Devine Scripture

James 4:2

What does James 4:2 mean?

A plain-English look at James 4:2 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What James 4:2 means

Disordered desire breeds frustration: wanting more yet never satisfied. James paints a stark picture—craving leads to fighting and, in its ugliest forms, even to murderous intent or character-assassinating hatred. The tragedy deepens with prayerlessness: “you have not, because you ask not.” Rather than bring needs to God, people scheme and strive, and so they remain empty. James confronts self-sufficiency that refuses dependence on the Father. He shows how unchecked coveting harms both community and soul. The remedy is not more struggle, but humble asking. Yet even asking can go wrong, as James will say next, if the heart remains captive to pleasure-centered motives rather than God-centered trust.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

You covet, and have not: you kill and envy and cannot obtain. You contend and war, and you have not: because you ask not.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Ye lust and have not: ye kill and are full of envy, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war; ye have not because ye ask not.

Context

Verse 2 continues exposing the anatomy of conflict introduced in verse 1. James moves from inner desires to their outward effects—fighting and even deadly hostility—and then to a neglected means of grace: prayer. This lays the groundwork for verse 3, which will explain why some prayers still go unanswered. The sequence pushes readers from self-reliance toward God-dependence, and from grasping desire toward examined motives. It prepares for James’s sharp rebuke of worldliness and his summons to repentant humility before God.

v.1Whence comewars and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members?

v.2This passage

v.3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Luke 11:9

    And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

  • 1 Timothy 6:9

    But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.

  • Habakkuk 2:5

    Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.

  • James 5:1

    Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.

  • Matthew 7:7

    Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

  • John 4:10

    Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

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