supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
will
θελήσῃthelēsē
G2309
to determine (as an active option from subjective impul… · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
live
ζήσομενzēsomen
G2198
to live (literally or figuratively) · verb — future active indicative, 1st person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
do
ποιήσομενpoiēsomen
G4160
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — future active indicative, 1st person plural
this
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
that
ἐκεῖνο.ekeino
G1565
that one (or (neuter) thing) · demonstrative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Acts 18:21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will.…
Romans 1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
1 Corinthians 16:7 For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.
Romans 15:32 That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
2 Samuel 15:25-26 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me agai…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on James 4:11–end
In this part of the chapter,
I. We are cautioned against the sin of evil-speaking: Speak not evil one of another, brethren, Jam 4:11. The Greek word, katalaleite, signifies speaking any thing that may hurt or injure another; we must not speak evil things of others, though they be true, unless we be called to it, and there be some necessary occasion for the; much less must we report evil things when they are false, or, for aught we know, may be so. Our lips must be guided by the law of kindness, as well as truth and justice. This, which Solomon makes a necessary part of the character of his virtuous woman, that she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness (Pro 3…
Literally, "instead of your saying," &c. This refers to "ye that say" (Jam 4:13).
we shall live--The best manuscripts read, "We shall both live and do," &c. The boasters spoke as if life, action, and the particular kind of action were in their power, whereas all three depend entirely on the will of the Lord.
Adam Clarke on James 4:15
For that ye ought to say - Αντι τοι λεγειν ὑμας· Instead of saying, or instead of which ye should say,
If the Lord will, we shall live - I think St. James had another example from the rabbins in view, which is produced by Drusius, Gregory, Cartwright, and Schoettgen, on this clause: "The bride went up to her chamber, not knowing what was to befall her there." On which there is this comment: "No man should ever say that he will do this or that, without the condition If God Will. A certain man said, 'To-morrow shall I sit with my bride in my chamber, and there shall rejoice with her.' To which some standing by said, אם גוזר השם im gozer hashshem, 'If the Lord will.' To which he answered, 'Whe…
For that ye ought to say,.... Instead of saying we will go to such and such a place, and do this, and that, and the other thing, it should be said,
if the Lord will, and we shall live, and do this and that; the last "and" is left out in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions; and the passage rendered thus, "if the Lord will, and we shall live, we will do this": so that here are two conditions of doing anything; the one is, if it should be agreeable to the determining will and purpose of God, by which everything in the world comes to pass, and into which the wills of men should be resolved, and resigned; and the other is, if we should live, since life is so very uncertain a…
The Church Fathers
James is not trying to take away our freedom to decide, but he is showing us that it is not just what we want that matters. We need God's grace to complement our efforts and ought to rely not on them but on God's love for us. As it says in Proverbs: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
for that you should say, If the Lord wills, and if we live, we will do this or that. But now you glory in your arrogance. All such rejoicing is wicked. Furthermore, having intercepted such speech by this example, it again returns from the perspective to what was following. For the whole particle is to be ordered in this way: Now you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to that city, and we will spend a year there, and we will trade and make a profit," for what you ought to say. If the Lord wills, and if we live, we will do this or that. "But now you glory in your arrogance." Since this was truly a consequence of the discourse, it does not do this, but after it interrupts the continuity of the discourse with an example, it subsequently adds what it intended, by portraying the thing and proving the vanity that lies beneath what distracts us regarding this world. It is to be understood in this way: "Glory in your arrogance." Who are you that do not know what will happen the next day? What is your life? etc. By saying, "What is your life?" it despises life, and by this, it paves the way with an example set against brittleness, thus it also adds an example, rendering this most solid. "Glory in your arrogance." The arrogant and arrogance are affections for non-sustaining things. Therefore, it is also called ἁλαζών, which means "living with the sea," that is, living with something unstable and lacking permanence. "All such rejoicing is wicked." James repeats the empty boasting that desires to arise from pride, and as if concluding his speech, he supposes that it is evil: if it is evil, it is certainly also from the Evil One. However, those who have been consecrated to the Lord through baptism should not receive any corruptions from the Evil One.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Providence — Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35; 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence…
Life, Natural · Described as: Uncertain — Described as: Uncertain
Presumption · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
James 4:13-17
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
13 Age nunc, qui dicitis, Hodie et cras eamus in civitatem, et transigamus illic annum unum, et mercemur et lucremur;
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
14 Qui nescitis quid cras futurum sit; quae enim est vita nostra? vapor est scilicet ad exiguum tempus apparens, deinde evanescens:
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
15 Quum dicere debeatis, Si Dominus voluerit, et vixerim…
