James 5:10

James 5:10. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord namely, the Old Testament prophets, the inspired messengers of God.

for an example. It is an argument for patience in affliction that our sufferings are not peculiar, but that others have likewise suffered, especially those eminent for holiness.

of suffering affliction, or rather, simply ‘of affliction.' and of patience; not to be weakened, as if it were a Hebraism, ‘for an example of patient affliction.' The prophets were examples both of affliction and of patience; their afflictions were greater than ours, and therefore the patience with which they endured them was so much the more commendable and worthy of imitation. Examples of affliction are not hard to find; we have only to open our eyes, and we shall see greater sufferers than ourselves; but examples both of affliction and of patience are rarer, yet, thank God, they also may be found. We can now take for examples not only the prophets of the Old Testament, but the saints of the New; and there are a sufficient number of such to console us in our sufferings, and to encourage us to a patient confidence in God.