Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
In vain - no Scripture can be so. The quotation, as in Ephesians 5:14, seems not so much from a particular passage, as gathered under inspiration from the general tenor of the Old and New Testaments (Numbers 11:29; Septuagint, Psalms 62:10 х mee (G3361) epipotheite], 'lust not on robbery;' Proverbs 21:10; Galatians 5:17).
Spirit that dwelleth in us. 'Aleph (') B х katookisen (G2730)] read 'that God made to dwell in us' (namely, at Pentecost). 'Does the (Holy) Spirit that (God) hath placed in us lust х epipothei (G1971)] to (toward) envy?' (namely, as ye do in your worldly "fightings.") Certainly not: ye are walking in the flesh, not in the Spirit, while ye lust with envy against one another. The friendship of the world breeds envy; the Spirit produces very different fruit. [Alford attributes pros (G4314) fthonon (G1937) to the Holy Spirt: 'The Spirit jealously desires us for His own.' Katookesen (G2730) would mean, 'The (natural) spirit that hath its dwelling in us lusts with ( pros (G4314): toward) envy.'] Ye lust; and because ye have not what ye lust after (James 4:1-2), ye envy your neighbour who has: so the spirit of envy leads you to "fight." James refers to James 3:14; James 3:16.