James 5:14
New International Version
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

New Living Translation
Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.

English Standard Version
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Berean Standard Bible
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Berean Literal Bible
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call near the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord.

King James Bible
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

New King James Version
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

New American Standard Bible
Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

NASB 1995
Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

NASB 1977
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Legacy Standard Bible
Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Amplified Bible
Is anyone among you sick? He must call for the elders (spiritual leaders) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Christian Standard Bible
Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.

American Standard Version
Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And if one is ill, let him call The Elders of the church, and let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of Our Lord.

Contemporary English Version
If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

English Revised Version
Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If you are sick, call for the church leaders. Have them pray for you and anoint you with olive oil in the name of the Lord.

Good News Translation
Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord.

International Standard Version
Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Literal Standard Version
is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil, in the Name of the LORD,

Majority Standard Bible
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

New American Bible
Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord,

NET Bible
Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

New Revised Standard Version
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

New Heart English Bible
Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Webster's Bible Translation
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

Weymouth New Testament
Is any one ill? Let him send for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

World English Bible
Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Young's Literal Translation
is any infirm among you? let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil, in the name of the Lord,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Prayer of Faith
13Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.…

Cross References
Mark 6:13
They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.

Mark 16:18
they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well."

Acts 11:30
This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 28:8
The father of Publius was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after praying and placing his hands on him, he healed the man.


Treasury of Scripture

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

for.

Acts 14:23
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Acts 15:4
And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Titus 1:5
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

pray.

1 Kings 17:21
And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

2 Kings 4:33
He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.

2 Kings 5:11
But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

anointing.

Mark 6:13
And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

Mark 16:18
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

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James 5
1. Rich oppressors are to fear God's vengeance.
7. We ought to be patient in afflictions, after the example of the prophets, and Job;
12. to forbear swearing;
13. to pray in adversity, to sing in prosperity;
14. to acknowledge mutually our several faults, to pray one for another;
19. and to correct a straying brother.














(14) The elders of the church--i.e., literally, the presbyters. The identity of "bishop" (episcopus) and "presbyter" in the language of the apostolic age seems conclusive. Such is the opinion of Lightfoot (Epistle to the Philippians, 93-97; see also his Dissertation on the Christian Ministry, ibid., 180-267), and few may hope to gainsay it. In fact, the organisation of the early Church was much more elastic than theologians always suppose; and names and terms were applied less rigidly than the schoolmen of the Middle Ages have so stoutly declared. But, on the other hand, no man who has read the Patres Apostolici can deny the reality of Church government as enforced by them, nor base on their authority any defence of Congregationalism or the rule of a mere presbytery. The theory of development must be maintained, though not on the lines of Dr. Newman.

(14, 15) Anointing him with oil.--Or, unction. The use of some precious and mysterious ointment, on solemn occasions, obtained in most of the ancient nations, specially the Eastern. The Jews themselves were by no means originators of the habit, although they carried it to its highest ceremonial and significance. Apart, too, from the regular performances of the rite, as upon the accession of a king, or the consecration of a high priest, it often occurred in private cases, and some striking instances are recorded in the Gospels:--the spikenard, costly and fragrant (Luke 7:36-50), wherewith the Saviour's feet were anointed by "a woman which was a sinner;" and that, again, which Mary, of her grateful love, poured upon Him six days before His death (John 12:3-9). These were not unusual acts, but chiefly worthy of note because of the persons concerned. It was not remarkable for women to make such offerings to a famous rabbi, but that our Lord should be so treated, carried a deeper meaning. Nor, again, was it a new ordinance with which the Apostles were first commissioned, in pursuance whereof they "anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them" (Mark 6:13). "Here," observes Bishop Harold Browne, "unction was evidently an outward sign, similar to that used by our Saviour, when He made clay, and put it to the blind man's eyes. It was connected with the miraculous power of healing." This connection only, this use of a known form with a diviner import, was the cause of astonishment; and clearly it was to such a practice, with simply its common intention, that St. James refers. Nor can we refrain from saying, however undesirous of controversy, that all which unction now implies to the Romanist is quite opposed to whatever force and value are given it in Holy Writ. There unction is enjoined "with the special object of recovery;" its purport was a present bodily one, and in no way applicable to the future of the soul. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick"--i.e., shall heal him: the faithful prayer shall be that which God will answer, and so "raise up" the sufferer. But, it is urged, the next clause has a different force: "If he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." Such is only apparent in our own version, and not in the original. The grammatical sense infers that the sick man is abiding under the consequence of some committed sin, which is "presumed to have been the working cause of his present sickness." So Alford, and Bede similarly: "Many by reason of sins done in the soul are compassed by weakness: nay, even death of the body." And the former theologian again: "Among all the daring perversions of Scripture, by which the Church of Rome has defended her superstitions, there is none more patent than that of the present passage. Not without reason has the Council of Trent defended its misinterpretation with anathema; for indeed it needed that, and every other recommendation, to support it, and give it any kind of acceptance. The Apostle is treating of a matter totally distinct from the occasion and the object of extreme unction. He is enforcing the efficacy of the prayer of faith in afflictions (James 5:13). Of such efficacy he adduces one special instance. In sickness let the sick man inform the elders of the church. Let them, representing the congregation of the faithful, pray over the sick man, accompanying that prayer with the symbolic and sacramental act of anointing with oil in the name of our Lord. Then the prayer of faith shall save (heal) the sick man, and the Lord shall bring him up out of his sickness; and even if it were occasioned by some sin, that sin shall be forgiven him. Such is the simple and undeniable sense of the Apostle, arguing for the efficacy of prayer; and such the perversion of that sense by the Church of Rome." Not that we should think this and other like cases are wholly intentional twistings of God's word. The Latin Bible is in many places a faulty--though not deliberately unfaithful--rendering of the Hebrew and Greek; and half our differences with Rome arise from such misinterpretations. Allowing the beginning of mischief to have been oftentimes a wrong translation, religious opinions engendered from it, we can understand, would be hardly cast aside, more especially when advantageous to their possessors. Little by little the change of doctrine drew on, and most probably thus:--The aim of the apostolic anointing was bodily recovery, and (again we quote Bishop Browne) "this exactly corresponds with the miraculous cures of early ages; . . . so long as such . . . powers remained in the Church, it was reasonable that anointing of the sick should be retained." But these powers ceased, in the wisdom of God, after awhile; not so, however, the ceremony to which men's minds in distress had been accustomed. It was retained in affection when its true force had departed. But since no outward result remained visible, fervent and mystical teachers could not well avoid searching for the invisible; and thus the area of operations was removed from the flesh to the spirit. The words of Holy Scripture would, with a little straining, bear such a colourable translation: and so was laid the foundation of that belief now current in a great part of Christendom. The Greek Church still practices unction, but rather in memory of a venerated custom, wherein God's mercy was aforetime present; the Latin, unfortunately, is bound by its Council of Trent (Sessio xiv.) to believe "extreme unction to be a sacrament, instituted by Christ, conferring good, remitting sins, and comforting the infirm." Its authorised manual of devotion--The Crown of Jesus (p. 710)--says, "Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in His tender solicitude for those whom He has redeemed by His precious blood, has been pleased to institute another sacrament, to help us at that most important hour on which eternity depends--the hour of death. This sacrament is called Extreme Unction, or the last anointing." And further explains, "The priest, in administering this sacrament, anoints the five principal senses of the body--the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the lips, the hands and the feet--because these have been employed during life in offending God. At each anointing he pronounces these words: 'May the Lord by this holy anointing, and by His own most tender mercy, pardon thee whatever sin thou hast committed, by thy sight, hearing,' &c. . . ." Notwithstanding this lamentable departure from right exegesis, some divines think it wise and well to reflect how far with profit the ancient ceremony could be revived; while others would rather let it slumber with the past. "When miraculous powers ceased, it was reasonable that the unction should cease also." Still more reasonable is it that even the form or memorial, however touching and beautiful, should be abandoned, rather than we should seem by it to be at one with the changed--alas! the false--teaching of that Church of man's tradition, Rome.

Verses 14, 15. - Directions in ease of sickness. Let him call for the elders of the Church. Of the original creation of the presbyterate no account is given, but elders appear as already existing in Judaea in Acts 11:30; and from Acts 14:23 we find that St. Paul and St. Barnabas "appointed elders in every Church" which they had founded on their first missionary journey. Nothing, therefore, can be concluded with regard to the date of the Epistle from this notice of elders. The elders were to be summoned for a twofold purpose:

(1) that they might pray over the sick person (on the accusative ἐπ αὐτόν, see Winer, p. 508); and

(2) that they might anoint him with oil in the Name of the Lord, The result anticipated is also twofold:

(1) "the prayer of faith shall save the sick" ("save," σώζειν, here as in other passages, e.g. Matthew 9:21, 22, etc., refers to bodily healing); and . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
{Is} any one
τις (tis)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object.

of
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

you
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

sick?
ἀσθενεῖ (asthenei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 770: To be weak (physically: then morally), To be sick. From asthenes; to be feeble.

He should call
προσκαλεσάσθω (proskalesasthō)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4341: To call to myself, summon. Middle voice from pros and kaleo; to call toward oneself, i.e. Summon, invite.

the
τοὺς (tous)
Article - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

elders
πρεσβυτέρους (presbyterous)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4245: Comparative of presbus; older; as noun, a senior; specially, an Israelite Sanhedrist or Christian 'presbyter'.

of the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

church
ἐκκλησίας (ekklēsias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1577: From a compound of ek and a derivative of kaleo; a calling out, i.e. a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation.

to pray
προσευξάσθωσαν (proseuxasthōsan)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 4336: To pray, pray for, offer prayer. From pros and euchomai; to pray to God, i.e. Supplicate, worship.

over
ἐπ’ (ep’)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

him
αὐτὸν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

and anoint
ἀλείψαντες (aleipsantes)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 218: To anoint: festivally, in homage, medicinally, or in anointing the dead. To oil.

him
αὐτὸν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

with oil
ἐλαίῳ (elaiō)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 1637: Olive oil, oil. Neuter of the same as elaia; olive oil.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

name
ὀνόματι (onomati)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3686: Name, character, fame, reputation. From a presumed derivative of the base of ginosko; a 'name'.

of the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Lord.
Κυρίου (Kyriou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.


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NT Letters: James 5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him (Ja Jas. Jam)
James 5:13
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