4:1-3 · Continuing his analysis of the quarrels that have broken out among his readers, James now traces the source of these bitter disputes to evil “desires.” Sin, James has reminded us, comes from within, from our “own evil desire” (1:14); so too the specific sin of quarrelsomeness. These desires are fighting within us, waging “war against your soul,” as Peter puts it (1 Pet. 2:11), and this fighting within also results in fighting without (4:1). The precise meaning of verse 2 depends entirely on how we punctuate the verse. (The earliest copies of the New Testament had no punctuation at all.) Some versions (KJV and HCSB, for instance) separate the relevant words into three separate sentences:

1. You want something but do not get it.

2. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you …