Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — James addresses a community of believers, placing Elijah’s example immediately after commanding mutual confession and prayer for healing. He positions this account at the close of a section on the prevailing power of righteous prayer.
The words — The Greek ὁμοιοπαθὴς (homoiopathēs) literally means “of like nature” or “sharing the same feelings,” grounding Elijah’s identity in ordinary humanity. The verb προσηύξατο (prosēuxato) marks a specific, concentrated act of prayer that directly precedes the drought.
The thread — The narrative originates in 1 Kings 17:1, where Elijah announces the drought to Ahab, and concludes in 1 Kings 18:1, where God commands him to end it. Jesus later cites this same three-and-a-half-year period in Luke 4:25 to demonstrate God’s sovereign distribution of grace.
Why it lands — The text states that a man of ordinary human nature prayed earnestly and halted rainfall for three and a half years. It asks the reader to acknowledge that fervent prayer functions through ordinary humanity to execute divine will.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
- 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 the land.
- 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 the earth.”
- Revelation 11:6 These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
- 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 heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
- Acts 10:26 But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
- Romans 11:2 God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: