This Hebrew word is tiqvah, and one that has a most interesting and suggestive

connection with redemption.

The examination of the references, while it may have tested our "patience" has shown

that the governing idea is "patient and expectant waiting for the fulfillment and

completion of something hoped for". In Job, as in the New Testament it is "the patience

of hope". Now, it is true, that however exasperated Job may have been by the counsels of

his three friends, or however bitterly he may have complained against the apparently

insensate afflictions that fell upon him, he held on with blessed determination to the hope

of resurrection. This we have seen in earlier studies, and the truth is patent to all.

Instead therefore of going over the ground already covered, we draw attention to the first

occurrence of tiqvah in the Scriptures, a word that is translated "hope" eleven times in the

book of Job.

The word translated "line" is tiqvah, and is an instance of the figure Metonymy of the

adjunct. In this figure "the cord" mentioned in Josh. 2: 15 became a symbol of hope,

hope of deliverance based upon a promise that was honoured and fulfilled. It is evident

that Job held on to a "scarlet thread" which constituted both his "hope" and the ground of

his patience. He knew that his Redeemer lived, and because of the strength of the hope

that this knowledge inspired, James could speak of "the patience of Job". For, as we

have seen, it was the "patience of hope" that is implied and not an unruffled temper. We

have however to consider the second feature of James 5: 11, namely "the end of the

Lord", which must form the theme of our next article.

We have seen that James speaks not only of the patience of Job but also of "the end of

the Lord". This allied subject now demands our closest attention.

"The end of the Lord." What does this mean? In what way is it seen in the book of

job? In the English language a certain amount of ambiguity attaches to the word end. It

can mean the end of a thing as contrasted with its beginning. "Better is the end of a thing

than the beginning" (Eccles. 7: 8), or it may mean the intention, the purpose, the object

of anything, "to the end that man should find nothing after him" (Eccles 7: 14), or it

may mean cessation, as in death, "for that is the end of all men" (Eccles. 7: 2). We can

say "that would be the end of all civil government" and mean anarchy, or we could say

"this is the end of civil government" and mean peace and security. The word used by

James is telos, which means "the end in view", "the goal", "the end at which a thing