James 1:15

15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:15 in Other Translations

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

15 Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

James 1:15 Meaning and Commentary

James 1:15

Then when lust hath conceived
A proposal of pleasure or profit being made, agreeable to lust, or the principle of corrupt nature, sinful man is pleased with it; and instead of resisting and rejecting the motion made, he admits of it, and receives it, and cherishes it in his mind; he dallies and plays with it; he dwells upon it in his thoughts, and hides it under his tongue, and in his heart, as a sweet morsel, and forsakes it not, but contrives ways and means how to bring it about; and this is lust's conceiving. The figure is used in ( Psalms 7:14 ) on which Kimchi, a Jewish commentator, has this note;

``he (the psalmist) compares the thoughts of the heart (Nwyrhl) , "to a conception", and when they go out in word, this is "travail", and in work or act, this is "bringing forth".''

And so it follows here,

it bringeth forth sin;
into act, not only by consenting to it, but by performing it:

and sin, when it is finished:
being solicited, is agreed to, and actually committed:

bringeth forth death;
as the first sin of man brought death into the world, brought a spiritual death, or moral death upon man, subjected him to a corporeal death, and made him liable to an eternal one; so every sin is deserving of death, death is the just wages of it; yea, even the motions of sin work in men to bring forth fruit unto death. Something like these several gradual steps, in which sin proceeds, is observed by the Jews, and expressed in much the like language, in allegorizing the case of Lot, and his two daughters ^F9;

``the concupiscent soul (or "lust") stirs up the evil figment, and imagines by it, and it cleaves to every evil imagination, (trbetmv) , "until it conceives a little", and produces in the heart of man the evil thought, and cleaves to it; and as yet it is in his heart, and is not "finished" to do it, until this desire or lust stirs up the strength of the body, first to cleave to the evil figment, and then (herh Mwlvt) , "sin is finished"; as it is said, ( Genesis 19:36 ) .''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F9 Midrash Haneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 67. 4.

James 1:15 In-Context

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 3:6; Job 15:35; Psalms 7:14; Isaiah 59:4
• 2. S Romans 6:23