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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
5:7-12 Patience in Suffering. The attention turns from rich to poor, from the evil oppressors to the righteous oppressed, from presumption to patience. Rather than fighting back, they are called to patient endurance and to trust in God to vindicate them.
5:7 The righteous are to wait until the coming of the Lord (see 1 Thess. 4:15), when he will right all wrongs. The early and the late rains describe the Palestinian climate, in which the autumn rains occur just after sowing and the spring rains just before harvest (Jer. 5:24; Joel 2:23). Even though three-fourths of Palestine's rain fell from December to February, these two rains were the most critical.
5:9 Do not grumble sums up the divisive complaining behind 3:1-4:12. It can be particularly painful in times of suffering when people explode in frustration and turn upon each other.
5:10 The example of the prophets centers on the many who suffered and died (see Heb. 11:32-38) for speaking in the name of the Lord.
5:12 It is not entirely clear how do not swear is connected to vv. 7-11. Above all may indicate that this begins a three-part conclusion to the letter (vv. 12, 13-18, 19-20). Yet it could also refer back to the sins of the tongue and hence the grumbling of v. 9. Oaths were allowed in Israel, but the person was required to fulfill them, especially because they so often involved invoking the name of God (see Lev. 19:12; Jer. 5:2). James's prohibition of oaths builds on Jesus' prohibition in Matt. 5:33-37, and the point in both cases is that one's word should be enough. Still, this does not mean all oaths (e.g., official oaths) are prohibited (cf. Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:23; Phil. 1:8). (See Jesus' prohibition of oaths in Matt. 23:16-22.)
