We note that James’ main concern here is “prayer.” This is seen in his statement that healing comes in response to the prayer of faith. The word prayer is not the usual word for “prayer” used in the New Testament. This prayer represents a fervent wish or strong petition. The genitive construction the prayer of faith here means “the prayer offered in faith” (New International Version, Revised English Bible) or “This prayer made in faith” (Good News Translation). See the discussion in 1.3 and 6. Faith here means the faith of the elders, not of the person who is sick. Perhaps it is for this reason that the definite article the has been rendered as “this” (Good News Translation) or “such” (Barclay), referring back to the elders’ prayer. Other ways to express this are “When the elders pray like this, believing in the power of God” or “If the church leaders believe strongly in the power of God when they pray.” For the meaning of faith see the discussion in 1.6.
Will save the sick man: this is one of the results of the fervent prayer made in faith. The word save, as used elsewhere in the New Testament, often refers to deliverance from sin and spiritual death. For this reason some scholars feel that it is to be understood in the same sense even in this context. However, the word is sometimes used in the sense of the restoration of physical health (translated “made well” in Mark 6.56; Matt 9.21-22). In the present context it obviously refers to the physical healing. The phrase will save the sick man is therefore best rendered as “will heal the sick” (Good News Translation), “will make the sick person well” (New International Version), or “the sickness will leave his body” (Contemporary English Version).
The Lord will raise him up is another result of the fervent prayer in faith. Here again we have a problem with the meaning of the verb raise up. It is sometimes used in connection with the resurrection of the dead; but this can not be the meaning intended here, for the elders are called to pray for someone who is in bed sick, still alive. Most likely, therefore, it is referring to raising the sick person up from the bed, that is, restoring that person to health. The Lord here obviously refers to God. It will be observed that the prayer for healing is made in the authority of the Lord Jesus, but the one who does the healing is the Lord God.
And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven: James appears to accept that sometimes sin is a cause of sickness. This is a reflection of a concept found elsewhere in the New Testament (Mark 2.5; John 5.14; 1 Cor 11.30). What James is saying here, then, is that if the sickness is related to sin, asking for forgiveness will lead to healing. From the way this statement is phrased, using a particle combining “and if,” it can be seen that James is simply saying that there is a possible, but not inevitable, connection between sin and sickness. For this reason the conditional clause may be rendered as “if he should have committed sins” or “any sins he may have committed” (New English Bible). The clause he will be forgiven means that the healing the sick person can expect is total, including physical and spiritual. The subject of forgiving is God, and this may be brought out, thus “God will forgive him.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• If the elders believe strongly in God as they pray, the sickness will leave the person’s body. The Lord God will make the person completely well, and if he has sinned God will forgive him.
Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .