James5:14

Translation

Is anyone among you feeble?

Let him call for the elders

of the church to come to him, and let them pray over him, anointing

him with oil

in the name of the LORD.

Paraphrase

Is anyone in your fellowship who professes to be a believer not living in God’s strength but is continually feeble and frail as a result of continued sin in his life? He should call for the leaders of the congregation who are grandfathers to come to him so he can confess the spiritual reasons for his physical ailments, and they should pray for him to be restored to spiritual health, covering him with a symbol of the Holy Spirit according to the expressed will and purpose of THE SOVEREIGN RULER OF ALL THINGS.

Footnotes

1: "feeble"

This word’s primary meaning is “feeble, frail, lacking strength”. Its secondary meaning is “sickly, ill”.

2: "elders"

The system of leadership in the early church was a carry-over from the leadership seen in the Old Testament, it was primarily grandfathers being the leaders of their small clans.

3: "anointing"

Anointing did not truly cover the person in oil, but it was a picture of covering. That is why I have rendered it as “covering” in the paraphrase column.

4: "oil"

Oil represented the spirit, i.e. the Spirit of God.