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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.

Context of James 3:14

12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 13Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• ye haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• bitterπικρόςpikros · bitterG4089
• envyingζῆλοςzēlos · zealG2205
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• strifeἐριθείαeritheia · rivalryG2052
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• heartsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• heartsκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• gloryκατακαυχάομαιkatakauchaomai · to boastG2620
• notμήmē · notG3361
• lieψεύδομαιpseudomai · to lieG5574
• not againstκατάkata · according toG2596
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for James 3:14

• James 3:16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
• James 4:1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
• Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!"
• Genesis 37:11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
• Job 5:2Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.
• Proverbs 14:30A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
• Proverbs 27:4Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
• Isaiah 11:13The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
• Matthew 27:18For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
• Acts 5:17But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy
• Acts 7:9"And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him
• Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.
• Romans 1:29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
• Romans 13:13Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
• 1 Corinthians 3:3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

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