James 3:16
in James 3For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed.
KJV
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
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This verse in James 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhere there is jealousy and contention, there is inconstancy and every wrongful work. With all, he says, guard your heart, for from it comes life. For just as the root of the heart is, so in the sight of internal judgment is the whole fruit …
This site's exposition
if you harbor bitter jealousy
on James 3:14-16
If you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. Such wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, demonic, drawn from the world, the natural man and the demons. Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
This site's exposition
there will be disorder
Disorder here, akatastasia, shares its root with restless in 3:8. Matthew Henry notes that one sin begets another, so jealousy and selfish ambition breed every evil practice. Gill traces the disorder through families, states and churches.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let us cleanse the eyes of our souls of all filth. For just as filth and mud blind the eyes of the flesh, so too worldly concerns and discussions about moneymaking can dull the hearing of our minds more effectively than any filth, and not only corrupt them but do wicked things as well.
Who is wise and has knowledge among you? Let him show by good conversation his working in mildness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal, and there be disputes in your hearts: glory not and be not liars against the truth. For this is …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For where envying and strife is,.... Where these are cherished in the heart, and especially where they break out into action, in families, neighbourhoods, states, or churches: there is confusion and every evil work; these occasion disturbances, raise uneasiness, make disquietude, and cause tumults whenever they appear; and put persons upon doing everything that is wicked, to gratify such insatiable lusts.
One sin begets another, and it cannot be imagined how much mischief is produced: there is every evil work. And is such wisdom as produces these effects to be gloried in? This cannot be without giving the lie to Christianity, and pretending that this wisdom is what it is not.
Your zeal for truth or orthodoxy, and your boasts of knowing more than others, if you employ these only to make others hateful, and to show your own spite and heart-burnings against them, are a shame to your profession of Christianity, and a downright contradiction to it. Lie not thus against the truth." Observe, 1. Envying and strife are opposed to the meekness of wisdom.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
envying--So English Version translates the Greek, which usually means "zeal"; "emulation," in Ro 13:13. "The envious man stands in his own light. He thinks his candle cannot shine in the presence of another's sun.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+odd-straight-quotes
For where envying and strife is - Ζηλος και εριθεια· Zeal - fiery, inflammatory passion, and contention - altercations about the different points of the law, of no use for edification, such as those mentioned, Tit 3:9. The Jews were the most intolerant of all mankind; it was a maxim with them to kill those who would not conform to their law; and their salvation they believed to be impossible.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion - Margin, tumult or unquietness. Everything is unsettled and agitated. There is no mutual confidence; there is no union of plan and effort; there is no co-operation in promoting a common object; there is no stability in any plan; for a purpose, though for good, formed by one portion, is defeated by another. And every evil work - Of the truth of this no one can have any doubt who has observed the effects in a family or neighborhood where a spirit of strife prevails. All love and harmony of course are banished; all happiness disappears; all prosperity is at an end. In place of the peaceful virtues which ought to prevail, there springs up every evil passion that tends to mar the peace of a community. Where this spirit prevails in a church, it is of course impossible to expect any progress in divine things; and in such a church any effort to do good is vain. “The Spirit, like a peaceful dove, Flies from the realms of noise and strife.”
The words behind it
11 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὅπου | hopou | Where | G3699 → | |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ζῆλος | zelos | jealousy | G2205 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐριθεία, | eritheia | self-interest [exist], | G2052 → | |
| ἐκεῖ | ekei | there [will be] | G1563 → | 105 times |
| ἀκαταστασία | akatastasia | disorder | G181 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πᾶν | pan | every | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| φαῦλον | phaulon | evil | G5337 → | |
| πρᾶγμα.¶ | pragma | thing. | G4229 → |
ὅπουWhere
hopouG3699 →
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ζῆλοςjealousy
zelosG2205 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐριθεία,self-interest [exist],
eritheiaG2052 →
ἐκεῖthere [will be]
ekeiG1563 →105 times
ἀκαταστασίαdisorder
akatastasiaG181 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πᾶνevery
panG3956 →1235 times
φαῦλονevil
phaulonG5337 →
πρᾶγμα.¶thing.
pragmaG4229 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 3:14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
- Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- 2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4
Through
1 Corinthians 14:33For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints.
it leads to
- James 3:17–18
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- 1 Corinthians 14:40
But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
- Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- 1 Corinthians 11:16
If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.
- James 3:17–18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About James
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, CATENA; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on James.