James 4:2

James 4:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
• New International Version (NIV)You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
• New Living Translation (NLT)You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

Context of James 4:2

1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:2 word by word

ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε· φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν· μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε· οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Ye lustἐπιθυμέωepithumeō · to long forG1937
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• notοὐou · noG3756
• ye killφονεύωphoneuō · to murderG5407
• desire to haveζηλόωzēloō · be eagerG2206
• cannotδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• obtainἐπιτυγχάνωepitugchanō · to obtainG2013
• ye fightμάχομαιmachomai · to quarrelG3164
• warπολεμέωpolemeō · to fightG4170
• yetδέde · thenG1161
• becauseδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• yeσύsu · youG4771
• askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
• notμήmē · notG3361

Cross-references for James 4:2

• James 5:1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
• Proverbs 1:19Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.
• Ecclesiastes 4:8one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, "For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
• Habakkuk 2:5"Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples."
• 1 Timothy 6:9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
• James 1:5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
• Isaiah 7:12But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test."
• Matthew 7:7"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
• Luke 11:9And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
• John 4:10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
• John 16:24Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Commentaries on James 4:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Ye lust, and have not - Ye are ever covetous, and ever poor. Ye kill, and, desire to have - Ye are constantly engaged in insurrections and predatory wars, and never gain any advantage. Ye have not, because ye ask not - Ye get no especial blessing from God as your fathers did, because ye do not pray. Worldly good is your god; ye leave no stone unturned in order to get it; and as ye ask nothing from God but to consume it upon your evil desires and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Ye lust, and have not - That is, you wish to have something which you do not now possess, and to which you have no just claim, and this prompts to the effort to obtain it by force. You desire extension of territory, fame, booty, the means of luxurious indulgence, or of magnificence and grandeur, and this leads to contest and bloodshed. These are the causes of wars on the large scale among nations and of the contentions and strifes of individuals. The…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2you kill and covet: Killing was the extreme but logical result of their greedy mindset. Some of James's readers might have joined the Jewish Zealot movement and committed murder for their cause. Hostile attitudes and violent methods do not bring satisfaction—you cannot achieve your goals with them.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Ye lust--A different Greek word from that in Jas 4:1. "Ye desire"; literally, "ye set your mind (or heart) on" an object. have not--The lust of desire does not ensure the actual possession. Hence "ye kill" (not as Margin, without any old authority, "envy") to ensure possession. Not probably in the case of professing Christians of that day in a literal sense, but "kill and envy" (as the Greek for "desire to have" should be translated), that is, harass…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:2

• Ambition
• Covetousness
• 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