James 5:16

Confess therefore your sins one to another (exomologeisqe oun allhloi ta amartia). Present middle (indirect) of exomologew. Confession of sin to God is already assumed. But public confession of certain sins to one another in the meetings is greatly helpful in many ways. This is not confessing to one man like a priest in place of the public confession. One may confess to the pastor without confessing to God or to the church, with little benefit to anybody. Pray for one another (proseucesqe uper allhlwn). Present middle imperative. Keep this up. That ye may be healed (opw iaqhte). Purpose clause with opw and the first aorist passive subjunctive of iaomai. Probably of bodily healing (verse Romans 14 ), though iaomai is used also of healing of the soul ( Matthew 13:15 ; 1 Peter 2:24 ; Hebrews 12:13 ) as Mayor takes it here. Availeth much (polu iscuei). "Has much force." Present active indicative of iscuw (from iscu, strength). In its working (energoumenh). Probably the present middle participle of energew as Paul apparently uses it in Galatians 5:6 ; 2 Corinthians 4:12 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:7 , meaning "when it works." The passive is possible, as is the usual idiom elsewhere. Mayor argues strongly for the passive here, "when it is exercised" (Ropes).