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 one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? 13Come now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Though ye know not what shall be to morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15Instead of that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing 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

• Thoughὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• knowἐπίσταμαιepistamai · to know/understandG1987
• notοὐou · noG3756
• whatὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• morrowαὔριονaurion · tomorrowG839
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• whatποῖοςpoios · what?G4169
• yourὑμῶνhumōn · of youG5216
• lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• isἐστίesti · he isG2076
• vapourἀτμίςatmis · vaporG822
• thatπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• forφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• timeὀλίγοςoligos · little/fewG3641
• andδέde · thenG1161
• thenἔπειταepeita · thenG1899
• awayἀφανίζωaphanizō · to destroyG853

Cross-references for James 4:14

• James 1:10But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
• Job 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
• Job 9:25Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
• Job 14:1Manthat isborn of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
• Psalms 39:5Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand breadth; and my age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
• Psalms 89:47Remember how short my time is: why hast thou made all men in vain?
• Psalms 90:5Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth.
• Psalms 102:3For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
• Isaiah 38:12My age hath departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
• 1 Peter 1:24For all fleshisas grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and its flower falleth away:
• 1 Peter 4:7But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober minded, and watch to prayer.
• 1 John 2:17And the world passeth away, and its lust: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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