James 4:1

James 4:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
• New International Version (NIV)What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Context of James 4:1

What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? 2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

James 4:1 word by word

Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν, ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν;Read the interlinear

• Whatπόθενpothen · whenceG4159
• conflictsπόλεμοςpolēmos · warG4171
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• quarrelsμάχηmachē · quarrelG3163
• amongἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• youσύsu · youG4771
• Don’tοὐou · noG3756
• ·ἐντεῦθεν, ἔνθενenteuthen · from hereG1782
• fromἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• passionsἡδονήhēdonē · pleasureG2237
• at warστρατεύωstrateuomai · to battleG4754
• youμέλοςmelos · memberG3196

Cross-references for James 4:1

• James 3:14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
• James 1:14But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
• Genesis 4:5but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
• Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
• Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
• Mark 7:21For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
• John 8:44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
• Romans 8:7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
• 1 Timothy 6:4he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and disputes about words, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
• 1 Peter 1:14As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
• 1 Peter 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
• 1 Peter 4:2Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.
• 2 Peter 2:18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
• 2 Peter 3:3Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
• 1 John 2:15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• Jude 1:16These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

Commentaries on James 4:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1From whence come wars and fightings - About the time in which St. James wrote, whether we follow the earlier or the later date of this epistle, we find, according to the accounts given by Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 17, etc., that the Jews, under pretense of defending their religion, and procuring that liberty to which they believed themselves entitled, made various insurrections in Judea against the Romans, which occasioned much bloodshed and misery…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1From whence come wars and fightings among you? - Margin, “brawlings.” The reference is to strifes and contentions of all kinds; and the question, then, as it is now, was an important one, what was their source or origin? The answer is given in the succeeding part of the verse. Some have supposed that the apostle refers here to the contests and seditions existing among the Jews, which afterwards broke out in rebellion against the Roman authority, and which…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Here are cautions against corrupt affections, and love of this world, which is enmity to God. (1-10) Exhortations to undertake no affairs of life, without constant regard to the will and providence of God. (11-17) Verses 1-10 Since all wars and fightings come from the corruptions of our own hearts, it is right to mortify those lusts that war in the members. Wordly and fleshly lusts are distempers, which will not allow content or satisfaction. Sinful…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Conflicts and quarrels (literally wars and battles): James uses military imagery to show that their own evil desires cause the battles among church members. These desires are at war within themselves. James uses the Greek word for passions again in 4:3 (translated as “pleasures”). This frames the entire paragraph and show the source of conflict and unanswered prayer (Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-171. whence--The cause of quarrels is often sought in external circumstances, whereas internal lusts are the true origin. wars, &c.--contrasted with the "peace" of heavenly wisdom. "Fightings" are the active carrying on of "wars." The best authorities have a second "whence" before "fightings." Tumults marked the era before the destruction of Jerusalem when James wrote. He indirectly alludes to these. The members are the first seat of war; thence it passes…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:1

• Ambition
• Lust
• Sin
• Strife

In the dictionaries

• Adulterer
• Amiss
• Consume
• Enmity
• Flee
• Hence
• Lust
• Resist
• Sin
• Unruly

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