Albert Barnes Commentary James 4

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.

In the previous chapter (James 3:13–18) the apostle had contrasted the wisdom which is from above with that which is from beneath. The former is peaceable, pure, and gentle, leading to universal kindness and order; the latter earthly, sensual, and devilish. The points suggested in this chapter grow directly out of the remarks made there, and are designed to show the effect of the wisdom which descendeth not from above, as evinced in the spirit of this world, and thus by contrast to show the value of true wisdom, or of the spirit of religion.

Accordingly, the apostle illustrates the effects of the wisdom of this world, or the spirit of this world, by showing what it produces, or what they do who are under its influence. We are not to suppose that the persons to whom the apostle addressed this epistle were actually guilty of the things here referred to themselves, but such things had an existence in the world, and it gave more life and spirit to the discussion to represent them as existing "among them." In illustrating the subject, he refers to the following things as resulting from the spirit that is opposite to the wisdom which is from above, namely:

1. Wars and fightings, which are to be traced solely to the lusts of men (James 4:1–2).

2. The neglect of prayer, showing the reason why they did not have the things which were necessary (James 4:2).

3. The fact that when they prayed they did not obtain what they needed, because they prayed with improper motives, in order to have the means of gratifying their sensual desires (James 4:3).

4. The desire of the friendship of the world, as one of the fruits of being under the influence of the wisdom which is not from above (James 4:4).

5. Envy, as another of these fruits (James 4:5).

In view of these things, and of the danger to which they were exposed of acting under their influence, the apostle proceeds to give them some solemn cautions and admonitions. He tells them that God resists all who are proud, but gives grace to all who are humble (James 4:6); he counsels them to submit to God (James 4:7), to resist the devil (James 4:7), to draw near to God (James 4:8), to cleanse their hands and their hearts (James 4:8), to be afflicted and mourn over their sins, and to become serious and devout (James 4:9), and to humble themselves before God that He might lift them up (James 4:10). He commands them not to speak evil of one another, since by so doing they in fact set themselves up to be judges, and in the circumstances became judges of the law as well as of their brethren (James 4:11–12).

He then rebukes the confident spirit which lays its plans for the future with no just view of the frailty and uncertainty of human life, and shows them that all their plans for the future should be formed with a distinct recognition of their dependence on God for success, and even for the continuance of life (James 4:13–16).

The chapter closes with an affirmation that to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin (James 4:17), implying that all he had said in the chapter might indeed be obvious, and that they would be ready to admit that these things were true, and that if they knew this, and did not do right, they must be regarded as guilty.

From whence come wars and fightings among you? The margin suggests 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 following 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 led to the overthrow of the Jewish nation. But the more probable reference is to domestic broils, and to the strifes of sects and parties; to the disputes which were carried on among the Jewish people, and which perhaps led to scenes of violence, and to popular outbreaks among themselves.

When the apostle says "among you," it is not necessary to suppose that he refers to those who were members of the Christian church as actually engaged in these strifes, though he was writing to such. Rather, he speaks of them as a part of the Jewish people, and refers to the contentions which prevailed among them as a people—contentions in which those who were Christian converts were in great danger of participating, by being drawn into their controversies, and partaking of the spirit of strife which existed among their countrymen.

It is known that such a spirit of contention prevailed among the Jews at that time in an eminent degree, and it was well to put those among them who professed to be Christians on their guard against such a spirit, by stating the causes of all wars and contentions. The solution which the apostle has given of the causes of the strifes prevailing then, will apply substantially to all the wars which have ever existed on the earth.

Come they not hence, even of your lusts? Is not this the true source of all war and contention? The word rendered lusts is in the margin rendered pleasures. This is the usual meaning of the word (hēdonē); but it is commonly applied to the pleasures of sense, and from there denotes desire, appetite, lust.

It may be applied to any desire of sensual gratification, and then to the indulgence of any corrupt propensity of the mind. The lust or desire of rapine, of plunder, of ambition, of fame, of a more extended dominion, would be properly embraced in the meaning of the word.

The word would equally comprehend the spirit which leads to a brawl in the street, and that which prompted to the conquests of Alexander, Caesar, or Napoleon. All this is the same spirit evinced on a larger or smaller scale.

That war in your members. The word member (melos) denotes, properly, a limb or member of the body; but it is used in the New Testament to denote the members of the body collectively; that is, the body itself as the seat of the desires and passions (Romans 6:13, 19; Romans 7:5, 23; Colossians 3:5). The word war here refers to the conflict between those passions which have their seat in the flesh, and the better principles of the mind and conscience, producing a state of agitation and conflict. See the comments on Romans 7:23.

Compare Galatians 5:17. Those corrupt passions which have their seat in the flesh, the apostle says, are the causes of war. Most of the wars which have occurred in the world can be traced to what the apostle here calls lusts.

The desire of booty, the love of conquest, the ambition for extended rule, the gratification of revenge—these and similar causes have led to all the wars that have desolated the earth.

Justice, equity, the fear of God, the spirit of true religion, never originated any war; but the corrupt passions of men have made the earth one great battlefield. If true religion existed among all men, there would be no more war.

War always supposes that wrong has been done on one side or the other, and that one party or the other, or both, is indisposed to do right. The spirit of justice, equity, and truth, which the religion of Christ would implant in the human heart, would put an end to war forever.

For "lusts," an alternative rendering is "evil desires." Compare also the fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).

You lust, and have not. That is, you wish to have something which you do not now possess, and to which you have no just claim, and this prompts to the effort to obtain it by force. You desire extension of territory, fame, booty, the means of luxurious indulgence, or of magnificence and grandeur, and this leads to contest and bloodshed.

These are the causes of wars on the large scale among nations, and of the contentions and strifes of individuals. The general reason is, that others have that which we have not, and which we desire to have; and not content with endeavoring to obtain it, if we can, in a peaceful and honest manner, and not willing to content ourselves without its possession, we resolve to secure it by force.

Socrates is reported by Plato to have said on the day of his death, "nothing else but the body and its desires cause wars, Seditions, and contests of every kind; for all wars arise through the possession of wealth." (Phaedo of Plato, by Taylor, London, 1793, p. 158). The system of wars in general, therefore, has been a system of great robberies, no more honest or honorable than the purposes of the highway robber, and more dignified only because it involves greater skill and talent.

It has been said that "to kill one man makes a murderer, to kill many makes a hero." So it may be said, that to steal a horse, or to rob a house, makes a man a thief or burglar; to fire a dwelling subjects him to the punishment of arson; but to plunder kingdoms and provinces, and to cause cities, towns, and hamlets to be wrapped in flames, makes an illustrious conqueror, and gives a title to what is deemed a bright page in history.

The one enrolls the name among felons, and consigns the perpetrator to the dungeon or the gibbet; the other, accompanied with no more justice, and with the same spirit, sends the name down to future times as immortal. Yet in the two the all-discerning eye of God may see no difference except in the magnitude of the crime, and in the extent of the injury which has been inflicted. In his way, and according to the measure of his ability, the felon who ends his life in a dungeon, or on the gibbet, is as worthy of grateful and honored remembrance as the conqueror: triumphing in the spoils of desolated empires.

You kill. Marginal reading: "or envy." The marginal reading "envy" has been introduced from some doubt as to the correct reading of the text, whether it should be foneute, you kill, or fyoneite, you envy. The latter reading has been adopted by Erasmus, Schmidius, Luther, Beza, and some others, though merely from conjecture. There is no authority from the manuscripts for the change. The correct reading undoubtedly is, you kill.

This expression is probably to be taken in the sense of having a murderous disposition, or fostering a brutal and murderous spirit. It is not exactly that they killed or committed murder previous to "desiring to have," but that they had such a covetous desire of the possessions of others as to produce a murderous and bloody temper. The spirit of murder was at the bottom of the whole; or there was such a desire of the possessions of others as to lead to the commission of this crime. Of what aggressive wars which have ever existed is not this true?

Desire to have. That is, what is in the possession of others.

And cannot obtain. By any fair and honest means; by purchase or negotiation: and this leads to bloody conquests. All wars might have been avoided if men had been content with what they had, or could rightfully obtain, and had not desired to have what was in the possession of others, which they could not obtain by honest and honorable means. Every war might have been avoided by fair and honorable negotiation.

You fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. Notwithstanding you engage in contentions and strifes, you do not obtain what you seek after. If you sought that from God which you truly need, you would obtain it, for He would bestow upon you all that is really necessary.

But you seek it by contention and strife, and you have no security of obtaining it. He who seeks to gain anything by war seeks it in an unjust manner, and cannot depend on the Divine help and blessing. The true way of obtaining anything which we really need is to seek it from God by prayer, and then to make use of just and fair means of obtaining it, by industry and honesty, and by a due regard for the rights of others.

Thus sought, we shall obtain it if it would be for our good; if it is withheld, it will be because it is best for us that it should not be ours. In all the wars which have been waged on the earth, whether for the settlement of disputed questions, for the adjustment of boundaries, for the vindication of violated rights, or for the permanent extension of empire, how rare has it been that the object which prompted to the war has been secured! The course of events has shown that, indisposed as men are to do justice, there is much more probability of obtaining the object by patient negotiation than there is by going to war.

"Lusts" or "desire"; "kill" or "envy".

You ask, and receive not. That is, some of you ask, or you ask on some occasions. Though generally seeking what you desire by strife and without regard for the rights of others, yet you sometimes pray. It is not uncommon for men who go to war to pray, or to procure the services of a chaplain to pray for them.

It sometimes happens that the covetous and the quarrelsome pray—those who live to wrong others and who are fond of litigation. Such men may be professors of religion. They keep up a form of worship in their families. They pray for success in their worldly engagements, though those engagements are all based on covetousness.

Instead of seeking property so that they may glorify God and do good, so that they may relieve the poor and distressed, and so that they may be the patrons of learning, philanthropy, and religion, they do it so that they may live in splendor and be able to pamper their lusts. It is not indeed very common that persons with such ends and aims of life pray, but they sometimes do it; for, alas,

there are many professors of religion who have no higher aims than these, and not a few such professors feel that consistency demands that they should observe some form of prayer. If such persons do not receive what they ask for, if they are not prospered in their plans, they should not consider it evidence that God does not hear prayer, but rather evidence that their prayers are offered for improper objects or with improper motives.

Because you ask amiss. You do it with a view to self-indulgence and carnal gratification.

That you may consume it upon your lusts. The marginal reading is pleasures. This is the same word that is used in James 4:1 and rendered lusts. The reference is to sensual gratifications, and the word would include all that comes under the name of sensual pleasure or carnal appetite. It was not that they might have a decent and comfortable living, which would not be improper to desire, but that they might have the means of luxurious dress and living, perhaps the means of gross sensual gratifications.

We have no reason to suppose God will answer prayers offered so that we may have the means of sensuality and voluptuousness, for He has not promised to hear such prayers. It becomes everyone who prays for worldly prosperity and for success in business to examine his motives with the closest scrutiny. Nowhere is deception more likely to creep in than into such prayers; nowhere are we more likely to be mistaken about our real motives than when we go before God and ask for success in our worldly employments.

Ye adulterers and adultresses. These words are frequently used to denote those who are faithless towards God, and are frequently applied to those who forsake God for idols (Hosea 3:1; Isaiah 57:3, 7; Ezekiel 16 and 23). It is not necessary to suppose that the apostle meant that those to whom he wrote were literally guilty of the sins here referred to; but he rather refers to those who were unfaithful to their covenant with God by neglecting their duty to Him, and yielding themselves to the indulgence of their own lusts and passions.

The idea is, "You have in effect broken your marriage covenant with God by loving the world more than Him; and, by the indulgence of your carnal inclinations, you have violated those obligations to self-mortification and self-denial to which you were bound by your religious engagements." To convince them of the evil of this, the apostle shows them what was the true nature of that friendship of the world which they sought.

It may be remarked here, that no terms could have been found which would have shown more decidedly the nature of the sin of forgetting the covenant vows of religion for the pleasures of the world, than those which the apostle uses here. It is a deeper crime to be unfaithful to God than to any created being; and it will yet be seen that even the violation of the marriage contract, great as is the sin, is a slight offense compared with unfaithfulness towards God.

Know ye not that the friendship of the world. (Compare 1 John 2:15). The term world here is to be understood not of the physical world as God made it, for we could not well speak of the "friendship" of that, but of the community, or people, called "the world," in contradistinction from the people of God. (1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:8).

The "friendship of the world" (filia tou kosmou) is the love of that world—of the maxims which govern it, the principles which reign there, the ends that are sought, the amusements and gratifications which characterize it as distinguished from the church of God. It consists in setting our hearts on those things, in conforming to them, in making them the object of our pursuit with the same spirit with which they are sought by those who make no pretensions to religion. (See Barnes on Romans 12:2).

Is enmity with God. It is in fact hostility against God, since that world is arrayed against Him. It neither obeys His laws, submits to His claims, nor seeks to honor Him. To love that world is, therefore, to be arrayed against God; and the spirit which would lead us to this is, in fact, a spirit of hostility to God.

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world. "Whoever" he may be, whether in the church or out of it. The fact of being a member of the church makes no difference in this respect, for it is as easy to be a friend of the world in the church as out of it.

The phrase "whosoever will" (boulēthē) implies purpose, intention, design. It supposes that the heart is set on it, or that there is a deliberate purpose to seek the friendship of the world. It refers to that strong desire which often exists, even among professing Christians, to secure the friendship of the world; to copy its fashions and vanities; to enjoy its pleasures; and to share its pastimes and its friendships.

Wherever there is a manifested purpose to find our chosen friends and associates there rather than among Christians; wherever there is a greater desire to enjoy the smiles and approbation of the world than there is to enjoy the approbation of God and the blessings of a good conscience; and wherever there is more conscious pain because we have failed to win the applause of the world, or have offended its votaries, and have sunk ourselves in its estimation, than there is because we have neglected our duty to our Savior, and have lost the enjoyment of religion, there is the clearest proof that the heart wills or desires to be the "friend of the world."

Is the enemy of God. This is a most solemn declaration, and one of fearful import in its bearing on many who are members of the church. It settles the point that anyone, no matter what his professions, who is characteristically a friend of the world, cannot be a true Christian. In regard to the meaning of this important verse, then, it may be remarked:

1. That there is a sense in which the love of this world, or of the physical universe, is not wrong. That kind of love for it as the work of God, which perceives the evidence of His wisdom and goodness and power in the various objects of beauty, usefulness, and grandeur, spread around us, is not evil. The world as such—the physical structure of the earth, of the mountains, forests, flowers, seas, lakes, and vales—is full of illustrations of the Divine character, and it cannot be wrong to contemplate those things with interest, or with warm affection toward their Creator.
2. When that world, however, becomes our portion; when we study it only as a matter of science, without "looking through nature up to nature's God;" when we seek the wealth which it has to confer, or endeavor to appropriate as our supreme portion its lands, its minerals, its fruits; when we are satisfied with what it yields, and when in the possession or pursuit of these things, our thoughts never rise to God; and when we partake of the spirit which rules in the hearts of those who avowedly seek this world as their portion, though we profess religion, then the love of the world becomes evil, and comes in direct conflict with the spirit of true religion.
3. The statement in this verse is, therefore, one of most fearful import for many professors of religion. There are many in the church who, so far as human judgment can go, are characteristically lovers of the world. This is shown:
   1. By their conformity to it in all in which the world is distinguished from the church as such;
   2. In their seeking the friendship of the world, or their finding their friends there rather than among Christians;
   3. In preferring the amusements of the world to the scenes where spiritually-minded Christians find their chief happiness;
   4. In pursuing the same pleasures that the people of the world do, with the same expense, the same extravagance, the same luxury;
   5. In making their worldly interests the great object of living, and everything else subordinate to that. This spirit exists in all cases where no worldly interest is sacrificed for religion, where everything that religion peculiarly requires is sacrificed for the world. If this be so, then there are many professing Christians who are the "enemies of God." (See Barnes on Philippians 3:18).

They have never known what is true friendship for Him, and by their lives they show that they can be ranked only among His foes. It becomes every professing Christian, therefore, to examine himself with the deepest earnestness to determine whether he is characteristically a friend of the world or of God; whether he is living for this life only, or is animated by the high and pure principles of those who are the friends of God. The great Searcher of hearts cannot be deceived, and soon our appropriate place will be assigned us, and our final Judge will determine to which class of the two great divisions of the human family we belong—to those who are the friends of the world, or to those who are the friends of God.

Do you think that the Scripture says in vain? Few passages of the New Testament have given expositors more perplexity than this one. The difficulty has arisen because no passage like the one that seems to be quoted here is found in the Old Testament. To meet this difficulty, expositors have resorted to various conjectures and solutions.

Some have supposed that the passage is spurious, initially a marginal gloss placed there by a transcriber and later introduced into the text. Others suggest that the apostle quotes from an apocryphal book, or that he quotes the general spirit of the Old Testament rather than any particular place. Still others regard it not as a quotation, but read the two parts separately, supplying what is necessary to complete the sense, like this: "Do you think that the Scripture speaks in vain, or without a good reason, when it condemns such a worldly temper? No; that you cannot suppose. Do you imagine that the Spirit of God, which dwells in us Christians, leads to covetousness, pride, envy? No. On the contrary, to those who follow his guidance and direction, he gives more abundant grace and favor." This is the solution proposed by Benson and adopted by Bloomfield. However, this solution is by no means satisfactory. Two things are clear regarding the passage:

1. That James meant to adduce something that was said somewhere, or which could be regarded as a quotation, or as authority in the case, because he uses the formula by which such quotations are made; and

2. That he meant to refer, not to an apocryphal book, but to the inspired and canonical Scriptures, because he uses a term (h grafh—the Scripture) which is everywhere employed to denote the Old Testament, and which is nowhere applied to an apocryphal book (Matthew 21:42; Matthew 22:29; Matthew 26:54, 56; John 2:22; John 5:39; John 7:38, 42; John 10:35, and elsewhere).

The word is used more than fifty times in the New Testament and is never applied to any books other than those which were regarded by the Jews as inspired and which now constitute the Old Testament, except in 2 Peter 3:16, where it refers to the writings of Paul. The difficulty in this case arises because no such passage as the one quoted here is found in so many words in the Old Testament, nor any passage of which it can fairly be regarded as a quotation.

The only solution to the difficulty which seems at all satisfactory to me is to suppose that the apostle, in the remark made here in the form of a quotation, refers to the Old Testament. However, he did not have his eye on any particular passage and did not mean to quote the words literally. Instead, he meant to refer to the current teaching or general spirit of the Old Testament, or he meant to say that this sentiment was found there and intended to embody the sentiment in words himself, putting it into a condensed form.

His eye was on envy as being at the bottom of many of the contentions and strifes existing on earth (James 3:16) and of the spirit of the world which prevailed everywhere (James 4:4). He refers to the general teaching of the Old Testament that the soul is by nature inclined to envy, or that this has a deep lodging in the heart of man.

That truth, uttered everywhere in the Scriptures, was not taught "in vain." The abundant facts showing its development and operation in contentions, wars, and a worldly spirit proved that it was deeply embedded in the human soul. This general truth—that man is prone to envy, or that there is much in our nature which inclines us to it—is abundantly taught in the Old Testament.

For example: I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour (Ecclesiastes 4:4). Wrath killeth, and envy slayeth the silly one (Job 5:2). Envy is the rottenness of the bones (Proverbs 14:30). Who is able to stand before envy? (Proverbs 27:4). For particular instances of this, and its effects, see Genesis 26:14, Genesis 30:1, Genesis 37:11, Psalms 106:16, and Psalm 73:3.

These passages prove that there is a strong propensity in human nature to envy, and it was in accordance with the apostle's design to show this. The effects of envy to which he himself referred evinced the same thing. They demonstrated that the utterance given to this sentiment in the Old Testament was not "in vain," or was not false, because the records in the Old Testament on the subject found strong confirmation in the wars, strifes, and worldliness of which he was speaking.

Says in vain. This means "says falsely;" that is, the testimony thus given is true. The apostle means that what was said in the Old Testament on the subject found abundant confirmation in the facts that were continually occurring, and especially in those to which he was referring.

The spirit that dwells in us. Many have supposed that the word "spirit" here refers to the Holy Spirit or the Christian spirit. However, in adopting this interpretation, they are obliged to render the passage as, "the spirit that dwells in us lusts against envy," or tends to check and suppress it. But this interpretation is forced and unnatural, and one that the Greek does not well support. The more obvious interpretation is to refer it to our spirit or disposition as we are by nature, and it is equivalent to saying that we are naturally prone to envy.

Lusts to envy. This means strongly tends to envy. The margin reads "enviously," but the sense is the same. The idea is that there is in man a strong inclination to look with dissatisfaction on the superior happiness and prosperity of others, to desire to make what they possess our own, or at any rate to deprive them of it by detraction, by fraud, or by robbery.

It is this feeling that leads to calumny, contentions, wars, and that strong worldly ambition which makes us anxious to surpass all others and which is so hostile to the humble and contented spirit of religion. He who could trace all wars, contentions, and worldly plans to their source—all the schemes and purposes of even professed Christians that do so much to mar their religion and make them worldly-minded, to their real origins—would be surprised to find how much is to be attributed to envy.

We are pained that others are more prosperous than we are. We desire to possess what others have, though we have no right to it. This leads to the various guilty methods pursued to lessen their enjoyment of it, to obtain it ourselves, or to show that they do not possess as much as they are commonly supposed to.

This purpose will be accomplished if we can obtain more than they have, or if we can diminish what they actually possess. It is also accomplished if, by any statements to which we can give currency in society, the general impression becomes that they do not possess as much wealth, domestic peace, happiness, or honour as is commonly supposed—for in this way the spirit of envy in our bosoms will be gratified.