Jam 4:1-3 | TNotes | STEP | 4:1 quarrels and fights (literally wars and battles ): James uses military imagery to declare that their own evil desires at war within them were the immediate cause of the battles among church members. James uses the Greek word translated evil desires again in 4:3 (translated “pleasure”) to enclose the entire paragraph and indicate the source of conflict and unanswered prayer (Luke 8:14 ; Titus 3:3 ).

cLuke 8:14►

dTitus 3:3►

‏ James 4:1-3

4:1 ^a quarrels and fights (literally wars and battles): James uses military imagery to declare that their own evil desires at war within them were the immediate cause of the battles among church members. James uses the Greek word translated evil desires again in 4:3 ^b (translated “pleasure”) to enclose the entire paragraph and indicate the source of conflict and unanswered prayer (Luke 8:14 ^c; Titus 3:3 ^d).
4:2 ^e you scheme and kill: Killing was the extreme, but logical, outcome of their rapacious attitude. Some of James’s readers might have followed the Jewish Zealot movement and engaged in murder to benefit their cause. Hostile attitudes and violent methods do not provide satisfaction—you can’t get what you want by them.