Comments on James 4 v1-12 are addressed above in the comments on ch. 3. v4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses", while James is probably speaking literally here, we also have to recognize that in the OT the figure of an adulteress is used to represent those who are unfaithful to the Lord, the "husband" of Israel, in a religious sense. So, the accusation may be a figurative one. v5 The Greek in this verse is problematic, resulting in a lot of different translations, all of which are different and often strange. The best sense of this verse is made by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown in _Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible_ (1871): spirit that dwelleth in us--Other manuscripts read, "that God hath made to dwell in us" (namely, at Pentecost). If so translated, "Does the (Holy) Spirit that God hath placed in us lust to (towards) envy" (namely, as ye do in your worldly "wars and fightings")? Certainly not; ye are therefore walking in the flesh, not in the Spirit, while ye thus lust towards, that is, with envy against one another. The friendship of the world tends to breed envy; the Spirit produces very different fruit. ALFORD attributes the epithet "with envy," in the unwarrantable sense of jealously, to the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit jealously desires us for His own." In English Version the sense is, "the (natural) spirit that hath its dwelling in us lusts with (literally, 'to,' or 'towards') envy." Ye lust, and because ye have not what ye lust after (Jas 4:1, 2), ye envy your neighbor who has, and so the spirit of envy leads you on to "fight." James also here refers to Jas 3:14, 16. v13-5:6 Those who seek after material things (v. 13) do not realize how transient those things are (v. 14). Instead, they ought to seek after eternal wealth by doing the Lord's will (v. 15). Unfortunately, they do not do this, but boast in their arrogance (v. 16), and those who do this sin because they know what is right (v. 17). James summons the wealthy to judgement and shows them how their material wealth is nothing but rot and ruin (cf. 5:1-3). The cries of those they have oppressed, something expressly forbidden in the Law (cf. Lev. 19:13), come up to the ears of the Lord (cf. 5:4). They have lived a life of wanton pleasure, and in doing so have figuratively fattened themselves up for the slaughter of Judgement Day (cf. 5:5). They made themselves rich by killing the just who have not power to withstand them (cf. 5:6). Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.