Charles Ellicott Commentary James 1:12

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to them that love him." — James 1:12 (ASV)

Blessed is the man that endures temptation.—Surely the Apostle links such blessedness with the nine Beatitudes, heard in the happy past days on the Mount with Christ (Matthew 5:3–11). The words he uses in the original are the same as those which are expressed above, in our second, third, and fourth verses, by “patience” and “trials,” and mean a firm endurance, steadfastness, tenacity of purpose, and quenchless enthusiasm, such as men of Teutonic blood can appreciate perhaps even better than could either Greek or Jew.

For when he is tried (literally, proved, or tested, and found worthy) he shall receive the crown of life, (i.e., the life) which the Lord has promised to them that love him.—“Lord” is not found in the best manuscripts, but of course is required by the sense of the passage. Probably in this case, as in so many others, a little note—or “gloss,” as it is called—was made on the margin of an early manuscript, and included unwittingly in the text by some later copyist.

The “pride” and “beauty” of the worldling are as “a fading flower” (Isaiah 28:1) under the scorching sun; but the unfading, ever-living crown is for the spiritual, the true lovers of their Lord: blessed in truth are they who thus endure the trial. “Therefore,” says the Book of Wisdom (James 5:16), “shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord’s hand.” “The righteous live for evermore” .

On verses 12-18:

The Apostle returns to the consideration of the afflicted Christian. Such a person already possesses a blessedness, infinitely greater than any earthly happiness, and has the promise of a future beyond all comparison.

It is worth noting here that the idea of blessedness with regard to humanity is conveyed to us in the New Testament by a different word from that which expresses the same concerning God. The force of this may be seen in Mark 14:61, where the high priest asks our Lord, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61)—i.e., the Blessed God—which is why the adjective is rightly printed with a capital letter.

The word applied to God—as in Luke 1:68; Romans 1:25; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3—can almost be called a Christian one; at least, it is not found in much earlier writings, whereas the other term descriptive of human blessedness (or rather, happiness) is ancient and classical.

Only in one passage (1 Timothy 1:11) is there an exception to this remarkable distinction. This exception may well be considered, as it is by the German critic De Wette, un-pauline, though on no such single instance, or even several similar ones, could the superstructure be built that has been raised by those who deny the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles.