Behold, we account them blessed who have endured. You have heard of the patience of Job and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
ιδου μακαριζομεν τους υπομενοντας την υπομονην ιωβ ηκουσατε και το τελος κυριου ιδετε ειδετε οτι πολυσπλαγχνος εστιν και οικτιρμων
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He says, "You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end from the Lord." He does not say this so that they may patiently endure passing troubles in order to recover what Job received again, as we read.
For Job was healed of those sores and of the corruption of his flesh. Everything he had lost was also restored to him twofold.
The Lord is merciful and compassionate. Even in this present life He frees His faithful ones from temptations, and glorifies the steadfastness of their faith in the hearts of the living.
After death He secretly crowns them, so that the glory they have deserved may not vanish from human memory.
Since the divine James has already given Christians the example of the farmer and the earth, in order to incline them to patience, he now gives a persuasive example as instruction in virtue.
He sets before their eyes the whole choir of the holy prophets, who passed their entire life in suffering and patience. They experienced many sorrows, temptations, and dangers.
As the Apostle Paul said of them: "By faith they conquered kingdoms... being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains, in caves and in the holes of the earth" (Heb 11:33, 38).
We today call these men blessed, because by good patience they conquered the devil and appeared as victors.
Therefore, he says, if you Christians love to be and to be called blessed and prosperous, imitate the patience and other virtues of the holy prophets and righteous ones whom you bless.
For this reason he joins to the prophets the renowned sufferer, the great worker of patience, and the foremost in piety, righteous Job.
It is as though he said to them: Many and countless are the righteous and holy ones who fought the good fight in patience, completed the course, and kept faith in God. To count them by name is impossible, and also unnecessary.
But you, Christians, should now remember Job, known to all and glorious. With every kind of patience he waged war and conquered the devil and all his host.
Looking to him as a prototype and image, imitate his unwavering faith in God and be zealous for his firm courage. Then you will appear as victors over the devices of Satan, and you will be crowned with him.
Thus, when Job completed the struggle and war against the devil, God, the Giver of contests and rich in compassion, not only granted him bodily health and added to and doubled the years of his life.
He also doubled all his possessions, and proclaimed him as crowned and victorious with these words: "Do you think that I have dealt with you for any other reason, except that you might appear righteous?" (Job 40:3).
In the same way, when you complete the good contest in patiently enduring temptations with thanksgiving, Christ, the Giver of contests, will crown you. He will proclaim you righteous and victorious with the same words spoken to Job.
For the Lord does not abandon those who love Him, as He says through Zephaniah: "Wait for Me... until the day of My resurrection as a testimony" (Zeph 3:8).
The divine Habakkuk also says to the righteous man concerning God: "If He delays," that is, if God delays helping you, "wait for Him" (Hab 2:3). Help will surely come to you.
Jeremiah also said: "The Lord is good to those who hope in Him" (Lam 3:25). More clearly than all, Isaiah writes that those who wait for Him receive help and protection from God.
He says: "Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not hunger" (Isa 40:31).
Let each of you, Christians, acquire most soul-profiting patience, so that he may enjoy the divine help of which you always sing with David.
"I waited patiently for the Lord, and He attended to me and heard my prayer. He brought me up out of the pit of passions and from the miry clay" (Ps 39:1-2), that is, out of sin and temptations.
Thus Olympiodorus, interpreting these words, says: "Do you think, O Job, that I left you in such temptations for any other reason than to show you righteous? No, do not think so.
For this reason I permitted temptations to come upon you, because I wished to show the whole universe that you are righteous."
The sufferings of Job were so great that Job is considered a model of patience for all times. This is especially because misfortunes overtook him through the slander of the devil, and Job’s endurance of them was a victory over the ancient enemy of mankind.
The Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Ambrose of Milan, glorify Job and call him a man of most steadfast heart, a martyr greater than many martyrs, a strong wrestler, and so forth.
They honor him as a type of Jesus Christ, both in his condition before and after his sufferings and in his piety, and especially in his sufferings without guilt, by the will of God, through the slanders of the devil.
“You have seen the end of the Lord,” that is, you have seen and learned how Job’s sufferings ended, and how the Lord rewarded him for his sufferings.
“Behold, we count blessed,” and so forth. We count them blessed in the full assurance that God has granted them blessedness (Mt 5:12) for their patience.
This is a great inducement for those who suffer affliction to be long-suffering in afflictions. Patience grants blessedness in heaven and being called blessed on earth by true worshipers of the true God, who have a right view of sufferings in life.
The Apostle points to Job as a lofty example of the patience of a righteous man. Job was the great sufferer of the Old Testament, who suffered in his innocence and piety from the schemes of Satan the tempter.
Satan is the chief author of the sufferings of all the righteous, since through evil people he causes them suffering. Yet in this same example of Job it is also clear that patience in suffering is rewarded by God.
“You have heard” means the same as “you know,” or “it is known to you.” The story of Job is described in the book of Job.
Together with other books it was read in the synagogues during public liturgical gatherings. In this sense the word “heard” may most directly be used.
“You have seen the end of him from the Lord.” Properly, it says “you have seen the end of the Lord.” For this reason some have referred this expression to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, but wrongly.
According to the connection of the speech, it must be referred to the example of Job just presented, and translated as it is translated, among others, in the Russian version.
The meaning is this: you have seen, that is, you also know, it is known to you. “Seen and heard” is an expression of exact and undoubted knowledge.
You know how this patience of Job ended, and how the Lord blessed and justified this righteous sufferer. For this reason we too, together with others, call him blessed.
“For the Lord is very merciful and compassionate.” This also is undoubtedly seen in the example of Job.
Despite some of Job’s not entirely correct judgments about his sufferings, and even his complaints against the justice of God’s actions toward him, the Lord rewarded him according to His mercy and compassion.
He also justified him against the accusations of his friends. This indication of the Lord’s mercy toward those who patiently endure and suffer should have filled the readers of the Epistle with hope amid their oppressions and sorrows.
Their patience too would be rewarded, and by this he strengthened them in the patient endurance of everything they suffered.
That is, what sufferings could be heavier or more numerous than Job's? The holy apostle seems to suggest this. Yet the end from the Lord, that is, the Lord's completion, was twofold honor and glory for the great sufferer.
His wealth was also restored to him with great abundance. Therefore, if we call the patient blessed, we bless and glorify the righteous who reached crowns of victory and heavenly glory through patience.
So we too, if we remain firm and constant in patience, shall be called blessed and shall attain the same crowns.
Patience, already praised more than once and shown in various examples, is now pointed out in the holy prophets who are worthy of imitation, especially Job, and finally in the example of the Lord Himself, who gave Himself up to death for us out of love for us (see Jn 3:16).
If the Lord is so merciful to all people, then all the more He will not allow His chosen ones to suffer without consolation, endlessly.
For example, Job went from being rich and glorious to being poor. But when he endured every kind of trial to the end, he was again made blessed.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 20 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS