Charles Ellicott Commentary James 3:15

"This wisdom is not [a wisdom] that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." — James 3:15 (ASV)

This wisdom descendeth not from above...—A better rendering is, This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, natural, devilish. This—it would be profanation to call it by the holy name of Σοφία (Sophia), being in sharpest contrast to it, of the earth earthy; natural (as noted in the margin), or “psychical,” in the second sense of the tripartite division of man—body, soul, and spirit—explained in the commentary on James 1:21 (compare Jude 1:19, Sensual, having not the Spirit); and even worse, akin to the craftiness of devils.