---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  James 4"
description: "CHAPTER 4   :-. AGAINST
FIGHTINGS AND THEIR
SOURCE; WORLDLY
LUSTS; UNCHARITABLE
JUDGMENTS, AND
PRESUMPTUOUS RECKONING
ON THE FUTURE. 1. whence—The cause o"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/james/4"
---

CHAPTER 4

. AGAINST
FIGHTINGS AND THEIR
SOURCE; WORLDLY
LUSTS; UNCHARITABLE
JUDGMENTS, AND
PRESUMPTUOUS RECKONING
ON THE FUTURE.

**1. 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 to conflict between man and man, nation and
nation.
***come they*****not,**
c.—an appeal to their consciences.
**lusts**—literally,
"pleasures," that is, the lusts which prompt you to
"desire" (see on [James 4:2](../../../kjv/james/4/2))
*pleasures* whence you seek self at the cost of your neighbor,
and hence flow "fightings."
**that war**—"campaign,
as an army of soldiers encamped within" [ALFORD]
the soul; tumultuously war against the interests of your fellow men,
while lusting to advance self. But while warring thus against others
they (without his knowledge) war against the soul of the man himself,
and against the Spirit; therefore they must be "mortified"
by the Christian.

**2. Ye lust**—A different *Greek*
word from that in [James 4:1](../../../kjv/james/4/1). "Ye
desire"; literally, "ye set your *mind* (or heart) *on*"
an object.
**have not**—The lust of
desire does not ensure the actual possession. Hence "ye kill"
(not as *Margin,* without any old authority, "envy")
to ensure possession. Not probably in the case of professing
Christians of that day in a literal sense, but "kill and envy"
(as the *Greek* for "desire to have" should be
translated), that is, harass and oppress through envy [DRUSIUS].
Compare [Zechariah 11:5](../../../kjv/zechariah/11/5), "slay";
*through envy, hate,* and desire to get out of your way, and so
are "murderers" in God's eyes [ESTIUS].
If literal murder [ALFORD]
were meant, I do not think it would occur so early in the series; nor
had Christians then as yet reached so open criminality. In the
Spirit's application of the passage to all ages, literal *killing*
is included, flowing from the desire to possess so David and Ahab.
There is a climax: "Ye desire," the individual lust for an
object; "ye kill and envy," the feeling and action of
individuals against individuals; "ye fight and war," the
action of many against many.
**ye have not, because ye ask
not**—God promises to those who pray, not to those who fight. The
petition of the lustful, murderous, and contentious is not recognized
by God as *prayer.* If ye prayed, there would be no "wars
and fightings." Thus this last clause is an answer to the
question, [James 4:1](../../../kjv/james/4/1), "Whence
come wars and fightings?"

**3.** Some of them are supposed to
say in objection, But we do "ask" (pray); compare . James replies, It is not enough to ask for good things, but
we must ask with a good spirit and intention. "Ye ask amiss,
that ye may consume *it* (your object of prayer) upon
(literally, 'in') your lusts (literally, 'pleasures')"; not that
ye may have the things you need for the service of God. Contrast
[James 1:5](../../../kjv/james/1/5); [Matthew 6:31](../../../kjv/matthew/6/31);
[Matthew 6:32](../../../kjv/matthew/6/32). If ye prayed aright,
all your proper wants would be supplied; the improper cravings which
produce "wars and fightings" would then cease. Even
believers' prayers are often best answered when their desires are
most opposed.

**4.** The oldest manuscripts omit
"adulterers and," and read simply, "Ye adulteresses."
God is the rightful husband; the men of the world are regarded
collectively as one *adulteress,* and individually as
*adulteresses.*
**the world**—in so far as
the men of it and their motives and acts are aliens to God, for
example, its selfish "lusts" (), and covetous and ambitious "wars and fightings"
([James 4:1](../../../kjv/james/4/1)).
**enmity**—not merely
"inimical"; a state of enmity, and that enmity itself.
Compare [1 John 2:15](../../../kjv/1-john/2/15), "love .
. . the world . . . the love of the Father."
**whosoever . . . will be**—The
*Greek* is emphatic, "shall *be resolved* to be."
Whether he succeed or not, if his *wish* be to be the friend of
the world, he *renders himself, becomes* (so the *Greek*
for "is") by the very fact, "the enemy of God."
Contrast "Abraham the friend of God."

**5. in vain**—No word of
Scripture can be so. The quotation here, as in , seems to be not so much from a particular passage as one
gathered by James under inspiration from the general tenor of such
passages in both the Old and New Testaments, as [Numbers 14:29](../../../kjv/numbers/14/29);
[Proverbs 21:20](../../../kjv/proverbs/21/20); [Galatians 5:17](../../../kjv/galatians/5/17).
**spirit that dwelleth in
us**—Other manuscripts read, "that God hath made to dwell in
us" (namely, at Pentecost). If so translated, "Does the
(Holy) Spirit that God hath placed in us lust to (towards) envy"
(namely, as ye do in your worldly "wars and fightings")?
Certainly not; ye are therefore walking in the flesh, not in the
Spirit, while ye thus *lust towards,* that is, *with envy*
against one another. The friendship of the world tends to breed *envy;*
the Spirit produces very different fruit. ALFORD
attributes the epithet "with envy," in the unwarrantable
sense of *jealously,* to the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit
*jealously desires* us for His own." In *English Version*
the sense is, "the (natural) spirit that hath its dwelling in us
lusts with (literally, 'to,' or 'towards') envy." Ye lust, and
because ye have not what ye lust after ([James 4:1](../../../kjv/james/4/1);
[James 4:2](../../../kjv/james/4/2)), ye envy your neighbor
who has, and so the *spirit of envy* leads you on to "fight."
James also here refers to [James 3:14](../../../kjv/james/3/14);
[James 3:16](../../../kjv/james/3/16).

**6. But**—"Nay, rather."
**he**—God.
**giveth more grace**—ever
increasing grace; the farther ye depart from "envy"
[BENGEL].
**he saith**—The same God
who causes His spirit to dwell in believers (), by the Spirit also speaks in Scripture. The quotation here
is probably from [Proverbs 3:34](../../../kjv/proverbs/3/34); as
probably [Proverbs 21:10](../../../kjv/proverbs/21/10) was
generally referred to in [James 4:5](../../../kjv/james/4/5).
In *Hebrew* it is "scorneth the scorners," namely,
those who think "Scripture speaketh in vain."
**resisteth**—literally,
"setteth Himself in array against"; even as they, like
Pharaoh, set themselves against Him. God repays sinners in their own
coin. "Pride" is the mother of "envy" ([James 4:5](../../../kjv/james/4/5)); it is peculiarly satanic, for by it Satan fell.
**the proud**—The *Greek*
means in derivation one who *shows himself above* his fellows,
and so lifts himself against God.
**the humble**—the
unenvious, uncovetous, and unambitious as to the world. Contrast [James 4:5](../../../kjv/james/4/5).

**7. Submit to . . . God**—so ye
shall be among "the humble," ; also [James 4:10](../../../kjv/james/4/10); [1 Peter 5:6](../../../kjv/1-peter/5/6).
**Resist . . . devil**—Under
his banner *pride* and *envy* are enlisted in the world;
resist his temptations to these. Faith, humble prayers, and heavenly
wisdom, are the weapons of resistance. The language is taken from
warfare. "Submit" as a good soldier puts himself in
complete subjection to his captain. "Resist," stand bravely
against.
**he will flee**—Translate,
"he *shall* flee." For it is a promise of God, not a
mere assurance from man to man [ALFORD].
He shall flee worsted as he did from Christ.

**8. Draw nigh to God**—So "cleave
unto Him," [Deuteronomy 30:20](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/30/20),
namely, by prayerfully ([James 4:2](../../../kjv/james/4/2);
[James 4:3](../../../kjv/james/4/3)) "resisting Satan,"
who would oppose our access to God.
**he will draw nigh**—propitious.
**Cleanse . . . hands**—the
outward instruments of action. None but the clean-handed can ascend
into the hill of the Lord (justified through Christ, who alone was
perfectly so, and as such "ascended" thither).
**purify . . . hearts**—literally
"make chaste" of your spiritual *adultery* ([James 4:3](../../../kjv/james/4/3), that is, worldliness) "your hearts": the inward
source of all impurity.
**double-minded**—divided
between God and the world. The "double-minded" is at fault
in *heart;* the *sinner* in his *hands* likewise.

**9. Be afflicted**—literally,
"Endure misery," that is, mourn over your wretchedness
through sin. *Repent with deep sorrow* instead of your present
laughter. A blessed *mourning.* Contrast [Isaiah 22:12](../../../kjv/isaiah/22/12);
[Isaiah 22:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/22/13); [Luke 6:25](../../../kjv/luke/6/25).
James does not add here, as in [Luke 6:25](../../../kjv/luke/6/25), "howl," where he foretells the *doom of the
impenitent* at the coming destruction of Jerusalem.
**heaviness**—literally,
"falling of the countenance," casting down of the eyes.

**10. in the sight of the Lord**—as
continually in the presence of Him who alone is worthy to be exalted:
recognizing His presence in all your ways, the truest incentive to
*humility.* The tree, to grow upwards, must strike its roots
deep downwards; so man, to be exalted, must have his mind deep-rooted
in humility. In [1 Peter 5:6](../../../kjv/1-peter/5/6), it is,
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, namely, in His
dealings of Providence: a distinct thought from that here.
**lift you up**—in part in
this world, fully in the world to come.

**11.** Having mentioned sins of the
tongue ([James 3:5-12](../../../kjv/james/3/5-12)), he
shows here that *evil-speaking* flows from the same spirit of
exalting self at the expense of one's neighbor as caused the
"fightings" reprobated in this chapter ([James 3:5-59](../../../kjv/james/3/5-59)).
**Speak not evil**—literally,
"Speak not against" one another.
**brethren**—implying the
inconsistency of such depreciatory speaking of one another in
*brethren.*
**speaketh evil of the law**—for
the law in commanding, "Love thy neighbor as thyself" ([James 3:5-59](../../../kjv/james/3/5-59)), virtually condemns evil-speaking and judging [ESTIUS].
Those who superciliously condemn the acts and words of others which
do not please themselves, thus aiming at the reputation of sanctity,
put their own moroseness in the place of the law, and claim to
themselves a power of censuring above the law of God, condemning what
the law permits [CALVIN].
Such a one acts as though the law could not perform its own office of
*judging,* but he must fly upon the office [BENGEL].
This is the last mention of the law in the New Testament. ALFORD
rightly takes the "law" to be the old moral law applied in
its comprehensive spiritual fulness by Christ: "the law of
liberty."
**if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer . . . but a judge**—Setting aside the Christian
*brotherhood* as all alike called to be *doers* of the law,
in subjection to it, such a one arrogates the office of a *judge.*

**12. There is one lawgiver**—The
best authorities read in addition, "and judge." Translate,
"There is One (alone) who is (at once) Lawgiver and Judge,
(namely) He who is able to save and destroy." Implying, God
alone is Lawgiver and therefore Judge, since it is He alone who can
execute His judgments; our inability in this respect shows our
presumption in trying to act as judges, as though we were God.
**who art thou,** &c.—The
order in the *Greek* is emphatic, "But (inserted in oldest
manuscripts) thou, who art thou that judgest another?" How
rashly arrogant in judging thy fellows, and wresting from God the
office which belongs to Him over thee and THEM
alike!
**another**—The oldest
authorities read, "thy neighbor."

**13. Go to now**—"Come now";
said to excite attention.
**ye that say**—*boasting*
of the morrow.
**To-day or to-morrow**—as
if ye had the free choice of either day as a certainty. Others read,
"To-day *and* to-morrow."
**such a city**—literally,
"this the city" (namely, the one present to the mind of the
speaker). *This city here.*
**continue . . . a year**—rather,
"spend one year." Their language implies that when this one
year is out, they purpose similarly settling plans for to come
[BENGEL].
**buy and sell**—Their
plans for the future are all worldly.

**14. 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" (). 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
away**—"afterwards vanishing as it came"; literally,
"afterwards (as it appeared), *so vanishing*"
[ALFORD].

**15.** Literally, "instead of
your saying," &c. This refers to "ye that say"
([James 4:13](../../../kjv/james/4/13)).
**we shall live**—The best
manuscripts read, "We shall *both* live *and do,*"
&c. The boasters spoke as if *life, action,* and the
particular kind of action were in their power, whereas all three
depend entirely on the will of the Lord.

**16. now**—as it is.
**rejoice in . . .
boastings**—"ye boast in arrogant presumptions,"
namely, vain confident fancies that the future is certain to you ().
**rejoicing**—boasting
[BENGEL].

**17.** The general principle
illustrated by the particular example just discussed is here stated:
knowledge without practice is imputed to a man as great and
presumptuous sin. James reverts to the principle with which he
started. Nothing more injures the soul than wasted impressions.
Feelings exhaust themselves and evaporate, if not embodied in
practice. As we will not act except we feel, so if we will not act
out our feelings, we shall soon cease to feel.

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