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In-depth studies that connect Scripture with its original languages, history and cross-references. Every statement is labelled by evidence tier and confidence, so you can see what the text says, what scholarship proposes and what tradition holds.
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Endurance, Wisdom, and Genuine Faith
James names Job only once — Jas 5:11: “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” It is the only place the New Testament mentions Job by name.
Greek of Jas 5:11: ἰδοὺ μακαρίζομεν τοὺς ὑπομείναντας· τὴν ὑπομονὴν Ἰὼβ ἠκούσατε, καὶ τὸ τέλος κυρίου εἴδετε, ὅτι πολύσπλαγχνός ἐστιν ὁ κύριος καὶ οἰκτίρμων. Literally: “Look, we call blessed those who endured. The endurance of Job you heard, and the end of the Lord you saw, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”
polysplanchnos (“very compassionate”, from splanchna “inner parts”, the seat of feeling) occurs only here in the New Testament; oiktirmōn occurs only here and in Luke 6:36.
The pairing “compassionate and merciful” echoes the self-description of God in Exod 34:6 and its repetitions (Ps 103:8), where the Greek Old Testament uses oiktirmōn.
God’s final word is compassion. James draws from Job’s story the conclusion that “the Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (Jas 5:11).
James concludes his reference to Job by describing the Lord as polysplanchnos and oiktirmōn — “full of compassion and mercy” (Jas 5:11).
Job wept for those in trouble (Job 30:25) and says a despairing man “should have the kindness of his friend” (Job 6:14, ḥesed). James: “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:13).
James’s conclusion from Job’s story is about God: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (Jas 5:11).
Faith Counted as Righteousness and Righteousness Tested Through Suffering