James 4:14

James 4:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
• New International Version (NIV)Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
• English Standard Version (ESV)yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
• New King James Version (NKJV)whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Context of James 4:14

12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor? 13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

James 4:14 word by word

οἵτινες οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τὸ τῆς αὔριον ποία ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν. ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστε ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον φαινομένη ἔπειτα καὶ ἀφανιζομένη·Read the interlinear

• Yetὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• you do not knowἐπίσταμαιepistamai · to know/understandG1987
• whatποῖοςpoios · what?G4169
• your lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• will be like tomorrowαὔριονaurion · tomorrowG839
• a vaporἀτμίςatmis · vaporG822
• that appearsφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• for a littleὀλίγοςoligos · little/fewG3641
• and thenἔπειταepeita · thenG1899
• vanishesἀφανίζωaphanizō · to destroyG853

Cross-references for James 4:14

• James 1:10but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
• Job 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And they come to an end without hope.
• Job 9:25“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.
• Job 14:1“Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
• Psalms 39:5Behold, You have made my days like hand widths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Certainly all mankind standing is a mere breath. Selah
• Psalms 89:47Remember what my lifespan is; For what futility You have created all the sons of mankind!
• Psalms 90:5You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.
• Psalms 102:3For my days have ended in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.
• Isaiah 38:12Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; As a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.
• 1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off,
• 1 Peter 4:7The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
• 1 John 2:17The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.

Commentaries on James 4:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Whereas ye know not - This verse should be read in a parenthesis. It is not only impious, but grossly absurd, to speak thus concerning futurity, when ye know not what a day may bring forth. Life is utterly precarious; and God has not put it within the power of all the creatures he has made to command one moment of what is future. It is even a vapour - · It is a smoke, always fleeting, uncertain, evanescent, and obscured with various trials and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Whereas, ye know not what shall be on the morrow - They formed their plans as if they knew; the apostle says it could not be known. They had no means of ascertaining what would occur; whether they would live or die; whether they would be prospered, or would be overwhelmed with adversity. Of the truth of the remark made by the apostle here, no one can doubt; but it is amazing how men act as if it were false. We have no power of penetrating the future so as…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-17Verses 11-17 Our lips must be governed by the law of kindness, as well as truth and justice. Christians are brethren. And to break God's commands, is to speak evil of them, and to judge them, as if they laid too great a restraint upon us. We have the law of God, which is a rule to all; let us not presume to set up our own notions and opinions as a rule to those about us, and let us be careful that we be not condemned of the Lord. "Go to now," is a call to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-16Traveling merchants relied on their own determination to overcome poverty and low social status. James encourages acknowledging God's providence. He also warns against making arrogant plans beyond one's control.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1514. what--literally, "of what nature" is your life? that is, how evanescent it is. It is even--Some oldest authorities read, "For ye are." Bengel, with other old authorities, reads, "For it shall be," the future referring to the "morrow" (Jas 4:13-15). The former expresses, "Ye yourselves are transitory"; so everything of yours, even your life, must partake of the same transitoriness. Received text has no old authority. and then vanisheth…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:14

• Commandments
• Confidence
• Covetousness
• Life
• Presumption

In the dictionaries

• Adulterer
• Amiss
• Consume
• Enmity
• Flee
• Hence
• Lust
• Providence
• Resist
• Sin

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