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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to 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.

Context of James 3:14

12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. 13Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

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

• But ifεἰei · ifG1487
• you haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• bitterπικρόςpikros · bitterG4089
• selfishἐριθείαeritheia · rivalryG2052
• in your heartκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• do not be arrogantκατακαυχάομαιkatakauchaomai · to boastG2620
• lieψεύδομαιpseudomai · to lieG5574
• againstκατάkata · according toG2596
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for James 3:14

• James 3:16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
• James 4:1What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts?
• Genesis 30:1Now when Rachel saw that she had not borne Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I am going to die.”
• Genesis 37:11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
• Job 5:2For irritation kills the fool, And jealousy brings death to the simple.
• Proverbs 14:30A tranquil heart is life to the body, But jealousy is rottenness to the bones.
• Proverbs 27:4Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy?
• Isaiah 11:13Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, And those who harass Judah will be eliminated; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do You make me see disaster, And make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises.
• Matthew 27:18For he knew that it was because of envy that they had handed Him over.
• Acts 5:17But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.
• Acts 7:9“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,
• Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.
• Romans 1:29people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips,
• Romans 13:13Let’s behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy.
• 1 Corinthians 3:3for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people?

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