Naravist

The Letters · New Testament

James 4

James 4: where quarrels come from, and boasting about tomorrow

General context

A question opens the chapter: where do wars and fightings among them come from? The answer given is lusts that war in their members. They lust and have not, kill and cannot obtain, fight and war and still have nothing, because they do not ask; and when they do ask they do not receive, because they ask to spend it on their lusts. They are called adulterers and adulteresses, and friendship with the world is called enmity with God, so that whoever chooses to be a friend of the world is God's enemy. A line is quoted from the scripture about the spirit that dwells in us lusting to envy, followed by a second quoted line that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. A run of short commands follows: submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh, cleanse the hands, purify the hearts of the double minded, be afflicted and mourn and weep, turn laughter to mourning and joy to heaviness, and humble yourselves so that the Lord will lift you up. Speaking evil of a brother is then forbidden, on the ground that judging a brother is judging the law, and that there is one lawgiver able to save and destroy. The last section addresses those who plan a year of trade in a named city. They do not know what tomorrow holds, since life is a vapour that appears briefly and vanishes, and they ought instead to say that they will live and act if the Lord wills. Their boasting is called evil, and the chapter ends with the rule that knowing to do good and not doing it is sin.

Cited passages: James 4:1, James 4:2, James 4:3, James 4:4, James 4:5, James 4:6, James 4:7, James 4:8, James 4:9, James 4:10, James 4:11, James 4:12, James 4:13, James 4:14, James 4:15, James 4:16, James 4:17

James 4 (KJV)

1From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

11Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The chapter says the readers have "wars and fightings among you" and uses the words kill, fight and war of them, without describing a single incident, naming anyone, or saying whether the words are meant of actual killing. Some of them plan trading journeys of a year in a city that the letter leaves unnamed, so at least part of the company has money and freedom to travel. Two quotations are used and neither is given a book. The first is introduced as scripture, "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy", with no source named anywhere in the letter. The second, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble", is introduced only by "he saith"; Proverbs 3:34 as printed here reads "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly". The devil is named once, at verse 7, with nothing further said about him. No place, date or person appears in the chapter.

Cited passages: James 4:1, James 4:2, James 4:13, James 4:5, James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34, James 4:7

Literary context

The chapter opens with a question and answers it in the same verse, then traces one cause down a chain: wanting, not having, fighting, not asking, asking wrongly. The middle is a run of ten imperatives in four verses, each short and unqualified, and they are arranged in pairs where the reader acts first and God answers, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you". Two of them reverse the usual direction of encouragement, telling the readers to mourn and to turn laughter into heaviness. The last section is built on quoted speech, first the traders' own plan spoken in their words and then the sentence the writer says they should use instead, "If the Lord will, we shall live". The vapour image gives the reason in one line. The closing sentence is general enough to cover everything in the chapter: knowing the good and not doing it.

Cited passages: James 4:1, James 4:2, James 4:3, James 4:8, James 4:9, James 4:13, James 4:14, James 4:15, James 4:17

Key moments

  1. Where the fighting starts (James 4:1). Conflict is traced to desires at war inside the people themselves.
  2. Ye ask not (James 4:2). The letter says they fight for what they never asked for.
  3. Friendship with the world (James 4:4). Choosing the world is called taking a side against God.
  4. Draw nigh (James 4:8). A run of short commands pairs their action with God's response.
  5. One lawgiver (James 4:12). Judging a brother is answered by a question about standing.
  6. A year of trade planned (James 4:13). Confident business plans are quoted back to the planners.
  7. Life as vapour (James 4:14). The plan is measured against how briefly a life lasts.

For reflection

The letter traces quarrels not to disagreement but to wanting something and not getting it. Does that account cover the conflicts a reader would recognise, or leave something out?