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Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - James 4:1-10

A. Interpersonal and Inner Personal Tensions 4:1-10"James 4 continues the same topic of strife, and addresses now not only the teachers of James 3:14 but also the rest of the brotherhood who are in similar sin: strife springs from within (James 4:1-3) and is fostered by worldliness; love of the world and love of God cannot coexist (James 4:4-6); Christians must resist the devil and draw near to God (James 4:7-10)." [Note: Adamson, p. 165.] read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - James 4:8

While resisting Satan on the one hand, we must also draw near to God on the other. When we do, He will draw near to us. To draw near to God we must go through a purification process reminiscent of what the priests in Israel underwent. We must wash our hands, symbolic of our outward actions, as well as our divided hearts, symbolic of our inner attitudes and motives. We clean them by confession and repentance. We must remove sin from our hands and duplicity from our hearts. Single-mindedness... read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - James 4:8

4:8 near (a-2) Cleanse (a-12) 'Have it done,' not 'be doing it;' the aorist tense. All the imperatives (ten) from vers. 7 to 10 are in the aorist. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - James 4:1-17

Denunciation of Greed and Love of Pleasure1. Lusts] better, ’pleasures.’2. ’You eagerly desire something which another has and you have not. This unregulated desire may lead to hate and even murder (cp. Ahab, 1 Kings 21), but even so your covetous desires go on; they grow by what they feed on. Still you have not got your desire. Then comes the wholesale murder of unjust war; and yet you are unsatisfied, because you try to get things for yourselves, instead of asking God for them.’ The chief... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - James 4:8

(8) Draw nigh to God . . .—God waiteth to be gracious (Isaiah 30:18). Like the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:0), He beholds us while we are “yet a great way off,” and runs, as it were, to hasten our return. He has “no pleasure in the death of him that dieth” (Ezekiel 18:32). But who shall come “into the tabernacle of God, or rest upon His holy hill” (Psalms 15:1), except the man “of uncorrupt life”? Surely, the penitent as well; the murderous hands “which all the perfumes of Arabia will... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - James 4:1-17

James 4:1 At the coiner of old maps of the world, of the fifteenth century, may be noted a large, blank space, without form and without name, whereon these three words are inscribed: Hic sunt leones . This sombre corner exists also in man. The passions prowl around and mutter, somewhere within us, and it may be said also of one dark spot in our souls: 'Here are lions'. Victor Hugo. 'Politics, domestic and foreign, are very discouraging,' wrote Sydney Smith in a letter in 1827. 'Jesuits abroad,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - James 4:1-13

Chapter 18ST. JAMES AND PLATO ON LUSTS AS THE CAUSES OF STRIFE; THEIR EFFECT ON PRAYER.James 4:1-13THE change from the close of the third chapter to the beginning of the fourth is startling. St. James has just been sketching with much beauty the excellences of the heavenly wisdom, and especially its marked characteristic of always tending to produce an atmosphere of peace, in which the seed that produces the fruit of righteousness will grow and flourish. Gentleness, good-will, mercy,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - James 4:7-10

Chapter 20THE POWER OF SATAN AND ITS LIMITS-HUMILITY THE FOUNDATION OF PENITENCE AND OF HOLINESS.James 4:7-10SUBMISSION to God is the beginning, middle, and end of the prodigal’s return from disastrous familiarity with the world to the security of the Father’s home. A readiness to submit to whatever He may impose is the first step in the conversion, just as unwillingness to surrender one’s own will is the first step towards revolt and desertion. "I am no more worthy to be called Thy son: make... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - James 4:1-17

IV. FURTHER EXHORTATIONS TO RIGHT LIVING CHAPTER 4 1. Fightings and worldliness rebuked (James 4:1-6 ) 2. The Godly walk (James 4:7-17 ) James 4:1-6 A strong rebuke follows the statements concerning the wisdom from beneath and the wisdom from above. It must be borne in mind that these exhortations are addressed to the twelve tribes scattered abroad; to say that these words mean believers only would be a serious mistake; while Christians are contemplated, those of the tribes of Israel who... read more

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