James 4:1

James 4:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
• New International Version (NIV)What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Context of James 4:1

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts? 2You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious 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 with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.

James 4:1 word by word

Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν, ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν;Read the interlinear

• Whatπόθενpothen · whenceG4159
• of quarrelsπόλεμοςpolēmos · warG4171
• conflictsμάχηmachē · quarrelG3163
• amongἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• Is the sourceἐντεῦθεν, ἔνθενenteuthen · from hereG1782
• not your pleasuresἡδονήhēdonē · pleasureG2237
• that wageστρατεύωstrateuomai · to battleG4754
• your body’s partsμέλοςmelos · memberG3196

Cross-references for James 4:1

• James 3:14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
• James 1:14But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
• Genesis 4:5but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy.
• Jeremiah 17:9“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
• Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements.
• Mark 7:21For from within, out of the hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery,
• John 8:44You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
• Romans 8:7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
• 1 Timothy 6:4he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,
• 1 Peter 1:14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
• 1 Peter 2:11Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.
• 1 Peter 4:2so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human lusts, but for the will of God.
• 2 Peter 2:18For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
• 2 Peter 3:3Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
• 1 John 2:15Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• Jude 1:16These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

Commentaries on James 4:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1From whence come wars and fightings - About the time in which St. James wrote, whether we follow the earlier or the later date of this epistle, we find, according to the accounts given by Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 17, etc., that the Jews, under pretense of defending their religion, and procuring that liberty to which they believed themselves entitled, made various insurrections in Judea against the Romans, which occasioned much bloodshed and misery…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1From whence come wars and fightings among you? - Margin, “brawlings.” The reference is to strifes and contentions of all kinds; and the question, then, as it is now, was an important one, what was their source or origin? The answer is given in the succeeding part of the verse. Some have supposed that the apostle refers here to the contests and seditions existing among the Jews, which afterwards broke out in rebellion against the Roman authority, and which…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Here are cautions against corrupt affections, and love of this world, which is enmity to God. (1-10) Exhortations to undertake no affairs of life, without constant regard to the will and providence of God. (11-17) Verses 1-10 Since all wars and fightings come from the corruptions of our own hearts, it is right to mortify those lusts that war in the members. Wordly and fleshly lusts are distempers, which will not allow content or satisfaction. Sinful…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Conflicts and quarrels (literally wars and battles): James uses military imagery to show that their own evil desires cause the battles among church members. These desires are at war within themselves. James uses the Greek word for passions again in 4:3 (translated as “pleasures”). This frames the entire paragraph and show the source of conflict and unanswered prayer (Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-171. whence--The cause of quarrels is often sought in external circumstances, whereas internal lusts are the true origin. wars, &c.--contrasted with the "peace" of heavenly wisdom. "Fightings" are the active carrying on of "wars." The best authorities have a second "whence" before "fightings." Tumults marked the era before the destruction of Jerusalem when James wrote. He indirectly alludes to these. The members are the first seat of war; thence it passes…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:1

• Ambition
• 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