4:5a–c
Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to emphasize that his readers should not think that the Scripture says things without reason. In this rhetorical question, James used scripture to support his statement in 4:4. That statement is that friendship with the world cannot exist together with friendship with God.
Some ways to translate this emphasis are:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
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”? (English Standard Version)
-or-
5bThe scripture says, 5c“He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us.” 5aDo you(plur) think that 5bthe scripture says that without reason?
• As a statement. For example:
You(plur) must not think that there is no truth in the scripture that says that God jealously desires the spirit that he placed in us.
Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.
4:5a
Or: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Or often occurs before a rhetorical question. It implies that the following sentence will support James’ statement in 4:4. Here this word is not used to indicate a choice between two options. It is perhaps for that reason that some English versions omit this word.
do you think: The clause do you think introduces a rhetorical question. It implies that the reader should not think that way. One way to translate this clause is to make the entire sentence a statement. For example:
you should certainly not think
Consider what form of question or statement will translate this naturally in your language.
4:5b
the Scripture says: In the clause the Scripture says, the word Scripture is personified. This means that Scripture is spoken of as if it were a person that says things. In some languages, it may be necessary to say that it is God who says these things. For example:
in Scripture, God says
-or-
God said in his book
-or-
it is written in God’s word
Usually in the New Testament, the words the Scripture says introduce a direct quote from the Old Testament. But here, the sentence that these words introduce does not match any Old Testament sentence very closely. Many commentators take the verse as two separate sentences. In this case the words “the scripture” might refer back to 3:4 or forward to the rest of 3:5.However, it is more natural to take the Greek words translated Scripture says as simply introducing what Scripture says. For this reason punctuating as one sentence, as in Berean Standard Bible, is recommended.) They say that it is not a quotation of the exact words of a verse in the Old Testament. (There are similar cases in John 7:38 and John 7:42.) Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
scripture teaches
-or-
in scripture God teaches
The word Scripture also occurs in 2:8b.
without reason: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as without reason means “for no purpose” or “in vain.” James used this word to indicate that the words of Scripture that follow are not useless or worthless words. They are true.
Some other ways to translate this word are:
in vain (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
for nothing (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
to no purpose (English Standard Version)
-or-
no truth (Good News Translation)
4:5c
the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Spirit He caused to dwell in us is ambiguous. In Greek, it is unclear whether:
(a) the spirit refers to the human spirit or the Holy Spirit
(b) the spirit is the subject or the object of the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as yearns with envy
The main ways to interpret the phrase the Spirit are:
(1) It refers to the human spirit and is the object of the verb. According to this interpretation, God has strong feelings of jealousy for us. God will not tolerate his people loving the world. He wants their total loyalty.
According to this interpretation, this verse is connected with 4:4. It is a metaphor of God as the jealous husband who has an adulterous wife. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:
He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us.
(New International Version, 2011 edition, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version)
(2) It refers to the human spirit and is the subject of the verb. According to this interpretation, the human spirit that God made to live in us has strong envious desires. (Adamson (1976), pages 171–173; see also Adamson (1989), pages 330–333. Laws, page 178, takes it as a rhetorical question: “Does the spirit which he made to dwell in us long enviously?” with the implied answer that according to Scripture it does not, it longs for God.)
According to this interpretation, this verse is connected with 4:1–3. It continues to describe the evil desires that are in humans. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:
the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy
(New International Version (1984 Revision), Good News Translation, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
(3) It refers to the Holy Spirit and is the subject of the verb. According to this interpretation, the Holy Spirit that God sent to live in us his people feels strongly possessive of us. (Alford, page 315; Mayor, page 137; Hiebert, pages 255–257; Martin, pages 149–150. Also R. Buth, START 2, pages 11–12.) For example, the New Century Version says:
The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone
(Berean Standard Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation, 1996 edition, New Century Version)
(4) It refers to the Holy Spirit and is the object of the verb. According to this interpretation, God cares strongly about the Holy Spirit. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:
God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us
(Contemporary English Version, New American Standard Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation:
(a) works well grammatically. God is the subject of:
• 4:5che caused to dwell in us
• 4:6ahe gives more grace
So it is natural that God is also the subject of the verb envies intensely.
(b) fits well with James’ appeal for Christians to turn away from friendship with the world. We must not be friends with the world because:
• if we are friends with the world, we are enemies with God.
• God jealously desires us for himself. He does not want us to be like an adulterous wife.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
God jealously desires for himself the spirit that he placed in us.
-or-
God put the spirit into man to give him life. Because of that, he is jealous of what we do with our lives.
yearns with envy: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as yearns with envy is literally “desires with jealousy.” Here it describes God as a jealous God who desires that we belong to him alone. (Exodus 20:5 says, “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”) Be sure that the way you translate this phrase is an appropriate way to speak about a perfect God.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
he jealously desires
-or-
God strongly desires that this spirit must submit to him alone.
-or-
he wants us to love/worship only him like a jealous husband wants his wife to love only him.
© 2012 by SIL International®
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.