Bible Strands
James 1:14
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — James writes to the twelve tribes in the diaspora (1:1), addressing the moment a person is caught in temptation, immediately after denying God as its source (1:13).
The words — ἐξελκόμενος (exelkomenos), "being drawn away," carries the verse: the image is of a creature pulled by a hook or snare, not pushed. The agent is not an external force but the person's own ἐπιθυμία (epithumia), "desire."
The thread — The same internal origin of evil appears in Mark 7:21 (evil thoughts come from within the heart), Matthew 15:18 (defilement comes out of the heart), and Ephesians 4:22 (the old self corrupted by deceitful desires).
Why it lands — It removes the option of blaming God or circumstance; the mechanism is your own desire acting as the lure. The reader is placed inside the process rather than outside it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Cross-references
- Mark 7:21 For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Ephesians 4:22 to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Matthew 15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.
- Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
- Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
- Romans 7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
- Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- James 4:1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
- Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.