James 4:15

James 4:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
• New International Version (NIV)Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

Context of James 4:15

13Go to now, ye who say, To-day or to-morrow will we go into such a city and spend a year there, and traffic and make gain, 14ye who do not know what will be on the morrow, ([for] what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing,) instead of your saying, If the Lord should [so] will and we should live, we will also do this or that. 16But now ye glory in your vauntings: all such glorying is evil. 17To him therefore who knows how to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.

James 4:15 word by word

ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν ὑμᾶς· ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ καὶ ζήσομεν καὶ ποιήσομεν τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο.Read the interlinear

• insteadἀντίanti · forG473
• sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
• liveζάωzaō · to liveG2198
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532

Cross-references for James 4:15

• 2 Samuel 15:25And the king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of Jehovah, he will bring me again, and shew me it, and its habitation.
• Proverbs 19:21Many are the thoughts in a man's heart, but the counsel of Jehovah, that doth stand.
• Lamentations 3:37Who is he that saith, and there cometh to pass, what the Lord hath not commanded?
• Acts 18:21but bade them farewell, saying, [I must by all means keep the coming feast at Jerusalem]; I will return to you again, if God will: and he sailed away from Ephesus.
• Romans 1:10always beseeching at my prayers, if any way now at least I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.
• Romans 15:32in order that I may come to you in joy by God's will, and that I may be refreshed with you.
• 1 Corinthians 4:19but I will come quickly to you, if the Lord will; and I will know, not the word of those that are puffed up, but the power.
• 1 Corinthians 16:7For I will not see you now in passing, for I hope to remain a certain time with you, if the Lord permit.
• Hebrews 6:3and this will we do if God permit.

Commentaries on James 4:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15For that ye ought to say - ̔· Instead of saying, or instead of which ye should say, If the Lord will, we shall live - I think St. James had another example from the rabbins in view, which is produced by Drusius, Gregory, Cartwright, and Schoettgen, on this clause: "The bride went up to her chamber, not knowing what was to befall her there." On which there is this comment: "No man should ever say that he will do this or that, without the condition If God…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15For that ye ought to say - Instead of what you do say, “we will go into such a city,” you ought rather to recognise your absolute dependence on God, and feel that life and success are subject to his will. The meaning is not that we ought always to be saying that in so many words, for this might become a mere ostentatious form, offensive by constant unmeaning repetition; but we are, in the proper way, to recognise our dependence on him, and to form all our…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-17Verses 11-17 Our lips must be governed by the law of kindness, as well as truth and justice. Christians are brethren. And to break God's commands, is to speak evil of them, and to judge them, as if they laid too great a restraint upon us. We have the law of God, which is a rule to all; let us not presume to set up our own notions and opinions as a rule to those about us, and let us be careful that we be not condemned of the Lord. "Go to now," is a call to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15The Lord controls life and death (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6; Matthew 10:28).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Literally, "instead of your saying," &c. This refers to "ye that say" (Jas 4:13). we shall live--The best manuscripts read, "We shall both live and do," &c. The boasters spoke as if life, action, and the particular kind of action were in their power, whereas all three depend entirely on the will of the Lord.Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:15

• Commandments
• Confidence
• Covetousness
• Death
• Life
• Presumption

In the dictionaries

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

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