For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
Parallel Translations
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For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
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Nether let that man thinke that he shall receave eny thinge of the Lorde.
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Neither let that man thinke that hee shall receiue any thing of the Lord.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to James 1:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- James 4:3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
- Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- Isaiah 58:3-4 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your laborers. Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
- Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination— how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 7 For let not that man think that he…
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Ver. 7. That he shall receive] Unless he strive against his doubting, and wade out of it, as the moon doth out of the cloud. Qui timide rogat, negare docet; He that prayeth doubtingly, shuts heaven’s gates against his own prayers.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For let not that man; he that wavers, in…
For let not that man; he that wavers, in opposition to him that asks in faith: all doubting doth not hinder the hearing of prayer, but that which excludes faith, Mar 9:23,24.
Think; vainly conceit, or persuade himself.
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That he shall receive any thing of the Lord; even the least mercy, much less the wisdom mentioned.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For let not that man think,.... Imagine, conclude, or…
For let not that man think,.... Imagine, conclude, or please himself with such thoughts,
that he shall receive anything from the Lord; wisdom, or anything else, he is seeking after; for wanting faith, he has nothing to receive with; faith is the grace, which receives the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and all grace from him; which receives a justifying righteousness, pardon of sin, adoption of children, and even the everlasting inheritance, at least, the right unto it; wherefore those who have not faith, as the wavering man, cannot receive any thing.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. Let not that man think] The man…
Verse 7. Let not that man think] The man whose mind is divided, who is not properly persuaded either of his own wants or God's sufficiency. Such persons may pray, but having no faith, they can get no answer.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For let not that man think that he shall…
For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord - Compare Heb 11:6. A man can hope for favor from God only as he puts confidence in him. He sees the heart; and if he sees that there is no belief in his existence, or his perfections - no real trust in him - no reliance on his promises, his wisdom, his grace - it cannot be proper that he should grant an answer to our petitions. That will account sufficiently for the fact that there are so many prayers unanswered; that we so frequently go to the throne of grace, and are sent empty away. A man that goes to God in such a state of mind, should not expect to receive any favor.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Let not that man think that he shall receive.…
Let not that man think that he shall receive. He that has not a lively faith and firm hope, wavering with a distrust of God’s power or goodness, must not imagine to receive what he so faintly asks. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For--resumed from "For" in Jam 1:6.
For--resumed from "For" in Jam 1:6.
that man--such a wavering self-deceiver.
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think--Real faith is something more than a mere thinking or surmise.
anything--namely, of the things that he prays for: he does receive many things from God, food, raiment, &c., but these are the general gifts of His providence: of the things specially granted in answer to prayer, the waverer shall not receive "anything," much less wisdom.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Not… receive any thing—Why should he? He has…
7. Not… receive any thing—Why should he? He has asked and refused in perhaps equal measure, so that he has not asked. As Stier says, “The wavering beggar has not held heart and hand steady enough and long enough for God to put any thing in.” Not receive is used instead of the above not shall be given to indicate that the failure is not in the giver but in the would-be and would-not-be recipient.
Any thing—That is, of those things he has asked. Many things unasked, as life and its enjoyments, and, perhaps, many other things for which he had faith, have been given him.
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The Lord—A word inherited in the Greek from the Septuagint to designate Jehovah, the God of the covenant.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. let not that man think …] Faith, undoubting…
7. let not that man think …] Faith, undoubting faith, is then the condition of the prayer for wisdom, as of all other prayers, being heard and answered. Without it, the No excludes the Yes, which yet the man will not quite abandon.
of the Lord] It is a question whether the Divine Title is used in the Old Testament sense, for the Father, or, as generally, though not exclusively, in the New Testament, for the Son. On the whole, looking (1) to the meaning of the word in ch. Jas_5:7; Jas_5:14-15, (2) and to the frequent use of “God” and “the Father,” where Christ is not meant, there seems a balance of evidence in favour of the latter meaning. Christ also, not less than the Father, is thought of as giving or not giving, in answer to prayer. Possibly, however, the word was used without the thought of a distinction between the Divine Persons.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Once more the Apostle warns the doubtful, holding…
(7) Once more the Apostle warns the doubtful, holding out no hope of help until the wavering mind be fixed on God.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 7, 8. The A.V, which makes ver. 8…
Vers. 7, 8. The A.V, which makes ver. 8 an independent sentence, is certainly wrong. Render, Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord, double-minded man that he is, unstable in all his ways. So Vulgate, Vir duplex animi, inconstans in omnibus viis. (The Clementine Vulgate, by reading est after inconstans, agrees with A.V) Another possible rendering is that of the R.V margin, "Let not that man think that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, shall receive," etc. But the rendering given above is better. Double-minded; diyucov occurs only here and in Jam_4:8 in the New Testament. It is not found in any earlier writer, and was perhaps coined by St. James to represent the idea of the Hebrew, "a heart and a heart (blew; bleb 1Ch_12:33). It took root at once in the vocabulary of ecclesiastical writers, being found three times in Clement of Rome, and frequently in his younger contemporary Hermas. St. James"s words are apparently alluded to in the Apost. Coust., VII 11., Mhnou diyucov ejn proseuch sou eij estai h) ouJ: and cf. Clem., "Romans," c. 23. The same thought is also found in Ecc 1:28, "Come not before him with a double heart (ejn kardia disoh)." Unstable; ajkatastatov, only here and (probably) Jam_3:8.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Let not that man think that he shall receive
Jam_1:7
Let not that man think that he shall receive
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Unbelieving prayer useless
1.
Unbelievers, though they may receive something, yet they can expect nothing from God. They are under a double misery.
(1) They can lift up no thoughts of hope and comfort, for they are not under the assurance of a promise.
(2) If they receive anything, they cannot leek upon it as coming by promise, or as a return of prayers.
2. Men usually deceive themselves with vain hopes and thoughts; they are out in their thinking (Mat_3:9).
3. The cause why we receive not upon asking is not from God, but ourselves; He giveth liberally, but we pray doubtingly. He would give, but we cannot receive. We see men are discouraged when they are distrusted, and suspicion is the ready way to make them unfaithful; and, certainly, when we distrust God, it is not reasonable we should expect aught from Him.
4. From that anything--neither wisdom nor anything else--that God thinketh the least mercy too good for unbelievers: He thinketh nothing too good for faith, nod anything too good for unbelief.
5. From that from the Lord, that the fruit of our prayers is received from the hands of Christ; He is the middle person by whom God conveyeth blessings to us, and we return duty to Him. (T. Manton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 7, 8. “Let not that person think that the…
ARGUMENT 1
DOUBLE MIND
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7, 8. “Let not that person think that the double souled man, most unstable in all his ways, shall receive anything from the Lord.” The Bible describes the sinner, one soul (or mind), and that a bad one; the sanctified man, one soul, and that a good one, while James’ double souled man is an unsanctified Christian. We are born into the world with the carnal mind, transmitted from Satan through Adam the first. In regeneration, the Holy Ghost imparts the mind of Christ, simultaneously subjugating the carnal mind and giving grace to keep it in subjection. Then follows the civil war in the heart between the good soul and the bad one, i.e., the Spirit and the flesh. In sanctification after regeneration, the Pentecostal fire consumes the carnal mind, leaving the mind of Christ to reign in the heart without a rival. We see from this Scripture that the unsanctified Christian must totally abrogate the carnal mind, and get victory over it, in order to prevail with God in prayer. “Most unstable in all his ways.” O, how significantly the Holy Ghost describes the unsanctified man! Today he is all honey and, you think, a Christian; tomorrow he is all vinegar and you think he is a sinner. Truly his religion is always in the subjunctive mood, so you never know where to locate him. He does things unbecoming a Christian and repents at once. O, how he needs sanctification to establish him.
9. “Let the poor brother boast in his exaltation.” The penniless scavenger, sweeping the streets, intelligently saved and gloriously sanctified, hears the angels singing all the day long, ready to encircle him in their pinions of light, and waft him like lightning to the bosom of God.
10. “And the rich man in his humility.” While God blesses the pauper with the transcendent grace of entire sanctification, exalting him above kings and millionaires, He blesses the rich man with that perfect humility which enables him to consecrate all to God, who fills him with the Holy Ghost, makes him humble as a beggar, benevolent, and takes him up to heaven.
11... “So also the rich man shall pass away in his ways.” If the rich man holds on to his selfish, avaricious ways, though he may bloom as the rose and flourish in royal splendor, he is destined to fade like vernal flowers,
blighted by the withering siroccoes of endless damnation; while, if in the full and eternal abandonment he takes God’s method, consecrates all and lives for heaven, he will rejoice with Abraham and Job in the city of God.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.