James 4:10-13

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 4:1-10

The former chapter speaks of envying one another, as the great spring of strifes and contentions; this chapter speaks of a lust after worldly things, and a setting too great a value upon worldly pleasures and friendships, as that which carried their divisions to a shameful height. I. The apostle here reproves the Jewish Christians for their wars, and for their lusts as the cause of them: Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members,... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 4:11-17

In this part of the chapter, I. We are cautioned against the sin of evil-speaking: Speak not evil one of another, brethren, Jas. 4:11. The Greek word, katalaleite, signifies speaking any thing that may hurt or injure another; we must not speak evil things of others, though they be true, unless we be called to it, and there be some necessary occasion for the; much less must we report evil things when they are false, or, for aught we know, may be so. Our lips must be guided by the law of... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 4:8-10

4:8-10 Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to sorrow, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before God and then he will exalt you. In James' thought the ethical demand of Christianity is never far away. He has talked about the grace which God gives to the humble and which enables a man to meet his great demands. But James is sure that there is something needed beyond asking and passive... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 4:8-10

In his demand for a godly sorrow James is going back to the fact that Jesus had said, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted" ( Matthew 5:4 ; Luke 6:20-26 ). We must not read into this passage something James does not mean. He is not denying the joy of the Christian life. He is not demanding that men should live a gloom-encompassed life in a shadowed world. He is doing two things. He is pleading for sobriety in place of frivolousness, and is doing so with all the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 4:8-10

James concludes with the demand for a godly humility. All through the Bible there runs the conviction that it is only the humble who can know the blessings of God. God will save the humble person ( Job 22:29 ). A man's pride will bring him low; but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit ( Proverbs 29:23 ). God dwells on high, but he is also with him that is of a humble and a contrite spirit ( Isaiah 57:15 ). They that fear the Lord will humble their souls in his sight, and the greater... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 4:11-12

4:11-12 Stop talking harshly about each other. He who speaks harshly of his brother, or who judges his brother, speaks harshly of the law and judges the law; and, if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. One is law-giver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge your neighbour? The word James uses for to speak harshly of, or, to slander is katalalein ( Greek #2635 ). Usually this verb means to slander someone when he is not... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 4:13-17

4:13-17 Come now, you who say, "Today, or tomorrow, we will go into this city, and we will spend a year there, and we will trade and make a profit." People like you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life like? You are like a mist which appears for a little time and then disappears. And yet you talk like that instead of saying, "If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we shall do this or that." As it is, you make your arrogant claims in your braggart ways. All such arrogant... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 4:10

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord ,.... Which is done, when men, before the Lord, and from their hearts, and in the sincerity of their souls, acknowledge their meanness and unworthiness, their vileness, sinfulness, and wretchedness, and implore the grace and mercy of God in Christ, as did Abraham, Jacob, Job, Isaiah, Paul, and the publican; and when they walk humbly with God, acknowledging they can do nothing without him; owning their dependence on his grace, and ascribing all they... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 4:11

Speak not evil one of another, brethren ,.... The apostle here returns to his former subject, concerning the vices of the tongue, he had been upon in the preceding chapter, James 3:6 , and here mentions one, which professors of religion were too much guilty of, and that is, speaking evil one of another; which is done either by raising false reports, and bringing false charges; or by aggravating failings and infirmities; or by lessening and depreciating characters, and endeavouring to bring... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 4:12

There is one lawgiver ,.... The Alexandrian copy, and others, and the Syriac, Ethiopic, and Vulgate Latin versions, add, "and judge". Who is the one only Lord God, Isaiah 33:22 . This is a character that may be applied to God the Father, who gave the law to the people of Israel, both the judicial and ceremonial law, and also the moral law; from his right hand went a fiery law, and to him belongs the giving of it; and also to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus who is King of saints, and... read more

Group of Brands