Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are; both of body and mind, natural and moral; and so, though he were righteous, yet he was not perfect; though an eminent prophet, yet but a man. And he prayed earnestly; with that effectual, fervent prayer before mentioned. It is a Hebrew phrase, and notes vehemency, as Luke 22:15. That it might not rain; this is not expressly mentioned in the history, but this apostle might have it by revelation, or by certain tradition well known in his age. Other passages of the like nature we meet with in the New Testament which are not in the Old: see 1 Timothy 3:8 Hebrews 12:21 Judges 1:9. And it rained not on the earth; or, the land, viz. of the ten tribes, and the places bordering on them, as Sarepta, 1 Kings 17:9 Luke 4:25,26. By the space of three years and six months: so Luke 4:25. Question. How doth this agree with 1 Kings 18:1, where it is said, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year? Answer. Most probably it was in the midst of the third year from his coming to Sarepta; and he was by the brook Cherith a year. 1 Kings 17:7, where the margin reads it, according to the Hebrew, at the end of days, i.e. the days of a year, as the phrase is often used, Genesis 4:3 Judges 17:10; so that his time spent in both places may well make up the three years and six months.
Related Commentaries of James 5:17
James 5:17
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestlyb that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.