James 4:5

James 4:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
• New International Version (NIV)Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

Context of James 4:5

3Even when you do ask God, you do not receive anything. That is because you ask for the wrong reason. You just want to use these things to make yourselves happy. 4You are turning away from God, like a woman who is not faithful to her husband. You choose to be friends with people who are against God. So you yourselves become enemies of God. You should know that! The Bible says, ‘God has caused his Spirit to live in us. He wants very much to keep us for himself.’ Do you think that is not true? 6But God will be very kind to us and he will help us. That is why the Bible says, ‘God is against those people who think that they are important. But he is kind to people who do not feel important.’ 7So obey God's authority. Be strong against the Devil and he will run away from you.

James 4:5 word by word

ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει; πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Doἤē · orG2228
• ye thinkδοκέωdokeō · to thinkG1380
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• the scriptureὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the scriptureγραφήgraphē · a writingG1124
• saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• in vainκενῶςkenōs · vainlyG2761
• The spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• dwellethκατοικέωkatoikeō · to dwellG2730
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• lustethἐπιποθέωepipotheō · to long forG1971
• toπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• envyφθόνοςphthonos · envyG5355

Cross-references for James 4:5

• John 7:42The Bible says that the Messiah will come from King David's family. He will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.’
• John 10:35God called the people to whom he spoke “gods”. And you know that the Bible always remains true.
• John 19:37In another place, the Bible says: ‘People will push a spear into that man's body, and then they will look at him.’ And that is how it really happened.
• Romans 9:17The Bible tells us what God said to Pharaoh: ‘This is why I caused you to be king of Egypt. My purpose was to show how powerful I am. As a result, people everywhere would know that I am great.’
• Galatians 3:8The Bible already said what would happen at a future time. It said that God would make the Gentiles right with himself, if they believed in him. God showed this good news to Abraham a long time before it happened. He said to Abraham, ‘I will bless people from all countries because of you.’
• Genesis 4:5But God was not pleased with Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry. His face looked sad.
• Genesis 6:5The Lord saw that men and women on the earth had become very bad. They thought only of evil things all the time.
• Genesis 8:21The Lord smelled the sacrifice and it made him happy. The Lord said to himself, ‘I will never curse the ground again because of the bad things that people do. From the time that they are children, they want to do bad things. But I will never again destroy everything that breathes, as I have done this time.
• Genesis 26:14He had many sheep, goats and cows. He also had many servants in his house. He had so many servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.
• Genesis 30:1Rachel now knew that she could not give birth to any children for Jacob. So she became jealous of her sister. Rachel said to Jacob, ‘Please give me children. If not, I will die.’
• Genesis 37:11Joseph's brothers were very jealous of him. But Jacob thought carefully about what Joseph had said.
• Numbers 11:29But Moses said to him, ‘Perhaps you think that I might be jealous of them. But I would be happy if the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people. I would like them all to be prophets!’
• Psalms 37:1Do not become upset because of what wicked people do. Do not be jealous of people that do bad things.
• Psalms 106:16The people became jealous of Moses, and Aaron, the Lord's special priest.
• Proverbs 21:10Evil things are the food that wicked people eat to live. They are not kind to anyone, even their friends.
• Ecclesiastes 4:4I also thought about the clever work that people do. I saw that people work hard because they are jealous of each other. They want to do better than other people. I realized that this has no purpose. It is like somebody who tries to catch the wind.

Commentaries on James 4:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain - This verse is exceedingly obscure. We cannot tell what scripture St. James refers to; many have been produced by learned men as that which he had particularly in view. Some think Genesis 6:5; : "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 8:21; : "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." Numbers 11:29; : "Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake?" and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain - Few passages of the New Testament have given expositors more perplexity than this. The difficulty has arisen from the fact that no such passage as that which seems here to be quoted is found in the Old Testament; and to meet this difficulty, expositors have resorted to various conjectures and solutions. Some have supposed that the passage is spurious, and that it was at first a gloss in the margin, placed…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5the Scripture says: James summarizes one of the messages of Scripture. The spirit God placed in us should be faithful to him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. in vain--No word of Scripture can be so. The quotation here, as in Ep 5:14, seems to be not so much from a particular passage as one gathered by James under inspiration from the general tenor of such passages in both the Old and New Testaments, as Nu 14:29; Pr 21:20; Ga 5:17. spirit that dwelleth in us--Other manuscripts read, "that God hath made to dwell in us" (namely, at Pentecost). If so translated, "Does the (Holy) Spirit that God hath placed in…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:5

• Depravity of Man
• Envy

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