James 4:2 (YLT)

Passage

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;

Nearby Context

James 4:1 Whence <FI>are<Fi> wars and fightings among you? not thence--out of your passions, that are as soldiers in your members?

James 4:2 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;

James 4:3 ye ask, and ye receive not, because evilly ye ask, that in your pleasures ye may spend <FI>it<Fi> .

James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! have ye not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever, then, may counsel to be a friend of the world, an enemy of God he is set.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "desire", "murder", "zealous", "able", "attain", "fight", and "asking". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "desire" and "murder", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Whence FI are Fi wars and fightings..." into verse 3's "ye ask and ye receive not because...", so "desire" and "murder" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

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