James 4:5

Jam_4:5

The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy

The Spirits jealousy

St.

James probably meant to give the sense of Scripture, and not to quote the exact words. Scripture teaches us the truth that the Spirit which dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, or rather, desireth enviously.

I. The class of passages to which St. James seems to refer would include those in which God speaks of Himself as a jealous God, and impresses upon the minds of the Israelites the undivided nature of the worship He demanded from them. In such passages God is described as requiring the entire affections of His people. His feeling at the withdrawal of these affections from Him in any degree is spoken of as jealousy. The meaning of the text will then be, Do you suppose that the Scriptures mean nothing when they speak of the Spirit of God dwelling in you as requiring absolute rule in your hearts, and longing eagerly after you, even to something like envy of any other influence which is gaining the mastery over your hearts? The word here translated lusteth is rendered long after, where St. Paul says to the Philippians, God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

II. This meaning of the text will be found, I think, to harmonise with the context. He asks, Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? and adds, whosoever, therefore, will be--lays himself out to be--the friend of the world is the enemy of God. You must choose between the two. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Do you think that the Scriptures speak to no purpose when they tell you that God requires your heart in a way which can only be described by saying that His Spirit longeth after you with enviousness and jealousy?

III. This same view of religion is, as you know, continully brought before us in Scripture. Our Lord tells us that no man can serve two masters. With a view to testing this singleness of heart in those who desire to be His followers He gave to different persons different commands. He desired one who wished to be with Him to go home to his own house. He called upon the young man who had great possessions to abandon them and follow Him. This unreserved surrender of self to Him was the one thing needful. Different courses of conduct would test the willingness of different persons according as their circumstances or dispositions were different; but in all His disciples the same readiness was necessary in the days when tie walked this earth. In all His disciples the same disposition is necessary now. The design of the gospel is not to set us free on the earth to do as we please; but to place us in our true position as adopted children of God--to turn the heart wholly to Him so that we should not merely have His law written for us as something outside us and hostile to us--as a set of rules for slaves and bondsmen--but written by His Holy Spirit in the fleshy tables of our hearts, as the directions to which our renewed affections would turn with delight.

IV. Nor indeed would any other view of the claims and operation of the Holy Spirit be at all consistent with what we observe of all ruling influences in our minds. We all have some predominant desire or tendency which brings into subjection our other desires and tendencies, and to which they yield. This ruling principle exerts an influence upon everything we do; our other tendencies, as it were, group themselves around it, receive its instructions, and do its bidding. Everything is viewed through it as a medium. You all know what this is. And if any one of you has taken the trouble to ascertain what is, in your own case, the ruling tendency of your mind, you will know that it is a jealous tendency--that it lusteth or longeth after you enviously.

V. Now if the love of God--a looking to the things not seen--if holiness be our character, we must expect the Holy Spirit to exert such an influence over us as we know other powers to exert over those upon whose characters we decide by our knowledge of their ruling disposition. We must expect the indwelling Spirit to desire no rivalry--to be satisfied with nothing short of bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. But what is wonderful is, that persons coming to Church and receiving the Bible--persons who are shocked at open wickedness, and who fancy themselves shocked at it because it is spoken against in Gods Word--what is wonderful, I say, is that such persons can pass over as idle words these assertions of the nature of the Spirits claim on their whole heart, in the practical recognition of which consists that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Of course a view of religion so fundamentally wrong as to ignore this high notion of the yearning and jealous love of God for those in whom He vouchsafes to dwell would necessarily taint and nullify every supposed religious act of him who, in spite of Scripture, resolved to entertain it. But it is in the particular act of prayer that St. James in the passage before us asserts its ruinous tendency. Let us, then, in conclusion, see how it operates to render prayer ineffectual, and to make what ought to be our solemn service an abomination unto the Lord. Prayer may be viewed in either of two ways.

1. It is a means by which God has appointed that we shall receive that continual supply of grace and strength which is essential to the support of our spiritual life. It is thus a source of benefit and blessing for present use. Besides this, the act of prayer is--

2. In itself a training for that higher and more enduring communion with Him which we hope one day to enjoy in His Kingdom. No man prays to any purpose except he prays with a sincere wish--a wish far beyond all other wishes--that God would make him better; that God would do this--do it from the moment the prayer is uttered--and do it evermore unto the end. This must be the sincere and heartfelt longing of every one who hopes to receive anything of the Lord. This is precisely what, from the nature of the case, the man who is double-minded cannot have. (J. C.Coghlan, D. D.)

The yearning of the Divine Spirit over us

The better MSS. give a different reading of the first words: The Spirit which He planted [or made to dwell] in us. If we adopt this reading, it makes it all but certain that what is predicated of the Spirit must be good, and not evil. The Greek word for lusteth conveys commonly a higher meaning than the English, and is rendered elsewhere by longing after (Rom_1:11; Php_1:8; Php_2:26; 2Co_9:14), or earnestly desiring 2Co_5:2), or greatly desiring (2Ti_1:4). The verb has no object, but it is natural to supply us. Taking these data we get as the true meaning of the words: The Spirit which He implanted yearns tenderly over us. The words that remain, to envy, admit of being taken as with an adverbial force: in a manner tending to envy. The fact that envy is elsewhere condemned as simply evil, makes its use here somewhat startling. But the thought implied is that the strongest human affection shows itself in a jealousy which is scarcely distinguishable from envy. We grudge the transfer to another of the affections which we claim as ours. We envy the happiness of that other. In that sense St. James says that the Spirit, implanted in us, yearns to make us wholly His, and is satisfied with no divided allegiance. The root-idea of the passage is identical with that of the jealousy of God over Israel as His bride Jer_3:1-11; Eze_16:1-63; Hos_2:3), of His wrath when the bride proved faithless. (Dean Plumptre.)

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Jas 4:5. Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain — Without good ground, or that it speaks falsely. St. James seems to refer to many, not to one particular passage of Scripture. The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy — That is, as many understand the words, our natural corruption, excited and influenced by Satan, strongly inclines us to unkind and envious dispositions toward our fellow-creatures. Some, however, suppose that the Spirit of God is intended by the apostle in this clause, and that the sense is, The Spirit of love, that dwelleth in all believers, lusteth against envy, (Gal 5:17,) is directly opposite to all those unloving tempers which necessarily flow from the friendship of the world. Nearly to the same purpose is Doddridge’s paraphrase of the verse: “Do you think the Scripture speaks in vain in all the passages in which it guards us against such a temper as this, and leads the mind directly to God as the supreme good, teaching us to abandon every thing for him? Or does the Holy Spirit, that dwells in us Christians, lust to envy? Does it encourage these worldly affections, this strife and envying which we have reproved? Or can it be imagined that we, who appear to have so much of the Spirit, have any interested views in the cautions we give, and would persuade you from the pursuit of the world, because we should envy you the enjoyment of it?

No.”

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CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Jas_4:5.—The precise rendering is doubtful. There is no passage either in the Canonical or Apocryphal Scriptures that is here referred to. The Revised Version gives in the text, “Doth the spirit which He made to dwell in us long unto envying? But He giveth more grace.” And in the margin two renderings: “The spirit which He made to dwell in us He yearneth for even unto jealousy”; “That spirit which He made to dwell in us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy.” In Ellicott’s Commentary Punchard gives two possible renderings: “Suppose ye that the Scripture saith in vain, The [Holy] Spirit that dwelleth in us jealously regards us as His own?” “Suppose ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the Spirit, which took up His abode in you, lust to envy?” Fausset suggests, “Does the [Holy] Spirit that God hath placed in us lust to [towards] envy?” (viz. as ye do in your worldly “wars and fightings”). Alford makes “to envy” mean “jealously”: “The Spirit jealously desires us for His own.” Plumptre suggests, “The Spirit which He implanted yearns tenderly over us.” Enviously may be used in a good sense. “The strongest human affection shows itself in a jealousy which is scarcely distinguishable from envy. We grudge the transfer to another of the affection which we claim as ours.”

Jas_4:6. Giveth more grace.—The ordered thought of this and the previous verse has been given thus: “God loves us with a feeling analogous to the strongest form of jealousy, or even envy, but that jealousy does not lead Him, as it leads men, to be grudging in His gifts; rather does He bestow, as its result, a greater measure of His grace than before, or than He would do, were His attitude towards us one of strict unimpassioned justice.” R.V. margin, “greater,” i.e. than if He did not desire us jealously.

Jas_4:7. The devil.—This is one of the texts used as proof of the personality of the devil. Illustrate by Mat_4:1-11.

Jas_4:10. Lift you up.—Exalt (Isa_57:15).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Jas_4:5-10

Self-humbling a Secret of Right Living.—Self-assurance nourishes all sorts of evil in us, and gives its chance to every kind of temptation that assails us. Take off our allegiance from God, fix it on self, and in St. James’s language we become spiritual adulterers and adulteresses. (The prophet Hosea uses similar figures: see chap. 2) Then if that over-magnifying of the self is the cause of wrong relations with God, and wrong relations with our fellow-men, clearly what is necessary, and what for ourselves may be the duty of the hour, is humbling the self, “mortifying our members which are upon the earth”; or as St. Peter puts it, “Humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in due time.”

I. Humbling self may be our present duty.—In a general sense it is the Christian’s duty at all times; but it also becomes a special duty at particular times and seasons, such as

(1) accession of power to our bodily passions;

(2) opportunity of self-aggrandisement;

(3) prevailing sentiments unduly exalting man;

(4) influence of public teachings that tend to nourish man’s pride;

(5) circumstances specially exciting unworthy and perilous feelings. It is said that “a man’s self is his greatest enemy.” He who has conquered himself need fear no other foe. But this humbling the self is precisely the duty which men shrink from recognising, and which, when they recognise, they fail to fulfil. Even those who call themselves Christians are often singularly weak in this respect. Getting the self to take and keep its right place has never come to them as a first demand made by Him whom they call Lord and Master.

II. In humbling self we have a most serious work to do.—St. James gives us some idea of the things which it may involve, and so impresses its seriousness.

1. It may require a resolute mastery of our wills, a forcible compelling ourselves to yield to God’s ordering of life for us. That seems to be suggested by the expression, “Be subject therefore unto God.”

2. It may include determinedly putting aside self-interests in order to secure time for communion with God and soul-culture. This seems to be indicated in the counsel, “Draw nigh to God.”

3. It is almost certain to require some resolute dealing with our conduct in life. There may be self-seeking things in the actual doing which must at once be given up, or changed in their characters. This seems to be suggested by the strong demand, “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners.” And—

4. It may very possibly be necessary to secure outward and bodily helps to self-humbling, self-mortification. Because men have gone to extremes of abusing themselves in misdirected efforts to secure self-abasement, we need not fear to look at the reasonable and practical demand of St. James. Through the body, and well-ordered discipline of the body, we can get at, and wisely influence, the self of passion and lust and temper and habit. If we are to purify our hearts from their self-trustings, it may greatly help us to “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; to let our laughter be turned to mourning, and our joy to heaviness.”

III. In humbling self we have a great foe to resist.—It is as if there was a spirit in this self. As if it was not ourself that we had to fight, but a separate and outward foe. Whatever view may be taken of the personality of the evil spirit, the evil self is personified, thought of as active, and as a foe to be resisted. Compare St. Paul’s expression, “the motions of sins in our members.” The devil may also be taken as personifying all those conditions and relationships of life which appeal to, influence, and strengthen the self. Then St. James’s advice, “Resist the devil,” will be seen to mean this—Do not mistake by assuming that the struggle with self is to be carried on only in the range of feeling and thought, the sphere of the inner life. There is also an outward sphere, a conflict with forces of evil that are ever at work strengthening the self. He then who would humble himself must fight against “principalities and powers.”

IV. In humbling self we have a great Helper to rely on.—“But He giveth more grace.” “He will draw nigh to you. “He shall exalt you.” The idea is this—You are trying to exalt yourselves in your self-confidence. Better “humble yourselves,” and let God exalt you, make you stand, in the strength of His grace. He can. He does. He will. What you win in God’s exalting you is altogether better than anything you can win by exalting the self.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Jas_4:5. Thinking Enviously.—“Doth the spirit which He made to dwell in us long unto envying?” There is a remarkable difference in the rendering of this passage given in the R.V. margin—“The spirit which He made to dwell in us He yearneth for even unto jealous envy.” This rendering connects the passage with the previous reference to the marriage tie. The two ideas suggested by the different renderings are:

1. There is grave danger to the soul when it longs for worldly pleasures even unto envying those who are allowed to enjoy them.

2. God, regarding the soul of man as bound to Him with the closest ties, is profoundly jealous of the relation—“yearneth for us even unto jealous envy,” lest any one, or anything, should take our love from Him. For the Old Testament figures, see Jer_3:1-11; Ezekiel 16; Hos_2:3. The spirit is the spirit in man, not the Holy Spirit.

Jas_4:6. Grace unto Sufficiency.—“But He giveth more grace”—greater grace. Dean Plumptre brings out effectively the point of this sentence: “Following the explanation already given, the sequence of thought seems to run thus: God loves us with a feeling analogous to the strongest form of jealousy, or even envy, but that jealousy does not lead Him, as it leads men, to be grudging in His gifts; rather does He bestow, as its result, a greater measure of His grace than before, or than He would do, were His attitude towards us one of strict, impassioned justice.” The term “more grace” suggests how inexhaustible the stores of grace are, so that we never can lack any good thing. There is always more available. And it further suggests that no limitations are put upon the supply of the grace by God. He never wearies of giving. He is always ready to bestow more; “to make all grace abound unto all sufficiency.”

Humility.

I. Humility has been well termed “the cradle of all other graces.”—In humility they are born. All attainment has been achieved by the acknowledgment that we have not yet attained. The sense of need is the mother of discovery. Nothing is so barren as self-satisfaction. Our Lord’s teaching is full of the need of humility. In various terms He insists upon it, as the elementary stage in the life of Christian experience. God giveth grace to the humble, because the humble are a receptacle for His presence.

II. Some considerations which ought to excite humility.—

1. The fact that we are God’s creatures, that all we possess is from Him, and held by us only for a time.—Riches, intellect, bodily strength, social status, are God’s gifts. May be soon taken from us. Only benefit us if rightly used.

2. The fact that we are sinful. Whatsoever good qualities we may possess, by the bounty of God, are more than counterbalanced by the evil which is our own.

3. The exceeding foolishness of pride, and the serious consequences which may result from it. How often, because of some fancied slight, or severe remark, will people nurture in their hearts feelings which must eventually cut them off from intercourse with God.

III. The more prevalent forms of sin which are opposed to humility are—

1. A refusal to accept a rebuke when we are perfectly conscious that we have deserved it. If honestly seeking to grow in grace, we ought to welcome rebuke if it has the effect of checking some fault of which we are guilty.

2. Exaggerated estimate of our own powers. This is seen in the scornful look, the contemptuous expression, the constant talking about oneself, in the apparent belief in the infallibility of one’s own opinion. How does God view such pride?

3. A habit of judging the character and conduct of others. The secret motive of this habit is a craving after praise and flattery. It hinders spiritual progress.

IV. In cultivating humility beware of false humility and undue self-depreciation.—It is not humility to profess not to be what we are, or not to possess that which we know that we do possess. Humility does not consist in refusing to acknowledge that we have talents, but in refusing to boast of such talents as if they were self-derived.

V. Consider the blessings which accompany humility.—

1. Through humility comes exaltation, real and abiding—exaltation by the mighty hand of God. “In due time.” The depth of our Lord’s humiliation was the measure of the height to which He was exalted.

2. It is through humility that we find strength in God. “Casting all care upon Him.”

3. If humility be the cradle of the graces, it is also their preservation. The more we grow in grace, the more humble we shall become, because the more we shall feel that all things are of God.

VI. As a practical lesson learn to be humble.—Receive with cheerfulness and readiness, even if not with joy, the humiliations which come to you in every-day life. Cease to resent injuries, to stand upon your rights, to obtrude yourself. Let the cross unite you to the Crucified.—Canon Vernon Hutton.

Jas_4:7. The Foe, the Fight, and the Flight.—“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The soul is a citadel which no enemy can storm, a stronghold which cannot be entered but by its own consent. Through the tremendous power of volition it can waive even incarnate Deity from its threshold, and spurn the salvation which He brings. Christian life is a contest, a fight.

I. The foe.—“The devil.” My conception of the devil is a great, unconscienced intellect under the sway of a moral nature thoroughly unholy. He was once an archangel, but fell, and from the beginning has been the deadly foe of our race.

1. He is a personal foe. We must not allow the audacious cavillings of scepticism to neutralise the solemn asseverations of inspiration upon this point. The devil “tempted” Jesus Christ; the devil “entered into” Judas; the devil “desired to have” Peter; the devil “hindered” Paul. Not only Jesus Christ and His apostles, but all the noble and heroic spirits of the past, who have done most to elevate and bless the world, have been firm believers in the personality of the devil. And it is a singular fact that the Churches which most firmly believe and teach that doctrine are not only the most prosperous and aggressive, but the only ones that are doing anything worth speaking of for the evangelisation of the world. The fact is, you cannot run a gospel Church without a devil, and the bad place to which the old fellow belongs. Show me a man who does not believe in the devil, and I will show you a man who has but little knowledge of God so far as saving faith and the blessings of salvation are concerned.

2. He is a powerful foe. Indicated in Scripture:

(1) By his names. He is called “Apollyon,” “Prince of this world,” “Beelzebub,” “Prince of the power of the air,” “God of this world.”

(2) By the creatures used to represent him. The serpent, whose deadly fangs poison, and whose dreadful coil means death. The roaring lion, the terror and king of the forest. The old dragon, which, to the Oriental mind, was an incarnation of almost superhuman strength.

(3) By the works attributed to him. He early accomplished the moral ruin of the race, brought death into the world with all our woe, bound man helplessly to his degrading service, blotting out every ray of light and hope of self-recovery. He is the arch-rebel in God’s kingdom—the leader of the hosts of sin, in earth and hell.

(4) By the Divine intervention which was necessary to break his power and rescue man from his grasp, etc. His power is all the more dreadful and dangerous because of His vast experience. He is an old foe. He was here before man came, and here, perhaps, because he saw him coming. His malice and deception. He secretes the sorrow and fetters he carries for his victims under the winsome drapery of some pleasure or profit. He uses “wiles,” “depths,” “darts,” “snares,” “all deceivableness of unrighteousness,” frequently putting on the dissembling gloss of an angel of light.

II. The fight.—“Resist the devil.” You may plead with man, you may “reason” with God, but you must “resist the devil.” Jesus Christ, our elder Brother, has fought and conquered this foe; and in clearing the way for our fight, Jesus tells him, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.” “No farther.” That is, “those that fight under My banner shall whip you too.” But in order to triumph in this great conflict, we must fight according to the prize rules of our great Captain.

1. Negative. Quit the enemy’s service. The fight cannot even begin until you reach this point.

2. Positive. Enlist in God’s service. God’s veterans are all volunteers. No conscript ever drew blood on this foe; nor was any man ever scolded into this fight, or thrown into it on the horns of a dilemma. The pressure of consciousness and environment through Divine grace must make us willing.

3. Preparative. “Put on the whole armour of God.” God’s veterans not only enlist, they also get ready for battle. Spiritual cripples are never pitted against this foe. All who face him stand and dress for the fight. “Put on.” “And having done all” (that is, completely routed the foe, they are not even weary enough to sit down, but prefer), “to stand.” They are “more than conquerors.”

III. The flight.—He will flee from you.

1. When will he “flee”? When he sees you ready for battle and full of fight. The devil laughs in his sleeve when he sees the livery of heaven on a coward, or on a person who professes to “resist” him, but who at heart is in sympathy with him and his work. But nothing so completely routs him as heroic resistance. “He will flee from you.” Attack a courageous foe, and “he will flee” at you, not “from you.” Herein is seen the devil’s cowardice. Only cowards run. Manly resistance routs the old deceiver so quickly that he is obliged to drop some of the fetters wherewith he had hoped to bind his victim, until finally in his approaches he will leave his fetters behind; and though he may still continue to annoy us, he will have little hope of bringing usinto serious bondage.

2. How often will he “flee”? Every time he is manfully “resisted.” He knows we are creatures of varying moods, and that his defeat to-day may end in ours to-morrow. The promise, “He will flee,” has two glorious meanings:

1. Temporary flight. “He will flee,” to return again, to annoy, vex, trouble. But in spite of his return the Christian may still retain the victory, and every time force him to “flee.”

2. Eternal flight. This takes place in the valley of the shadow of death, and, blessed be God! involves a double flight. The enemy will “flee” from the departing spirit as a hopeless case, and the emancipated soul shall soar and mount upward to the society of the redeemed and the mansions of the blessed, “and so shall ever be with the Lord.”—Thomas Kelly, D.D.

Jas_4:8. On the Reality of Man’s Intercourse with his Maker.—There is one sense in which God cannot draw more “nigh” to any man than He is already. The fact of the omnipresence of Deity lies at the foundation of all religion. It is impossible to express by language the closeness of the relation existing between the Creator and the creation. His power gives energy to every cause, to every force. Yet how remarkable is the unbroken silence in which God the Lord dwells among men. In the sphere of sense there is no personal revelation—not to the wicked, not even to the good. Neither in the world, nor in the sanctuary, nor in solitude is the silence ever broken to the suppliant. How then can we “draw nigh to God,” so that He will “draw nigh to us”?

I. In the study and belief of His revelation.—

1. The condition of God’s spiritual action in the souls of men is honest attention to truth. The causes which render it difficult to attend earnestly to the study of the word of God are such as, earthly interests, the cares of business, love of pleasure, love of excitement, pleasures of the imagination, idle reading, moral repulsion. Much of God’s providence has for its object to produce the attention necessary for salvation.

2. To bring the mind into earnest contact with those writings which express His mind is to “draw nigh to God.” It is not, however, essential to master the whole breadth of the revelation in order to attain the assurance that in the Bible we are conversing with the living God.

II. In prayer and thanksgiving.—God can communicate without words. A quiet secrecy marks God’s revelations to men. He diffuses over the soul a spiritual sense of His presence. There is no intercourse so real as that of mind with mind, and heart with heart.

III. In the practice of obedience.—When the soul has received the blessing of acceptance with God in Christ, it also receives into itself the principle of a loving and healthful obedience which brings it into conscious union with the Most High.—Edward White.

Jas_4:10. Humility before God.—The expression used here, and also in 1Pe_5:6, is “Humble yourselves,” and not merely “Be humble.” It is in harmony with the passage that the meaning should be—Deal resolutely with yourselves, so as to keep down all risings of pride and self-confidence. The suggestion is—Be watchful and determined in all necessary self-discipline. But it is the resolute effort to keep ourselves in right attitudes before God, and right relations with Him, which secures a humility which is not humiliation, and which puts us into right relations with our fellow-men. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.” Two things may be illustrated and enforced:

1. The effect of an attitude of humility before God on our daily life. Humility before men too easily degenerates into weakness. It may became such humility as is caricatured in Uriah Heep. But humility before God is found to put a gracious tone upon the relationships of life. It prevents our manifesting the restlessness and self-assertion which so greatly disturb ordinary relations. It gives us a principle for life-guidance; it keeps near us the sense of a Presence; and it provides us with a consciousness of a strength and efficiency, which make us master of circumstances. The humble man before God is the strong, wise man before life’s duties and claims.

2. The influence of humility before God in securing Divine benedictions. “He shall exalt you.” It is not merely that God rewards the trustfulness of humility with actual blessings; it is also that to the humble soul God gives Himself, and the man is no longer mere man, but exalted to be, what Christ was (yet within human limitations), man and God with him.

God’s Ways with Humble Souls.—God protects the humble and delivers him; He loves and consoles him; He inclines Himself towards the humble man, He bestows on him exceeding grace, and after his humiliation he lifts him up to glory; He reveals His secrets to the humble, and sweetly draws and leads him to Himself.—Thomas à Kempis.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4

Jas_4:7. Temptation.—When the devil tempts a man to commit any wickedness, he does, as it were, lay a long train of sins; and if the first temptation take, they give fire one to another. Let us, then, resist the beginning of sin; because then we have the most power, and sin hath the least.—Tillotson.

Two Great Proverbs.—There are two great proverbs, one among the Turks, and the other among the Spaniards, both of which contain much that is true. “A busy man is troubled with but one devil; but the idle man with a thousand.” “Men are usually tempted by the devil; but the idle man positively tempts the devil.” How much corrupting company, how many temptations to do wrong, how many seasons of danger to your character, and danger to the peace of your friends, may you escape by regarding the admonition, “Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you.”

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4:5 Scriptures . . . say: James summarizes one of the messages of Scripture, that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.

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Jas 4:5. Κενῶς) in vain, without effect, so that it matters nothing to guilt or to salvation. Whatever things the Scripture says are serious. We ought to reverence every word.—λέγει, saith) not λαλεῖ, speaks, saith the things which follow.—πρὸς φθόνον) against envy. This noun (φθόνος) does not occur in the Septuagint, and it does not seem probable that James should have wished to make so great a change in this verse, and yet, in Jas 4:6, have made an exact quotation from another passage. We may infer from this, that the quotation here is from the Scriptures of the New Testament: for the writings of the New Testament, as well as the Old, are reckoned in the Scriptures; 2Pe 3:16. Some refer it to Gen 6:5; Gen 6:3; or to Num 11:29; or to Pro 21:10; or to some lost book. But the words of James are near enough to Gal 5:17, and following verses; where φθόνοι, envyings, are placed among the works of the flesh, and the spirit is said to have desires contrary to the flesh, and they who are led by this spirit are not under the law, but under grace. But this passage agrees especially with 1Pe 2:1-2; 1Pe 2:5. Laying aside—ENVYINGS, DESIRE the milk of the word—a SPIRITUAL HOUSE. And that which here follows. But He giveth more grace, agrees with that, the Lord is gracious, Jas 4:3. He who has this passage of St Peter well impressed upon his mind, will altogether recognise the reference of St James to it. Nor does the chronological order of the epistles stand in the way. Thus James not only concurs with St Peter, but also with St Paul.—φθόνον) The friendship of the world necessarily produces envy: the Spirit, which has taken up His dwelling in us, does not bear envy.—τὸ πνεῦμα) The Spirit of grace and love.—κατῴκησεν) takes up His dwelling.—ἐν ἥμῖν, in us) Sons, of the New Testament.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jam_4:5-6. The views of expositors differ widely in the interpretation of these verses. At first sight the words following λέγει appear to be a quotation from the O. T. which James has in view. That of the older and some of the more recent expositors assume this to be the case, although they differ from each other, some combining πρὸς φθόνον directly with λέγει, but others including it in the quotation Against this explanation, however, is the circumstance that the words supposed to be here quoted nowhere occur in the O. T. Such a passage has accordingly been sought for, where a similar thought is expressed, but almost every expositor has fixed upon a different passage. Many expositors seek to remove the difficulty by supposing that James does not here quote any single definite passage, but only a sentiment contained in the O. T. generally, or in several of its expressions. Opposed to this idea, however, is, first, the uncertainty whether James will confirm by it the statement contained in what precedes or in what follows; and secondly, the formula of quotation pointing to a definite passage, particularly as λέγει is not = λαλεῖ. But, moreover, the clause μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν is against the view here indicated, since these words cannot be reckoned as part of the quotation, because James only afterwards quotes the O. T. passage from which they are derived; but, also, they cannot be considered as a statement of James not belonging to the quotation, because δέ closely connects them to what directly precedes.

REMARK.

The various O. T. passages which have been conjectured are as follows:

Gen_4:7 (Rauch); Gen_6:3; Gen_6:5 (Grotius); Gen_8:21 (Beza, Ernest Schmid); Num_11:29 (Witsius); Psa_37:1; Psa_73:3 (Lange); Psa_119:20 ff. (Clericus); Pro_21:10 (Michaelis); Son_8:6 (Coccejus); from the Apocrypha Wis_6:12 (Wetstein), and others. Benson supposes that James has in view the N. T. passage, Mat_6:24; Stäudlin, that he has in view that passage and also Gal_5:17; Storr, the latter passage only; and Bengel, 1Pe_2:1 ff. Semler thinks that the passage is here cited from the Testimony of the Twelve Patriarchs; and Gabler, that the words are borrowed from a lost prophetical book. In recent times, Engelhardt (Remarks on Jam_4:5-6, in the Ztschr. f. d. Luth. Theol., by Delitzsch and Guericke, 1869, Part II.) has expressed the opinion that Isa_63:8-11, Psa_132:12-13, and Hos_1:2; Hos_1:1-5, form the groundwork of these words of James. Wolf, Heinsius, and Zachariae refer the words to the thoughts contained in what follows; Theile, de Wette, Brückner (also first edition of this commentary), to the thoughts contained in what precedesthat the friendship of the world is enmity with God.

If the words πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ κ.τ.λ. do not form the quotation belonging to ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, it is to be assumed that James here already had in view the scripture adduced after διὸ λέγει in Jam_4:6, but that he did not yet state it, because the sentiment expressed in those words obtruded itself upon him in confirmation of οὐ κενῶς (Wiesinger). πρὸς φθόνον cannot, as Gebser and others suppose, be united with λέγει; for if one takes it to be equivalent to de invidia or contra invidia, there is this against it, that in what goes before there is no mention of envy; or if it is taken adverbially, then it appears as an appendage dragging after οὐ κενῶς, which would be added the more unsuitably, because, as de Wette correctly remarks, it cannot be perceived what meaning can be attached to the assurance that the scripture does not speak enviously. Most expositors rightly refer it to ἐπιποθεῖ, which, without the addition, would be too bare; it is added to this idea as an adverbial and more exact statement = in an envious, jealous manner, for the sake of strengthening it. It is linguistically incorrect to explain πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖν = ἐπιθυμεῖν κατὰ φθόνον, Gal_5:17 (thus Luther: the spirit lusteth against envy; Bengel, Stier; also Lange: the spirit longeth over against and in opposition to envy), since πρός, although it may be used in a hostile relation (Luk_23:12; Act_6:1), yet does not in itself express a hostile reference. The explanation of many ancient and some recent expositors (Bede, Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Hottinger, Gabler, Bouman, and others), taking πρὸς φθόνον = ad invidiam, is also unsuitable; for, on the one hand, ἐπιποθεῖν is not = proclivem esse, and, on the other hand, it is contradicted by the connection in which there is not the slightest allusion to envy. With the correct explanation of πρὸς φθόνον, τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκησεν (κατῴκισεν) ἐν ὑμῖν is either subjective, the Spirit of God, or objective, the spirit of man. In the first case ἐπιποθεῖ has no object. De Wette, Brückner (so also Schneckenburger and some of the other expositors) supply ἡμᾶς as the object. Engelhardt, on the contrary, will supply no object, thinking the supposed translation of the verb קִנֵּא is conclusive against an object; but קִנֵּא requires an object no less than ἐπιποθεῖν, as it is, as well as the other, a relative (not an absolute) verb. By this interpretation ἐν ὑμῖν is to be understood of Christians, in whom the Holy Spirit (according to Engelhardt: by the covenant of baptism) has taken up His abode. In the second case, the subject is not expressed. Wiesinger supplies ὁ Θεός. There is no difficulty in this completion, the less so as the preceding ἡ γραφή, which, in connection with λέγει, is personified (comp. Gal_3:8, προιδοῦσα ἡ γραφή), points to God, with whom it is, as it were, identified. This second explanation would deserve the preference before the first, as it is not apparent why James here, instead of simply God, should name the Holy Spirit, whom he has not elsewhere mentioned in his whole Epistle, and because the specification of an object belonging to ἐπιποθεῖ, which is essentially required for the thought, can scarcely be wanting. Certainly, in this second interpretation, ὃ κατῴκησεν ἐν ἡμῖν added to πνεῦμα is difficult, not so much on account of the formation of the expression, as because this addition appears to be a very unimportant remark. But it is otherwise with the reading κατῴκισεν, as then the relative clause marks the right of propriety as the ground of explanation of envious love (Wiesinger). According to this view, the passage is to be explained: Or think you that the scripture says in vain(rather God) enviously desires the spirit which He has made to dwell in us, but He gives the greater gracewherefore it says, etc.

It is yet to be remarked that δοκεῖν has the same meaning as in chap. Jam_1:26; κενῶς, that is, without contents, corresponding to the truth; comp. κενοὶ λόγοι, Eph_5:6 (Plato, Lach. 196b). The adverbial import of πρὸς φθόνον is justified by the usage of the Greek language; see Papes Wörterb.: the word πρός; Winer, p. 378 [E. T. 529]; Buttmann, p. 292 f. [E. T. 340]. The verb ἐπιποθεῖν is also elsewhere in the N. T. construed with the accusative. The idea that God cherishes an envious and loving longing (Wiesinger) after the spirit of man, corresponds to the circle of ideas in the O. T., from which also the preceding μοιχαλίδες is to be explained.

REMARK.

The principal objections of Engelhardtthat the two members of the 5th and 6th verses are not in congruity, and that the scripture adduced in Jam_4:6 does not prove the thought expressed in Jam_4:4are solved by the observation that the friendship of the world, in which man opposes himself to the will of God, is pride, and that those to whom God gives grace are none other than the humble, who disdain to be the arrogant friends of the world. It is erroneous when Engelhardt denies that an emphasis rests on οὐ κενῶς, so that the grammatical construction forbids to make the idea πρὸς φθόνον κ.τ.λ. intervene as a contrast to κενῶς; the asyndeton form is, besides, wholly suitable to James mode of expression; moreover, Engelhardt on his part finds himself constrained to supply a transitionary thought before μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν. That James does not quote the scripture intended by him directly after the first λέγει, but defers it because he wished to emphasize that it was not vain and empty, may well surprise us, but it is to be explained from the liveliness peculiar to James. Moreover, in Rom_11:2-4, although not in the same, yet in a similar manner, the passage quoted is separated from the form of quotation: τί λέγει ἡ γραφή, and in such a manner that the formula itself is taken up again by an ἀλλά, referring to the intervening remark, before the intended passage. When Engelhardt thinks that the words in consideration are to be recognised as the quotation, because they are words which do not elsewhere occur in James, apart from this being anything but conclusive, it is, on the contrary, to be observed that πνεῦμα understood of the human spirit already occurs in chap. Jam_2:26, and that the words πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖν do not occur in the passages of the O. T. which James, according to Engelhardts opinion, had in view.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jas 4:5 . ἡ γραφὴ λέγει πρὸς φθόνον …: this attributing of personality to Scripture is paralleled, as Lightfoot points out (Gal 3:8 ), by the not uncommon Jewish formula of reference מה ראה “Quid vidit”. According to Lightfoot the singular γραφὴ in the N.T. “always means a particular passage of Scripture; where the reference is clearly to the sacred writings as a whole, as in the expressions, ‘searching the Scriptures,’ ‘learned in the Scriptures,’ etc., the plural γραφαί is universally found, e.g. , Act 17:11 ; Act 18:24 ; Act 18:28 .… Ἡ γραφὴ is most frequently used in introducing a particular quotation, and in the very few instances where the quotation is not actually given, it is for the most part easy to fix the passage referred to. The biblical usage is followed also by the earliest fathers. The transition from the ‘Scriptures’ to the ‘Scripture’ is analogous to the transition from τὰ βιβλία to the ‘Bible’ ” ( ibid. , pp. 147 f.). In the present instance the “Scripture” is nowhere to be found in the O.T.; it is, however, reflected in some Pauline passages, Gal 5:17 ; Gal 5:21 , and cf. Rom 8:6 ; Rom 8:8 ; 1Co 3:16 : ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος , τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός (Gal 5:17 ); τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν (1Co 3:16 ). It is difficult not to see a Pauline influence in our passage; and what is certainly noteworthy is the fact that the two Agrapha which the Epistle contains (Jas 1:12 and the one before us) are both closely connected with St. Paul, Jas 1:12 = 2Ti 4:8 ; 2Ti 4:5 = Gal 5:17 . But that which is conclusive against the “Scripture” here referring to the O.T. is the fact that the doctrine of the Spirit is not found there in the developed form in which it is represented here; the pronounced personality of the Spirit as here used is never found in the O.T. The reference here must be to the N.T., and this is one of the many indications which point to the late date of our Epistle, or parts of it. As early a document as the Epistle of Polycarp (110 A.D.) refers once to the N.T. quotations as “Scripture”; and in the Epistle of Barnabas (about 98 A.D. according to Lightfoot, but regarded as later by most scholars) a N.T. quotation is prefaced by the formula “It is written”. πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ …: on this very difficult text see, for a variety of interpretations, Mayor’s elaborate note; the best rendering seems to be that of the R.V. margin: “That Spirit which he made to dwell in us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy”. The words witness to the truth that the third Person of the Holy Trinity abides in our hearts striving to acquire the same love for Him on our part which He bears for us. It is a most striking passage which tells of the love of the Holy Spirit, as (in one sense) distinct from that of the Father or that of the Son; in connection with it should be read Rom 8:26-28 ; Eph 4:30 ; 1Th 5:19 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The taking away of an objection: Indeed our minds run headlong into these vices, but we ought so much the more diligently take heed of them: which care and study shall not be in vain, seeing that God resists the stubborn, and giveth that grace to the modest and humble that surmounteth all those vices.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

in vain--No word of Scripture can be so. The quotation here, as in Eph 5:14, seems to be not so much from a particular passage as one gathered by James under inspiration from the general tenor of such passages in both the Old and New Testaments, as Num 14:29; Pro 21:20; Gal 5:17.

spirit that dwelleth in us--Other manuscripts read, "that God hath made to dwell in us" (namely, at Pentecost). If so translated, "Does the (Holy) Spirit that God hath placed in us lust to (towards) envy" (namely, as ye do in your worldly "wars and fightings")? Certainly not; ye are therefore walking in the flesh, not in the Spirit, while ye thus lust towards, that is, with envy against one another. The friendship of the world tends to breed envy; the Spirit produces very different fruit. ALFORD attributes the epithet "with envy," in the unwarrantable sense of jealously, to the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit jealously desires us for His own." In English Version the sense is, "the (natural) spirit that hath its dwelling in us lusts with (literally, 'to,' or 'towards') envy." Ye lust, and because ye have not what ye lust after (Jam 4:1-2), ye envy your neighbor who has, and so the spirit of envy leads you on to "fight." James also here refers to Jam 3:14, Jam 3:16.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5 Do ye think. He seems to adduce from Scripture the next following sentence. Hence interpreters toil much, because none such, at least none exactly alike, is found in Scripture. But nothing hinders the reference to be made to what has been already said, that is, that the friendship of the world is adverse to God. Moreover; it has been rightly said, that this is a truth which occurs everywhere in Scripture. And that he has omitted the pronoun, which would have rendered the sentence clearer, is not to be wondered at, for, as it is evident, he is everywhere very concise.

The Spirit, or, Does the Spirit? Some think that the soul of man is meant, and therefore read the sentence affirmatively, and according to this meaning, — that the spirit of man, as it is malignant, is so infected with envy, that it has ever a mixture of it. They, however, think better who regard the Spirit of God as intended; for it is he that is given to dwell in us. I then take the Spirit as that of God, and read the sentence as a question; for it was his object to prove, that because they envied they were not ruled by the Spirit of God; because he teaches the faithful otherwise; and this he confirms in the next verse, by adding that he giveth more grace

For it is an argument arising from what is contrary. Envy is a proof or sign of malignity; but the Spirit of God proves himself to be bountiful by the affluence of his blessings. There is then nothing more repugnant to his nature than envy. In short, James denies that the Spirit of God rules where depraved lusts prevail, which excite to mutual contention; because it is peculiarly the office of the Spirit to enrich men more and more continually with new gifts.

I will not stop to refute other explanations. Some give this meaning that the Spirit lusteth against envy; which is too harsh and forced. Then they say that God gives more grace to conquer and subdue lust. But the meaning I have given is more suitable and simple, — that he restores us by his bounty from the power of malignant emulation. The continuative particle δὲ is to be taken adversatively, for ἀλλὰ or ἀλλά γε; so have I rendered it quin, but.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(5) Do ye think . . .?—The tone of the Apostle is changed to one of appeal, which, perhaps (but see below), may be rendered thus: Suppose ye that the Scripture saith in vain, The (Holy) Spirit that dwelleth in us jealously regards us as His own? Our Authorised version does not allow of this apparent reference to the Spirit of God indwelling His human temples (1Co_3:16; 1Co_6:19, et seq.) for “lusteth to envy,” or enviously, would imply evil and not good. It were well that the unfaithful, addressed in Jas_4:4, should bear the general sentiment of this verse in mind, and not fancy such warnings of holy writ were uttered emptily, in vain.

Many commentators have been puzzled to say whence the words came which are quoted as authoritative by St. James. Surely the substance was sufficient for him, as for other inspired writers, without a slavish adherence to the form: comp. Gen_2:7 for the inbreathing of the Spirit, with any such chapter as Deuteronomy 32 for His jealous inquisition. It must, however, be noted that a slightly varied punctuation of the verse will give quite another sense to its questioning. (See Wordsworth.) Suppose ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain? Doth the Spirit, which took up His abode in you, lust to envy? And defensible or not as this translation may be, at least it escapes some of the difficulties of the foregoing. (Exhaustive notes, with references to most authorities, are in Alford; or an easy summary of the matter may be read in Plumptre’s St. James.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?] The words present a two-fold difficulty: (1) They are quoted as Scripture, and yet no such words are found either in the Canonical or even in the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament. (2) It is by no means clear what they mean in themselves, or what is their relation to the context. If we can determine the latter point, it may, perhaps, help us in dealing with the former, (a) The better MSS., it may be noted, to begin with, give a different reading of the first words: The Spirit which he planted (or made to dwell) in us. If we adopt this reading, it makes it all but absolutely certain that what is predicated of the Spirit must be good, and not, as the English version suggests, evil. (b) The Greek word for “lusteth” conveys commonly a higher meaning than the English, and is rendered elsewhere by “longing after” (Rom_1:11; Php_1:8; Php_2:26; 2Co_9:14), or “earnestly desiring” (2Co_5:2), or “greatly desiring” (2Ti_1:4). New Testament usage is accordingly in favour of giving the word such a meaning here. The verb has no object, but it is natural to supply the pronoun “us.” Taking these data we get as the true meaning of the words, The Spirit which He implanted yearns tenderly over us. (c) The words that remain, “to envy,” admit of being taken as with an adverbial force. “In a manner tending to envy,” enviously. The fact that “envy” is elsewhere in the New Testament and elsewhere condemned as simply evil, makes its use here somewhat startling. But the thought implied is that the strongest human affection shews itself in a jealousy which is scarcely distinguishable from “envy.” We grudge the transfer to another of the affection which we claim as ours. We envy the happiness of that other. In that sense St James says that the Spirit, implanted in us, yearns to make us wholly His and is satisfied with no divided allegiance. He simply treats the Greek word for “envy” as other writers treated the word “jealousy,” which though commonly viewed as evil, was yet treated at times as a parable of the purest spiritual affection (2Co_11:2; Gal_4:17-18). The root-idea of the passage is accordingly identical with that of the jealousy of God over Israel as His bride (Jer_3:1-11; Ezekiel 16, Hos_2:3), of His wrath when the bride proved faithless. Those who had been addressed as “adulteresses” (Jas_4:4), were forgetting this. All that they read of the love or jealousy of God was to them as an idle tale. For “in vain” read idly, emptily.

There remains the question, in what sense does St James give these words as a quotation from “the Scripture”? No words at all like them in form are found anywhere in the Old Testament, and we have to suppose either (1) that they were cited from some lost book that never found a place in the Hebrew Canon, a supposition, which, though not absolutely impossible, is yet in a very high degree unlikely; or, which seems the more probable explanation, that St James having in his mind the passages above referred to, and many others like them, and finding them too long for quotation, condensed them into one brief pregnant form, which gave the essence of their meaning. A like manner of quoting as Scripture what we do not find in any extant book, is found in Clement of Rome (c. 46), “It has been written, ‘Cleave to the saints, for they who cleave to them shall be sanctified.’ ” As points of detail it may be noted (1) that the Greek word for “yearning” or “longing” occurs in the LXX. version of Deu_32:11, and is followed in Jas_4:13-17 by an account of the manner in which the love so shewn had been turned to jealousy by the sins of Israel; and (2) that Gen_6:5, as in the LXX., “My spirit shall not abide for ever with men,” may have suggested the “indwelling” of which the first member of the sentence speaks.

I have given, what seems on the whole, the most tenable explanation of a passage which is admitted on all hands to be one of extreme difficulty. It does not seem desirable to discuss other interpretations at any length, but two or three may be very briefly noticed. (1) The words have been rendered “The Spirit (i. e. the Holy Spirit) that dwelleth in us lusteth against envy,” the contrast being assumed to be parallel to that between the works of the Spirit and those of the flesh in Gal_5:17. There is no sufficient authority, however, for giving this meaning to the preposition. (2) The “spirit” has been referred to man’s corrupt will, as “lusting to envy,” in its bad sense, but the description of the Spirit as “implanted” or “dwelling” in us, is against this view. (3) In concurrence with the last interpretation, the question “Do ye think that the Scripture speaks in vain?” has been referred to what precedes the statement, that the friendship of the world is enmity with God; but this is at variance with the usual way in which quotations from the Old Testament are introduced in the New.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain?.... Some think that the apostle refers to a particular passage of Scripture in the Old Testament, and that he took it from Gen 6:3 as some; or from Exo 20:5, as others; or from Deu 7:2 or from Job 5:6 or from Pro 21:10 others think he had in view some text in the New Testament; either Rom 12:2 or Gal 5:17 and some have imagined that he refers to a passage in the apocryphal book:

"For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin.'' (Wisdom 1:4)

and others have been of opinion that it is taken out of some book of Scripture then extant, but now lost, which by no means can be allowed of: the generality of interpreters, who suppose a particular text of Scripture is referred to, fetch it from Num 11:29 but it seems best of all to conclude that the apostle has no regard to any one particular passage of Scripture, in which the following words are expressly had, since no such passage appears; but that his meaning is, the sense of the Scripture everywhere, where it speaks of this matter, is to this purpose: nor does it say this, or any thing else in vain; whatever is written there is to answer some end, as for learning, edification, and comfort, for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness; neither with respect to what is before suggested, that what is asked in a right manner, and for a right end, shall be given; and that the love of the world, and the love of God, are things incompatible; nor with respect to what follows:

the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? that is, the depraved spirit of man, the spirit of an unregenerate man; that as it is prone to every lust, and prompts to every sin, the imagination of the thought of man's heart being evil, and that continually, so it instigates to envy the happiness of others; see Gen 6:5 or this may be put as a distinct question from the other, "does the spirit that dwelleth in us lust to envy?" that is, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the hearts of his people, as in his temple: the Ethiopic version reads, "the Holy Spirit": and then the sense is, does he lust to envy? no; he lusts against the flesh and the works of it, and envy among the rest; see Gal 5:17 but he does not lust to it, or provoke to it, or put persons upon it; nor does he, as the Arabic version renders it, "desire that we should envy"; he is a spirit of grace; he bestows grace and favours upon men; and is so far from envying, or putting others upon envying any benefit enjoyed by men, that he increases them, adds to them, and enlarges them, as follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 5. That the Scripture saith in vain] No, it doth not only say, but do; not only convince us that an evil and an envious spirit possesseth us (such a spirit as lusteth to have other men’s abilities eclipsed, that so our candle might shine alone), but also it giveth more grace; it not only convinceth, but converteth the soul, Psa 19:7. It causeth a man to rejoice heartily in the good parts of others; and this is more than to excel others in any excellence if this be wanting.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain - Few passages of the New Testament have given expositors more perplexity than this. The difficulty has arisen from the fact that no such passage as that which seems here to be quoted is found in the Old Testament; and to meet this difficulty, expositors have resorted to various conjectures and solutions. Some have supposed that the passage is spurious, and that it was at first a gloss in the margin, placed there by some transcriber, and was then introduced into the text; some that the apostle quotes from an apocryphal book; some, that he quotes the general spirit of the Old Testament rather than any particular place; some regard it not as a quotation, but read the two members separately, supplying what is necessary to complete the sense, thus: “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 dwelleth in us Christians, leads to covetousness, pride, envy? No. On the contrary, to such as follow his guidance and direction, he gives more abundant grace and favor.” This is the solution proposed by Benson, and adopted by Bloomfield. But this solution is by no means satisfactory. Two things are clear in regard to 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, for 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, for he uses a term ἡ γραφὴ hē graphē - the Scripture) which is everywhere employed to denote the Old Testament, and which is nowhere applied to an apocryphal book, Mat 21:42; Mat 22:29; Mat 26:54, Mat 26:56; Joh 2:22; Joh 5:39; Joh 7:38, Joh 7:42; Joh 10:35, et al. The word is used more than fifty times in the New Testament, and is never applied to any books but those which were regarded by the Jews as inspired, and which constitute now the Old Testament, except in 2Pe 3:16, where it refers to the writings of Paul. The difficulty in the case arises from the fact that no such passage as the one here quoted is found in so many words in the Old Testament, nor any of which it can fairly be regarded as a quotation. The only solution of the difficulty which seems to me to be at all satisfactory, is to suppose that the apostle, in the remark made here in the form of a quotation, refers to the Old Testament, but that he had not his eye on any particular passage, and did not mean to quote the words literally, but meant to refer to what was the current teaching or general spirit of the Old Testament; or that he meant to say that this sentiment was found there, and designed himself to embody the sentiment in words, and to put it into a condensed form.

His eye was on envy as at the bottom of many of the contentions and strifes existing on earth, Jam 3:16, and of the spirit of the world which prevailed everywhere, Jam 4:4; and 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 lodgement in the heart of man. That truth which was uttered every where in the Scriptures, was not taught “in vain.” The abundant facts which existed showing its developement and operation in contentions, and wars, and a worldly spirit, proved that it was deeply imbedded 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. Ecc 4:4, “I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor.” Job 5:2, “wrath killeth, and envy slayeth the silly one.” Pro 14:30, “envy is the rottenness of the bones.” Pro 27:4, “who is able to stand before envy?” For particular instances of this, and the effects, see Gen 26:14; Gen 30:1; Gen 37:11; Psa 106:16; Psa 73:3. These passages prove that there is a strong propensity in human nature to envy, and it was in accordance with the design of the apostle to show this. The effects of envy to which be himself referred evinced the same thing, and demonstrated that the utterance given to this sentiment in the Old Testament was not “in vain,” or was not false, for the records in the Old Testament on the subject found a strong confirmation in the wars and strifes and worldliness of which he was speaking.

Saith in vain - Says falsely;” that is, the testimony thus borne is true. The apostle means that what was said in the Old Testament on the subject found abundant confirmation in the facts which were continually occurring, and especially in those to which he was adverting.

The spirit that dwelleth in us - Many have supposed that the word “spirit” here refers to the Holy Spirit, or the Christian spirit; but in adopting this interpretation they are obliged to render the passage, “the spirit that dwells in us lusteth against envy,” or tends to check and suppress it. But this interpretation is forced and unnatural, and one which the Greek will not well bear. 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.

Lusteth to envy - Strongly tends to envy. The margin is “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 which leads to calumny, to contentions, to wars, and to 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 and 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 to make them worldly-minded, to their real origin - 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; and this leads to the various guilty methods which are pursued to lessen their enjoyment of it, or 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; or if by any statements to which we can give currency in society, the general impression shall be that they do not possess as much wealth, domestic peace, happiness, or honor, as is commonly supposed - for thus the spirit of envy in our bosoms will be gratified.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Do you think that the scripture saith in vain: To envy doth the spirit covet, with dwelleth in you? [2] This verse is obscure, and differently expounded. By some, of an evil spirit in men, by which they covet and envy others for having what they have not. Others understand God’s spirit inhabiting in them; and then it is an interrogation, and reprehension, as if he said: Doth God’s spirit, which you have received, teach or excite you to covet and envy others, and not rather to love and wish their good? And to enable men to do this, God is not wanting, who gives us greater grace, especially to the humble that ask it, though he resists the proud. (Witham) --- It is not evident to what part of Scripture St. James here alludes, the exact words are nowhere in the sacred writings. That which seems the most like this text, and the most adapted to his subject, is a passage from Ezechiel, "I will set my jealousy against thee:" (Ezechiel xxiii. 25.) i.e. I have loved thee with the love of jealousy, and I will revenge upon thee my slighted affections. (Calmet)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Ad invidiam concupiscit Spiritus, qui habitat in vobis: Greek: pros phthonon epipothei to pneuma o katokesen (habitavit) Greek: en umin. Ven. Bede expounds it, nunquid Spiritus Gratiæ....hoc concupiscit ut invideatis alterutrum?

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain? Greek, emptily, or vainly, i.e. to no purpose. This question hath the force of a negation, q.d. It doth not speak in vain.

Question. What is it which the Scripture doth not speak in vain?

Answer. Either those truths he had been speaking of before, particularly in the former verse, that the friendship of the world is enmity with God; or, that which follows in this verse, the spirit that dwelleth in us, & c.

The spirit that dwelleth in us; either the Spirit of God, who is said to dwell in believers, 1Co 3:16,17; or the spirit of men, viz. as defiled by sin, and acted by the devil, who works in men while children of disobedience; and then it is the same as corrupt nature.

Lusteth to envy; either is vehemently carried out to envy, or makes us lust, and carrieth us out to it; or lusteth against envy: so the Greek preposition is often used, as Luk 20:19; Eph 6:11; Heb 12:4. Under envy he comprehends all other fleshly lusts, but instanceth in this particularly, as having been speaking of it before, Jam 3:14,16; and because it hath so near a connection with other lusts, whereof it is the cause, or concomitant, and so is a principal member of the old man. This latter clause may either be read interrogatively or affirmatively; and then according as we take spirit, either for the Spirit of God, or the human spirit, the sense of the words may be either:

1. Doth the Spirit of God, that dwelleth in us, lust unto envy, i.e. incline and dispose us to so base an affection? The answer is understood: No, and confirmed by the next words, he giveth more grace, gives freely, liberally, and therefore doth not make us envy others any good they have. Nothing is more contrary to the Spirit of God, who abounds in his gifts to us, than to make us envy others theirs. Or:

2. We may understand it without any interrogation, taking the preposition to signify, against; and then the sense is: That good Spirit which is in us teacheth us better things than strife and envy, &c., for it lusteth against envy, i.e. makes us lust against it, carries out our hearts to hate and resist it. And this well agrees with what follows; The Spirit, &c., lusts against envy, but he gives more grace, viz. than to envy the good f others. Or:

3. If spirit here be understood of the spirit of man, corrupt nature, the sense is plain, as the words lie; man’s spirit (especially by the instigation of the devil) lusts, or strongly inclines, to envy, and consequently to other wickednesses, but he (that is, God, Jam 4:4) gives more grace.

Question. Where is any such sentence to be found in the Scripture?

Answer. No where in so many words; but which soever of these ways we take the words, we find the sense in the Scripture. Joshua’s envying Eldad and Medad’s prophesying, for Moses’s sake, seems to be an instance of this lust, Num 11:29, (compared with Gen 6:5; 8:21, where the general inclination of man’s heart by nature is said to be evil), and Moses’s not envying them an instance of the two former.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. This second question suggests that (in accordance with all Scripture) the proud human spirit burns with envy, while God in his grace is on the side of the humble.

Saith—Quotation of no particular passage, but a sentiment everywhere assumed or expressed by Scripture.

The spirit that dwelleth in us—The unholy temper. But a reading preferred by good scholars is, The spirit that he (God) hath caused to dwell in us. Alford adopts this reading, and by it makes the spirit to be the divine spirit bestowed upon the Church. But from that he gets what we think a very perplexed meaning of the verse: “The spirit that he (God) has placed within us jealously desireth us (for its own.”) But he fails to find any Scripture which uses the Greek word for envy to designate the divine jealousy of God for his Church. And the supplying as object for the word lusteth (or, more properly, desireth) “us for his own” is arbitrary. By this new, and doubtless correct, reading, we understand our own spirit, not as a temper, but as the highest part of our nature, as body, soul, and spirit. Note, Jas_3:15. It is the high human spirit which lusteth, intensely desires, to (in the direction towards) envy; an envy of which pride is the element, desirous of attaining a superiority over all envied rivalry. It is an aggravation that this envy is the sin of the spirit which God has made to dwell within us, in order that we might be truly angel like.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 5, 6. The difficulty of the passage is well shown by the hesitation of the Revisers. The first clause is rendered, Or think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain?" but as an alternative there is suggested in the margin, "Or think ye that the Scripture saith in vain?" as if the following clause were a quotation from Scripture. And of this following clause three possible renderings are suggested.

(1) In the text: "Doth the Spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the Scripture saith," etc.

(2) Margin 1: "The Spirit which he made to dwell in us he yearneth for even unto jealous envy. But he giveth," etc.

(3) Margin 2: "That Spirit which he made to dwell in us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy. But he giveth," etc. Further, it is noted in the margin that some ancient authorities read "dwelleth in us," i.e. katwkhsen, which is the reading of the Received Text, and so of the A.V resting upon K, L; a and B being the primary authorities for katwkisen.

With regard to the first clause, the rendering of the R.V, "speaketh," may be justified by Heb_9:5. It is possible that St. James was intending to quote Pro_3:34 immediately, but after the introductory formula, h dokeite oti kenwv hJ grafhgei, he interposes with the emphatic question, "Is it to envy," etc.? and does not arrive at the quotation till ver. 6, when he introduces it with a fresh formula of quotation, diogei, a looseness of construction which is quite natural in a Hebrew. Other views, for which it is believed there is less to be urged, are the following:

(1) that the words, pron, k.t.l., are a quotation from some (now lost) early Christian writing. On this view the passage is parallel to Eph_5:14, where a portion of a Christian hymn is introduced by the words, diogei.

(2) That St. James is referring to the general drift rather than to the exact words of several passages of the Old Testament; e.g. Gen_6:3-5; Deu_32:10, Deu_32:19, etc.

(3) That the allusion is to some passage of the New Testament, either Gal_5:17 or 1Pe_2:1, etc. Passing on to the translation of the second clause, pron k.t.l., it must be noted that fqonov is never used elsewhere in the New Testament or in the LXX (RAPC Wis 6:25 1Ma 8:16) or in the apostolic Fathers except in a bad sense. True that Exo_20:5 teaches us that God is a jealous God," but there the LXX renders anq by the far nobler word zhlwthv: cf. Wolf, "Curae Philippians Crit.," p. 64, where it is noted that, while zhlov is a vex media, the same cannot be said of fqonov, which is always vitiosa, and is never used by the LXX ubi vox Hebraica hanq ad Deum vel homines relatus exprimendus est. This seems to be a fatal objection to the marginal readings of the Revised Version, and to compel us to rest content with that adopted in the text, "Doth the Spirit which he made to dwell in us long unto envying?" or rather, "Is it to envying that the Spirit longs?" pron being placed for emphasis at the beginning of the sentence.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do you think that the scripture saith in vain - Without good ground. St. James seems to refer to many, not any one particular scripture. The spirit of love that dwelleth in all believers lusteth against envy - Gal. v, 17; is directly opposite to all those unloving tempers which necessarily flow from the friendship of the world.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Some by the spirit here understand the holy Spirit of God, and make the words run in the form of an interrogation, thus, "The Spirit, that dwelleth in us Christians, lusteth he to envy as your’s doth? Nay, rather is he not the Spirit of love and goodness?" Others understand our own spirit; our corrupt nature is mightily carried forth this way, even to envy the good of others; it is usual in scripture to call the bent and propensions of the soul, either to good or evil, by the name of a Spirit.

Note hence, that God’s own people have much, too much, of a spirit of envy remaining in them, unmortified and unsubdued by them: The spirit that is in us lusteth to envy.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. That the scripture saith in vain The reference is to Deut., chapter 32, where God's love and jealousy of his people are described. Long unto envying. Long for our love even to the envy of the worldly objects which have secured it. The Revision suggests the idea, which harmonizes with the thought in verse 4. A freer translation will make it plainer. “The spirit that he (God) hath placed in us desireth us jealously,” that is, desires we should not commit adultery with the world, but be wholly devoted to God, as those espoused to God in Christ, and even envies the world which has secured our love.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

5. κατῷκισεν with אAB: κατῷκησεν KLP and a preponderance of later evidence. The variation arises from itacism, or confusion of form from similarity of sound, a frequent source of error.

5. ἡ γραφὴ λέγει. The citation which follows is from an unknown source, but the form in which it is made gives the words an authority equal to that of the O.T. Comp. Joh 2:22 ἐπίστευσαν τῇ γραφῇ, Joh 7:38 καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, Rom 4:3 τί γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ λέγει; and so frequently. Resch (Agrapha, log. 54, p. 256) supposes that this passage is strictly parallel to Gal 5:17 ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός. He accounts for the variation by supposing a common Hebrew original with a variation of reading in the copies from which St Paul and St James respectively quoted. Or perhaps the variation is in the rendering of the same Hebrew or Aramaic original. It may be that πρὸς φθόνον is an intended change of expression from κατὰ σαρκός. For φθόνος is precisely that element of σάρξ, that work of the flesh, which would be excited by disappointed desire. (See the enumeration Gal 5:19-21.) It is the feeling excited in a man of perverted mind on seeing another obtain the good thing sought by himself. φθόνος sums up the bad side of ζῆλος with which it is associated in Plat. Phileb. p. 47 E, and 50 B, and elsewhere. πρός is very usual in this sense of hostility: πρὸς Τρῶας μάχεσθαι, Il. XVII. 471: ἐγένετο γογγυσμὸς τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν πρὸς τοὺς Ἑβραίους, Act 6:1: πρᾶγμα ἔχων πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον, 1Co 6:1: ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἶμα καὶ σάρκα, Eph 6:12, and frequently.

ὃ κατῴκισεν, which (God) placed, caused to dwell, or, κατῴκησεν, Which dwelu. Comp. ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν, Rom 8:9: οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν οἰκεῖ; 1Co 3:16.

ἐπιποθεῖ, earnestly longs, answering to ἐπιθυμεῖ in Gal 5:17, if Resch’s theory be correct, ἐπί has an intensive force, implying direction and so earnestness of aim.

If this view be taken the sense would be: Doth scripture say in vain: Earnestly doth the Spirit which God caused to dwell within us long against envy? envy being the predominant note of the friendship with the world which is enmity against God.

Other interpretations are however given to this difficult passage. πρὸς φθόνον is connected with ἐπιποθεῖ which (a) stands absolutely ‘yearns even unto jealous envy,’ or (b) has for its object πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν, ‘yearneth for the spirit which’ &c. or (c) governs ἡμᾶς understood, ‘yearneth for us.’

This adverbial use of πρὸς φθόνον (though no other examples are given) can be justified by such expressions as πρὸς ὀργήν, πρὸς βίαν, πρὸς χάριν &c., and perhaps all these interpretations give a more natural meaning to ἐπιποθεῖ. The connexion would then be a strengthening of the thought of the preceding words. To friendship with the world is opposed God’s jealous love for us, which can bear no rival.

Whatever interpretation be given it must be borne in mind (1) that the passage is a quotation and therefore (a) it would suggest to St James’ readers more than it states; (b) it is intended to recall teaching, and therefore would not appear so abrupt as it does to modern readers. (2) It has direct reference to the immediately preceding words which express an antagonism between friendship with the world and friendship with God, and more expressly between a human wish (βούλησις) for friendship with the world and friendship with God. This statement is strengthened by an appeal to scripture which asserts (a) an inner struggle of the divine Spirit against envy and jealousy which are especially characteristic of the φιλία τοῦ κόσμου, or (b) according to the second interpretation, the jealous longing for as on the part of the Spirit which God Himself caused to dwell within us.

As regards punctuation it is best perhaps to place the interrogative point at λέγει, or at any rate to regard the quotation itself as a categorical statement.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5.] Or (ref. the formula puts a hypothetical alternative, the assumption of which negatives itself) do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that He (God) placed in us (viz. when the Spirit descended on the church. We have κατοικίζω somewhat similarly used Æsch. Prom. 250, τυφλὰς ἐν τοῖς θνητοῖς ἐλπίδας κατῴκισα) jealously (πρὸς φθόνον, as πρὸς βίαν and the like: see below) desireth (us for his own)? These words connect naturally with the foregoing. We are married to one, even God, who has implanted in us His Spirit: and He is a jealous God, who will not suffer us to be friends of His enemy and His friends at the same time. The only difficulty seems to be, to trace this latter saying in any part of Scripture. For that this is the quotation, and no other, must be maintained against very many Commentators (see below) on account of λέγει, which can hardly be otherwise used than at introducing the thing said. I will state the solution which seems to me the most probable, and then give an account of other methods of solving it. The emphasis of this clause lies on the πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ: and, interpreting those words as above, we are naturally led to ask, is there any chapter or passage especially, where such a mind towards His people is ascribed to God? And this directs our thoughts at once to Deu_32, where the love of Jehovah for Israel, and His jealousy over them is described. In that song of Moses we have this very word used of God, ver. 10 f., ἐκύκλωσεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπαίδευσεν αὐτόν, καὶ διεφύλαξεν αὐτὸν ὡς κόρην ὀφθαλμοῦ· ὡς ἀετὸς σκεπάσαι νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς νοσσοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπεπόθησεν: and ver. 19, καὶ εἶδεν κύριος καὶ ἐζήλωσεν, καὶ παρωξύνθη διʼ ὀργὴν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ θυγατέρων· καὶ εἶπεν, Ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπʼ αὐτῶν κ.τ.λ. So that here we have the elements of the sense of that which is cited, viz. the jealous desire of the Lord over His people. And for the rest, τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν, the only solution seems to be, that the Apostle translates into the language of the Gospel the former declarations of the God of Israel, e. g. such as that Num 35:34, ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι κύριος κατασκηνῶν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, combining them with such prophecies as Eze 36:27, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμά μου δώσω ἐν ὑμῖν. I own that such a solution does not seem to me wholly satisfactory: still there is nothing improbable in the idea that St. James may have combined the general sense of Scripture on the point of God’s jealousy over His people, and instead of the God who dwelt in Israel, may have placed the Holy Spirit who dwelleth in us. At all events it is better to understand it thus, than to make λέγει mean ‘speaks,’ or to force the words of the citation from their simple meaning. I now proceed to state other interpretations. And 1. of those who have recognized the fact that the words πρὸς φθόνον κ.τ.λ. are a citation. Of these, understanding the words variously (see below), Grotius believes them to refer to Gen 6:3, Gen 6:5: Beza, Erasm. Schmid, to Gen 8:21: Witsius, to Num 11:29: Schneckenb. to Deu 5:9 ff.: Le Clerc, to Psa 119:20 ff.: Michaelis, to Pro 21:10: Cocceius, to Son 8:6: Wetstein, to Wisd. 6:12. Others have supposed the N. T. to be intended by ἡ γραφή. Thus Benson believes the reference to be to Mat 6:24: Storr, al., to Gal 5:17: Bengel, to 1Pe 2:1 ff.: and Semler again, to a passage in the apocryphal book called the Testament of the XII Patriarchs. Bewildered by these differences, many Commentators, among whom are Œc., , Calv., Est., Wolf, al., either deny the fact of a citation altogether, or refer the λέγει either on to the citation following in ver. 6, or back to what went before,—or, as I have done above, believe that the general sense of Scripture on the subject, and not any particular text, is adduced. Before passing from this part of my note, I may remark that Huther’s objection, that against the view here given, the formula citandi, ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, is decisive, is not valid: see Wolf’s Curæ, vol. v. p. 66: and cf. Joh 7:38, Joh 7:42, where though the formula εἶπεν ἡ γραφή is used, the general sense, and not the exact words, is given.

2. The sense of the words themselves, πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν, is very variously given. α. πρὸς φθόνον is by some referred back to λέγει,—ἡ γρ. λέγει πρὸς φθόνον: “An putatis, quod scriptura in vanum loquatur adversus invidiam? Spiritus desideria excitat, sed meliora desideriis carnis:” so Du Mont, in Huther. But this “desideria excitare” is an unexampled sense of ἐπιποθεῖν. Gebser takes this connexion, and renders, “Think ye, that the Scripture speaks in vain, and enviously?” And nearly so Œcumenius, ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, ἢ πρὸς φθόνον; οὐδὲν τούτων· ἀλλʼ ἐπιποθεῖ κ.τ.λ. But, as Huther remarks, this necessity for ἤ sufficiently condemns this view: and thus ἐπιποθεῖ would be left here without any qualifying adverb to fill out its sense. β. Taking then πρὸς φθόνον with ἐπιποθεῖ, we have the following various views taken:

Ι. πνεῦμα as the subject. And herein

A. τὸ πν. = the human spirit, in its natural condition. So Hottinger, “Animus hominis natura fertur ad invidendum aliis:” so also Beza, Laurentius, Grot., al., and E.V.

B. τὸ πν. = the Spirit of God, whom God hath caused to take up His dwelling in us: and then

a. πρὸς φθ. = “ad invidiam:” in which case the clause is interrogative: “Num ad invidiam proclivis est Spiritus, qui nobis inest? minime:” similarly Bede (“Numquid spiritus gratiæ, quo significati estis in die redemptions, hoc concupiscit ut invideatis alterutrum”), Witsius, Calv., Wolf, al.

b. πρὸς φθ. = “contra invidiam:” so Luther, der Geist.… gelüstet wider den hass,—Pareus, Bengel, al.

c. πρὸς φθ. = “invidiose:” so De Wette, much as the interp. given above, neidisch lieht (uns) der Geist: so Schneckenburger, and in substance many old Commentators (see Pol. Synops. v. p. 1459, Col_1), rendering it “usque ad invidiam:” e. g. Tirinus, Menochius, Cajetan, al.

II. πνεῦμα as the object, supplying ὁ θεός as the subject, understanding πν. the human spirit, and taking πρὸς φθόν. adverbially. So Wiesinger, “The Love of God jealously desires as an object your love:” so Theile, supplying however ἡ γραφή as the subject, as also does Œcumenius, continuing from the words cited above, οὐδὲν τούτων· ἀλλʼ ἐπιποθεῖ ἤτοι ἐπιζητεῖ τὴν διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως αὐτῆς ἐγκατοικισθεῖσαν ἡμῖν χάριν: and below, πνεῦμα τὴν ἀγαθήν φησι προαίρεσιν.

In judging of the above interpretations (the classification of which I have mainly taken from Huther), we may notice, that to interpret πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ, as if it were κατὰ φθόνου ἐπιθυμεῖ, see Gal 5:17, is to do violence to the construction and meaning of the words: besides which, there is no mention here of envy, as a human passion, the discourse being of the enmity to God incurred by those who would be friends to the world; of God’s enmity to the proud and upholding of the humble. So that God must be the subject of this clause, as expressed by τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν. This being so, our only rendering of πρὸς φθόνον will be as above, adverbially, as so very frequently, e. g. πρὸς δίκην, πρὸς ἡδονήν, πρὸς χάριν, πρὸς λύπην, πρὸς ὀργήν, πρὸς βίαν, πρὸς ὕβριν, &c. &c. See Palm and Rost’s Lex. under πρός, vol. ii. p. 1138, Col_2, where many examples are given, e. g. πρὸς χάριν ἢ πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν δικάζειν, Lucian: πρὸς ὀργὴν ἀκούειν, &c. With regard to the sense above given, as fitting into the context, Theile well says, ἐπιποθεῖν with an accusative, “desiderio alicujus teneri,” to love eagerly, as reff. 2 Cor., Phil., introduces us into the same figurative realm of thought in which μοιχαλίδες placed us before. The Apostle is speaking of the eager and jealous love of God towards those whom He has united as it were in the bond of marriage with Himself.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5-6. Remember the Scripture which declares that God is a jealous lover and suffers no rival for the loyalty of the human spirit; and observe that God gives grace to fulfil his requirements, and that this grace is bestowed on the humble, not on those proud of their worldly success.

5. ἤ, introducing “a question designed to prove the same thing in another way” (Lex.); cf. Mat 12:29, 1Co 6:16, etc.

κενῶς, “emptily,” i. e. “without meaning all that it says.” Cf. Deu 32:47 ὅτι οὐχὶ λόγος κενὸς οὗτος ὑμῖν κτλ.

ἡ γραφή. See 2:23 and note. The term must refer to “Holy Scripture.” The quotation which follows is not found in the O. T., and either the writer has quoted (perhaps by mistake) from some other writing or a paraphrase, or else the Greek O. T. in some one of its forms had a sentence like this. The sentence seems to be a poetical rendering of the idea of Exo 20:5.

λέγει. The formula is frequent; cf. Rom 4:3, Rom 9:17, Rom 10:11, Rom 11:2.

Various unsuccessful attempts are made to explain this sentence as not meant to be a quotation.

(1) The usual method is to take the two sentences πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὅ κατῴκισεν ἐν ὑμῖν· μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν, as a parenthesis (Hofmann, B. Weiss, and others). Against such an idea speaks the technical introductory formula, which here prepares for the quotation with unusual elaboration. Such a formula is generally (cf. v. 6) followed at once by the quotation (Rom 11:2-4 is no exception to this rule). Moreover, if what follows is not quoted, λέγει would have to be given the somewhat unusual meaning “speaks” (as in Act 24:10). Such a parenthesis would introduce confusion into the thought of an otherwise well-ordered and forcible passage and make the διό of v. 6 unaccountable.

(2) Equally futile is the theory that James is merely summarising the thought of the O. T. without intending to refer to any specific passage, e. g. (Knowling) Gen 6:3-5, Deu 32:10 f. Deu 32:19, Deu 32:21, Isa 63:8-16, Eze 36:17, Zec 1:14, Zec 8:2. The following sentence would then become merely the utterance of the writer, and against this speaks conclusively the formula of citation (ἡ γραφὴ λέγει).*

(3) Neither can the sentence be accounted for as an inexact citation of such passages as Exo 20:5 ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου, θεὸς ζηλωτής, although the sense is akin.

(4) The attempt to make λέγει refer vaguely to the substance of v. 4 is also vain.

(5) Unacceptable are also the textual conjectures by which various scholars have tried to eliminate a supposed gloss: thus Erasmus and Grotius would excise διὸ λέγει … χάριν (cf. 1Pe 5:5); Hottinger and Reiche, μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν· διὸ λέγει (with the insertion of δέ before θεός).

πρὸς φθόνον, “jealously,” or, more exactly, “begrudgingly.”

πρός with accusative is a regular periphrasis for the adverb; so πρὸς βίαιαν for βιαίως, πρὸς ὀργήν, “angrily,” πρὸς εὐτέλειαν, “cheaply,” πρὸς ἡδονὴν καὶ χάριν, “pleasantly and graciously” (Jos. Ant. xii, 103). See L. and S. s. v. πρός C. III. 7; Lex.. s. v. πρός I, 3. g. This idiom is not found elsewhere in the N. T.; see Schmid, Atticismus, iv, Index.

In the sense of “jealously,” πρὸς ζῆλον would have been more in accord with LXX usage, cf. Num 5:14 πνεῦμα ζηλώσεως, Exo 20:5, Pro 6:34, Pro 27:4, Son 8:6, Ecclus. 9:1, so 2Co 11:2; but this meaning, “ardent desire for complete possession of the object” as in the case of the husband (Hebrew קִנְאָה), seems to be foreign to ζῆλος in general Greek usage, which denotes that emotion by φθόνος, as here. πρὸς φθόνον is thus a phrase drawn from Hellenic models, not founded on the language of the LXX.

φθόνος means primarily “ill will,” “malice,” due to the good fortune of the one against whom it is directed, λύπη ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίοις ἀγαθοῖς (Diog. Laert. vii, 63. 111; see other similar definitions in Trench, Synonyms, § xxvi). This begrudging spirit may be shown in the refusal either to give or to share (so especially the verb φθονέω); or in the jealous ill will of the gods toward overfortunate mortals; or in other ways corresponding to some of the meanings of English “envy” and “jealousy,” neither of which, however, is in meaning wholly coterminous with φθόνος. See Trench, l. c.; L. and S. s. vv. φθόνος, φθονέω, ἄφθονος, ἀφθονία. So, like English “jealousy,” φθόνος is used in a bad sense of the ill will felt toward another with whom one has to share a prized object, but it does not seem ever to be quite equivalent to the English term for the lover’s, or husband’s, “jealousy”; the object of the emotion seems always to have been found in the hated possessor, not (as often in the English word) in the prized object.

The Latin equivalent of φθόνος is invidia, from which comes English “envy.” But the English word is in modern times often used in a milder sense, with reference only to the desire for equal good fortune with another and with no thought of ill will. It thus approaches more nearly the sense of ζῆλος, just as the English “jealousy” (see on 3:14, 4:2), though derived from ζῆλος, zelus, has acquired much of the peculiar meaning of φθόνος.

πρὸς φθόνον limits ἐπιποθεῖ. To connect it with λέγει yields but a poor sense.

When connected with λέγει, πρός is usually taken in the sense of “with reference to,” or “against” (so Spitta). But there has been no previous mention of φθόνος in this paragraph to account for the introduction of such a quotation relating to it. If the phrase is connected with λέγει and taken in the sense “enviously,” as explaining κενῶς, it lacks the proper, and indispensable, conjunction to connect it with κενῶς (inserted by “Œcumenius” in his paraphrase: οὐ γὰρ κενῶς ἤτοι ματαίως, ἤ πρὸς φθόνον), and the general sense is less satisfactory.

ἐπιποθεῖ, “yearns,” “yearns over,” of the longing affection of the lover. See Lightfoot on Php 1:8. Cf. 2Co 9:14, Php 1:8, Deu 13:8, Deu 32:11, Jer 13:14. In Eze 23:5, Eze 23:7, Eze 23:9 (Aq.) it has the lower sense of “dote on.”

As subject of ἐπιποθεῖ we may supply ὁ θεός, and then take τὸ πνεῦμα as object of the verb; or τὸ πνεῦμα may be taken as subject and ἡμᾶς supplied as object. In the former case τὸ πνεῦμα means the human spirit breathed into man by God (cf. Gen 2:7, Isa 42:5, Ecc 12:7, Num 16:22, Num 27:16, Zec 12:1, Heb 12:9).

This has the advantage that ἐπιποθεῖ and κατῴκισεν then have the same subject, and seems on the whole better. κατῴκισεν contains a hint of God’s rightful ownership through creation.

On the other hand, τὸ πνεῦμα as subject would mean the Holy Spirit, to whom this would be the only reference in the epistle. In favour of this is the fact that the conception of the Holy Spirit as dwelling in man is repeatedly found in the N. T. and in early Christian literature. Cf. Eze 36:27, Rom 8:11 f., 1Co 3:16 τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν οἰκεῖ, Hermas, Sim. v, 6:7, Mand. iii, 1, v, 2, De aleatoribus, 3.

Weinel, Wirkungen des Geistes und der Geiste, p. 159, suggests that ἐπιποθεῖ here (like λυπεῖτε, Eph 4:30) refers to the idea of Hermas, Sim. v, 6:7, , ix, 32, that God has given us as a deposit a pure spirit, which we are bound to return to him unimpaired. “God jealously requires back the spirit, pure as he gave it.” But this interesting interpretation is not supported by any clear indication in the context.

If taken thus as a declarative sentence, the quoted passage means “God is a jealous lover.” This obviously suits perfectly the preceding context.

By some the sentence is taken interrogatively. It will then mean, “Does the Spirit, set within us by God, desire to the extent of becoming jealous?” and will express the incompatibility of the Spirit with the sin of jealousy. But (1) this would require μή to introduce the question; (2) φθόνος is too weak a word after πόλεμοι, μάχαι, φονεύετε; and (3) the general meaning of the sentence becomes altogether far less suited to the context.

Mayor3, pp. 141-145 gives a convenient and full summary of the various views held about this verse, relating to (1) the construction of πρὸς φθόνον, (2) the meaning of πρὸς φθόνον, (3) the subject of ἐπιποθεῖ. A large amount of material is to be found in Heisen, Novae hypotheses, pp. 881-928, Pott, “Excursus IV,” pp. 329-355, and Gebser, pp. 329-346, who gives the views of commentators at length. See also W. Grimm, Studien und Kritiken, vol. xxvii, 1854, pp. 934-956; and Kirn, Studien und Kritiken, vol. lxxvii, 1904, pp. 127-133, 593-604, where the conjecture ΠΡΟΣΤΟΝΘΝ for ΠΡΟΣΦΘΟΝΟΝ (first proposed by Wetstein, 1730) is elaborately, but unconvincingly, defended, and the quotation explained as a combination of Psa 42:1 and Ecc 12:7. P. Corssen, Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen, 1893, pp. 596 f., defends the conjecture ἐπιποθεῖτε, and the sense: “In envy ye desire: but the Spirit which God hath put within you giveth greater grace; subject yourselves, therefore, to God.”

κατῴκισεν] BאA minnpaue.

κατῴκησεν] KLP minnpler ff vg boh syrutr. The weight of external evidence leads to a (somewhat doubtful) decision for κατῴκισεν.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do ye think [δοκειτε] . See on ch. Jas 1:26.

The scripture [η γραφη] . See on Mr 12:10. Properly, a passage of scripture.

In vain [κενως] . Only here in New Testament.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.