James 3:14

James 3:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
• New International Version (NIV)But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

Context of James 3:14

12My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. 13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

James 3:14 word by word

εἰ δὲ ζῆλον πικρὸν ἔχετε καὶ ἐριθείαν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν, μὴ κατακαυχᾶσθε καὶ ψεύδεσθε κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας.Read the interlinear

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• you harborἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• bitterπικρόςpikros · bitterG4089
• jealousyζῆλοςzēlos · zealG2205
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• selfish ambitionἐριθείαeritheia · rivalryG2052
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• heartsκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• do notμήmē · notG3361
• boastκατακαυχάομαιkatakauchaomai · to boastG2620
• denyψεύδομαιpseudomai · to lieG5574
• denyκατάkata · according toG2596
• truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for James 3:14

• James 3:16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
• James 4:1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
• Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
• Genesis 37:11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
• Job 5:2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
• Proverbs 14:30A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
• Proverbs 27:4Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
• Isaiah 11:13Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, and the adversaries of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, nor will Judah harass Ephraim.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
• Matthew 27:18For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
• Acts 5:17Then the high priest and all his associates, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They went out
• Acts 7:9Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
• Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
• Romans 1:29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
• Romans 13:13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
• 1 Corinthians 3:3for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

Commentaries on James 3:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14If ye have bitter envying and strife - If ye be under the influence of an unkind, fierce, and contemptuous spirit, even while attempting or pretending to defend true religion, do not boast either of your exertions or success in silencing an adversary; ye have no religion, and no true wisdom, and to profess either is to lie against the truth. Let all writers on what is called polemic (fighting, warring) divinity lay this to heart. The pious Mr. Herbert…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts - If that is your characteristic. There is reference here to a fierce and unholy zeal against each other; a spirit of ambition and contention. Glory not - Do not boast, in such a case, of your qualifications to be public teachers. Nothing would render you more unfit for such an office than such a spirit. And lie not against the truth - You would lie against what is true by setting up a claim to the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-18Verses 13-18 These verses show the difference between men's pretending to be wise, and their being really so. He who thinks well, or he who talks well, is not wise in the sense of the Scripture, if he does not live and act well. True wisdom may be know by the meekness of the spirit and temper. Those who live in malice, envy, and contention, live in confusion; and are liable to be provoked and hurried to any evil work. Such wisdom comes not down from…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14Wisdom has no association with jealousy and selfish ambition. We can only receive God's true word through humility (1:18, 21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. if ye have--as is the case (this is implied in the Greek indicative). bitter--Ep 4:31, "bitterness." envying--rather, "emulation," or literally, "zeal": kindly, generous emulation, or zeal, is not condemned, but that which is "bitter" [Bengel]. strife--rather, "rivalry." in your hearts--from which flow your words and deeds, as from a fountain. glory not, and lie not against the truth--To boast of your wisdom is virtually a lying against the truth (the…Read the comment

Topics related to James 3:14

• Envy
• Righteousness
• Strife

In the dictionaries

• Course
• Governor
• Obey
• Offend
• Ought
• Tame
• Bitter; Bitterness
• Emulation
• Envy
• Jealousy

Commentaries on James 3

• 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