ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

James 1.14-15

Book: James · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:

14. but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 15. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.

  1. Be not deceived, my beloved brethren. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. (James 1:12-17, ASV)
WEB

12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

14. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 15. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death.

  1. Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. (James 1:12-17, WEB)
KJV

12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: evil: or, evils

14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

  1. Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:12-17, KJV)
YLT

12. Happy the man who doth endure temptation, because, becoming approved, he shall receive the crown of the life, which the Lord did promise to those loving Him. 13. Let no one say, being tempted, 'From God I am tempted,' for God is not tempted of evil, and Himself doth tempt no one,

14. and each one is tempted, by his own desires being led away and enticed, 15. afterward the desire having conceived, doth give birth to sin, and the sin having been perfected, doth bring forth death.

  1. Be not led astray, my brethren beloved; 17. every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning; (James 1:12-17, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: James (Iakōbos), identified by the great majority of interpreters as the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19; Mark 6:3), leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18). He introduces himself simply as "a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), never as a relative.
  • Audience: Jewish believers outside Palestine, addressed as "the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad" (James 1:1). The congregations meet in a synagōgē (James 2:2) and include both poor members and wealthy visitors.
  • Location: Jerusalem, from which James led the mother church.
  • Time period: Date disputed. An early date (c. AD 44-49) would make this the earliest surviving Christian writing; a later one places it before James's death, which Josephus dates to AD 62 (Antiquities 20.200). The letter shows no awareness of the Gentile-circumcision controversy settled in Acts 15, which many take as evidence for the early date.

Theological reading

"But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."

The context is a denial. Verse 13: "let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." James is closing off an excuse before he traces the actual sequence.

Two metaphors, running together. Exelkomenos kai deleazomenos, drawn out and baited, is hunting and fishing vocabulary: the lure that draws prey from cover. Then the imagery switches to conception and birth: desire conceives, gives birth to sin, and sin when full-grown produces death. The mixed metaphor is deliberate and traces a process with stages rather than a single event.

"His own lust." Epithymia is desire, not necessarily sexual and not evil in itself; what James locates inside the person is the origin of the temptation's traction. The claim is not that external temptation does not exist but that it works by engaging something already there. Compare Mark 7:21-23, where what defiles comes from within.

The endpoint. "Brings forth death", apokyei thanaton, using the same birth verb as the previous clause. Compare Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death. James presents sin as generative rather than static: it has offspring.

Why the passage matters. It is the New Testament's clearest anatomy of temptation, and it places responsibility precisely: not with God, not solely with the tempter, but with the desire that answered. See Original Sin and Concupiscence.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.