James 5:7
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”
King James Version (KJV)
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After warning the unjust rich, James turns to comfort suffering believers, urging patient endurance modeled on the farmer who waits for his harvest.
What Does James 5:7 Mean?
James calls believers to patience as they wait for the coming of the Lord, and he gives a homely, powerful illustration: the farmer. Having addressed the injustices his readers suffered, he points them forward to the day when the Lord will set all things right, and he tells them how to live in the meantime -- with patience.
The "husbandman," or farmer, is the picture of patient hope. He plants his seed and then waits; he cannot rush the harvest. He depends on "the early and latter rain" -- the autumn rains that softened the ground for planting and the spring rains that swelled the grain before harvest. Between sowing and reaping lies a long stretch of waiting that no effort can shorten. Yet the farmer does not abandon his field; he waits with confidence because the fruit is "precious" and worth the wait. So it is with the believer. The day of the Lord is coming, and the harvest of patient faith is sure. Like the farmer, we cannot hurry God's timing, but we can wait with steady, hopeful endurance, trusting that the One who governs the seasons will bring the promised fruit in its season.
In the Original Language
The word "patient" is makrothumeo, literally to be long-tempered, to bear long; "husbandman" renders georgos, a farmer or tiller of the soil.
Cross References
Application
When you must wait for God to act, imitate the farmer: keep tending faithfully, trust the timing you cannot control, and hold on to the certainty of the harvest.