The Meaning of James 5:8 Explained

James 5:8

KJV: Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

YLT: be patient, ye also; establish your hearts, because the presence of the Lord hath drawn nigh;

Darby: Ye also have patience: stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawn nigh.

ASV: Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Be  ye  also  patient;  stablish  your  hearts:  for  the coming  of the Lord  draweth nigh. 

What does James 5:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

When the Lord returns we will receive our reward at the judgment seat of Christ. In the meantime we should be patient and encouraged knowing that our reward lies ahead, as God has promised (cf. Matthew 6:20). The rich, who behave as typical rich people, either do not have or have lost sight of this hope. They live only to accumulate as much reward here and now as they can.
". . . the finish line is just ahead: the important point is not to give up now and lose all that for which one has already suffered." [1]
"Anything that must happen, and could happen today, is in a very legitimate sense at hand." [2]

Context Summary

James 5:1-11 - Patiently Await The Lord's Coming
There are many among the rich who are using money as a sacred trust. Not against these does the Apostle utter his terrible anathemas, but against those who make money by oppression and hoard it for their selfish ends. Riches, which have not been gotten righteously, ever bring a curse with them; and the rust of unused or misused wealth eats not only into the metal but into the miser's flesh. In the light of this passage, it is as great a wrong to hoard up for selfish ends money entrusted as a stewardship, as it is to obtain it unrighteously.
There is a sense in which the Lord is ever at hand and present. But He shall come again at the end of this age. Then all wrongs shall be righted and the oppressed avenged. Everything comes to him who can wait for it; do not judge the Lord by His unfinished work. Be patient till He unveils the perfected pattern in glory. Await the end of the Lord! [source]

Chapter Summary: James 5

1  Rich oppressors are to fear God's vengeance
7  We ought to be patient in afflictions, after the example of the prophets, and Job;
12  to forbear swearing;
13  to pray in adversity, to sing in prosperity;
14  to acknowledge mutually our several faults, to pray one for another;
19  and to correct a straying brother

Greek Commentary for James 5:8

Ye also [και υμεις]
As well as the farmers. [source]
Stablish [στηριχατε]
First aorist active imperative of στηριζω — stērizō old verb, (from στηριγχ — stērigx a support) to make stable, as in Luke 22:32; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.Is at hand (ηγγικεν — ēggiken). Present perfect active indicative of εγγιζω — eggizō common verb, to draw near (from εγγυς — eggus), in James 4:8, for drawing near. Same form used by John in his preaching (Matthew 3:2). In 1 Peter 4:7 the same word appears to have an eschatological sense as apparently here. How “near” or “nigh” did James mean? Clearly, it could only be a hope, for Jesus had distinctly said that no one knew when he would return. [source]
Is at hand [ηγγικεν]
Present perfect active indicative of εγγιζω — eggizō common verb, to draw near (from εγγυς — eggus), in James 4:8, for drawing near. Same form used by John in his preaching (Matthew 3:2). In 1 Peter 4:7 the same word appears to have an eschatological sense as apparently here. How “near” or “nigh” did James mean? Clearly, it could only be a hope, for Jesus had distinctly said that no one knew when he would return. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for James 5:8

Matthew 24:3 Coming [παρουσίας]
Originally, presence, from παρεῖναι , to be present. In this sense in Philemon 2:12; 2 Corinthians 10:10. Also arrival, as in 1 Corinthians 16:17; 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Peter 3:12. Of the second coming of Christ: James 5:8; 1 John 2:28; 2 Peter 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:15. [source]
James 5:7 Until the coming of the Lord [ο γεωργος]
The second coming of Christ he means, the regular phrase here and in James 5:8 for that idea (Matthew 24:3, Matthew 24:37, Matthew 24:39; 1 Thessalonians 2:19, etc.).The husbandman (γη εργω — ho geōrgos). The worker in the ground (εκδεχεται — gēεκδεχομαι — ergō) as in Matthew 21:33.Waiteth for Present middle indicative of τιμη — ekdechomai old verb for eager expectation as in Acts 17:16.Precious (μακροτυμων επ αυτωι — timion). Old adjective from μακροτυμεω — timē (honor, price), dear to the farmer because of his toil for it. See 1 Peter 1:19.Being patient over it Present active participle of εως — makrothumeō just used in the exhortation, picturing the farmer longing and hoping over his precious crop (cf. Luke 18:7 of God).Until it receive (λαμβανω — heōs labēi). Temporal clause of the future with προμον και οπσιμον — heōs and the second aorist active subjunctive of υετον — lambanō vividly describing the farmer‘s hopes and patience.The early and latter rain The word for rain (πρω — hueton Acts 14:17) is absent from the best MSS. The adjective προμος — pro(from πρως — prōearly) occurs here only in N.T., though old in the form οπσιμον — proand οπσε — prōSee Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24, etc. for these terms for the early rain in October or November for the germination of the grain, and the latter rain (opsimon from opse late, here only in N.T.) in April and May for maturing the grain. [source]
1 Peter 5:10 Shall stablish [στηρίξει]
The word is akin at the root to στερεός ,steadfast (1 Peter 5:9), and is the very word used by Christ in his exhortation to Peter, “strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32). Possibly there is a reminiscence of this in Peter's use of the word here. Compare 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:17; James 5:8; Revelation 3:2. [source]
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand [παντων δε το τελος ηγγικεν]
Perfect active indicative of εγγιζω — eggizō to draw near, common late verb (from εγγυς — eggus), same form used by the Baptist of the Messiah‘s arrival (Matthew 3:2) and by James in James 5:8 (of the second coming). How near Peter does not say, but he urges readiness (1 Peter 1:5.; 1 Peter 4:6) as Jesus did (Mark 14:38) and Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:6), though it is drawing nearer all the time (Romans 12:11), but not at once (2 Thessalonians 2:2). [source]

What do the individual words in James 5:8 mean?

Be patient also you strengthen the hearts of you because the coming of the Lord has drawn near
μακροθυμήσατε καὶ ὑμεῖς στηρίξατε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὅτι παρουσία τοῦ Κυρίου ἤγγικεν

μακροθυμήσατε  Be  patient 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: μακροθυμέω  
Sense: to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
στηρίξατε  strengthen 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: στηρίζω  
Sense: to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix.
καρδίας  hearts 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: καρδία  
Sense: the heart.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ὅτι  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
παρουσία  coming 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: παρουσία  
Sense: presence.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Κυρίου  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
ἤγγικεν  has  drawn  near 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐγγίζω  
Sense: to bring near, to join one thing to another.