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

12Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. 13If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• ye haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• bitterπικρόςpikros · bitterG4089
• envyingζῆλοςzēlos · zealG2205
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• strifeἐριθείαeritheia · rivalryG2052
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• heartsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• heartsκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• gloryκατακαυχάομαιkatakauchaomai · to boastG2620
• notμήmē · notG3361
• lieψεύδομαιpseudomai · to lieG5574
• not againstκατάkata · according toG2596
• the truthἀλήθειαalētheia · truthG225

Cross-references for James 3:14

• James 3:16For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
• James 4:1What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?
• Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
• Genesis 37:11But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.
• Job 5:2Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
• Proverbs 14:30A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
• Proverbs 27:4Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.
• Isaiah 11:13Then at last the jealousy between Israel and Judah will end. They will not be rivals anymore.
• Habakkuk 1:3Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.
• Matthew 27:18(He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)
• Acts 5:17The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
• Acts 7:9“These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him
• Acts 13:45But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said.
• Romans 1:29Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
• Romans 13:13Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
• 1 Corinthians 3:3for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?

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