James 5:17

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ELIAS WAS A MAN SUBJECT TO LIKE PASSIONS AS WE. It cannot be said that he was so raised above us as to afford no example to common mortals. PRAYED EARNESTLY - literally, prayed with prayer: Hebraisms for intensely (cf. ). Alford is wrong in saying Elias' prayer that it might not rain 'is not even hinted at in the Old Testament.' In it is plainly implied, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." His prophecy of the fact was according to a divine intimation given to him in answer to prayer. In jealousy...

17_Elias was a man_. There are innumerable instances in Scripture of what he meant to prove; but he chose one that is remarkable above all others; for it was a great thing that God should make heaven in a manner subject to the prayers of Elias, so as to obey his wishes. Elias kept heaven shut by his prayers for three years and a half; he again opened it, so that it poured down abundance of rain. Hence appeared the wonderful power of prayer. Well known is this remarkable history, and is found in 1 Kings 17:0 and 1 Kings 18:0. And though it is not there expressly said, that Elias prayed for drought, it may yet be easily gathered, and that the rain also was given to his prayers. But we must notice the application of the example. James does not say that drought ought to be sought from the Lord, because Elias obtained it;

12-18 The sin of swearing is condemned; but how many make light of common profane swearing! Such swearing expressly throws contempt upon God's name and authority. This sin brings neither gain, nor pleasure, nor reputation, but is showing enmity to God without occasion and without advantage It shows a man to be an enemy to God, however he pretends to call himself by his name, or sometimes joins in acts of worship. But the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. In a day of affliction nothing is more seasonable than prayer. The spirit is then most humble, and the heart is broken and tender. It is necessary to exercise faith and hope under afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means for obtaining and increasing these graces. Observe, that the saving of the sick is not ascribed to the anointing with oil, but to prayer. In a time of sickness it is not cold and forma...

Verse 17. _ELIAS WAS A MAN SUBJECT TO LIKE PASSIONS_] This was _Elijah_, and a consistency between the _names_ of the same persons as expressed in the Old and the New Testaments should be kept up. The word ομοιοπαθης signifies of _the same constitution_, a human being just as ourselves are. See the same phrase and its explanation in Acts 14:15, and the note there. There was some reason to apprehend that because Elijah was _translated_, that therefore he was more _than human_, and if so, his example could be no pattern for us; and as the design of St. James was to excite men to pray, expecting the Divine interference whenever that should be necessary, therefore he tells them that _Elijah was a man_ _like themselves, of the same constitution, liable to the same_ _accidents_, and _needing the same supports_....

ELIAS - The common way of writing the word “Elijah” in the New Testament, Matthew 11:14; Matthew 16:14; Matthew 17:3, etc. WAS A MAN SUBJECT TO LIKE PASSIONS AS WE ARE - This does not mean that Elijah was passionate in the sense in which that word is now commonly used; that is, that he was excitable or irritable, or that he was the victim of the same corrupt passions and propensities to which other men are subject; but that he was like affected; that he was capable of suffering the same things, or being affected in the same manner. In other words, he was a mere man, subject to the same weaknesses and infirmities as other men. Compare the notes at

EXPOSITION JAMES 5:1 DENUNCIATION OF THE RICH FOR (1) GRINDING DOWN THE POOR AND KEEPING BACK THEIR WAGES; (2) LUXURY; (3) MURDER. The whole section resembles nothing so much as an utterance of one of the old Jewish prophets. It might almost be a leaf torn out of the Old Testament. JAMES 5:1 GO TO NOW (see on James 4

ELIAS WAS A MAN SUBJECT TO LIKE PASSIONS AS WE ARE,.... The apostle gives an instance of earnest and fervent prayer, and of the efficacy of it in Elias; who is the same with the prophet Elijah, or Elijah the Tishbite; who, by the Septuagint in Malachi 4:5 is called Elias, as here, and elsewhere, in the New Testament: of him James says, that he was a "man", contrary to the notion of some of the Jewish writers, who affirm, that Elijah was not born of a father and mother, but was an angel, who was clothed with the four elements of the world e; but he was not only born, but born in sin, as others are, and was by nature no better than others; and he himself confesses that he was no better than his fathers, 1 Kings 19:4. And the apostle further observes; concerning him, that be was "subject to like passions as we are...

V. THE COMING OF THE LORD AND THE LIFE OF FAITH CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The oppression by the rich and their coming doom (James 5:1)_ 2. Be patient unto the coming of the Lord (James 5:7) 3. The prayers of faith and the life of faith (James 5:13) James 5:1 The two classes whom James addresses stand out very prominently in this final chapter of his Epistle. The rich oppressors certainly are not believers but the unbelieving rich; they are not addressed as “brethren”; but others are in verse 7 and exhorted to patience. Both classes, the unbelieving rich and the believing remnant are confronted by the coming of the Lord. “Go to

The key to this hard passage seems to lie in the climax, the example of Elijah, who in 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:41 ff., is not said to have prayed for drought or for rain. His prayer is in the phrase before whom I stand a life in the Presence, bringing with it an instinctive knowledge of God's will; _cf._ Amos 3:7. The elders, therefore, of a faithful congregation may expect a Divine impulse prompting them to ask for physical recovery when God wills it; we may also believe that such united prayer is a real instrument in God's hands, just as much as the application of remedies like oil (_cf._ Isaiah 1:6;...

THE WORTHLESSNESS OF RICHES (James 5:1-3)...