he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Parallel translations
- WEB He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
- KJV A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
- BSB He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
- NASB being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
- NLT Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The doubter is a "double-minded" person, divided and unstable in everything. A heart torn between God and the world cannot stand firm.
Overview
James coins the vivid term "double-minded" (literally "two-souled") to describe spiritual instability. Such a person tries to trust God and the world at once, and the resulting division pervades all of life. This theme of undivided devotion runs through the letter and echoes Jesus' teaching that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Kgs 18:21Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.
- Matt 6:24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
- Jas 4:8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Isa 29:13The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;
- 2 Pet 2:14having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
- 2 Kgs 17:41So these nations feared Yahweh, and also served their engraved images. Their children likewise, and their children’s children, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
- 2 Pet 3:16as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
- 2 Kgs 17:33They feared Yahweh, and also served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
- Hos 7:8–11Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephraim is a pancake not turned over.
- Matt 6:22“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.
- Hos 10:2Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.
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Christ at the center
The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.
How James 1:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.