An Exegetical Look at James 4:1-10

INTRODUCTION – James 4:1-10
One of the roles of a good parent is to discipline their children when they stray from the path of what is right. Righteous discipline is always beneficial but not usually very pleasant (Hebrews 12:11). Beneficial discipline is always accompanied by a measure of wisdom. If we are disciplined and fail to glean wisdom from the situation, then we have wasted a valuable opportunity. Solomon, in imparting some of his vast wisdom, said, “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding” (Proverbs 3:13).

The original audience of the letter of James must have felt like children receiving a good measure of discipline and that of the wisdom that accompanies it. In fact, James’ letter reads more like the wisdom literature of Proverbs than most of the New Testament letters (MacArthur 2). James was writing to the Jewish Christians who had been dispersed abroad, imparting some much needed discipline and wisdom much like a loving father would to his children who are far away from home. Because the modern reader is not the intended audience, we must thoroughly examine the writings of James so that we may read and understand the Bible for all it’s worth.

James is a part of Scripture that could rightly be called an epistle because it is written to the more general audience of the scattered Jews rather than an individual or a specific church. Some scholars have been prone to distinguish epistles from letters which are directed towards a private audience (Tate 134). James follows a very common Greco-Roman style of writing called the diatribe in which the author or teacher tries to persuade their audience through an imaginary dialogue, often in the form of rhetorical questions and answers (Fee & Stuart 319). James’ use of the Wisdom tradition, then, is sermonic rather than proverbial (Fee & Stuart 399). His intention is to persuade his audience into changing their behavior. The modern reader should be careful in understanding James as though it was written to the believing community rather than individuals. Each person must assume their own personal responsibility in contributing to the overall health of the community, but James is not concerned with personal spiritual health as much as he is with a thriving community.

James 4:1-10 is a particular unit of thought which is worth singling out from the larger epistle as a whole. In this passage, James is continuing a larger discussion from chapter 3 in which he discusses the dangers of not controlling the tongue (3:1-12), and the difference between worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. The tone of the entire book of James is that of father scolding his wayward children or a Jewish prophet rebuking the children of Israel. In fact, James’ straightforward, disciplinarian approach has led some commentators to refer to him as the Amos of the New Testament (MacArthur 2). James 4:1-10 takes an even sterner tone. It is clearly a rebuke but it is also done in love, much as a father would do. Rather than being discouraged by this epistlatory discipline, however, it is the underlying current of love and concern that actually gives this unit of thought an encouraging tone for those who have been scattered and persecuted. These people are not weak. James is addressing fighters. If they weren’t fighters they would not have been able to survive the persecutions and the trials. Yet, as we look further into this passage, we see that it is this same fighting spirit that has gotten them off course. James wishes to persuade them back over to the path of righteousness in no uncertain terms.

The passage of James 4:1-10, however, can be broken into three even smaller units of thought. The first unit is comprised of verses 1-3, in James discusses the problem of his readers fighting with one another. The next unit consists of verses 4-6, in which James warns his readers about the fact that not only are they warring with one another, they are warring with God. In verses 7-10 James confronts his readers with ten commands that he wants to persuade them to follow in order to repent of their sins before God.

Throughout this passage James gives us many insights into the nature and character of God. Recognizing these theological implications allows us to not only learn the truths of this passage that James is imparting to his readers but also allows us to learn truths about God. There are at least eight unique things we can learn about God in this passage. Each one of them can brings us closer to God and know Him better, which is the primary purpose of the Bible.

OUTLINE – James 4:1-10
Warring with each other (1-3)
Questions regarding the source of their worldliness (1)
What causes their fighting? (1a)
Doesn’t it come from within? (1b)
The source of their warring and worldliness is their hedonistic desire (2a)
They don’t have what they desire because they don’t ask God (2b)
When they do ask, it is from wrong motives (3)

Warring with God (4-6)
They have befriended the world and made God their enemy (4)
God is a jealous God (5)
Grace will be given to the humble (6)
God gives us more grace (6a)
He opposes the proud, while giving grace to the humble (6b)

A call for repentance (7-10)
A call for submission (7)
Submit to God (7a)
Resist the devil and he will flee (7b)
A call for repentance (8-9)
Draw closer to God and He will respond (8a)
Cleansing their hands and their hearts (8b)
Turn their revelry into serious repentance (9)
Humility before the Lord will result in being exalted by Him (10)

VERSE BY VERSE – James 4:1-10

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you?

In the context of a book that is concerned with a living faith and battling against selfish ambition and envy (c.f. 3:14; 3:16), we can conclude that James is not referring to the literal taking up of arms against one another. Rather he is referring to, as the NASB translates, “quarrels and conflicts.” Polemos (Strong’s # 4171), which is rendered either quarrels or wars, is the word from which we get the English “polemics.” It implies a prolonged and serious dispute or combat. (Blue Letter Bible). Mache (Strong’s # 3164) translates fights or conflicts and refers to a specific dispute or battle. James, then, is dealing with both specific arguments as well as ongoing contentious situations. His rhetorical question for his readers to consider is this: what is causing all of this turmoil?

Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

In the classic diatribe style, James answers his own question as he begins this particular imaginary conversation for the benefit of his readers. Desires comes from hedone (Strong’s # 2213) from which we get our word hedonism. Hedonism is the philosophy that views pleasure as the primary goal in life. This word is the same used in verse 3 and is utilized in only three other passages in the New Testament (Lea 328). In Luke 8:14 it describes people “choked with life’s worries and riches and pleasure.” Titus 3:3 depicts the former lives of Christians in which they were “enslaved to various lusts and pleasures.” In Peter 2:13 it pictures people who “count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime.” This concept in the Greek of desire or passion can refer to either good or evil desires (Swindoll 135). Neither the desires nor the means through which James’ audience was attempting to meet them, however, were from the right motives. They were being motivated by selfish ambition which always causes strife.


2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war.

The unfulfilled worldly desires of the Jews had caused their frustration to spill over into wars and fights with one another. Epithumeo (Strong’s # 1937) translated here as lust, can be a desire of any kind, but in the context we can safely assume that their desires were misdirected and sinful (MacArthur 188). Some have argued that the murder to which James refers should be taken literally based on the tense political situation in Israel and Rome at the time. According to this view, many Christians may have backed some anti-Roman radical organizations and thus become accomplices to murder (Jacoby 42). Based on the larger context of James which focuses on wisdom and controlling the tongue, it seems more likely that James is using murder in the hyperbolic sense and relating it to hatred (c.f. Matt. 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15) (Barker & Kohlenberger 1032). These sentences, then, may be taken as virtually conditional. If you desire for what you do not have, it will result in hatred. If you covet, the results will be quarrels and conflicts.

Yet, you do not have because you do not ask.

The NU-Text and the M-Text omit "yet." It was probably added later as a clerical clarifier. James informs his audience that the underlying cause for them not having what they desire is that they have not prayed for it. Many of the people have not even thought of asking God because they are self-sufficient. They have learned survival skills during tough times and are now using those skills in an unwise manner. Implicit in this statement is t our first theological implication. God wants to give us. It is His desire that we should ask and he be able to bestow blessings upon us.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

The Christians that James was writing to were survivors and fighters. James knows this and he anticipates a fighter’s response: “We did pray and God didn’t answer our prayers.” Before that question can be asked, James answers it. When they have bothered to pray they haven’t received because they asked with wrong motives. Kakos (Strong’s 2650), translated amiss here is rendered, “with the wrong motives,” in the NASB. It can also be taken to mean bad, evil, or wicked (MacArthur 190). Pleasures here is the from the same word hedone, translated desires in verse 1. They were praying with wicked motives for their own hedonistic desires.

James reminds his audience here that prayer is not some automatic procedure to be accessed at one’s whims. In fact, there are at least three other conditions upon which an answer to prayer is predicated. First, is to come in an attitude of faith (James 1:6). Second, is to approach God with a commitment to obey him (1 John 3:21-22). Third is to pray according to God’s will (1 John 5:14-15). Finally is James’ reminder to pray with the right motives. This is the second theological implication; proper motives and the right heart are extremely important to God.

4 Adulterers and[b] adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The NU-Text (as well as L T Tr A W WH N NA) omits “Adulterers and.” Other translations such as the NIV and NASB render this as “you adulterous people.” The original language contains only the word “adulteresses.” “Adulterers” was no doubt added so as not to appear that women were being singled out. Yet, this was not James’ intention. James was stressing that the church, as the heir of Israel, was the bride of Christ. Adding to this passage takes away from the powerful allusion that James was making. James was stressing that as the bride of Christ, they were being spiritually unfaithful to God (Barker & Kohlenberger 1032).

Those who choose friendship with the world are in conflict with God. The first result, according to James, of conflict with God is hostility towards Him. Friendship translates the noun philia (Strong’s # 5373), which is used only here in the entire New Testament. The verb form phileo (Strong’s # 5368) is usually translated “love.” Phileo conveys a more emotional aspect of love than does the more common and stronger verb for love agapao (Strong’s # 26), which is more volitional (MacArthur 192). Kosmos (Strong’s #2289), rendered the world here, refers to the lifestyle of a world that is consumed by goals contrary to God’s commands (Lea 329).

James is implying that the world was their god; they had a love of the world and the principles which reign there. This concept may not be so clear to the modern reader who would see less of a problem with trying to live a life for God and one that still conformed to the system of the world. The concept of friendship in the ancient East was much more cut-and-dried. Friendship with an enemy made you an enemy. They felt that the friend of an enemy made one an enemy automatically. Conversely, as the Middle Eastern saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Jesus made this type of thinking clear, saying that a house divided would fall (Mark 3:25). You could not, in their mind, befriend opposing views. The friendship with the world, then, automatically made these people the enemy of God. This enlightens us as to our third theological implication; God desires to befriend us.

5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

Here, James asserts the second result of being in conflict with God: disregard for the Scriptures and the desires of God (MacArthur 191). This passage, though, is one of the most difficult of the entire book. The capitalizing of “Spirit” is arbitrary since the original Greek provides no capitalization. Also, there is no Scripture in either the Old or New Testaments that corresponds to this passage (MacArthur 198). There have been many divergent translations of this passage but there is reason to believe that the translation provided in the NIV footnote is correct; “God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to live in us.” Verse 4 indicates that these believers were committing spiritual adultery. It seems logical then, to suppose that James was telling his audience that God was jealously longing for their love not the people’s own envious spirit. (Barker & Kohlenberger 1033). The fourth theological implication is that God wants us for His own; He does not wish to share our affections.

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

God gives more grace, or “that which affords joy,” (Blue Letter Bible) despite the worldly hearts of men. James then adds the third element of those that are in conflict with God – pride (MacArthur 191). James clearly quotes from Proverbs 3:34 here in what is both a threat to the proud of heart and an encouragement to the humble in heart. Proud is from the compound noun huperaphanos (Strong’s # 5244) which means above (huper) and to appear (phainomai) (MacArthur 199). Antitossomai (Strong’s # 498) or “resists” was used as a military term for an army prepared for battle (Eerdman’s 1232). James, then, is telling his audience that God is preparing for battle in a sense against his enemies that believe they appear above others or the ways of God. Just as surely as God opposes the proud, He freely gives grace to those “not rising far from the ground” which is the understanding of tapainos (Strong’s # 5011) (Blue Letter Bible). The fact that God deeply desires to lavish his grace on the humble is the fifth theological implication that we can glean from this passage.

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

In verse 7 we find the first two in a series of ten commands in vv. 7-10. In each one the specific Greek form used calls for an immediate response from the reader (Barker & Kohlenberg 1033). First, one should submit to God. “Therefore” connects this verse back to the previous one. If God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, then it logically follows to submit to God. The Greek word, hupotasso (Strong’s # 5293) “indicates a Greek military term meaning ‘to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader’. In non-military use, it was ‘a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden’” (Blue Letter Bible).

The second command is to resist the devil. We could resist submission to God, but should instead choose to resist the devil. As Satan is the prince of this world (John 14:30) it can be assumed that just as friendship with the world makes one an enemy of God (v. 4), submitting to the devil would make one an equal enemy of God. James assures his readers that Satan can be resisted and will flee, even though he is very powerful. Here we find the sixth theological implication. God desires for His people to submit and find protection in Him; He wants to protect us form our enemy.

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

The third command given in this section particular unit of thought is to draw near to God. James’ audience had set their hearts on pleasure rather than God and so their hearts drifted away from God and become estranged. James assures them that God will draw them back to himself. God desires their devotion (v. 5) and will welcome them back to him if they would only turn their hearts back to him. This verse contains the seventh theological implication. If we seek God and draw near to Him, He will be found by us. Not only that, we learn that He will draw near to us.

The fourth command to cleanse their hands brings forth the idea of the ceremonial prescription for Jewish priests (MacArthur 207). Having clean hands is a call to make their conduct pure and to submit to God. James rather bluntly refers to the readers as sinners. This is a harsh term intended to wake them to the true extent of their involvement in worldly attitudes and actions (Barker & Kohlenberger 1034). The fifth command, “Purify your hearts” is a Hebraic parallelism which corresponds to “cleanse your hands” (MacArthur 209). Likewise, “double minded” corresponds to “sinners.” Those who are double minded are attempting to love the world and God at the same time which is an impossible situation (v. 4). James is stressing the need to cleanse from any moral defilement that would create enmity between God and themselves.

9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Four of the ten commands can be found in this verse alone. All four are calls to repentance. “Lament” is from talaiporeo (Strong’s # 5003). It is a strong word meaning miserable or afflicted (Blue Letter Bible). Rather than the worldly pleasures they had been thinking, James calls his readers to repent in misery. Next, they are commanded to mourn. This word comes from the Greek, pentheo (Strong’s # 3996), depicting passionate grief that cannot be hidden (Barker & Kohlenberger 1034). Related to this command for outward grief is the call to weep or wail. The ninth command of this unit of thought is to turn their laughter to mourning and their joy to gloom. It is also in the form of a Hebraic couplet, expressing he same concept in two parallel forms (MacArthur 213). The word rendered gloom is katepheia (Strong’s # 2726) which can mean shame, sorrow and dejection (Blue Letter Bible). The laughter to which James refers implies the loud, joyful expressions of the worldly people that his audience has been emulating. Their frivolity will turn to gloom when they realize their foolish choices and their true state as the enemies of God. James sees his readers demonstrating a casual and tolerant attitude toward sin and disobedience. It is only those who can truly mourn and weep over their sins who will be able to enjoy God’s blessings.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

The tenth command also includes a promise. James returns to the Old Testament text that he quoted in verse 6. Those who humble themselves before the Lord will be exalted Him. The specific form of humbling that James refers to here is repentance of improperly transferring their affections from God to the pleasures of the world (Barker & Kohlenberger 1034). It is here that we find the final theological implication of this passage. God wants us to humble ourselves before Him so that He may exalt us. He truly wants the very best for us.

CONCLUSION

James wrote this passage to a group of people that loved God, as is evidenced by the fact they were Christians. In many ways, however, they needed a stern, fatherly reminder of what true love for God consisted. They had fallen prey to the mindset of the world and had not yet completed the process of transforming their mind to a Christian worldview. James intended this passage to be a wake-up call for his readers. He wished for them to live out the greatest command, to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. He desired for them to focus on God. As we examine, study, parse, and exegete this passage, it is incumbent upon us to remember James’ intention. If studying this passage does not move us to flee the world and its trappings and humble ourselves constantly before God, then we have really missed the point and find ourselves thinking that what the Scripture says, the “Scripture says in vain.”