James 4

1 wars. The disruption of social and civil ties, and the prevalence of sects and parties. These evils remarkably characterised the Jewish people before the destruction of Jerusalem.

lusts. Or, “pleasures”; i.e., selfish gratifications.

2 ye kill, etc. “Ye murder and envy, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war.” And yet even in regard to these earthly objects of desire “ye have not,” either because you seek them in this way, and not from God the Giver of all good, or because you seek them for your own selfish, sensual ends.

4. Ye adulterers and adulteresses. The best texts have “adulteresses” alone; referring either to communities, or to some such word as souls (fem.). Departure from God is represented in the Old Testament under the figure of conjugal unfaithfulness. The reference therefore is to churches, or to professors of religion, whose love of the world has made them unfaithful to God. See Isa. lvii. 3-9; and Hosea throughout; cp. Matt. xii. 39.

will be. Or, “wants to be”; having his heart set on the world. The verb is the same as in Matt. i. 19.

5 the Scripture saith. The words which immediately follow are not found elsewhere in Scripture. They may perhaps be understood as expressing the meaning of various passages. “Do ye think it is vain what the Scripture saith? The Spirit who came to dwell within us (or, see var. read., ‘whom He made to dwell within us’) jealously yearns for the entire devotion of the heart” (Mayor). See Exod. xx. 5; Deut. xxxii. 11, 12, 16-21; Isa. lxiii. 8-16; Zech. viii. 2.

6. God resisteth the proud. Prov. iii. 34 (Sept.).

8 double minded. Wavering between tendencies to good and evil: see on i. 8.

11. Speak not evil. Evil speaking is one manifestation of jealousy and party spirit. To speak evil of a brother is to condemn or slight the law which says, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” It is also to put oneself in the position of a judge.

12. There is one lawgiver. Perhaps the best rendering is, “One is the Lawgiver and Judge, He who has power,” etc. (Rom. xiv. 4). Thou is very emphatic in the original.

13. Go to now. Or, “Come now”; and so in v. 1. It is an expression used to arrest attention.

14. It is even a vapour. Or, “for it is a vapour,” etc. With a slight change in the word translated “it is” (ἐστει), the best authorities read “ye are” (ἐστει): “Ye are a vapour.”

16. But now, etc. But, as it is, you make a boast of your “proud pretensions” (Moffatt); in strong contrast with the humiliation expressed by, “If the Lord will.”

all such rejoicing is evil. Because it proceeds from forgetfulness of God.