James 5:17 BSB — MannaFest

James 5:17

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.

KJV

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.

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Commentary

2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Elias - The common way of writing the word “Elijah” in the New Testament, Mat 11:14; Mat 16:14; Mat 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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Elijah was a man of like passions - Naturally as weak and sinful as we are.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

In prayer we must not look to the merit of man, but to the grace of God. Only in this we should copy after Elijah, that he prayed earnestly, or, as it is in the original, in prayer he prayed. It is not enough to say a prayer, but we must pray in prayer.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

ALFORD is wrong in saying, Elias' prayer that it might not rain "is not even hinted at in the Old Testament history." In 1Ki 17:1 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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Ἠλίας	Ēlias	Elijah	G2243 →
ἄνθρωπος	anthrōpos	a man	G444 →
ἦν	ēn	was	G1510 →
ὁμοιοπαθὴς	homoiopathēs	of like nature	G3663 →
ἡμῖν	hēmin	to us	G3165 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
προσευχῇ	proseuchēa	with fervent prayer	G4335 →
προσηύξατο	prosēuxato	he prayed [for it]	G4336 →
τοῦ	tou	<the>	G3588 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
βρέξαι·	brexai	to rain;	G1026 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἔβρεξεν	ebrexen	it did rain	G1026 →
ἐπὶ	epi	upon	G1909 →
τῆς	tēs	the	G3588 →
γῆς	gēs	earth	G1093 →
ἐνιαυτοὺς	eniautous	years	G1763 →
τρεῖς	treis	three	G5140 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
μῆνας	mēnas	months	G3376 →
ἕξ·	hex	six;	G1803 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Luke 4:25
But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
leads to
- 1 Kings 17:1
  Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
  Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
Through
1 Kings 18:1
After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of…
leads to
- Luke 4:25
  But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
leads to
- Luke 4:25–26
  But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
- Luke 1:17
  And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to…
- 1 Kings 22:14
  But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”
Through
Acts 14:15
“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made…
leads to
- 1 Samuel 12:21
  Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
- Acts 10:26
  But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
- Psalms 146:5–6
  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About James

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About James