James 4 is the fourth chapter of the

Epistle of James The Epistle of James). is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles ( didactic letters) in the New Testament. James 1:1 identifies the author as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" who is writing to "the twelve tribes ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The author identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" and the epistle is traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus, written in Jerusalem between 48 and 61 CE. Alternatively, some scholars argue that it is a pseudographical work written after 61 CE. This chapter continues a directive on wisdom and humility from chapter 3, followed by a warning to the rich.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

Ancient Greek

Papyrus 100 Papyrus 100 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by siglum 𝔓100, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Epistle of James. The surviving texts of James are verses 3:13-4:4; 4:9-5:1, they are ...

(late 3rd century; extant verses 1–4; 9–17) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(ca. 450; extant: verse 1) *

Papyrus 74 Papyrus 74 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓74, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles and Catholic epistles with lacunae. The manuscript paleographically had been as ...

(7th century; complete)

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

Papyrus 6 Papyrus 6 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by or by ε 021 (in von Soden's numbering), is a fragmentary early copy of the New Testament in Greek and Coptic (Akhmimic). It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John that has been ...

(~AD 350; all verses).

Latin

León palimpsest The León Palimpsest, designated l or 67 (in the Beuron system), is a 7th-century Latin manuscript pandect of the Christian Bible conserved in the cathedral of León, Spain. The text, written on vellum, is in a fragmentary condition. In some parts ...

(7th century; extant verses 4–17)Bruce M. Metzger, ''The Early Versions of the New Testament'', Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 316.

Passions as Cause of Wars (4:1–3)

Verse 1

:''Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?'' *"Wars and fights": or 'conflicts and disputes' not only arise in social circumstances, but can also be 'traced back to the war within human beings'.

Grace to the Humble (4:4–6)

Verse 6

: ''But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:'' ::''“God resists the proud,'' ::''But gives grace to the humble.”'' Citation from:

Humble before God (4:7–10)

This imperative section implores the readers to submit themselves to God.

God as Only Lawgiver and Judge (4:11–12)

Only God, and no human being, can be the final judge, since it is the privilege of God (cf. ) as the lawgiver.

Tomorrow Belongs to God (4:13–17)

and are regarded as a single section by Reisner and by Protestant biblical commentator

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the ''New Testament'' and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, ...

,Meyer, H. A. W.
Meyer's NT Commentary
on James 4, accessed 23 January 2020 and Meyer suggests that this section "has a character plainly distinguished from other portions of the Epistle", arguing that it is addressed to the rich, forgetful of God, who "oppress the Christians and

blaspheme Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

the name of Christ".

Verse 13

:''Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”''. Meyer understands "such and such a city" to mean specific places where traders would base themselves, whereas reformer

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

's interpretation was "this and that city".

Verse 15

: ''Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."'' * "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that": this statement is rendered in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopian versions as "if the Lord will, and we shall live, we will do this". Here are two conditions of doing anything: first, it should be agreeable to the determining will and purpose of God, and second, if we should live, since life is so precarious.

Apostle Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

frequently used it, as in ; ; or , and also by others, including in the Jewish saying of

Ben Sira Ben Sira also known as Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira (שמעון בן יהושע בן אליעזר בן סירא) or Yeshua Ben Sirach (), was a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage, and allegorist from Seleucid-controlled Jerusalem of the ...

: ::''let a man never say he will do anything, before he says, "if God will"''''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'' - James 4:15
/ref>

Verse 16

: ''But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.'' NKJV *"Arrogance": can lead one to 'forget God, who governs life' ( verse 15; cf. 1 Enoch 94:8).

References

Sources

* *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle of James 04