YAC 4:1 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–12: Believers must submit to God, not to their own selfish desires

In this section, James wrote about the problem of Christians quarreling among themselves. He identified the root of the problem as our human selfish desires. Then he pointed out that the solution is to humble ourselves and submit to God.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Warning against being God’s enemy (UBS)

Submit Yourselves to God (NIV)

Paragraph 4:1–3

In this paragraph, James discussed why Christian people quarrel with each other. He introduced this topic by means of a rhetorical question (4:1a). He then responded to his question, using another rhetorical question (4:1b). Christians quarrel because they selfishly desire things. In 4:2–3 he explained the answer in more detail.

4:1a

What causes conflicts and quarrels among you?

¶ Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? (GNT)
¶ What causes you^(plur) to have conflicts with one another?
¶ Think^(plur) about why you believers argue and fight with one another so much/often.

What causes conflicts and quarrels among you?: This is a rhetorical question. James used this rhetorical question to introduce a new topic. He wanted his readers to think about what was causing people in the church to quarrel and fight with one another.

Some ways to introduce this new topic are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? (GNT)
As a command/imperative form to draw the readers’ attention to the new topic. For example:
Now consider what causes you^(plur) to fight…
Think about why you^(plur) fight….
As a statement expressing James’ wish. For example:
I want you^(plur) to think about why you fight.

Use a natural way in your language to introduce this new topic.

What causes: The Greek word that the BSB translates as What causes is more literally “From where.” For example:

Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? (NET)

The conflicts and quarrels come from inside people. So in some languages, it is more natural to say:

What causes…

Why do you fight and argue with each other? (CEV)

conflicts and quarrels: The Greek words that the BSB translates as conflicts and quarrels refer to serious conflicts. These words can refer to both physical fighting and verbal arguments.

Some other ways to translate these words are:

fights and arguments (NCV)

conflicts and disputes (NRSV)

Notice the plural forms. This shows that these conflicts were happening frequently. James was not thinking of just one problem.

In some languages, it will be more natural to translate these nouns as verbs. For example:

you fight and quarrel so often

The words conflicts and quarrels are a doublet. This means that these two words mean almost the same thing. In some languages, both words can be translated by one word. For example:

Where do your frequent conflicts come from?

among you: The phrase among you indicates that James was talking about quarrels and disputes among Christian people.

4:1b–c

Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?: This is a rhetorical question. It is a response to the rhetorical question in 4:1a. James used this rhetorical question to emphasize that the fights and quarrels came from people’s evil desires.

Some ways to translate this emphasis are:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? (NLT)
They come from your^(plur) desires that battle within you, right?
As a statement. For example:
They come from the selfish desires that war within you. (NCV)

Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.

James was not informing his readers of something they did not know. He was reminding them of something they already knew.

4:1b

Don’t they come from the passions

They come from your^(plur) selfish desires
Your^(plur) own evil/selfish desires cause these situations.
It is because each of you^(plur) desires/wants many different things for only yourselves

they: The pronoun they refers to the “fights and quarrels” in 4:1a.

come from: Use a verb that corresponds with the verb in 4:1a. For example, if you used the verb “come from” in 4:1a, you can use come from here. If you used the verb “causes” in 4:1a, you may want to use “caused” here. For example:

Aren’t they caused by…? (GW)

the passions: The Greek word that the BSB translates as passions here refers to wrong, selfish desires. These passions are desires for personal wealth, glory, and pleasure.Mitton, page 146. See also Alford, page 311. James was perhaps particularly thinking of the desire of some people to be powerful and popular and to have authority.Martin, page 145. Huther, page 174, thinks of the pursuit of earthly riches in particular. The Greek word ἡδονή can in some contexts refer to the pursuit of physical and sensual pleasures, but the context in James does not support that reference.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

selfish desires (GW)

desires for pleasure (GNT)

In some languages, it is more natural to translate the phrase the passions with a clause. For example:

you^(plur) selfishly desire to have

you^(plur) really want

4:1c

at war within you?

that are fighting inside you^(plur), right?
They are struggling inside your^(plur) hearts/spirits against what you should want.
that are opposite/contrary to the good that you^(plur) should want.

at war within you: The clause at war within you refers to your desires “which are constantly fighting within you.” (GNT)

This clause is a figure of speech called personification. The word “passions” in 4:1b is the subject of the word war. It is as if the “passions” were people who could fight.

There are at least two ways to translate this personification:

Keep the figure of speech. For example:
that fight to control you (GW)
Translate the meaning of the figure. For example:
that are opposed/contrary to what you should want
that are against your desire to do good

The text does not state against whom or against what the desires of the person are fighting. There are basically three interpretations:

The desires in a person are fighting a war against his conscience or his soul. The struggle is inside him.Interpretation (1) is supported by Mayor, page 129; Adamson (1976), page 166; Hiebert, page 244; Davids (1982), page 157; Moo (1985), page 139.
The desires in a person are fighting a war against other people as he tries to do what pleases God and not what pleases them.Interpretation (2) is supported by Alford, page 312; Huther, page 127; Ropes, page 253; Martin, page 140.
The different desires in a person are fighting a war with each other inside the person.Interpretation (3) is supported by JBP and by Laws, page 168.

English versions do not say whom the desires are fighting. If you must be specific, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

within you: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as within you can also be translated as:

inside you (NET)

in your^(plur) hearts

in your^(plur) souls/spirits

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν

from_where (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πόθεν πόλεμοι καί πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν Οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν)

James is using the terms wars and battles. Alternate translation: [Where do the conflicts and disputes that you are having come from]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν?

James is using the question form as a teaching tool. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question by translating his words as a statement. Alternate translation: [I will tell you where the conflicts and disputes that you are having come from.]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν?

The words wars and battles mean similar things. James is using them together for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this connection by translating them with a single expression. Alternate translation (as a statement): [I will tell you where the continual conflicts that you are having come from.]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν, τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν?

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πόθεν πόλεμοι καί πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν Οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν)

James is using the question form as a teaching tool. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this question by translating his words as a statement. Alternate translation: [This is where they come from: from your lusts, which fight in your members.]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν, τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν

the gratifications ˱of˲_you_all ¬which warring in the members ˱of˲_you_all

As in [3:6](../03/06.md), members means “parts of the body.” This could mean: (1) the phrase in your members indicates the location of the lusts that James is describing. He could be saying that the outward fights between members of the community have their origin in inward lusts that lead people to fight for what they want, as he describes in the next verse. If so, he is using the parts of the body to represent a person’s thoughts and emotions. Alternate translation: [the lusts inside of you that fight] (2) the word translated in means “among.” The sense would then be that these lusts fight against one part of the person after another, seeking to gain control of the whole person. Since the lusts would actually be gaining control over non-physical aspects of a person, such as his will and values, James would once again be using the physical parts of the body to express his meaning. Alternate translation: [your lusts, which fight to control you] (3) James is speaking of the community of believers as if it were a body and of individual believers as if they were parts of that body. Alternate translation: [your lusts, which fight against other believers]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν, τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν

the gratifications ˱of˲_you_all ¬which warring in the members ˱of˲_you_all

In all of the cases that the previous note discusses, James would be speaking of lusts as if they were living things that could fight. Alternate translation: [the lusts inside of you that cause you to fight to get what you want] or [your lusts, which cause you to value and choose certain things in order to gratify them] or [your lusts, which cause you to fight against other believers]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear YAC (JAM) 4:1