James 5:13

The Pulpit Commentary - James 5:13-18

The life in God. The guiding thought of these verses is the intimacy of connection between our life and God. And the Christian, above all, should realize this truth, so attested in the incarnation and ascension of our Lord. For heaven has come down to earth; nay, earth has been raised to heaven. So, then, according to these verses, our sorrowing and rejoicing are to be "in the Lord;" in sickness we are to seek our restoration from the Lord; at all times our effectual prayer is to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - James 5:13-20

Exhortations with respect to practical conduct in health and sickness. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - James 5:13

Is any among you afflicted? - By sickness, bereavement, disappointment, persecutions, loss of health or property. The word used here refers to suffering evil of any kind, (κακοπαθεῖ kakopathei.)Let him pray - That is, prayer is appropriate to trial. The mind naturally resorts to it, and in every way it is proper. God only can remove the source of sorrow; he can grant unto us “a happy issue out of all our afflictions;” he can make them the means of sanctifying the soul. Compare 2 Chronicles... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - James 5:13

James 5:13 . Is any among you afflicted? let him pray That he may be supported under his affliction, so as to be enabled to bear it with patience and resignation to the divine will, and find it to be sanctified to him, and made the means, as of exercising, so also of increasing his grace, and of purifying him as gold and silver are purified in the furnace. Is any merry? Is any in health, and in a prosperous condition, and under no peculiar trial; let him sing psalms Let him give thanks... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - James 5:7-20

5:7-20 THE NEED FOR PATIENCE AND PRAYERMany Christians were poor and oppressed, some of them no doubt farmers who suffered because of the rich landowners. James encourages them to wait patiently for the Lord’s return (which will bring them victory in the end), just as the farmer waits patiently for the rain that will bring his crops to final harvest (7-8). God is using these trials to teach them patience, so they must not fight against his purposes by grumbling. Some Old Testament examples show... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - James 5:13

afflicted . Greek. kakopatheo. See 2 Timothy 2:3 and Compare James 5:10 , above. pray . App-134 . merry . See Acts 27:22 . sing psalms . Greek. psallo. See Romans 15:9 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - James 5:13

Is any among you suffering? let him pray. Is any cheerful? let him sing praise.Here begins a series of separate admonitions making up the final section of the epistle.Any suffering? ... let him pray ... This was, and is, the general rule for suffering of all kinds; and it included even the special cases alluded to in James 5:14 a moment later. In a sense, all healing is divine. Over the main portal of the great Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, N.Y., there are engraved the words: "All... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - James 5:13

James 5:13. Is any among you afflicted? &c.— These two directions concerning prayer when they were afflicted, and praise when they were easy and cheerful, seem to refer to private devotion, and not to their public worship: for if one person was afflicted, and another quite easy, what might suit one, would, according to this rule of the apostle, have been unfit for the other: accordingly it is put in the singular number. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - James 5:13

13. afflicted—referring to the "suffering affliction" ( :-). let him pray—not "swear" in rash impatience. merry—joyous in mind. sing psalms—of praise. Paul and Silas sang psalms even in affliction. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - James 5:1-18

VI. MONEY AND PATIENT ENDURANCE 5:1-18The final practical problem James addressed involves money. He wrote these instructions to warn his readers of a danger, to inform them of the ramifications of the problem, and to exhort them to deal with the situation appropriately. This is his third reference to the rich and the poor (cf. James 1:9-11; James 2:1-12). We might also consider James 4:13-17, as well as James 5:1-6, as dealing with the rich. [Note: For some helpful insights on the way... read more

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