James 5:11

ὑπομείναντας אBP, Old Latin and Vulgate, ὑπομένοντας KL and several versions—the distinction is important, see below.

11. τοὺς ὑπομείναντας, those who endured, indicating special instances of endurance; τοὺς ὑπομένοντας would signify a class, generally ‘those who endure.’

ὑπομονήν. See ch. James 1:3 and also Trench N. T. Synonyms, Second Series.

τὸ τέλος Κυρίου, that which in the end Jehovah brought to pass for Job: ὃ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἠθέλησεν καὶ ἐποίησεν, Job 23:13; comp. James 5:7 of the same ch. ἐξαγάγοι δὲ εἰς τέλος τὸ κρίμα μου. For the genitive see Winer, pp. 309, 310. Others render this expression ‘the end of the Lord Jesus,’ the result of His sufferings. But such a reference would be less appropriate here, and if that meaning had been intended the expression would have been more explicit.

πολύσπλαγχνος. Here only in N.T., but σπλάγχνα, lit. the larger and more important internal organs, especially the heart, is frequently used in the sense of pity and compassion: Philippians 1:8 ἐπιποθῶ πάντας ὑμᾶς ἐν σπλάγχνοις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, where see Bp Lightfoot, Luke 1:78 σπλάγχνα ἐλέους, ‘a compassionate heart,’ Colossians 3:12 σπλ. οἰκτιρμῶν, Philemon 1:7 τὰ σπλ. τῶν ἁγίων�, and elsewhere. The verb σπλαγχνίζεσθαι is only found in the synoptic gospels, and is there used always to express the Lord’s compassion as a motive for healing.

With this verse the epistle as a whole connected subject appears to end. What follows is in the nature and manner of a postscript. It contains special warnings needed for the Churches, which had not fallen into the preceding argument.