This study is based simply on the words James uses here in verse 12. This verse is the climax of everything James has said to this point, and gives a very descriptive picture of what he has been writing about. Lest anyone think that the trials God sends in our lives for our good are simple or easy, James gives us this word picture.
The word means "supremely blessed, fortunate, well off."
The Greek word used here means to "stay under." The picture is of someone carrying a heavy load, who stays under it and carries it to its destination. The temptation is to put it down and walk away, but endurance means to stay under the load. There is no doubt, says James, that the load will be heavy and grievous, but you must have fortitude and perseverence. For the man who endures is "supremely blessed."
This is not the usual word used in Scripture for trials. In fact, this word does not literally mean "trials." It actually means "the deep or open sea." It refers to the very deepest part of a great sea. Christ used this word in Matthew 18:6:
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone be hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned
in the depth of the sea.
Matthew 18:6
James is here painting a picture of the kind of temptations he has spoken of in the first few verses; a time of utter loneliness and despair, as though you were in the middle of the wide and deep ocean all alone--with no hope and no help. But he says that the person who endures such times (with joy, vs. 2) is supremely blessed.
The "when" used here is a word implying hopothesis or uncertainty; tried here means "approved" or something like "passed the test." In other words, "after the test is over and you have passed . . ."
The crown here spoken of was given to those who won a public athletic event, as a reward and recognition of their ability.
James will next say (vs. 15) that the ultimate end of giving in to tempation and unGodly lusts is death. But here he says that the great and final end of enduring the trials God brings is a crown of life, an award and recognition of perseverance.
God has announced the reward to be given to those who love Him, and it is to be given to those who endure. Obviously, these two designations refer to the same people; that is, those who endure are the ones who truly love God. The others will fall along the way because they doubt God's good intention in the tests He puts them through or because they attempt to go on in their own strength rather than in His power. But to those who endure, those who are supremely blessed, those who rely on God's strength in times of sore testings (for their own good), there is the promise of life--the ultimate reward to those who persevere.
mp 1/18/89