Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 3:14

"But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth." — James 3:14 (ASV)

The specific form of “if” used here suggests that some of James’s readers were harboring “bitter envy and selfish ambition” in their hearts. “Selfish ambition” (GK 2249) is a self-seeking attitude bent on gaining advantage and prestige for oneself or one’s group. This forceful term colors the word “envy” (GK 2419), so that it here means “selfish zeal.” The word is often used to describe fanatical zeal for a cause (1 Kings 19:10; Psalms 69:9; Isaiah 9:7), in either a good or a bad sense. James makes it clear by the adjective “bitter” (GK 4395) that he is referring to a sinful zeal. Because this condition existed among his readers, he insists that they must “not boast about [bitter zeal and selfish ambition] or deny the truth.” James’s readers may have been priding themselves in their partisan defense of the truth—a defense that was to their own advantage and advancement. Through such bitter and partisan defense, they were in reality denying the very truth they were attempting to defend.