James 1:8

Verse 8. A double-minded man.

Of the kind of a man James calls double-minded; he affirms that he is unstable, not in one thing, nor in one way, but in all his ways. It is important, therefore, to ascertain just what is meant by double-minded as applied to men. Dr. Macknight's translation has a "man of two minds." That throws some light upon the question, for if a man has two minds, one mind would entertain one view, while the other mind could contend for an entirely different position. Rotherham's translation gives us, in lieu of "double-minded man," these words: "A two-souled man." The translation from the Latin Vulgate has it: "A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways." Meyer, in his commentary on this verse, uses this language: "It thus describes the doubter, who has, as it were, two souls contending against each other, one of which is turned to God, and one of which is turned away from God" (thus to the world). In the same connection he says: "This double-mindedness [or, which is the same thing, division of soul] expresses the wavering to and from between faith and unbelief."