New King James Version
James 3:16
16For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
- 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 envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18Now the fruit 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 envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
- 1 Corinthians 3:3for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
- Galatians 5:20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
- Genesis 11:9Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
- Acts 19:29So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.
- 1 Corinthians 14:33For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
- 1 John 3:12not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
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