James 5:14

James 5:14-15 . Is any sick? let him call for the elders of the church — Those ministers of Christ whose office it is to oversee and feed the flock; and let them pray over him — For his recovery, persuaded that what two or three of the Lord’s true disciples shall agree to ask, it shall be done for them; anointing him with oil — “This single conspicuous gift, (healing the sick by anointing them with oil,) which Christ committed to his apostles, ( Mark 6:13 ,) remained in the church long after the other miraculous gifts were withdrawn. Indeed it seems to have been designed to remain always, and St. James directs the elders, who were the most, if not the only gifted men, to administer it. This was the whole process of physic in the Christian Church till it was lost through unbelief. That novel invention among the Romans, extreme unction, practised not for cure, but where life is despaired of, bears no manner of resemblance to this.” See Bengelius and Wesley. And the prayer offered in faith shall save, or heal, the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up — From his sickness; and if he have committed sins — That is, any special sins, for which this sickness has been laid upon him; they shall be forgiven him — Upon his repentance the punishment shall be taken off.

{9} Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with {g} oil in the {h} name of the Lord: {9} He shows peculiarly, to what physicians especially we must go when we are diseased, that is, to the prayers of the elders, which then also could cure the body, (for so much as the gift of healing was then in force) and take away the main cause of sickness and diseases, by obtaining healing for the sick through their prayers and exhortations. (g) This was a sign of the gift of healing: and now seeing we have the gift no more, the sign is no longer necessary. (h) By calling on the name of the Lord.

Jam 5:14 . Πρεσβυτέρους , the elders ) For while they pray, it is much the same as though the whole Church should pray.— ἀλείψαντες αὐτὸν ἐλαίῳ , anointing him with oil ) That which Christ had committed to the apostles, Mark 6:13 , was afterwards continued in the Church, even after the times of the apostles: and this very gift, remarkably simple, conspicuous, and serviceable, was of longer continuance than any other. See an instance in the works of Macarius , p. 272. And Ephraim Syrus has a remarkable testimony, συμβουλ . οστ .: Ἐὰν οἰκονομίαν πληρῶν ἀλείφῃς ἐλαίῳ τὸν κάμνοντα , κ . τ . λ .: If in discharge of thy office, thou anointest the sick with oil . It even seems to have been given by God with this intent, that it might always remain in the Church, as a specimen of the other gifts: just as the portion of Manna laid up in the ark was a proof of the ancient miracle. It is clear that James assigns the administration of this oil to the presbyters , who were the ordinary ministers. This was the highest Faculty of Medicine in the Church, as in 1 Corinthians 6 we have its highest Judicial order. O happy simplicity! interrupted or lost through unbelief ( ἀπιστίαν ). For inasmuch as the Latin Church has its extreme unction ,[75] and the Greek Church its εὐχέλαιον , from the force of experience, they assign much less efficacy for the restoring of health to this mystery ( μυστηρίῳ ), or sacrament, as they term it, than James does to the apostolic usage.

Whitaker says with great force against Duræus, Let them use oil, who are able by their prayers to obtain recovery for the sick: let those who are not able to do this, abstain from the use of the empty sign . For the only design of that anointing originally was miraculous healing: and in the failure of this result, it is nothing but an empty sign . But the laying on of hands is also a holy outward rite, although it does not by the mere act confer the Holy Spirit. For not even in the beginning was it always used with this one design.— ἐν , in ) This is certainly not less connected with the verb, let them pray , than with the participle, anointing ; whence there follows ( Jam 5:15 ), the prayer of faith .— τοῦ Κυρίου , the Lord ) Jesus Christ. [75] εὐχέλαιον . This word (as its derivation shows) appears at first to have denoted the prayers which were used at the consecration of the oil with which the sick were to be anointed, but it has generally been applied to the act of extreme unction. For a full account of the word, see Suicer’s Thesaurus. The Greek Church practises the rite of extreme unction, though its usage in this respect does not entirely correspond with that of the Church of Rome. See Riddle’s Christian Antiquities, and Willetts’ Synopsis Papismi.—T.

14. let him call for the elders—not some one of the elders, as Roman Catholics interpret it, to justify their usage in extreme unction. The prayers of the elders over the sick would be much the same as though the whole Church which they represent should pray [Bengel]. anointing him with oil—The usage which Christ committed to His apostles was afterwards continued with laying on of hands, as a token of the highest faculty of medicine in the Church, just as we find in 1Co 6:2 the Church's highest judicial function. Now that the miraculous gift of healing has been withdrawn for the most part, to use the sign where the reality is wanting would be unmeaning superstition. Compare other apostolic usages now discontinued rightly, 1Co 11:4-15; 16:20. "Let them use oil who can by their prayers obtain recovery for the sick: let those who cannot do this, abstain from using the empty sign" [Whitaker]. Romish extreme unction is administered to those whose life is despaired of, to heal the soul, whereas James' unction was to heal the body. Cardinal Cajetan [Commentary] admits that James cannot refer to extreme unction. Oil in the East, and especially among the Jews (see the Talmud, Jerusalem and Babylon), was much used as a curative agent. It was also a sign of the divine grace. Hence it was an appropriate sign in performing miraculous cures. in the name of the Lord—by whom alone the miracle was performed: men were but the instruments.

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 (2) "if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him." (From the manner in which this last clause is introduced, it may fairly be inferred that the sins in question are presumed to have had some connection with the sickness, and to have been its cause. Vulgate, Et si in peccatis sit dimittentur cf.) Anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord . By the omission of the last words, τοῦ Κυρίου , B has the striking reading, "anointing him with oil in THE NAME" (compare the use of τὸ ὄνομα absolutely in Acts 5:41 3John 7). A similar use is also found in the Epistles of Ignatius.

The Vatican Manuscript, however, appears to stand quite alone in this reading here. If the words, τοῦ Κυρίου , be admitted, they must be taken as referring to the Lord Jesus (contrast ver. 10, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ). So also in ver. 15 the Lord ( ὁ Κύριος ) who shall raise him up is clearly the Lord Jesus. Had God the Father been alluded to we should probably have had the anarthrous Κύριος after the manner of the LXX. (see note on James 4:10). Unction is mentioned in connection with the sick also in Mark 6:13 . The apostles "anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them;" and compare the parable of the good Samaritan ( Luke 10:34 ), " pouring in wine and oil." " Josephus mentions that among the remedies employed in the case of Herod, he was put into a sort of oil bath.... The medicinal use of oil is also mentioned in the Mishna, which thus exhibits the Jewish practice of that day" ('Dictionary of the Bible,' vol. it. p. 595; see Mishna, 'Shabbath,' 13:4; and compare Lightfoot, 'Horae Hebraicae,' vol. it. p. 415). According to Tertullian, " the Christian Proculus, surnamed Torpacion, the steward of Euhodus," cured with oil Severus, the father of Antonino ( i.e. Caracalla), who " in gratitude kept him in his palace till the day of his death." Tertullian, 'Ad Scapulam,' c. 4. (see Oehler's notes on the passage). But in the case before us if, as in these other instances, the oil was used as an actual remedy, (1) why was it to be administered by the elders?

Is any sick? Or infirm, though not desperately and incurably. Let him call for the elders; especially teaching elders, they being usually best furnished with gifts who labour in the word and doctrine, 1 Timothy 5:17 . It is in the plural number, either by an enallage for the singular; q.d. Let him send for some or other of the elders; or, because there were in those times usually several elders (an ecclesiastical senate) in each church. And let them pray over him; as it were setting him before God, and presenting him to him, which might be a means to stir up the greater affection and warmth in prayer; see 1 Kings 17:21 2 Kings 4:33,34 Joh 11:41 Acts 20:10 9:40 : or laying on their hands, as Acts 28:8 , which yet seems to be for the same end. Anointing him with oil; an outward rite used in those times, in miraculous healing sick persons, which might then be kept up, while the gift whereof it was the symbol continued; but the gift ceasing, it is vainly used. These cures were sometimes wrought only with a word, Acts 9:34 14:10 16:18 : sometimes by taking by the hand, or embracing, Acts 3:7 20:10 ; sometimes by laying on of hands, Mark 16:18 Acts 9:17 ; sometimes by anointing with oil, Mark 6:13 : and so this is not an institution of a sacrament, but a command, that those elders that had the gift of healing, (as many in those days had), being called by the sick to come to them, should (the Spirit of the Lord so directing them) exercise that gift, as well as pray over them.