James 5:12-14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 5:12-20

This epistle now drawing to a close, the penman goes off very quickly from one thing to another: hence it is that matters so very different are insisted on in these few verses. I. The sin of swearing is cautioned against: But above all things, my brethren, swear not, etc., Jas. 5:12. Some understand this too restrictedly, as if the meaning were, ?Swear not at your persecutors, at those that reproach you and say all manner of evil of you; be not put into a passion by the injuries they do you,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 5:12

5:12 Above all things, my brothers, do not swear, neither by heaven nor by earth nor by any other oath. Let your yes be a simple yes and your no a simple no, lest you fall under judgment. James is repeating the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5:33-37 ), teaching which was very necessary in the days of the early church. James is not thinking of what we call bad language but of confirming a statement or a promise or an undertaking by an oath. In the ancient world,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 5:13-15

5:13-15 Is any among you in trouble? Let him pray. Is any in good spirits? Let him sing a hymn. Is any among you sick? Let him call in the elders of the Church; and let them anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and pray over him; and the believing prayer will restore to health the ailing person, and the Lord will enable him to rise from his bed; and even if he has committed sin, he will receive forgiveness. Here we have set out before us certain dominant characteristics of the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 5:13-15

Another great characteristic of the early church was that it was a healing Church. Here it inherited its tradition from Judaism. When a Jew was ill, it was to the Rabbi he went rather than to the doctor; and the Rabbi anointed him with oil--which Galen the Greek doctor called "the best of all medicines"--and prayed over him. Few communities can have been so devotedly attentive to their sick as the early church was. Justin Martyr writes that numberless demoniacs were healed by the Christians... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 5:12

But above all things, my brethren, swear not ,.... As impatience should not show itself in secret sighs, groans, murmurings, and repinings, so more especially it should not break forth in rash oaths, or in profane swearing; for of such sort of swearing, and of such oaths, is the apostle to be understood; otherwise an oath is very lawful, when taken in the fear and name of God, and made by the living God, and is used for the confirmation of anything of moment, and in order to put an end to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 5:13

Is any among you afflicted ?.... As the people of God generally are; they are commonly a poor, and an afflicted people; at least there are many among them that are so, and many are their afflictions: those whom Christ loves, as he did Lazarus, are not free from sicknesses and diseases; and these are rather signs of love than arguments against it; and when this is the case of any of the saints, what is to be done? let him pray ; to God that can save him; in the name of Christ; under the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 5:14

Is any sick among you ?.... Which is often the case; the bodies of the saints, as well as others, are liable to a variety of diseases; they are sick, and sometimes nigh unto death, as Epaphroditus was: and then, let him call for the elders of the church ; in allusion to the elders of the congregation of Israel, Leviticus 4:15 . By these may be meant, either the elder members of the church, men of gravity and soundness in the faith, persons of long standing and experience; who have the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 5:12

Above all things - swear not - What relation this exhortation can have to the subject in question, I confess I cannot see. It may not have been designed to stand in any connection, but to be a separate piece of advice, as in the several cases which immediately follow. That the Jews were notoriously guilty of common swearing is allowed on all hands; and that swearing by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the temple, the altar, different parts of the body, was not considered by them as binding oaths,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 5:13

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray - The Jews taught that the meaning of the ordinance, Leviticus 13:45 , which required the leper to cry, Unclean! unclean! was, "that thus making known his calamity, the people might be led to offer up prayers to God in his behalf," Sota, page 685, ed. Wagens. They taught also, that when any sickness or affliction entered a family, they should go to the wise men, and implore their prayers. Bava bathra, fol. 116, 1. In Nedarim, fol. 40, 1, we have... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 5:14

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders - This was also a Jewish maxim. Rabbi Simeon, in Sepher Hachaiyim, said: "What should a man do who goes to visit the sick? Ans. He who studies to restore the health of the body, should first lay the foundation in the health of the soul. The wise men have said, No healing is equal to that which comes from the word of God and prayer. Rabbi Phineas, the son of Chamma, hath said, 'When sickness or disease enters into a man's family, let him... read more

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