What does James 1:12 mean?

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
James 1:12, King James Version

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The verse in its chapter

James 1:10-14

  1. 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
  2. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
  3. 12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
  4. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
  5. 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Study note

Tyndale Open Study Notes (CC BY-SA 4.0).

1:12-27 James addresses the same three topics as in 1:2-11, adding a new dimension to each topic. External testing (1:2-4) becomes internal temptation (1:11-18); the need for wisdom (1:5-8) is related to controlling angry speech (1:19-21); and poverty/wealth relate to the need to act upon God’s word (1:22-25). The section then summarizes these themes (1:26-27).

1:12 Those who love him are faithful and obedient (cp. 1:22-25; 2:5; Deut 7:9; 1 Jn 5:2).

Cross references

Other Bible passages linked to this one, most cited first.

About the book of James

Author
James; tradition identifies him as the brother of Jesus (James 1:1)
When
c. AD 45 to 62
Period
Igreja primitiva, c. 30 a 70 d.C. (in Portuguese)

Authorship: the book itself or Christian tradition. Approximate dates, as in Carson and Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, and Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament.

In the Mercy Bible Atlas (in Portuguese)

More verses from James