Hi Mike,

I’m sure you are quite busy, but I just came across James 4:5, and when you have some time, it would be great to hear your thoughts.

I was amazed to see that James 4:5 had so many different translations.

New International Version:
“Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?”

New Living Translation:
“What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy?”

English Standard Version:
“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?”

New American Standard Bible:
“Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?”

King James Bible:
“Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?”

Which do you think is the most correct – THE ESV or the KJV?

He yearns for us jealously or the spirit in us lusteth to envy?

Your brother in Christ,

A____

 

Hi A____,

Thank you for your question. You ask:

“Which do you think is the most correct – THE ESV or the KJV?

“He yearns for us jealously” or “the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?”

When you read the first four verses, it becomes clear that the KJV is the best translation because it refers to the spirit of man which God has placed within us all at birth.

Jas 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Jas 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

Paul uses this same language concerning what is by nature within our members:

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

When we put these two sections of scripture together, we see that “the spirit that dwells in us” spoken of in James 4:5 is controlled by “the law of sin” which is, by nature, in our members, and the “war in your members” of James 4:1 is the same ‘warring” Paul describes with these words:

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

“The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy”, and it does so because “another law in [our] members, warring against the law of [our] mind, and brings [us] into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

In other words, God makes every man to err from his way, turns us to destruction, and then He tells us to return to Him:

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Psa 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

So in the final analysis, when Christ said “without me you can do nothing”, that includes our sins, hence this statement to the pagan Athenians:

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

God has given us an evil experience for the express purpose of humbling us:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

He uses this evil experience to bring us to our “wits’ end”, and then He gives us the peace of mind we are all seeking, as He tells us in Psa 107:

Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

I do not proclaim any one translation to be superior to all others. All translations have good points and bad points. In this case the King James Version got it right, and these are probably the verses being referred to when James tells us that the spirit in us lusts to envy:

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gen 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

I hope you find this to be of some help.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike