John Calvin Commentary James 5:7

"Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain." — James 5:7 (ASV)

Be patient therefore. From this inference, it is evident that what has until now been said against the rich pertains to the consolation of those who seemed for a time to be exposed to their wrongs with impunity.

For after mentioning the causes of those calamities hanging over the rich, and stating this among others—that they proudly and cruelly ruled over the poor—he immediately adds that we who are unjustly oppressed have this reason to be patient: because God will be the judge.

For this is what he means when he says, unto the coming of the Lord. This means that the confusion of things now seen in the world will not be perpetual, because the Lord at his coming will restore order. Therefore, our minds should entertain good hope, for it is not without reason that the restoration of all things is promised to us at that day.

And though the day of the Lord is everywhere called in the Scriptures a manifestation of his judgment and grace, when he helps his people and chastises the ungodly, I prefer to regard the expression here as referring to our final deliverance.

Behold, the husbandman. Paul briefly refers to the same analogy in 2 Timothy 2:6, when he says that the farmer should labor before he gathers the fruit.

But James more fully expresses the idea, for he mentions the daily patience of the farmer who, after committing the seed to the earth, confidently, or at least patiently, waits until the time of harvest comes; nor does he fret because the earth does not immediately yield ripe fruit.

From this, he concludes that we should not be excessively anxious if we must now labor and sow until the harvest, as it were, comes—even the day of the Lord.

The precious fruit. He calls it precious because it is the nourishment of life and the means of sustaining it. And James intimates that since the farmer allows his sustenance, so precious to him, to lie long deposited in the bosom of the earth, and calmly suspends his desire to gather the fruit, we should not be too hasty and fretful, but should wait with resignation for the day of our redemption. It is not necessary to specify in detail the other parts of the comparison.

The early and the latter rains. By the two words, early and latter, two seasons are indicated: the first follows soon after sowing, and the other when the grain is ripening. So the prophets spoke when they intended to describe the time for rain (Deuteronomy 28:12; Joel 2:23; Hosea 6:3). And he has mentioned both times in order to show more fully that farmers are not disheartened by the slow passage of time but bear with the delay.