Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 3:14
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
14. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts ] Better, envy and rivalry. The latter substantive, formed from a word which means a “day-labourer”, expresses primarily the temper of competition that characterised the class, and then more generally, faction and party-spirit of any kind. It is significant that the word for “envy” is used by St Luke as specially characterising the temper of the Jews towards the Gentile converts (Act 13:45), and this, together with what we have seen of the true bearing of ch. Jas 2:14-26, leads to the conclusion that St James’s warning is specially addressed to those of the Circumcision who displayed that feeling. He is shewing himself not the antagonist, but the supporter of St Paul’s work, condemning the factious spirit which was then, as afterwards at Corinth (2Co 12:20), in Galatia (Gal 5:20), and at Rome (Php 1:15), his chief hindrance. The word “bitter” is perhaps added to “envy” because the Greek word “zeal” was neutral, and admitted of a good meaning.
glory not ] The word expresses a relative, not an absolute glorying, a glorying over some one, on the ground of superior privileges. This was, it is obvious, likely to be the besetting sin of the party of the Circumcision in relation to the Gentiles, and was therefore checked by St James, just as afterwards, when the prospect of the rejection of Israel was becoming a certainty, it became, in its turn, the sin of the Gentile converts, and was then checked by St Paul (Rom 11:18).
lie not against the truth ] It is clear that if the word “truth” were only subjective in its meaning, as meaning “truthfulness,” the precept would be open to the charge of tautology. We must therefore assume that it is used with an objective force, as the truth of God revealed in Christ. We ask what special truth thus revealed those to whom St James wrote were most in danger of denying, and the answer lies on the surface. They were claiming God as the God of the Jews only (Rom 3:29), denying the brotherhood of mankind in Christ, “lying against” the very truth of which they fancied that they were the exclusive possessors.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts – If that is your characteristic. There is reference here to a fierce and unholy zeal against each other; a spirit of ambition and contention.
Glory not – Do not boast, in such a case, of your qualifications to be public teachers. Nothing would render you more unfit for such an office than such a spirit.
And lie not against the truth – You would lie against what is true by setting up a claim to the requisite qualifications for such an office, if this is your spirit. Men should seek no office or station which they could not properly seek if the whole truth about them were known.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jam 3:14
Bitter envying and strife in your hearts
Envying and strife
1.
Envy is the mother of strife. They are often coupled (Rom 1:29, 1Co 3:3; 2Co 12:20; Gal 5:20). Envy is the source of all heresies. Arius envied Peter of Alexandria, and thence those bitter strifes and persecutions. It must needs be so. Envy is an eager desire of our own fame, and a maligning of that which others have. Well, then, let nothing be done through strife and vainglory Php 2:3). Scorn to act out of that impulse. Should we harbour that corruption which betrayed Christ, enkindled the world, and poisoned the Church?
2. There is nothing in the life but what was first in the heart (Mat 15:19). The heart is the fountain, keep it pure; be as careful to avoid guilt as shame. If you would have the life holy before men, let the heart be pure before God; especially cleanse the heart from strife and envy. Strife in the heart is worst; the words are not so abominable in Gods eye as the will and purpose. Strife is in the heart when it is cherished there, and anger is soured into malice, and malice bewrayeth itself by debates or desires of revenge; clamour is naught, but malice is worse.
3. Envious or contentious persons have little reason to glory in their engagements. Envy argueth either a nullity or a poverty of grace; a nullity where it reigneth, a weakness where it is resisted but not overcome Gal 5:24).
4. Envy and strife goeth often under the mask of zeal. These were apt to glory in their carnal strifes; it is easy to take on a pretence of religion, and to baptize envious contests with a glorious name.
5. Hypocrisy and carnal pretences are the worst kind of lies. The practical lie is worst of all; by other lies we deny the truth, by this we abuse it; and it is worse sometimes to abuse an enemy than to destroy him. (T. Manton.)
The nature, causes, and consequences of envy
I. WHAT ENVY IS, AND WHEREIN THE NATURE OF IT CONSISTS. Moralists generally give us this description of it: that it is a depraved affection or passion of the mind, disposing a man to hate or malign another for some good or excellency belonging to him, which the envious person judges him unworthy of, and which for the most part he wants himself. Or yet more briefly: envy is a certain grief of mind conceived upon the sight of anothers felicity, whether real or supposed. So that we see that it consists partly of hatred, and partly of grief. In respect of which two passions, and the proper actings of both, we are to observe, that as it shows itself in hatred, it strikes at the person envied; but as it affects a man in the nature of grief, it recoils and does execution upon the envier; both of them are hostile affections, and vexatious to the breast which harbours them.
II. WHAT ARE THE GROUNDS AND CAUSES OF ENVY.
1. On the part of the person envying.
(1) Great malice and baseness of nature.
(2) An unreasonable grasping ambition. It is remarked of Alexander as a very great fault, and, in truth, of that nature, that one would wonder how it could fall upon so great a spirit, namely, that he would sometimes carp at the valorous achievements of his own captains. He thought that whatsoever praise was bestowed upon another was taken from him.
(3) Another cause of envy is an inward sense of a mans own weakness and inability to attain what he desires and would aspire to.
(4) Idleness often makes men envy the high offices, honours, and accomplishments of others.
2. On the part of the person envied.
(1) Great abilities and endowments of nature.
(2) The favour of princes and great persons.
(3) Wealth, riches, and prosperity.
(4) A fair credit, esteem, and reputation in the world.
III. THE EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ENVY.
1. First of all, this ill quality brings confusion and calamity upon the envious person himself who cherishes and entertains it, and, like the viper, gnaws out the bowels which first conceived it. It is indeed the only act of justice that it does, that the guilt it brings upon a man it revenges upon him too, and so torments and punishes him much more than it can afflict or annoy the person who is envied by him. We know what the poet says of envy; and it is with the strictest truth, without the least hyperbole, that Phalariss brazen hull, and all the arts of torment invented by the greatest masters of them, the Sicilian tyrants, were not comparable to those that the tyranny of envy racks the mind of man with. For it ferments and boils in the soul, putting all the powers of it into the most restless and disorderly agitation.
2. In the next place, consider the effects of envy, in respect of the object of it, or the person envied; and these may be reduced to the following three.
(1) A busy, curious inquiry, or prying into all the concerns of the person envied and maligned; and this, no doubt, only as a step or preparative to those further mischiefs which envy assuredly drives at.
(2) Calumny, or detraction. Has a man done bravely, and got himself a reputation too great to be borne down by any base and direct aspersions? Why, then, envy will seemingly subscribe to the general vogue in many or most things; but then it will be sure to come over him again with a sly oblique stroke in some derogating but or other, and so slide in some scurvy exception, which shall effectually stain all his other virtues; and like the dead fly in the apothecarys ointment, which (Solomon tells us) never fails to give the whole an offensive savour.
(3) The last and grand effect of envy, in respect of the person envied, is his utter ruin and destruction; for nothing less was intended from the very first, whatsoever comes to be effected in the issue.
Lessons:
1. The extreme vanity of even the most excellent and best esteemed enjoyments of this world. Shadows do not more naturally attend shining bodies than envy pursues worth and merit, always close at the very heels of them, and like a sharp blighting east wind, still blasting and killing the noblest and most promising productions of virtue in their earliest bud; and, as Jacob did Esau, supplants them in their very birth.
2. This may convince us of the safety of the lowest, and the happiness of a middle condition. Only power and greatness are prize for envy; whose evil eye always looks upwards, and whose hand scorns to strike where it can place its foot. Life and a bare competence are a quarry too low for so stately a vice-as envy to fly at. And therefore men of a middle condition are indeed doubly happy.
(1) That, with the poor, they are not the objects of pity; nor
(2), with the rich and great, the mark of envy.
3. We learn from hence the necessity of a mans depending upon something without him, higher and stronger than himself, even for the preservation of his ordinary concerns in this life. Nothing can be a greater argument to make a man fly, and cast himself into the arms of Providence, than a due consideration of the nature and the workings of envy. (R. South, D. D.)
Envy the worst of sins
Envy, says an old writer, is, in some respects, the worst of all sins; for when the devil tempts to them, he draws men by the bait of some delight; but the envious he catches without a bait, for envy is made up of bitterness and vexation. Another mans good is the envious mans grief. Nothing but misery pleases him, nor is anything but misery spared by him. Every smile of another fetches a sigh from him. To him bitter things are sweet, and sweet bitter. And whereas the enjoyment of good is unpleasant without a companion, the envious would rather want any good than that another should share with him. It is recorded that a prince once promised an envious and a covetous man whatever they pleased to ask of him. The promise, however, was suspended upon this condition, that he who asked last should have twice as much as he who asked first. Both, therefore, were unwilling to make the first request; but the prince, perceiving this reluctance, commanded the envious man to be the first petitioner. His request was this–that one of his own eyes should be put out, that so both the eyes of the covetous man should be put out also. Truly envy, like jealousy, is cruel as the grave! It is its own punishment–a scourge not so much to him upon whom it is set, as to him in whom it is.
Boasting in evil principles
Bitter envying and strife in the heart are things in the very indulgence of which some men actually glory. They call them exhibitions of a manly nature, and indications of an honourable pride. Alas! alas! These are mean and ignoble, as well as vile and criminal, affections of the soul. They degrade, as well as defile, the man in whom they dwell. But there are others who, without boasting of these evil principles, suppose that, in spite of them, they are pious and religious men-the children of God and the heirs of heaven. These, too, are grievously deceived. Love pervades the religion of Jesus Christ, and must needs be a paramount and prevailing principle in the regenerated soul. In applying to this state of character and experience the name of wisdom, the apostle uses one of its current names, and suggests what opinion is frequently formed of it in this misguided world, but assuredly does not sympathise with that opinion. And how dark is the description which he gives of that very thing to which he attaches the name of This grows in all soils and climates and is no less luxuriant in the country than in the court; it is not confined to any rank of men or extent of fortune, but rages in the breasts of all degrees. Alexander was not prouder than Diogenes; and it may be, if we would endeavour to surprise it in its most gaudy dress and attire, and in the exercise of its full empire and tyranny, we should find it in schoolmasters and scholars, or in some country lady, or the knight, her husband; all which ranks of people more despise their neighbours than all the degrees of honour in which courts abound; and it rages as much in a sordid affected dress as in all the silks and embroideries which the excess of the age and the folly of youth delight to be adorned with. Since, then, it keeps all sorts of company, and wriggles itself into the liking of the most contrary natures and dispositions, and yet carries so much poison and venom with it, that it alienates the affections from heaven, and raises rebellion against God Himself, it is worth our utmost care to watch it in all its disguises and approaches, that we may discover it in its first entrance, and dislodge it before it procures a shelter or retiring-place to lodge and conceal itself. (Lord Clarendon.)
Envy is a pure soul-sin
Having least connection with the material or animal nature, and for which there is the least palliation in appetite or in any extrinsic temptation. Its seat and origin is super-carnal, except as the term carnal is taken, as it sometimes is by the apostle, for all that is evil in humanity. A man may be most intellectual, most free from every vulgar appetite of the flesh; he may be a philosopher, he may dwell speculatively in the region of the abstract and the ideal, and yet his soul be full of this corroding malice. Envy is also the most purely evil. Almost every other passion, even acknowledged to be sinful, has in it somewhat of good or appearance of good. But envy or hatred of a man for the good that is in him, or in any way pertains to him, is evil unalloyed. It is the breath of the old serpent. It is pure devil, as it is also purely spiritual. It is a soul-poison, yet acting fearfully upon the body itself, bringing more death into it than seemingly stronger and more tumultuous passions that have their nearer seat in the fleshy nature. Solomon describes it as rottenness in the bones Pro 14:30). All bad passions are painful, but envy has a double barb to sting itself.
Lie not against the truth
Lying against the truth
They professed the faith of the truth. But the indulgence and manifestation of such tempers of mind was a lie against the truth which they professed. It was not merely a lie against, their profession of it. Then all would have been right. Those who witnessed their tempers and behaviour would have been led only to conclude that their profession was unsound, and had no corresponding reality; that they were either self-deceivers or hypocrites. And this would have been the right conclusion. But they lied against the truth. While they professed to believe it, and acted inconsistently with it, they bore to the world a false testimony–a practical testimony much more apt to be credited than a verbal one–with regard to its real nature and its legitimate influence. Everything of the kind is a practical lie. It is bearing false witness against the truth of God, and, consequently against the God of truth. It is leading the world to erroneous estimates; and while dishonouring to God, is ruinous to souls. And let us see that we gereralise the principle. It is true of all inconsistences, as well as of those here specified. The charge of lying against the truth bears upon every one who assumes the name of Christian, while walking, in any part of his conduct, according to the course of this world. As the Jews of old belied their God and their religion, when, on entering among the heathen, they acted so wickedly as to lead the heathen to say, with a scornful taunt–These are the people of Jehovah, and are come forth out of His land! so is it, alas, among the heathen still, in regard to the multitudes who go amongst them, from our own or other countries called Christian, bearing the Christian name, while in the general course of their conduct they are utterly unchristian. There is hardly a more serious obstacle in the way of their success with which missionaries have to contend than this. O let us beware of throwing any such stumbling-block in the way of an ungodly world–any such obstacle in the way of the progress of the Redeemers cause. Upon all our words and all our actions let there ever be the impress of the truth–that, like Demetrius, we may have good report of all men, and of the truth itself:–and that thus our characters may attest the Divine origin of the gospelby presenting to men a manifestation of its Divine influence. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. If ye have bitter envying and strife] If ye be under the influence of an unkind, fierce, and contemptuous spirit, even while attempting or pretending to defend true religion, do not boast either of your exertions or success in silencing an adversary; ye have no religion, and no true wisdom, and to profess either is to lie against the truth. Let all writers on what is called polemic (fighting, warring) divinity lay this to heart. The pious Mr. Herbert gives excellent advice on this subject: –
“Be calm in arguing, for fierceness makes
Error a fault, and truth discourtesy;
Why should I feel another man’s mistakes
More than his sickness or his poverty?
In love I should; but anger is not love,
Nor wisdom neither; therefore g-e-n-t-l-y m-o-v-e.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bitter envying; Greek, zeal, which he calls bitter, partly to distinguish it from that zeal which is good, whereas this he speaks of is evil, and though it pretends to be zeal, yet is really no other than envy; and partly because it commonly proceeds from an imbittered spirit. and tends to the imbittering it more.
Strife; the usual effect of bitter zeal, or envy.
In your hearts; the fountain whence it proceeds; or strife in the heart implies a heart propense and inclined to strife.
Glory not; glory not of your zeal, or rather of your wisdom, as if you were so well able to reprehend others, but rather be humbled; what you make the matter of your glorying, being really just cause of shame.
And lie not against the truth; viz. by professing yourselves wise, or zealous, when ye are really neither.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. if ye haveas is thecase (this is implied in the Greek indicative).
bitter Eph4:31, “bitterness.”
envyingrather,”emulation,” or literally, “zeal”: kindly,generous emulation, or zeal, is not condemned, but that which is”bitter” [BENGEL].
striferather,”rivalry.”
in your heartsfromwhich flow your words and deeds, as from a fountain.
glory not, and lie notagainst the truthTo boast of your wisdom is virtually alying against the truth (the gospel), while your lives belie yourglorying. Jas 3:15; Jas 1:18,”The word of truth.” Rom 2:17;Rom 2:23, speaks similarly of thesame contentious Jewish Christians.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts,…. Though these may not be expressed by words, or actions: envy at the happiness of others, whether at the external blessings of Providence, as riches and honours, or at the internal endowments of their minds, as their wisdom and knowledge, their parts and abilities, is a root of bitterness in the heart, which bears wormwood and gall, and produces bitter effects in the persons in whom it is; it embitters their minds against their neighbours and friends; it is rottenness in their bones, and slays and destroys those who are so silly as to be governed by it; and also in the persons the objects of it; for who can stand before it? and strife in the mind, or an intention to strive end quarrel with others, who are the objects of envy, is very sinful, and of pernicious consequence: and if these be fomented and cherished in the minds and breasts of men, though they may not outwardly show themselves, yet
glory not; let not such boast of their being Gnostics, wise men, and endued with knowledge; they are far from deserving such a character; and such boasting is contrary to truth, yea, is lying against it, as follows:
and lie not against the truth; for, for a man to assert himself to be a wise and knowing man, and yet cherishes bitterness in his heart, and quarrelling and contention in his mind, arising from envy, at the equal or superior knowledge of others, he lies both against the truth of God’s word and his own conscience, which condemn such things as ignorance, folly, and madness.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Bitter jealousy ( ). occurs in N.T. in good sense (Joh 2:17) and bad sense (Ac 5:17). Pride of knowledge is evil (1Co 8:1) and leaves a bitter taste. See “root of bitterness” in Heb 12:14 (cf. Eph 4:31). This is a condition of the first class.
Faction (). Late word, from (hireling, from to spin wool), a pushing forward for personal ends, partisanship, as in Php 1:16.
In your heart ( ). The real fountain (, verse 11).
Glory not ( ). Present middle imperative of , for which see 2:13. Wisdom is essential for the teacher. Boasting arrogance disproves the possession of wisdom.
Lie not against the truth ( ). Present middle imperative of , old verb, to play false, with carried over. Lying against the truth is futile. By your conduct do not belie the truth which you teach; a solemn and needed lesson. Cf. Rom 1:18; Rom 2:18; Rom 2:20.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Envying [] . The word is used in the New Testament both in a bad and a good sense. For the latter, see Joh 2:17; Rom 10:2; 2Co 9:2. From it is our word zeal, which may be either good or bad, wise or foolish. The bad sense is predominant in the New Testament. See Act 5:17; Rom 13:13; Gal 5:20, and here, where the bad sense is defined and emphasized by the epithet bitter. It is often joined with eriv, strife, as here with ejriqeia, intriguing or faction. The rendering envying, as A. V., more properly belongs to fqonov, which is never used in a good sense. Emulation is the better general rendering, which does not necessarily include envy, but may be full of the spirit of self – devotion. Rev. renders jealousy.
Strife [] . A wrong rendering, founded on the mistaken derivation from eriv, strife. It is derived from eriqov, a hired servant, and means, primarily, labor for hire. Compare Tobit 2 11 : My wife did take women ‘s work to do [] . Thus it comes to be applied to those who serve in official positions for their own selfish interest, and who, to that end, promote party spirit and faction. So Rom 2:8 : them that are contentious [ ] , lit., of faction. Rev., factious. Also, 2Co 12:20. Rev., here, rightly, faction.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
If anyone holds bitter jealousy or a tendency toward strife and faction in his heart, he may struggle for preeminence in teaching among his fellow associates, but his conduct indicates a lack of wisdom. Rom 1:18; Rom 2:17; Rom 2:29.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
l4 But if ye have bitter envying. He points out the fruits which proceed from that extreme austerity which is contrary to meekness; for immoderate rigor necessarily begets mischievous emulations, which presently break forth into contentions. It is, indeed, an improper mode of speaking, to place contentions in the heart; but this affects not the meaning; for the object was to shew that the evil disposition of the heart is the fountain of these evils.
He has called envying, or emulation, bitter; for it prevails not, except when minds are so infected with the poison of malignity, that they turn all things into bitterness. (125)
That we may then really glory that we are the children of God, he bids us to act calmly and meekly towards our brethren; otherwise he declares that we are lying in assuming the Christian name. But it is not without reason that he has added the associate of envying, even strife, or contention, for contests and quarrels ever arise from malignity and envy.
(125) A similar order as to the words is found here as in the former verse: bitter envying is occasioned by strife of contention. There may be envying without contention, but it is contention that commonly makes it bitter.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE SOURCE OF FACTION
Text 3:1416
Jas. 3:14
But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth.
15.
This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16.
For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed.
Queries
242.
A person who has bitter jealousy or faction in his heart is not wise. How does Jas. 3:14 prove he is not wise?
243.
Is there a good kind of jealousy in opposition to bitter jealousy? If so, what?
244.
What quality must jealousy have, to make it a bitter jealousy?
245.
What would tempt teachers in the church, or leaders in any organization, to develop a bitter jealousy?
246.
To what does the word heart refer here?
247.
Bitter jealousy and faction in the heart implies here that one is lying against the truth. Against what truth? (State the truth if you can).
248.
How could the possession of jealousy and faction be said to be glorying?
249.
To what wisdom does Jas. 3:15 refer?
250.
Compare Jas. 3:15 with Jas. 1:17.
251.
Earthly wisdom, or wisdom from the earth, would point to what quality of the wisdom?
252.
How could this wisdom be said to be sensual?
253.
What does the devil have to do with it?
254.
Jas. 3:15 should refer to demons, rather than the devil . . . can you distinguish between the two?
255.
Can you find any link between jealousy and confusion? If so, what?
256.
What is the ordinary sense of vile deeds?
257.
What must the vile deeds here be according to the context?
258.
Is there ever confusion in the wisdom from above? (Think carefully . . . what of disagreements over the meaning of Scriptures? What of the confused denominational world in Christianity?)
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 3:14
But if your life is filled with harshness and self-interest that make you divisive in your heart, then cease puffing yourself up and listen carefully to Gods truth.
15.
Your application of knowledge has been to satisfy the appetites of your flesh, and has much in common with the demons.
16.
For where your kind of self-interest and trouble-making spirit exist, there is also confusion and every good-for-nothing evil deed.
B.*Jas. 3:14
And by all means dont brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie.
15.
For jealousy and selfishness are not Gods kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil, and come from hell itself.
16.
For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil.
Summary
If your self-interest has filled you with jealousy and strife, then you have caused confusion and all kinds of evil deeds.
Comment
There are a number of characteristics in this section that are the opposite of the wisdom from above. Perhaps these as given will help us determine between true wisdom and sham wisdom; and more clearly see the difference between wisdom from above and satanic wisdom.
Jealousy, here linked with bitterness or harshness, has the evil sense of being filled with envy. This is self-love extended to the point of wishing deprivation of another. I wish I had his Cadillac and he had a wart on his nose instead!
This is the opposite to Gods revealed wisdom. Instead of becoming a master through serving others, this wisdom seeks to become a master by making others the servants. Instead of spiritual growth through the Christian quality of being a giver, this wisdom seeks to get gain by being a getter. Instead of loving the brethren, loving your neighbor and loving your enemy in accord with the wisdom from above, this wisdom seeks expression through loving ones self above all else. This bitter jealousy is harsh zeal directed toward the hurt of other people.
Gods kind of jealousy is not to be confused with this bitter jealousy. God is a jealous God for our benefit. This bitter jealousy comes from self-interest and self-love. Jealousy is used both ways in the Scripture. In the good sense Paul says of his friends, I rejoiced yet more because of your jealousy for me. (2Co. 7:7). Of his own spirit he said, I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy . . . (2Co. 11:2). This jealousy of Paul for their welfare made him risk his life for their benefit. How different this is from the evil sense of being jealous . . . where we often bite and devour one another to gain benefit for ourselves. How often our cravings for sensual joys cause us to trample over the hearts and feelings of others. It is this kind of bitter jealousy that will make a man use all his talents to take another mans wife for his own, with no thought for the home that is destroyed, nor the man that is robbed. It is this kind of bitter jealousy that will keep church temperature boiling over and continually feed the flames of strife and division.
This bitter jealousy is also tied to faction. This green-eyed monster makes a man rob another spiritually (and sometimes materially). It hurts to be robbed . . . whether one is robbed of reputation, or of credit for a job well done, or of his good name, or of even the spirit of peace that should exist between Christians. The ones who are hurt usually retaliate, and strife results. Even if the animosity caused by jealousy does not break out into strife, the faction is there, simmering and boiling, ready at any moment to burst forth.
It is toward the root of the trouble that James speaks. The fruit of strife is only a symptom of the cause. The jealousy and faction within the heart is the true cause. The unethical desire to promote ones self is the ungodly wisdom. This is the faction in your heart.
Self-glory is perhaps a single expression that would summarize the whole spirit spoken against. Love of self, seeking for self, promotion of ones self, feeding the selfs appetites and revelling in ones own sensuous pleasures is bitter jealousy in action. No wonder the Holy Spirit says through James, glory not. the negative side of self-glory is to glory not in the welfare of others, and to glory not in the Lord God and His revelation. The admonition to glory not obviously means to glory not in yourself.
To God be the glory, great things He hath done, the hymnal says. I glory not save in the cross of Christ, Paul says. As Christians we rejoice and glory in the welfare of others and in the love of Jesus. How foreign to this is the self-glory against the truth! The truth probably refers to the Gospel truth, the revealed truth, or the truth just spoken through James.
James in Jas. 3:15 refers to the ultimate source of this wisdom. There is no good in this wisdom, else it would be from above in its goodness. The evil in this wisdom pin-points its source; earthly, sensual, and devilish.
It is earthly in that it is opposed to heavenly wisdom. It is related to the wisdom which is of this world (1Co. 1:20), and the earthly things of Php. 3:19. Its benefits are earthly, in that they are apparent only in relation to things of this earth. They are dying benefits that are both short-lived and deceptive. They are deceptive for they are not true benefits, but apparent benefits that immediately vanish with possession. Earthly wisdom promotes a jealousy that is ever seeking, and never satisfied. It is a lust that cannot be satisfied, a hunger that cannot be fed.
It is sensual for it has as its goal the satisfaction of sensual appetites. The desire for sex, for comfort, for food, for clothing and shelter are all sensuous. Although bodily needs are essential for life on this earth, life on this earth is far more than satisfying these bodily needs. We should not live to eat, but rather eat to live. The life that has as its primary aim the satisfaction of physical pleasures is sensuous, and it is this same sensuous nature that is so closely related to bitter jealousy, and is in itself not a wisdom from above.
It is devilish (or rather, demoniacal) because it is in harmony with the evil spirits who are in service of Satan. To use knowledge for such selfish ends makes one related, at least in action, to the world of demons. The wisdom that brings forth such an action is itself demonical.
A careful study of this section seems to overwhelm one with an awareness that there is no neutral ground spiritually. Every man is in service of either God or the devil. There is not a no mans land were a man can be safe from both the sword of the Spirit and the fiery darts of the evil one. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Mat. 12:30).
The spirit that fills a man with smugness and satisfaction while he rests his body and revels in sensuous satisfactions at home on the Lords day when the saints are assembled together, is the same spirit that will fill a man with bitter jealousy over his wifes devotion to the Lord and continual involvement with the things of God. There is no neutral wisdom. Even such non-spiritual knowledge as mathematics and science can be used to puff up oneself against godliness. The lukewarm man finds himself distasteful to God, and he also finds full devotion to God distasteful to himself. He prefers that all others be lukewarm even as he is, and he is propelled into active participation in the warfare when those very close and dear to him become fully dedicated in the Lords service. His true position is then made known, for he places himself on the side against those in the Lords service!
James clearly states the results of jealousy and faction within the heart. Confusion and vile action are the natural ends. Disturbance, disorder, and unruliness, become the order of the day when such a one comes face to face with a demand for full devotion and service to the Lord. Every action that is opposed to the good is evident, and such torturous self-destruction can be set loose even within the church itself.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(14) But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts.Rather, it should be, bitter zeal and party-spirit. Above all no zeal was the worldly caution of an astute French prelate. But that against which the Apostle inveighed had caused Jerusalem to run with blood, and afterwards helped in her last hour to add horror upon shame. The Zealots were really assassins, pledged to any iniquity; such were the forty men who bound themselves under a curse, saying they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul (Act. 23:12; see Note there). Some of these desperadoes unluckily escaped the swords of the Romans, and fled to the fastnesses of Mount Lebanon. They were probably the nucleus of a still more infamous society, known in the middle ages as that of the Old Man of the Mountain; in fact, our word assassin comes from Hassan, their first sheik. Happily for humanity they were at length exterminated by the Turks.
Glory not.Boast not yourselves as partakers of this accursed zeal; behold already what ruin it is bringing on us as a nation and a Church. And it were well to take care even in these milder days of religious factions, that the strife of creeds be wholly different in kind from the old zealot feuds, and not merely in degree. Able only to rend and overthrow, party-spirit will, if it be gloried and exulted in, lay down the walls of Zion even to the ground. But if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy (1Co. 3:17), and the words must be translated much more sternly, If any man destroy . . .
Lie not against the truth.This is not tautology, nor a Hebraism, but of far deeper import. What is truth? said jesting Pilate (Joh. 18:38), and, as Bacon remarks in his Essay on Truth, he would not stay for an answer. Probably he put a question familiar to himself, learned in a certain school of knowledge whose wise conclusion was that mankind could not tell; and the inquirer turned away, unwitting that before him stood the incarnate Truth itself. The world of unbelief repeats the careless utterance of the Roman Governor, and holds with him in its new Agnosticism; and to its self-assurance and pride of life He, Who can only be learned in the doing of His will (Joh. 7:17), is alike unknowable and unknown. But the words of the Apostle have a mournful significance for the ignorant of God; and a terrible one for the Christian who knows and sins against the Light. Falsehood is not the hurt of some abstract virtue, or bare rule of right and wrong, but a direct blow at the living Truth (Joh. 14:6), Who suffered and still endures such contradiction of sinners against Himself (Heb. 12:3). As the fault of Judas was doublepersonal treachery against his Friend and Master, and a wider attack on Christ, the Truth manifest in the fleshso in a like two-fold manner we smite at once God and our brother when we speak or act a lie. All faintest shades of falsehood tend to the dark one of a fresh betrayal of the Son of Man if they be conceived against others, while if they be wrought only to shield ourselves, we are. as Montaigne observed, brave before God, and cowards before men, who are as the dust of His feet.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. The contrasted traits.
Glory not Make no proud profession, nor fancy that these are exalting qualities.
Lie not against the truth By depreciating its excellence in order to exalt your worldly vices. The worldly, emulous spirit fancies itself to be infinitely superior to the meekness and wisdom of the Gospel, having a lordlier wisdom of its own, and this wisdom James characterizes in the next verse.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not glory and do not lie against the truth.’
In contrast to this wisdom from above is man’s wisdom, which results in jealousy, discord, divisiveness, rivalry and selfish ambition (eritheia). Such people are not of the truth, and the word of truth (Jas 1:18) has not been effective in their hearts. They have nothing to glory in and any claims that they might make to truth are lies against the truth. For it is possible to destroy the truth of what is said by the spirit in which it is said. Note how those in Jas 3:13 are basically swift to hear and slow to speak (Jas 1:19). Those in Jas 3:14 hear little and speak much.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jam 3:14. But if ye have bitter envying, &c. “But if ye have bitter zeal against each other, and uncharitable contention in your hearts, boast not of your improvements in Christianity, and lie not against the truth by such groundless pretensions.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jas 3:14 . As meekness belongs to wisdom, so he who has in his heart and boasts of wisdom without any right. As this was the case with his readers, James now directly addresses them: ] To , zeal , which is here, as frequently, used in a bad sense, is added the adjective for the sake of strengthening it, perhaps with reference to Jas 3:11-12 (Grotius, Pott, Gebser).
] has in the N. T. the meaning controversial spirit, or, more definitely, partisanship; comp. Rom 2:8 ; 2Co 12:20 (see Meyer on both passages); Gal 5:20 ; Phi 1:17 ; Phi 2:3 ; in 2Co 12:20 and Gal 5:20 and are united together as plurals.
] in contrast with the word of his readers, boasting of their wisdom.
In the apodosis: ] neither the first nor the second verb is to be converted into a participle; certainly in the first verb refers to ., and so far already contains the idea of lying, but James designed prominently to bring forward this, and therefore he adds to . On , comp. chap. Jas 2:13 (see Winer, p. 417 [E. T. 590, note 1]). In the reference is to others, in to one’s own conscience (Lange). In order to avoid the tautology in and . , Wiesinger understands by “truth in an objective Christian sense the Christian truth, by the possession of which they fancied themselves .” [183] But, on the contrary, it is to be considered that that which, logically considered, appears as mere tautology, receives another import, when not only the understanding but also the disposition is recognised as a factor of the construction; so it is here; compare, moreover, Isocrates, de pace , p. 165: .
[183] According to Lange, the theocratic truth is to be understood which the Jewish zealots professed to protect.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Ver. 14. Bitter envying ] Properly so called; for it flows from the gall; it shows that the man is in the gall of bitterness, and of kin to the star called Wormwood, Rev 8:11 . It is also an evil wherein is steeped the venom of all other vices. It is the observation of a late reverend divine, that, Gen 38:29 , Pharez was the son of Tamar, division, of a palm tree, which hath its name ab amaritudine, from bitterness, saith Pagnine. Division comes from bitterness, and envy drinks up the most part of its own venom. It infecteth also others with her venomous breath; as that maid mentioned by Avicen, who fed upon poison.
Glory not ] viz. Of your wisdom.
Lie not against the truth ] As if ye were true Christians, when in truth you are not so; Jesuits you may be (those great boutefeans of the world), but Christians ye are none; ye have not so learned Christ.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14 16 .] Consequences of the opposite course .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
14 .] But if ye have (as is the fact: this is implied by the indic.: cf. Col 3:1 , . . .) bitter emulation ( seems to refer back to the example in Jas 3:11-12 . “Non damnatur,” says Bengel, “zelus dulcis et ira dulcis, ex fide et amore”) and rivalry (see on and in note, Rom 2:8 . Beware of confounding with , as is very generally done) in your heart ( out of which come thoughts and words and acts, see Mat 15:18-19 ), do not (in giving yourselves out for wise, which (cf. Jam 3:15 ) you cannot really be) boast against (ref.) and lie against the truth (q. d. . , but the latter compound is resolved to bring out more forcibly the in their conduct. Some, as De W. and Wiesinger, suppose . to belong together, and to be an insertion of the Apostle further to define the . Others again have taken pains to excuse the imagined tautology in , which however is no tautology at all. , from its following , is necessarily not subjective, ‘ truth ’ merely, as a quality absent from the conduct of those thus acting, but objective, ‘ the truth ,’ of which their whole lives would be thus a negation and an opposition; which would be in their persons vaunted against and lied against).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 3:14 . : This makes it quite clear that what has been referred to all along is controversial strife; the bitter use of the tongue which the writer has been reprobating is the personal abuse which had been heaped upon one another by the partisans of rival schools of thought. is mostly used in a bad sense in the N.T., though the opposite is sometimes the case ( e.g. , 2Co 11:2 ; Gal 1:14 ); the intensity of feeling which had been aroused among those to whom the Epistle was addressed is seen by the words , with the latter word in an emphatic position; they form a striking contrast to . The word , derived from “a hireling,” means “party-spirit”. : the malicious triumphing at the least point of vantage gained by one party was just the thing calculated to embitter the other side; this was a real “lying against the truth,” because such petty triumphs are often gained at the expense of truth.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
if. App-118.
envying. Greek. zelos. See Act 5:17.
strife. Greek. eritheia. See Rom 2:8.
glory = boast. Greek. katakauchaomai. See Rom 11:18.
not. Does not appear in Greek text.
against. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14-16.] Consequences of the opposite course.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Jam 3:14. , bitter emulation) Emulation is not condemned, when exercised with kindness; nor anger, accompanied with kindness, and proceeding from faithfulness and love.-, do not) They boast and lie against the truth, who, when they have bitter emulation, still give out that they themselves have wisdom.- ) The Alex. and others read .[45] See App. Crit., Ed ii.
[45] is the reading of BC. , of A.-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
if: Jam 3:16, Jam 4:1-5, Gen 30:1, Gen 30:2, Gen 37:11, Job 5:2, Pro 14:30, Pro 27:4, Isa 11:13, Hab 1:3, Mat 27:18, Act 5:17, Act 7:9, Act 13:45, Rom 1:29, Rom 13:13, 1Co 3:3, 1Co 13:4, 2Co 12:20, Gal 5:15, Gal 5:21, Gal 5:26, Phi 1:15, Phi 2:3, 1Ti 6:4, Tit 3:3, 1Pe 2:1, 1Pe 2:2
glory: Rom 2:17, Rom 2:23-29, 1Co 4:7, 1Co 4:8, 1Co 5:2, 1Co 5:6, Gal 6:13
and lie: 2Ki 10:16, 2Ki 10:31, Joh 16:2, Act 26:9
Reciprocal: Gen 38:9 – lest that Exo 1:9 – the people Num 11:29 – Enviest 2Sa 19:9 – strife 2Sa 19:43 – the words 1Ki 12:14 – My father made 2Ch 10:14 – My father Psa 31:20 – the strife Psa 37:8 – Cease Pro 6:19 – that soweth Pro 13:10 – Only Pro 15:18 – wrathful Pro 16:28 – froward Pro 17:14 – leave Pro 17:19 – loveth Pro 20:3 – but Jer 9:23 – wise Zec 11:14 – I cut Mat 18:35 – from Mat 20:24 – they Mar 9:50 – have peace Mar 15:10 – for envy Luk 9:54 – wilt Joh 3:26 – he that Joh 12:11 – General Act 23:10 – fearing Gal 5:19 – Adultery Eph 4:31 – bitterness Phi 2:14 – disputings Col 2:18 – fleshly Col 3:8 – anger Col 3:19 – bitter Jam 4:16 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jas 3:14. Bitter envying denotes a mind that is resentful toward another person who is fortunate. The original word for strife means an attempt to outdo some other person by fair means or otherwise. Should such a person succeed he is admonished not to glory in it. Lie not against the truth. Certainly all lies are against the truth, but the special thought Is that an envious person cannot oppose a righteous or fortunate one without contradicting the truth involved.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 3:14. But if ye have bitter envyingzeal or emulation in a bad sense, as is evident from the epithet bitter,
and strife, or rather factiousness, contention, party-strife; the reference being specially to religious controversies.
in your hearts, glory not, boast not, and lie not, by a false pretence to wisdom and knowledge, against the truth: not subjective, against veracity, being destitute of the truth, which would render the passage tautological; but objective, against the truth of God, namely the Gospel.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. How the apostle points at the root of all tongue evils; we pretend zeal and justice, zeal for God, and doing right to ourselves; but the true cause is envy, called bitter envying, as being bitter in its root, bitter in its fruit, bitter to others, bitter to ourselves; this is a painful evil, an unprofitable evil, a foolish, sinful evil; it makes another’s good our grief.
But why so?
The good of another is no hurt to us; we have not the less because another has more; Leah’s fruitfulness was no cause of Rachel’s barrenness; why then should it be the occasion of Rachel’s envy? Thy portion is not impaired because thy brother’s is increased.
Observe, 2. How envy and strife are here joined together; if you have envying and strife in your hearts; when envy is found in the heart, strife will soon be found in the tongue, for envy is the mother of strife; natural corruption doth most of all betray itself by envy; it has an early spring, and a late autumn: we have it as soon as we come into the world, and it is a hard matter to leave it before we go out of it again: children suck it in with their milk, and the old man buries it in his coffin.
Observe, 3. What are the bitter effects and fruits of envy and strife, namely, confusion, and every evil work; an envious spirit is an unquiet and wicked spirit; the devil worketh by no instruments more than by envious, discontented, and malicious persons; pride and envy were the two first sins that crept into the world; the first man was ruined by pride, the second destroyed by envy, the whole world could not hold two brothers when the one was envied by the other: Cain’s envy tasted blood, and verily the sinner’s envy thirsts after it; well therefore may the apostle say, Where envying and strife is, there is confusion, and every evil work; this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 14
Glory not; that is, in your supposed piety,–And lie not, &c.; by pretending that your hearts are renewed, while it is plain that in their temper and disposition they are still under the bondage of sin.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
“Envying” is a word that is also translated “zeal” in the New Testament. It is that drive of the zealous person to do the very best that they can in their effort to please God. Zeal often gets a bad name in Christian circles and this is definitely wrong.
Zeal is a good thing and more Christians should be zealous. This is one of the great faults of Christianity in America. Few are zealous about their Christian living.
In this context, it is used in a most negative way to describe the incorrect strivings of your life – for things, for power, for glory, for position etc.
“Strife” could be depicted very easily by taking short clips of the Bush/Kerry presidential campaign. It is the strife or conflict of campaigning. The word relates to putting one’s self forward for a position and doing most anything to gain that position.
If you have envy, if you have strife in your heart, you are admonished to take no glory and not lie. People that envy and have conflict in their mind/heart often set themselves to glory at any cost to truth.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
2. The importance of graciousness 3:14-16
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
"Bitter jealousy" and "selfish ambition" are motives that must not inhabit the heart of a teacher or he will find himself saying things he should not. These are attitudes toward others and self that are the antithesis of graciousness that seeks the welfare of others before self. Jealousy and ambition are manifestations of arrogance, and they result in promoting self rather than the truth the teacher is responsible to communicate. Lying against the truth means teaching untrue things, things that oppose the truth. Those who boast of wisdom are not following God because humility does not mark their lives. This is as true of Christians as it is of non-Christians.