Take, my brethren, the prophets - That is, in your trials and persecutions. To encourage them to the exercise of patience, he points them to the example of those who had trod the same thorny path before them. The prophets were in general a much persecuted race of men; and the argument on which the apostle relies from their example is this:
(1)That if the prophets were persecuted and tried, it may be expected that other good men will be;
(2)That they showed such patience in their trials as to be a model for us.
An example of suffering affliction - That is, they showed us how evils are to be borne.