James 4:1-2

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ¹  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ²  from your passions that battle inside you? ³  4:2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;

Genesis 6:5

6:5 But the Lord saw ⁴  that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination ⁵  of the thoughts ⁶  of their minds ⁷  was only evil ⁸  all the time. ⁹ 

Genesis 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ¹⁰  and said ¹¹  to himself, ¹²  “I will never again curse ¹³  the ground because of humankind, even though ¹⁴  the inclination of their minds ¹⁵  is evil from childhood on. ¹⁶  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Joshua 7:21-24

7:21 I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, ¹⁷  two hundred silver pieces, ¹⁸  and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent with the silver underneath.”

7:22 Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent. The things were hidden right in his tent, with the silver underneath. ¹⁹  7:23 They took it all from the middle of the tent, brought it to Joshua and all the Israelites, and placed ²⁰  it before the Lord. 7:24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, son of Zerah, along with the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, ox, donkey, sheep, tent, and all that belonged to him and brought them up to the Valley of Disaster. ²¹ 

Joshua 7:2

7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho ²²  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ²³ ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Joshua 11:2-3

11:2 and the northern kings who ruled in ²⁴  the hill country, the Arabah south of Kinnereth, ²⁵  the lowlands, and the heights of Dor to the west. 11:3 Canaanites came ²⁶  from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area ²⁷  of Mizpah.

Joshua 11:1

Israel Defeats a Northern Coalition

11:1 When King Jabin of Hazor ²⁸  heard the news, he organized a coalition, including ²⁹  King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph,

Joshua 21:2-4

21:2 in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us cities in which to live along with the grazing areas for our cattle.” 21:3 So the Israelites assigned these cities and their grazing areas to the Levites from their own holdings, as the Lord had instructed.

21:4 The first lot belonged to ³⁰  the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

Job 31:9

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ³¹ 

Job 31:27

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, ³² 

Proverbs 4:23

4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, ³³ 

for from it are the sources ³⁴  of life.

Isaiah 44:20

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ³⁵ 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ³⁶ 

Hosea 13:9

Israel’s King Unable to Deliver the Nation

13:9 I will destroy you, ³⁷  O Israel!

Who ³⁸  is there to help you?

Matthew 5:28

5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 15:18

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person.

Matthew 15:20

15:20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” ³⁹ 

Mark 7:21-22

7:21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 7:22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly.

Romans 7:11

7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. ⁴⁰ 

Romans 7:13

7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

Ephesians 4:22

4:22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside ⁴¹  the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires,

Hebrews 3:13

3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.

[4:1]  ¹ tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ² tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”

[6:5]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.

[6:5]  ⁵ tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).

[6:5]  ⁶ tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”

[6:5]  ⁸ sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.

[6:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the day.”

[8:21]  ¹⁰ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

[8:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ¹² tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ¹³ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

[8:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[7:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Shinar,” a reference to Babylon (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1). Many modern translations retain the Hebrew name “Shinar” (cf. NEB, NRSV) but some use the more familiar “Babylon” (cf. NIV, NLT).

[7:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “shekels.”

[7:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Look, [it was] hidden in his tent, and the silver was beneath it.”

[7:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “poured out,” probably referring to the way the silver pieces poured out of their container.

[7:24]  ²¹ tn Or “Trouble” The name is “Achor” in Hebrew, which means “disaster” or “trouble” (also in v. 26).

[7:2]  ²² map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[7:2]  ²³ map For the location of Bethel see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[11:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and to the kings who [are] from the north in.”

[11:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Chinneroth,” a city and plain located in the territory of Naphtali in Galilee (BDB 490 s.v. כִּנֶּרֶת, כִּנֲרוֹת).

[11:3]  ²⁶ tn The verb “came” is supplied in the translation (see v. 4).

[11:3]  ²⁷ tn Or “land.”

[11:1]  ²⁸ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he sent to.”

[21:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “came out for.”

[31:9]  ³¹ tn Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, based on Prov 7:6ff. (see b. Ketubbot 9b). See also the use in Song 4:12 using a synonym.

[31:27]  ³² tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.

[4:23]  ³³ tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).

[4:23]  ³⁴ sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.

[44:20]  ³⁵ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[13:9]  ³⁷ tc The MT reads שִׁחֶתְךָ (shikhetkha, “he destroyed you”; Piel perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שָׁחַת, shakhat, “to destroy” + 2nd person masculine singular suffix). The BHS editors suggest שׁחתיךָ (“I will destroy you”; Piel perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix). Contextually, this fits: If the Lord is intent on destroying Israel, there is no one who will be able to rescue her from him. This reading is also followed by NCV, NRSV, TEV.

[13:9]  ³⁸ tc The MT reads כִּי־בִי בְעֶזְרֶךָ (ki-vi ve’ezrekha, “but in me is your help”); cf. KJV, NIV, NLT. The LXX and Syriac reflect an underlying Hebrew text of כִּי־מִי בְעֶזְרֶךָ (ki-mi ve’ezrekha, “For who will help you?”). The interrogative מִי (“Who?”) harmonizes well with the interrogatives in 13:9-10 and should be adopted, as the BHS editors suggest; the reading is also followed by NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV.

[15:20]  ³⁹ tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”

[7:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “and through it killed me.”

[4:22]  ⁴¹ tn An alternative rendering for the infinitives in vv. 22-24 (“to lay aside… to be renewed… to put on”) is “that you have laid aside… that you are being renewed… that you have put on.” The three infinitives of vv. 22 (ἀποθέσθαι, apoqesqai), 23 (ἀνανεοῦσθαι, ananeousqai), and 24 (ἐνδύσασθαι, endusasqai), form part of an indirect discourse clause; they constitute the teaching given to the believers addressed in the letter. The problem in translation is that one cannot be absolutely certain whether they go back to indicatives in the original statement (i.e., “you have put off”) or imperatives (i.e., “put off!”). Every other occurrence of an aorist infinitive in indirect discourse in the NT goes back to an imperative, but in all of these examples the indirect discourse is introduced by a verb that implies a command. The verb διδάσκω (didaskw) in the corpus Paulinum may be used to relate the indicatives of the faith as well as the imperatives. This translation implies that the infinitives go back to imperatives, though the alternate view that they refer back to indicatives is also a plausible interpretation. For further discussion, see ExSyn 605.