the soul, and save the heart whole to cheer the body again. Therefore, if you mark when you can go by an offence and take a little wrong, and suffer trouble quietly, you have a kind of peace and joy in your heart, as if you had gotten a victory; and the more your patience is, still the less your pain is. For as a light burden, borne at the arms end, weigheth heavier by much than a burden of treble weight if it be borne upon the shoulders, which are made to bear; so if a man set impatience to bear a cross, which is not fit to bear, it will grumble and murmur, and start and shrink, and let the burden fall upon his head; like a broken staff which promiseth to help him over the water, and leaveth him in the ditch. But if you put it to patience, and set her to bear it which is appointed to bear, she is like the hearty spies that came from Canaan, and said, It is nothing to overcome them; so patience saith, It is nothing to bear, it is nothing to fast, it is nothing to watch, it is nothing to labour, it is nothing to be envied, it is nothing to be backbited, it is nothing to be imprisoned; In all these things we are more than conquerors. (Henry Smith.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jas 5:10-11. Take the prophets — Once persecuted like you, even for speaking in the name of the Lord — The very men that gloried in having the prophets, yet could not bear their message. Nor did either the holiness or the high commission of these messengers of God screen them from suffering; for an example of suffering affliction — Or persecution from the persons to whom they brought divine revelations; and of patience — In suffering. Behold, we count them happy — We commend them, and believe them to be the beloved children of God; who endure — Bear their sufferings with patience, meekness, and a contented mind. The apostle’s mentioning this immediately after he had proposed the prophets as an example of patience in suffering, shows that he herein alludes to Christ’s words, (Mat 5:11,) Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, &c., for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. Ye have heard of the patience of Job — Under his peculiarly heavy sufferings; and have seen the end of the Lord — Ye have seen, in the history of that good man, what a happy issue the Lord gave to his sufferings; or how much to his honour and comfort his various and heavy afflictions concluded; that the Lord is very pitiful, &c. — And that it is with the bowels of an affectionate father that he corrects his beloved children, and not for his own gratification, but with a view to their eternal advantage.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:10 This verse reflects on Matt 5:11 and Luke 6:23 (see study note on Jas 1:22-23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jas 5:10. Ἀδελφοί μου, τῆς κακοπαθείας) The vindication of this reading is to be found, App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this passage.[72]—Τῆς ΚΑΚΟΠΑΘΕΊΑς, the enduring of evils) lest you should think that any strange thing has happened to you. The word κακοπαθεῖ occurs, Jas 5:13.—ΤΟῪς ΠΡΟΦΉΤΑς, the prophets) who were singularly persecuted in their time, and therefore blessed: Mat 5:12.—ἐλάλησαν, have spoken) How great was the violence of the world, and the patient endurance of the prophets, is here intimated.—τῷ ὀνόματι, in the name) The obedience of the prophets in praising the name of the Lord is intended: ἐν is understood, as at Mat 7:22; Lev 19:12, Septuagint.

[72] AB Vulg. omit μον. Rec. Text omits it, with Syr. and Memph. Also AB and most Versions put ἀδελφοὶ before κακοπαθείας. Rec. Text puts it after κακοπ, without good authority.—E.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jam_5:10-11. Old Testament examples adduced for the sake of strengthening the exhortation to patience.

ὑπόδειγμα λάβετε] ὑπόδειγμα (instead of the classical παράδειγμα) here, as frequently in the N. T. and LXX., an example, a pattern; in sense equivalent to ὑπόγραμμον, 1Pe_2:21; τύπος, 2Th_3:9 (εἰς τὸ μιμεῖσθαι).

τῆς κακοπαθείας καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας] κακοπάθεια, in the N. T. ἅπ. λεγ., is not synonymous with μακροθυμία = vexationum patientia (Hottinger), but denotes suffering, affliction, synonymous with ξυμφοραί, Thue. vii. 77; in 2Ma_2:26-27, it is used in a somewhat attenuated sense. Schneckenburger arbitrarily combines it with the following words into one idea = τῆς ἐν κακοπαθείᾳ μακροθυμίας; by this combination the point of κακοπάθεια is weakened. On the sentiment, see Mat_5:12.

By the relative clause οἳ ἐλάλησαν (ἐν) τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου, belonging to τοὺς προφήτας, is indicated that the prophets, as servants of God, stand opposed to the world, even as believing Christians do. The dative τῷ ὀνόματι (see critical remark) is not to be explained, with Meyer (see on Mat_7:22), by means of the name, i.e. that the name of the Lord satisfied their religious consciousness and was the object of their confession; but, as is commonly understood = ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου (Wiesinger: jussu et autoritate; de Wette: by virtue of the name); this is evident from the fact that the Hebrew דִּבֵּר בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה is translated in the LXX. not only by ἐν (τᾷ) ὀν. κυρίου (Dan_9:6) or by ἐπὶ τῷ ὀν. (Jer_20:9), but also by λαλεῖν τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου (Jer_44:16).[233]

[233] Also in union with other verbs the LXX. translate בְּשֵׁם sometimes by the simple dative; thus Exo_33:19; Exo_34:5 : καλεῖν τῷ ὀνόματι; Jer_12:16 : ὀμνύειν τῷ ὀν. μου; see also Isa_41:25; Isa_43:7; Isa_45:4.Though this usage were not decisive, yet it would be most natural to explain the dative τῷ ἐνόματι = through the name, by which the name of the Lord would be conceived as the objective power by which the prophets were induced to speak.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jas 5:10 . ὑπόδειγμα : Cf. Sir 44:16 and especially Joh 13:15 , ὑπόδ . ἔδωκα ὑμῖν … of our Lord. τῆς κακοπαθείας : ἅπ . λεγ . in N.T. cf. 4Ma 9:8 . It means “endurance” rather than the R.V. “suffering”; this goes better with μακροθυμίας , “patience”. The rendering “endurance” has support from the papyri, see Deissmann, Neue Bibelst. , pp. 91 f. ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι : although this use of the phrase is paralleled by its use in the papyri (see Deissmann, Bibelst. , pp. 143 5: Neue Bibelst. , pp. 25, 26), it is more probable that in this case it comes through the Septuagint from the Hebrew בשׁם ; cf. above Jas 2:7 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because most men are wont to object, that it is good to repel injuries by what means soever, he setteth against that, the examples of the Fathers, whose patience had a most happy end, because God as a most bountiful Father, never forsaketh his.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the prophets--who were especially persecuted, and therefore were especially "blessed."

example of suffering affliction--rather, simply, "of affliction," literally, "evil treatment."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. Take - the prophets] The prophets who had spoken to their forefathers by the authority of God, were persecuted by the very people to whom they delivered the Divine message; but they suffered affliction and persecution with patience, commending their cause to him who judgeth righteously; therefore, imitate their example.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10 Take, my brethren, the prophets. The comfort which he brings is not that which is according to the common proverb, that the miserable hope for like companions in evils. That they set before them associates, in whose number it was desirable to be classed; and to have the same condition with them, was no misery. For as we must necessarily feel extreme grief, when any evil happens to us which the children of God have never experienced, so it is a singular consolation when we know that we suffer nothing different from them; nay, when we know that we have to sustain the same yoke with them.

When Job heard from his friends,

“Turn to the saints, can you find any like to thee?” (Job 5:1,)

it was the voice of Satan, because he wished to drive him to despair. When, on the other hand, the Spirit by the mouth of James designs to raise us up to a good hope, he shews to us all the fore-going saints, who as it were stretch out their hand to us, and by their example encourage us to undergo and to conquer afflictions.

The life of men is indeed indiscriminately subject to troubles and adversities; but James did not bring forward any kind of men for examples, for it would have availed nothing to perish with the multitude; but he chose the prophets, a fellowship with whom is blessed. Nothing so breaks us down and disheartens us as the feeling of misery; it is therefore a real consolation to know that those things commonly deemed evils are aids and helps to our salvation. This is, indeed, what is far from being understood by the flesh; yet the faithful ought to be convinced of this, that they are happy when by various troubles they are proved by the Lord. To convince us of this, James reminds us to consider the end or design of the afflictions endured by the prophets; for as our own evils we are without judgment, being influenced by grief, sorrow, or some other immoderate feelings, as we see nothing under a foggy sky and in the midst of storms, and being tossed here and there as it were by a tempest, it is therefore necessary for us to cast our eyes to another quarter, where the sky is in a manner serene and bright. When the afflictions of the saints are related to us, there is no one who will allow that they were miserable, but, on the contrary, that they were happy.

Then James has done well for us; for he has laid before our eyes a pattern, that we may learn to look at it whenever we are tempted to impatience or to despair: and he takes this principle as granted, that the prophets were blessed in their afflictions, for they courageously sustained them. Since it was so, he concludes that the same judgment ought to be formed of us when afflicted.

And he says, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord; by which he intimates that they were accepted and approved by God. If, then, it had been useful for them to have been free from miseries, doubtless God would have kept them free. But it was otherwise. It hence follows that afflictions are salutary to the faithful. He, therefore, bids them to be taken as an example of suffering affliction. But patience also must be added, which is a real evidence of our obedience. Hence he has joined them both together.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) For an example.—Another reason for endurance, an example of affliction and patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. These are the bright ones in the cloud of witnesses, of whom the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb_12:1) speaks, who, like Daniel, “stopped the mouths of lions”; like Jeremiah and Elijah, “escaped the edge of the sword;” “out of weakness were made strong”; who “were stoned,” like Zachariah; “sawn asunder,” like Isaiah; “slain with the sword,” like Urijah and John; “of whom the world was not worthy.” Thus the saints of the Old Covenant are held up for honour and imitation to those of the New. James was not advocating a religion alien to that of Moses, but building again more widely “the ruins of the tabernacle which had fallen down,” that “all the Gentiles might seek after the Lord.” (Comp. his speech in the synod, Act_15:13-21.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Take, my brethren, the prophets …] Better, as representing the emphatic order of the Greek, As an example of affliction and long-suffering take, my brethren, the prophets … The first of the nouns expresses simply the objective affliction, not the manner of enduring it.

the prophets who have spoken …] Better, who spake. The words point, perhaps, chiefly to the prophets of the Old Testament, as having, with scarcely an exception, suffered persecution (Mat_5:12). But we must not forget that there were prophets also in the Christian Church (1Co_12:10; 1Co_14:24; 1Co_14:29; Eph_2:20; Eph_4:11; Rev_22:9), and that these were exposed to the same trials as their predecessors. It is to their sufferings that St Paul probably referred in 1Th_2:15, and St James may well have included them in his general reference. Stephen and his own namesake, the son of Zebedee, may have been specially present to his thoughts.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord,.... Men who have been highly honoured of God, with a gift of prophesying, or foretelling things to come; to whom God revealed his secrets, doing nothing without acquainting them with it; and who were sent forth by him, and prophesied in his name what were made known unto them; and yet, though these were his favourites, they suffered much; as cruel mockings, scourgings, imprisonment, famine, nakedness, and death in various shapes; some being stoned, others sawn asunder, and others killed by the sword; all which they endured with incredible patience. And therefore the apostle proposes them to be taken,

for an example suffering affliction, and of patience; their afflictions were many and great, and yet they were very patient under them; and through faith and patience they went through them, and now inherit the promises; and so are a very proper example and pattern for New Testament saints to follow and copy after.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Ver. 10. For an example of suffering] Examples very much affect us, as they did many of the martyrs. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:12"}

" A bove maiori discit arare minor."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take, my brethren, the prophets - That is, in your trials and persecutions. To encourage them to the exercise of patience, he points them to the example of those who had trod the same thorny path before them. The prophets were in general a much persecuted race of men; and the argument on which the apostle relies from their example is this:

(1)That if the prophets were persecuted and tried, it may be expected that other good men will be;

(2)That they showed such patience in their trials as to be a model for us.

An example of suffering affliction - That is, they showed us how evils are to be borne.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Exemplum accipite, exitus mali, et laboris, et patientiæ, Greek: kakopatheias kai makrothumias. There is nothing in the Greek for laboris, which the Latin interpreter may have added to express the full sense.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Take, my brethren, the prophets; as being most eminent among God’s people, and leaders of them; he intimates that it is an honour to suffer among the best.

Who have spoken in the name of the Lord; by his command and authority, and so were employed in the highest services in the church, and thereby appeared to be approved of God, and most dear to him.

For an example of suffering affliction: as much as God honoured and loved them, yet they were not exempted from afflictions, but were maligned, traduced, and persecuted by men, 1Ki 18:13; 19:14; 2Ki 6:31; Amo 7:10; Heb 11:1-40; and therefore when they suffered such hard things, it is no shame for you to suffer the like, Mat 5:12.

And of patience; as the example of their sufferings should prevent your discouragement, so the example of their patience should provoke your imitation; God having set them forth as examples of both, that if you suffer the same things, you may suffer with the same minds.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. The prophets—In St. James’ view the Christian has a full right to the Old Testament, and he is in his day as the prophets of old. Both suffer on earth in solemn hope of a better life.

In the name—Using the name as representatives of him.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The injunction is further strengthened by an appeal to the example of the prophets of the old covenant, an "example of suffering and of patience." Read ejn tw ojnomati, with a, B, and observe the anarthrous Kuriou. (cf. on Jam_4:10) Suffering affliction. Thv kakopaqeiav.: here only in the LXX, Mal_1:13 RAPC 2Macc 2:26.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take the prophets for an example - Once persecuted like you, even for speaking in the name of the Lord. The very men that gloried in having prophets yet could not bear their message: nor did either their holiness or their high commission screen them from suffering.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Here the apostle exhorts suffering Christians to patience, by the example of the Old Testament saints, who were exceeding dear to God, employed in special services for God, yet exercised with long and sharp afflictions for him. Now, their nature was as tender and as frail as ours, and we have the same blessed Spirit to comfort and assist us with them.

Note thence, 1. That the examples of excellent persons who have gone in the thorny path of affliction before us, and beaten it for us, are of excellent use to suppress our fears, to support our spirits under all our conflicts, and to rouse our courage in all our encounters.

Note, 2. That it is our great duty to eye the encouraging examples of those that have trod the path of sufferings before us, and strive to imitate and follow such worthy patterns. The first sufferers had the hardest task; strange and untried torments are most terrible; they knew not the strength of their enemy which they were to engage, but we fight with an enemy which has been often beaten and triumphed over by our brethren that went before us; certainly we that live in these last times have the best helps that ever any had to subdue our fears; Take we then the prophets, and primitive saints, for an example both of grievous sufferings and of great patience.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10, 11. Take, my brethren, the prophets. They suffered, were patient, endured to the end and secured the blessing.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

10. κακοπαθείας, here only in N.T. Comp. infra Jas 5:13 κακοπαθεῖν, ‘to endure hardship’; and 2Ti 2:3; 2Ti 2:9; 2Ti 4:5.

μακροθυμίας, longsuffering, a late Greek word found in Plutarch, elsewhere only in LXX. and N.T., 10 times in St Paul’s epistles, in Heb 6:12, and of divine longsuffering, 1Pe 3:20 and 2Pe 3:15. Trench defines it as a “long holding out of the mind before it gives room to action or passion—generally passion.” The μακρόθυμος is βραδὺς εἰς ὀργήν. Here it is endurance under persecution, a noble self-restraint which refuses to take vengeance, Mat 5:22-24; Mat 5:39-41. In 1Ma 8:4 it is used of the Roman patience which conquered the world, κατεκράτησαν τοῦ τόπου παντὸς τῇ βουλῇ αὐτῶν καὶ μακροθυμίᾳ. For a description of the divine μακροθυμία (though the word itself does not occur in the passage) Trench refers to Wis 12:20-21.

οἳ ἐλάλησαν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου, added to indicate a parallel between the prophets and the suffering Christians to whom St James writes, comp. Mat 5:12. Like the prophets they are on the side of God against the world. Comp. Isa 1:10 πεποίθατε ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου, Jer 23:25 προφητεύουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, Eze 16:14 ἐξῆλθέν σου ὄνομα ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι. By ὄνομα Κυρίου is meant that by which the Lord is known, every manifestation of Him, that which formed the basis and substance of the prophetic teaching.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. ὑπόδειγμα λάβετε, “take as an example.” Cf. Ecclus. 44:16,, 2 Macc. 6:28, 31, 4 Macc. 17:23, Joh 13:15; 1Pe 2:21, ὑπόγραμμον.

τῆς κακοπαθίας καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας, “of hardship coupled with patience,” i. e. “of patience in hardship,” easily understood as a form of hendiadys.

Cf. 4 Macc. 9:8 διὰ τῆσδε τῆς κακοπαθίας καὶ ὑπομονῆς, “through this patient endurance of hardship.”

κακοπαθία and κακοπαθέω are somewhat rare words; they correspond well to English “hardship.” Cf. Mal 1:13, Jon 4:10, Jon 4:2 Macc. 2:26 f., Ep. Arist. 49:26, also Sym. in Gen 3:17, Psa 12:5, Psa 16:4, Psa 127:2.

τοὺς προφήτας. Cf. Mat 5:12, Mat 5:23:34, Mat 5:37, Act 7:52, Heb 11:33, 1Th 2:15, Luk 11:49, 2Ch 36:16.

It is noteworthy that the example of Christ’s endurance of suffering is not here referred to, as it is in 1Pe 2:21 ff.

οἳ ἐλάλησαν ἐν τῷ͂ ὀνόματι κυρίου. Cf. Dan 9:6 (Theod.) οἳ ἐλάλουν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου, Jer 20:9, Jer 44:16. οἳ ἐλάλησαν κτλ. is added in order to point out that even the most eminent servants of God have been exposed to suffering and hardship, cf. Mat 5:12.

ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι] BP minnmulti.

ἐν ὀνόματι] א.

ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι] min.

τῷ ὀνόματι] AKL 048 minnpler.

Difficult to decide; external authority is here against lectio brevior.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Example [υποδειγμα] . See on 2Pe 2:6.

Of suffering affliction [κακοπαθειας] . Only here in New Testament. The word does not mean the endurance of affliction, but affliction itself. Hence, Rev., rightly, suffering.

The prophets. Compare Mt 5:12.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.