James5:13
Next VerseTranslation
Is anyone among you enduring malicious hardship?
Go to footnote numberHe should pray.
Go to footnote numberIs anyone cheerful? He should make music.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Is anyone in your fellowship of believers going through an exceptionally hard time? He should commit it to God in prayer. Is anyone in your fellowship of believers feeling exuberant? His response should be to give praise to God through singing.
Footnotes
1: "malicious hardship"
This is a compound Greek word coming from “bad, evil, malicious” and “to suffer, to endure”.
2: "pray"
This is the major Greek word for “pray”. It comes from two words, the preposition “towards” and the verb “to wish, to want, to will”. The preposition toward implies a reciprocity between you and the person you are moving toward. This interaction is of the nature of exchanging something, and that idea is strong enough in this preposition to cause some to render it with the word “exchange”. So in prayer we are exchanging something with God. What do we exchange? Our will. The other part of the word “pray” is “to wish for, to want, to exercise the will”. Thus prayer is when we approach God to exchange our will and our wishes for His will and His wishes. God does not receive our will and wishes, but we should receive His.
3: "make music"
This word comes from a root meaning “to rub, to touch lightly”, which was used to mean “to play an instrument”. It was also used of singing, which is likely the intended meaning here.