James 4 Footnotes

4:5 Some worry that James was wrong when he quoted a passage that says, “The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely,” because no such verse exists in the Bible. However, he was not citing an OT verse word for word but was giving a broad summary of several OT statements. Plenty of passages in the OT describe God as jealous and as One who forbids idolatry (e.g., Ex 34:14; Dt 4:23-26; 6:14-15; Jos 24:19-20).