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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - James 5:15 - 5:15
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15. εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως. The prayer which is based upon faith, which proceeds from faith. Comp. Mat 21:22 καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσητε ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ πιστεύοντες λήμψεσθε.
σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα. κάμνειν here and Heb 12:3 only in the sense of being sick. σώσει, here in the sense of physical recovery as in Mat 9:22, Mar 5:23, and Joh 11:12. The difficulty that such means have not been and could not be always efficacious in the recovery of the sick is resolved by the consideration that prayer is always subject to the condition of deo volente. Such a prayer unanswered might well result in a higher σωτηρία than the recovery of bodily health.
ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος. This also must refer to the raising from the bed of sickness—it is an expansion of σώσει. The unconditional promise is startling, but again ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θέλῃ is to be understood.
κἂν ἁμαρτίας ᾖ πεποιηκώς κ.τ.λ. The underlying thought here is that sin is the hindrance to recovery. For ἀφεθήσεται see Mat 16:19; Mat 18:18, and Joh 20:23 ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀφέωνται αὐτοῖς· ἄν τινων κράτητε κεκράτηνται.
For the analytic form ἦ πεποιηκώς see Winer III. xlv.