James 4:1 (GNV)

Passage

From whence are warres and contentions among you? are they not hence, euen of your pleasures, that fight in your members?

Nearby Context

James 4:1 From whence are warres and contentions among you? are they not hence, euen of your pleasures, that fight in your members?

James 4:2 Ye lust, and haue not: ye enuie, and desire immoderately, and cannot obtaine: ye fight and warre, and get nothing, because ye aske not.

James 4:3 Ye aske, and receiue not, because ye aske amisse, that ye might lay the same out on your pleasures.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "whence", "warres", "contentions", "euen", "pleasures", "fight", and "members". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whence" and "warres", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "Ye lust and haue not ye enuie...", so "whence" and "warres" should be read forward into that movement. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "whence" and "warres" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.