American Standard Version
James 4:2
2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.
James 4:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye 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.
- New International Version (NIV)You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
Context of James 4:2
1Whence comewars and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures. 4Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
Read all of James 4James 4:2 word by word
ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε· φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν· μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε· οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς·Read the interlinear
Cross-references for James 4:2
- James 5:1Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
- Proverbs 1:19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
- Ecclesiastes 4:8There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, saith he, do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
- Habakkuk 2:5Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.
- 1 Timothy 6:9But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.
- James 1:5But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
- Isaiah 7:12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt Jehovah.
- Matthew 7:7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
- Luke 11:9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
- John 4:10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
- John 16:24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full.
Commentaries on James 4:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Ye lust, and have not - Ye are ever covetous, and ever poor. Ye kill, and, desire to have - Ye are constantly engaged in insurrections and predatory wars, and never gain any advantage. Ye have not, because ye ask not - Ye get no especial blessing from God as your fathers did, because ye do not pray. Worldly good is your god; ye leave no stone unturned in order to get it; and as ye ask nothing from God but to consume it upon your evil desires and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Ye lust, and have not - That is, you wish to have something which you do not now possess, and to which you have no just claim, and this prompts to the effort to obtain it by force. You desire extension of territory, fame, booty, the means of luxurious indulgence, or of magnificence and grandeur, and this leads to contest and bloodshed. These are the causes of wars on the large scale among nations and of the contentions and strifes of individuals. The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2you kill and covet: Killing was the extreme but logical result of their greedy mindset. Some of James's readers might have joined the Jewish Zealot movement and committed murder for their cause. Hostile attitudes and violent methods do not bring satisfaction—you cannot achieve your goals with them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Ye lust--A different Greek word from that in Jas 4:1. "Ye desire"; literally, "ye set your mind (or heart) on" an object. have not--The lust of desire does not ensure the actual possession. Hence "ye kill" (not as Margin, without any old authority, "envy") to ensure possession. Not probably in the case of professing Christians of that day in a literal sense, but "kill and envy" (as the Greek for "desire to have" should be translated), that is, harass…Read the comment
Topics related to James 4:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on James 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries