James 4:8

American Standard Version (1901)

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ἐγγίσατε τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν. Καθαρίσατε χεῖρας, ἁμαρτωλοί· καὶ ἁγνίσατε καρδίας, δίψυχοι.

Transliteration

Engisate to the Theō, and he will engiei to you. Katharisate cheiras, hamartōloi; and hagnisate kardias, dipsychoi.

Grammar Details

• *Engisate*: aorist active imperative, 2nd plural - draw near/approach
• *Theō*: dative, masculine, singular - God
• *engiei*: future active indicative, 3rd singular - will draw near/approach
• *Katharisate*: aorist active imperative, 2nd plural - cleanse/purify
• *cheiras*: accusative, feminine, plural - hands
• *hamartōloi*: vocative, masculine, plural - sinners
• *hagnisate*: aorist active imperative, 2nd plural - purify/cleanse
• *kardias*: accusative, feminine, plural - hearts
• *dipsychoi*: vocative, masculine, plural - double-minded/wavering

Word Meanings

• *Engisate*: draw near/approach/come close
• *Theō*: God/deity
• *engiei*: will draw near/approach/come close
• *Katharisate*: cleanse/purify/make clean
• *cheiras*: hands
• *hamartōloi*: sinners/wrongdoers
• *hagnisate*: purify/cleanse/make holy
• *kardias*: hearts
• *dipsychoi*: double-minded/doubters/wavering

Referenced Verses

• 2 Chr 15:2 : 2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you, while ye are with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
• Zech 1:3 : 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Return unto me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts.
• Mal 3:7 : 7 From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?
• Ps 145:18 : 18 Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him, To all that call upon him in truth.
• Isa 55:6-7 : 6 Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near: 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
• Heb 10:22 : 22 let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water,
• Isa 1:15-16 : 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
• Hos 6:1-2 : 1 Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.
• 1 John 3:3 : 3 And every one that hath this hope [set] on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
• Heb 7:19 : 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh unto God.
• Ps 51:6-7 : 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
• 1 Chr 28:9 : 9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
• Jas 1:8 : 8 a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
• 1 Pet 1:22 : 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently:
• 1 Pet 3:21 : 21 which also after a true likeness doth now save you, [even] baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
• Luke 11:39-40 : 39 And the Lord said unto him, Now ye the Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. 40 Ye foolish ones, did not he that made the outside make the inside also?
• Acts 15:9 : 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
• 2 Cor 7:1 : 1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
• Ps 73:28 : 28 But it is good for me to draw near unto God: I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, That I may tell of all thy works.
• Matt 23:25-26 : 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also.
• Isa 29:13 : 13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh [unto me], and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught [them] ;
• Matt 12:33 : 33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.
• Matt 15:2 : 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
• 1 Tim 2:8 : 8 I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing.
• Gen 18:23 : 23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked?
• Job 17:9 : 9 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
• Ps 24:4 : 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, And hath not sworn deceitfully.
• Jer 4:11 : 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
• Jer 4:14 : 14 O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee?
• Ezek 18:31 : 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
• Ezek 36:25-27 : 25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them.
• Ps 51:10 : 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.
• Ps 73:13 : 13 Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
• Isa 13:15 : 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword.
• Ps 26:6 : 6 I will wash my hands in innocency: So will I compass thine altar, O Jehovah;
• Ps 18:20 : 20 Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
• Job 9:30 : 30 If I wash myself with snow water, And make my hands never so clean;
• Job 16:17 : 17 Although there is no violence in my hands, And my prayer is pure.
• Matt 27:24 : 24 So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye [to it] .