James 3:14 - Exposition

Bitter envying , ζῆλος in itself may be either good or bad, and therefore πικρόν is added to characterize it. Bishop Lightfoot (on Galatians 5:20 ) points out that " as it is the tendency of Christian teaching to exalt the gentler qualities and to depress their opposites, ζῆλος falls in the scale of Christian ethics (see Clem. Romans, §§ 4-6), while ταπεινότης , for instance, rises." It may, perhaps, be an incidental mark of early date that St. James finds it necessary to characterize ζῆλος as πικρόν . Where St. Paul joins it with ἐριθείαι and ἔρις there is no qualifying adjective ( Romans 13:13 ; 1 Corinthians 3:3 ; 2 Corinthians 12:20 ; Galatians 5:20 ). (On the distinction between ζῆλος and φθόνος , both of which are used by St. James, see Archbishop Trench on 'Synonyms,' § 26). Strife ( ἐριθείαν ); better, party spirit , or faction (cf. Romans 2:8 ; 2 Corinthians 12:20 ; Galatians 5:20 ; Philippians 1:17 ; Philippians 2:3 ). The A.V. "strife" comes from a wrong derivation, as if ἐριθεία were connected with ἔρις , whereas it really comes from ἔριθος , a hired laborer, and so signifies

Glory not ; i.e. glory not of your wisdom, a boast to which your whole conduct thus gives the lie.