The real source of temptation is not God but a person’s own desire. The particle but introduces a contrast: each person is the positive, which contrasts with the negative “no one” in verse 13. It is possible to bring out the contrast by rendering the particle as “No” (Knox, Phillips) or “on the contrary” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
The writer goes on to say each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Reflecting more closely the Greek structure, New Revised Standard Version renders the sentence as “one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it.” In some languages it is better to restructure the sentence as “every person, being lured and enticed by his own desire, falls into temptation” or “On the contrary, every person is induced to commit evil by his own evil desires.” In languages that do not use the passive, we can express this as “for his own evil desires trap [or, lure] him and drag him away.” Grammatically, being lured and enticed can go either with the main verb “is tempted” or with “his own desire.” Although the form of these sentences may be different, the meaning remains the same.
The temptation is due to a person’s own desire. In the New Testament the Greek word desire does have a good sense at times (compare Luke 22.15); more often, as in this context, it carries the bad sense of selfish desire, lust, or passion (compare Rom 7.17-23; Gal 5.16-21; Eph 2.3). A number of translations have made this clear; for example, “evil desire” (Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament, New International Version), “wrong desire” (New Jerusalem Bible), “lust” (King James Version, New English Bible), “passions” (Knox). The “evil desire” is characterized by two participles in Greek that rhyme, rendered by New Revised Standard Version as “being lured and enticed.” Both terms apparently came from the language of hunting and fishing and are used metaphorically here. The word “lure” suggests a fish enticed to a hook and drawn out from the water, while the word “entice” suggests attracting a prey to a trap by bait. The two words obviously refer to different aspects of the same action. A person’s “evil desire” is like a hook with bait enticing its prey to a trap and then dragging it away. Keeping the images the two participles can be rendered “is lured and dragged away” (Revised English Bible) or “are drawn away and trapped” (Good News Translation). James does not identify the source of the temptation. His purpose may be to pinpoint the source as the evil impulse within a person, thus highlighting our own personal responsibility for sin.
An alternative translation model for this verse may be:
• On the contrary, it is our [inclusive] own evil desires [or, passions] that tempt us to sin [or, do evil]. They trap us and then drag us away.
Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .