7. Be patient therefore--as judgment is so near
(Jas 5:1, 3),
ye may well afford to be "patient" after the example of the
unresisting Just one
(Jas 5:6).
brethren--contrasted with the "rich" oppressors,
Jas 5:1-6.
unto the coming of the Lord--Christ, when the trial of your
patience shall cease.
husbandman waiteth for--that is, patiently bears toils and
delays through hope of the harvest at last. Its "preciousness" (compare
Ps 126:6,
"precious seed") will more than compensate for all the past. Compare
the same image,
Ga 6:3, 9.
hath long patience for it--"over it," in respect to it.
until he receive--"until it receive"
[ALFORD]. Even if English Version be
retained, the receiving of the early and latter rains is not to be
understood as the object of his hope, but the harvest for which
those rains are the necessary preliminary. The early rain fell at
sowing time, about November or December; the latter rain, about March
or April, to mature the grain for harvest. The latter rain that shall
precede the coming spiritual harvest, will probably be another
Pentecost-like effusion of the Holy Ghost.
JFB.
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