James 4:1

James 4:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
• New International Version (NIV)What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Context of James 4:1

Where do quarrels and conflicts among you come from? Don’t they come from this, namely your passions that battle within your body parts? 2You crave and have not. You murder and you envy, yet you cannot get it. You fight and you wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives so you may spend it on your passions.

James 4:1 word by word

Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν, ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• From whenceπόθενpothen · whenceG4159
• warsπόλεμοςpolēmos · warG4171
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• fightingsμάχηmachē · quarrelG3163
• amongἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• youσύsu · youG4771
• notοὐou · noG3756
• henceἐντεῦθεν, ἔνθενenteuthen · from hereG1782
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• lustsἡδονήhēdonē · pleasureG2237
• that warστρατεύωstrateuomai · to battleG4754
• membersμέλοςmelos · memberG3196

Cross-references for James 4:1

• James 3:14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.
• James 1:14But each one is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire.
• Genesis 4:5but upon Cain and his offering He did not look favorably. Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
• Jeremiah 17:9“The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable—who can know it?
• Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander.
• Mark 7:21For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil intentions, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
• John 8:44You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks lies he is just being himself—for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• Romans 8:7For the mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit itself to the law of God—for it cannot.
• 1 Timothy 6:4he is prideful, understanding nothing. Instead he is obsessed with arguments and disputes about words—out of which come envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions,
• 1 Peter 1:14Like obedient children, do not be shaped by the cravings you had formerly in your ignorance.
• 1 Peter 2:11Loved ones, I urge you as strangers and sojourners to keep away from the fleshly cravings that war against the soul.
• 1 Peter 4:2As a result, he lives the rest of his time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.
• 2 Peter 2:18For by mouthing grandiosities that amount to nothing, they entice in sensual fleshly passions those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.
• 2 Peter 3:3First of all, understand that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing, following after their own desires
• 1 John 2:15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• Jude 1:16These are bellyaching grumblers, following after their own desires. Their mouth speaks grandiose things, showing favoritism for the sake of gain.

Commentaries on James 4:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1From whence come wars and fightings - About the time in which St. James wrote, whether we follow the earlier or the later date of this epistle, we find, according to the accounts given by Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 17, etc., that the Jews, under pretense of defending their religion, and procuring that liberty to which they believed themselves entitled, made various insurrections in Judea against the Romans, which occasioned much bloodshed and misery…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1From whence come wars and fightings among you? - Margin, “brawlings.” The reference is to strifes and contentions of all kinds; and the question, then, as it is now, was an important one, what was their source or origin? The answer is given in the succeeding part of the verse. Some have supposed that the apostle refers here to the contests and seditions existing among the Jews, which afterwards broke out in rebellion against the Roman authority, and which…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Here are cautions against corrupt affections, and love of this world, which is enmity to God. (1-10) Exhortations to undertake no affairs of life, without constant regard to the will and providence of God. (11-17) Verses 1-10 Since all wars and fightings come from the corruptions of our own hearts, it is right to mortify those lusts that war in the members. Wordly and fleshly lusts are distempers, which will not allow content or satisfaction. Sinful…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Conflicts and quarrels (literally wars and battles): James uses military imagery to show that their own evil desires cause the battles among church members. These desires are at war within themselves. James uses the Greek word for passions again in 4:3 (translated as “pleasures”). This frames the entire paragraph and show the source of conflict and unanswered prayer (Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-171. whence--The cause of quarrels is often sought in external circumstances, whereas internal lusts are the true origin. wars, &c.--contrasted with the "peace" of heavenly wisdom. "Fightings" are the active carrying on of "wars." The best authorities have a second "whence" before "fightings." Tumults marked the era before the destruction of Jerusalem when James wrote. He indirectly alludes to these. The members are the first seat of war; thence it passes…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:1

• Ambition
• Lust
• Sin
• Strife

In the dictionaries

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

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