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

12God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? 13Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Whereasὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• ye knowἐπίσταμαιepistamai · to know/understandG1987
• notοὐou · noG3756
• on the morrowαὔριονaurion · tomorrowG839
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• whatποῖοςpoios · what?G4169
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• It isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• a vapourἀτμίςatmis · vaporG822
• that appearethφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• forπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• a little timeὀλίγοςoligos · little/fewG3641
• andδέde · thenG1161
• thenἔπειταepeita · thenG1899
• vanisheth awayἀφανίζωaphanizō · to destroyG853

Cross-references for James 4:14

• James 1:10And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field.
• Job 7:6“My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle. They end without hope.
• Job 9:25“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.
• Job 14:1“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!
• Psalms 39:5You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude
• Psalms 89:47Remember how short my life is, how empty and futile this human existence!
• Psalms 90:5You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
• Psalms 102:3For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
• Isaiah 38:12My life has been blown away like a shepherd’s tent in a storm. It has been cut short, as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom. Suddenly, my life was over.
• 1 Peter 1:24As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades.
• 1 Peter 4:7The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
• 1 John 2:17And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will 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