James 4:5

JFW wrote:

James 4:5 is a scripture that has two totally different meanings in KJV and any other version that I've found so far. One has to be correct and we would do well to search it out as good bereans. If taken in context along with chapter 3 (noting the verb tenses, object, etc...) the KJV will produce a different conclusion than the other translations. Also what verse is James referring to?
Depending on the translation you use you will come to dif conclusions that are in opposition to one another...

This post from our brother JFW was on the KJV Only thread, but I reposted here. I have no KJV issues, but I did think his urging to be a good Berean was worthwhile on this verse.

If I might, consider these differing translations:

James 4:1-8

KJV

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

ESV (of course, in paragraph format)

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are at war within you?[b] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people![c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

And, to include a "functional translation", the NIV:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

"God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Finally, an older transliteration, Young's:

Whence [are] wars and fightings among you? not thence -- out of your passions, that are as soldiers in your members?

2 ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking;

3 ye ask, and ye receive not, because evilly ye ask, that in your pleasures ye may spend [it].

4 Adulterers and adulteresses! have ye not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever, then, may counsel to be a friend of the world, an enemy of God he is set.

5 Do ye think that emptily the Writing saith, `To envy earnestly desireth the spirit that did dwell in us,'

6 and greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?'

7 be subject, then, to God; stand up against the devil, and he will flee from you;

8 draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and purify hearts, ye two-souled!

In KJV the pronoun "he" is missing. KJV upon normal reading seems to states that our spirits lust to envy(see Gen. 6:5) not that God is jealous to possess our spirits. To me the two versions are not compatible.

I suppose if we could find the verse he references it would help matters. It might be Gen 6:5.

The problem is that "spirit" was not capitalized in the original text.

I think the issue is punctuational for us. I think James asked "Do you think the Scriptures are in vain? The Spirit that dwells in us is jealous. Therefore it says..." Then he quotes Proverbs 3:34.

There is no Scripture, outside of James, that says what 4:5 says. The only passage he quotes directly in this point is Proverbs 3:34.

Later edit while at lunch .....

Keeping KJV language, accounting for punctuation and formatting differently, consider....

...
" Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Or, [this disjunctive appears in the Greek TR, Strong's 2228, but not in KJV] do ye think that the scripture saith in vain? The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.' [Prov. 3:34] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."

Modernized but retaining most of KJV syntax:

"You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Or, do you think the Scripture speaks in vain? The Spirit that dwells in us desires to the point of envy. But he gives more grace; this is why He says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' [Prov. 3:34] Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double minded."

My gut tells me that spirit should not be capitalized and that it is referring to our human nature.

Matt Henry seems to agree (again for what it's worth!)

Honestly the KJV to me reads like this is our spirit lusting to envy and therefore like TMK pointed out would be compatible with Gen 6:5 and if taken in context with what James seems to be saying in the surrounding verses it would, to my mind, be consistent. Tho when I read any other version they seem to have a different take and suggest it's in fact a positive admonition as these interpret the spirit mentioned as being Gods Spirit. The only thing is when I search for the OT scripture James is referencing I cant really find one that fits contextually with this interpretation, hence the request for help.
So thank you brother for reposting and starting this thread as this has been on my table for quite some time.
Interestingly while listening to one of my fav preachers (Keith Daniels) bring up this verse, and tho he favors KJV, he nonetheless interprets it as being Gods spirit - not ours. I confess at the time I thought, well Brother Daniels finally missed one ha!

TMK, you may very well be spot on.

Let's look at it that way.

If I can take the liberty, I'll repost my earlier KJV repunctuated quote:

" Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Or, [this disjunctive appears in the Greek TR, Strong's 2228, but not in KJV] do ye think that the scripture saith in vain? The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.' [Prov. 3:34] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."

And, the "modernized" one, decapitalized on spirit --

"You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Or, do you think the Scripture speaks in vain? The spirit that dwells in us desires to the point of envy. But he gives more grace; this is why He says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' [Prov. 3:34] Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double minded."

Now, James asks [at least as I hear him and re-thinking spirit with a lower case 's'] -- "Do the Scriptures teach vainly? We are envious creatures. But, God gives grace. This is why He says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"

Doesn't the argument flow in a similar way even with lower case s spirit? We fight because we have a fleshly drive toward envy. This is nothing more than pride. God resists that, as we know from the Scriptures --- that do not speak vainly --- also and that God gives grace to the humble. So, James continues as I read him, "Therefore [or, in light of all that I just wrote] submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ...."

The Textus Receptus also formed the basis of the ASV translation that basically is a relic now. The ASV translators punctuated the passage similarly to what I submitted here.

It is an interesting academic exercise for sure. The thing that compels me toward this is that James appears to quote Scripture. He writes here like Paul did at times -- with an interruption of thought. He's very natural with it. He says "Does the Scripture say vainly" and then makes a parenthetical assertion, then comes back to what the Scripture said that isn't vain -- and quoted Proverbs 3:34.

There is the idea that James did not intend to quote Scripture so much as refer to the sweeping sum of it regarding the enmity between worldiness and Godliness. Maybe so. Seems less clear to me that way, though. I will usually opt toward simplicity where two options are otherwise equally likely (or unlikely).

In any event, neither the KJV or any of the more modern versions are precisely aligned with the Greek, IMO. If I had to choose one that I believed was closest, I'd pick the ASV.

I recall reading about Smith Wigglesworth's commentary on this verse. He once told a man, "God wants everything He's got in you." When the man asked what Wigglesworth meant, he said, "Look at James 4:5 and you will find it.

Having read the different translations, I don't see any substantive difference in what is being said by any of them. I think that God jealously longs to see His Spirit in us in greater and greater measure. This is what Smith was saying, and I think that is probably what James meant as well.

"The true believer, saved by grace, is not of the world, even as our Lord was not of the world (Joh 17:16). Grace has severed the believer from the world; the cross of Christ has made him dead to the world and the world dead unto him. Hence the exhortation in John's Epistle "Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1Jo 2:15-16). And believers may turn back to the world, like Demas, and love it for a time. James calls such adulteresses; they leave Him to whom they are espoused, even Christ, and turn to another. The term must have reminded the Israelites of the Old Testament passages in which unfaithful, apostate Israel is pictured as an adulteress and playing the harlot (Jer 3:9; Eze 16:23; Ho 2). It is a solemn exhortation which every true believer should consider carefully; friendship with the world means enmity against God. Verse 5 should be rendered as follows: "Or think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the Spirit, who dwelleth in us, long unto envying?" All the Scriptures testify that worldliness and godliness cannot exist together; think ye then that these Scriptures speak in vain? And the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the believer, does not lust unto envy, for He opposes the flesh and those who walk in the Spirit do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. But he giveth more grace, yea grace sufficient to overcome by faith the world, for faith is the victory that overcomes the world. He quotes Pr 3:34. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

Gaebelein's Annoted Bible: (KJV)

I no longer have a spirit which is of this world. The Spirit of Christ now lives in me and the Holy Spirit has sealed Him in me and the Holy Spirit does lust unto envy, to destroy the lust of the flesh and gives Greater Grace to overcome the world.

Praise God He is faithful and gives the power of the Spirit of Christ and Blessed Holy Spirit to accomplish my overcoming by the Faith of Christ in me, this enmity against God. For by Grace I am saved and that is not of my own. For it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, and He is my hope of Glory. The life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. It is by His works in me mightily that I then and then only can live for God and not this world. Praise God for His Grace and the Blood poured out of Christ, that He is now in me and I in Him.

In Christ: Phillip