English Standard Version
James 3:16
16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
James 3:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
- New International Version (NIV)For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
- New Living Translation (NLT)For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
Context of James 3:16
14But 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. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Read all of James 3James 3:16 word by word
ὅπου γὰρ ζῆλος καὶ ἐριθεία, ἐκεῖ ἀκαταστασία καὶ πᾶν φαῦλον πρᾶγμα.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for James 3:16
- James 3:14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
- 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?
- Galatians 5:20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
- Genesis 11:9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
- Acts 19:29So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.
- 1 Corinthians 14:33For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,
- 1 John 3:12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.
Commentaries on James 3:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16For where envying and strife is - · Zeal - fiery, inflammatory passion, and contention - altercations about the different points of the law, of no use for edification, such as those mentioned, Titus 3:9. The Jews were the most intolerant of all mankind; it was a maxim with them to kill those who would not conform to their law; and their salvation they believed to be impossible. This has been the spirit of Popery, and of the Romish Church at large; in vain…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For where envying and strife is, there is confusion - Margin, tumult or unquietness. Everything is unsettled and agitated. There is no mutual confidence; there is no union of plan and effort; there is no co-operation in promoting a common object; there is no stability in any plan; for a purpose, though for good, formed by one portion, is defeated by another. And every evil work - Of the truth of this no one can have any doubt who has observed the effects…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
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. envying--So English Version translates the Greek, which usually means "zeal"; "emulation," in Ro 13:13. "The envious man stands in his own light. He thinks his candle cannot shine in the presence of another's sun. He aims directly at men, obliquely at God, who makes men to differ." strife--rivalry [Alford]. confusion--literally, "tumultuous anarchy": both in society (translated "commotions," Lu 21:9; "tumults," 2Co 6:5), and in the individual mind; in…Read the comment
Topics related to James 3:16
In the dictionaries
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
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