Jameschapter 3
18 verses · James, by tradition · AD 44 to 49 · The general letters
The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Introduction
James, by tradition, The general letters, James Overview.
This chapter continues the letter's call for a faith that shows itself, and it turns now to speech. Its first hearers lived in congregations where the honoured man was the one who spoke, and many wanted that seat. The writer answers with pictures from the stable, the harbour, the dry hills and the village spring. Listen for how often he says small, and how often he says whole. Listen also for the list of qualities near the close, which reads like a portrait of a person. The chapter asks who is fit to lead a church, and it answers by fruit.
Context
- Who
- Congregations where the respected role was the man who spoke
- What
- A warning to would-be teachers about the power of the tongue, followed by a contrast between two kinds of wisdom.
- Where
- Congregations of scattered Jewish believers, where teaching was the respected role and the natural ambition of a capable man.
- When
- The earliest years of the church, about AD 45 to 48 on the traditional dating, with some placing the letter in the AD 60s.
- Why
- To check the rush for the teacher's seat and to give congregations a test for the wisdom of those who want to lead them.
Historical context
Being a teacher was the honored position in Jewish community life. A teacher was addressed with respect, given the good seat, and consulted, so the ambition James is warning against was the natural ambition of any capable man.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The three pictures are all about small things steering big ones. A bit in a horse's mouth is a few inches of metal; the rudder of a grain freighter carrying hundreds of tons from Egypt to Rome is a paddle at the stern, turned by one man, and those ships really did drive before hard winds.
The fire picture is regional. The hills of Palestine dry out to tinder by late summer, and a scrub fire started by a spark takes a whole hillside. Everyone had seen one.
The spring picture is regional too. Some springs in that country run sweet and others run bitter or brackish, and a village's life depended on knowing which was which. A single spring giving both was unthinkable, which is exactly the abnormality James is naming in the mouth that blesses God and curses men.
Significance
The hearers wanted the platform, and James tells them the platform carries a stricter judgment. That alone would have thinned the field.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Then he separates two kinds of wisdom by their fruit rather than their cleverness. One produces envy and selfish ambition and the disorder that follows; the other is peaceable, gentle, open to reason, a test a congregation could apply on the spot to the men wanting to lead it.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A Small Tongue Sets a Forest Ablaze
Not many of you should become teachers: , because we who teach will be judged more strictly. A teacher, didaskalos, James's own office, answers for his words, as the Lord warned those who cause a little one to stumble. The warning is pastoral, since the letter speaks in a teacher's voice.
James 3:1
“My brethren, be not many masters - “Be not many of you teachers.” The evil referred to is that where many desired to be teachers, though but few could be qualified for the office, and though, in fact, comparatively few were required. A small number, well qualified, would better discharge the duties of the office, and do more good, than many would; and there would be great evil in having many crowding themselves unqualified into the office.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
James 3:1
“Shall receive greater condemnation - For more offenses. St. James here, as in several of the following verses, by a common figure of speech, includes himself: we shall receive, - we offend, - we put bits, - we curse - None of which, as common sense shows, are to be interpreted either of him or of the other apostles.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 3:1
“The idea that faith (so called) without works (Jas 2:14-26) was all that is required, prompted "many" to set up as "teachers," as has been the case in all ages of the Church.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
We all stumble in many ways: admits common failure before any sin is named, and James counts himself with we. Anyone never at fault in what he says is a perfect man, able to control his whole body, the tongue as rudder.
James 3:2
“The same is able to bridle the whole body - That is, the whole man. And doubtless some are able to do this, and so are in this sense perfect.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
James 3:2
“In many things we offend all - Πταιομεν ἁπαντες· We all stumble or trip. Dr. Barrow very properly observes: “As the general course of life is called a way, and particular actions steps, so going on in a regular course of right action is walking uprightly; and acting amiss, tripping or stumbling.” There are very few who walk so closely with God, and inoffensively with men, as never to stumble; and although it is the privilege of every follower of God to be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ, yet few of them are so.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 3:2
“The effective proof of a sound mind and perfect thought is to have nothing faulty on our tongue and to keep our mouths closed when necessary. For it is better to be guided by worthy speech, which is able to know and to express the fullness of all praise. For the most useful talent is to be able to speak wisdom when talking about how to live well. Foolish talk should be foreign to the saints.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · CATENApatristic
James 3:2
“But, on the other hand, if a man seemeth to be religious (as was declared in the first chapter) and bridleth not his tongue, whatever profession he makes, that man's religion is vain. Further, he that offends not in word will not only prove himself a sincere Christian, but a very much advanced and improved Christian.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 3:3-4
When we put bits into the mouths of horses: to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal. Large ships driven by strong winds are steered by a very small rudder. Both pictures make one point: a small instrument governs a large body.
James 3:3
“Behold--The best authorities read, "but if," that is, Now whensoever (in the case) of horses (such is the emphatic position of "horses" in the Greek) we put the bits (so literally, "the customary bits") into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about also their whole body. This is to illustrate how man turns about his whole body with the little tongue.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Consider ships as well: Bede reads the great ships as human minds in this life. The strong winds recall the wave of the sea tossed by the wind in 1:6, the picture of the doubter. A small rudder under a steady hand holds a course the winds would break.
James 3:5-6
the tongue is a small part of the body: The tongue, small in size, boasts of great things, as a spark sets a great forest ablaze. It is a fire and a world of wickedness that sets the course of his life on fire, trochos geneseos, the wheel of existence.
James 3:5
“The sword kills the body, but the tongue kills the soul. The tongue knows no moderation—either it is a great good or it is a great evil. It is a great good when it acknowledges that Christ is God, and a great evil when it denies that. Let no one deceive himself into thinking that he has never sinned, for if I have sinned, it is with my tongue. What more monstrous sin is there than blasphemy against God? The devil did not fall because he committed theft, murder or adultery; he fell because of his tongue.”
Jerome · written before 420 · SERMONS 41patristic
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James 3:5
“Observe hence, There is a great pollution and defilement in sins of the tongue. Defiling passions are kindled, vented, and cherished by this unruly member. And the whole body is often drawn into sin and guilt by the tongue.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The tongue also is a fire: Clarke reads world here as a great mass, the way people speak of a world of trouble. Matthew Henry shows the fire spreading, as the tongues of men set whole societies ablaze. One small part of the body can pollute a whole life.
James 3:6
“The tongue is a fire - It is often the instrument of producing the most desperate contentions and insurrections. A world of iniquity - This is an unusual form of speech, but the meaning is plain enough; World signifies here a mass, a great collection, an abundance. We use the term in the same sense - a world of troubles, a world of toil, a world of anxiety; for great troubles, oppressive toil, most distressing anxiety.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
James 3:6
“The snares into which men are sometimes led by the tongue are insufferable to themselves and destructive of others. It setteth on fire the course of nature. The affairs of mankind and of societies are often thrown into confusion, and all is on a flame, by the tongues of men.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 3:6
“If you love life, fulfill the commandment of life. "The one who loves me," said Jesus, "keeps my commandments," and the first commandment is this: "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile." For the sin which is caused by the tongue is very active and many-sided, being active in wrath, lust, hypocrisy, judgment and deception. Do we need to recall the many names which are given to sins of the tongue? For from it come slanders, coarse jokes, idiocies, irrelevant accusations, bitterness, swearing, false witness—the tongue is the creator of all these evil things and more.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · CATENApatristic
James 3:6
“While a man inflames others, he passes out of his own power, being consumed in the flame himself. of hell--that is, of the devil. Greek, "Gehenna"; found here only and in Mt 5:22.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 3:7-8
All kinds of animals, birds: , reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, the dominion of Genesis 1. Yet no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison, like a serpent's venom.
James 3:7
“For every kind of beasts - The apostle proceeds to state another thing showing the power of the tongue, the fact that it is ungovernable, and that there is no power of man to keep it under control. Everything else but this has been tamed. It is unnecessary to refine on the expressions used here, by attempting to prove that it is literally true that every species of beasts, and birds, and fishes has been tamed.”
1 more voice on this verse
James 3:7
“The dative in the Greek may imply, "Hath suffered itself to be brought into tame subjection TO the nature of men." So it shall be in the millennial world; even now man, by gentle firmness, may tame the inferior animal, and even elevate its nature.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
no man can tame the tongue: Clarke holds that only the grace of God, or death, can tame the tongue. Bede applies the line first to teachers, who cannot tame the tongues of men given to foolish talk. So the restless evil needs the help of God.
James 3:8
“But the tongue wan no man tame - No cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able to silence it. Nothing but the grace of God, excision, or death, can bring it under subjection. It is an unruly evil - Ακατασχετον κακον· An evil that cannot be restrained; it cannot be brought under any kind of government; it breaks all bounds. Full of deadly poison - He refers here to the tongues of serpents, supposed to be the means of conveying their poison into wounds made by their teeth.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 3:9-10
With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father: , and with it we curse men. Those cursed have been made in God’s likeness, so the curse strikes the image of the One just blessed. The verse ends, this should not be, and leaves the inconsistency to convict.
James 3:9
“Therewith bless we God - We men do this; that is, all this is done by the tongue. The apostle does not mean that the same man does this, but that all this is done by the same organ - the tongue. Even the Father - Who sustains to us the relation of a father. The point in the remark of the apostle is, the absurdity of employing the tongue in such contradictory uses as to bless one who has to us the relation of a father, and to curse any being, especially those who are made in his image.”
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James 3:9
“It is said of the seraphim that praise God, they dare not bring a railing accusation. And for men to reproach those who have not only the image of God in their natural faculties, but are renewed after the image of God by the grace of the gospel: this is a most shameful contradiction to all their pretensions of honouring the great Original.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 3:9
“This too should be understood in an interrogative form, as also the following.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Jamespatristic
James 3:9
“God--The oldest authorities read, "Lord." "Him who is Lord and Father." The uncommonness of the application of "Lord" to the Father, doubtless caused the change in modern texts to "God" (Jas 1:27). But as Messiah is called "Father," Isa 9:6, so God the Father is called by the Son's title, "Lord": showing the unity of the Godhead.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Out of the same mouth: Clarke tells a rabbinic story of Rabbi Simeon, who sent his servant out for good food and later for bad food. Both times the servant came back with tongues. The same mouth can bless God and curse men.
James 3:10
“Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing,.... Which is not only a contradiction, but unnatural, as well as wicked and sinful: my brethren, these things ought not so to be: in any, and much less in professors of religion: such things are unbecoming men, are a scandal upon human nature, and exceeding unworthy of the Christian name; see Psa 50:16.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 3:10
“Out of the same mouth - This saying is something like that, Pro 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and on this, for an illustration of St. James’ words, hear Vayikra Rabba, sec. 33: “Rabbi Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, said to his servant Tobias, Go and bring me some good food from the market: the servant went, and he bought tongues. At another time he said to the same servant, Go and buy me some bad food: the servant went, and bought tongues.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
James 3:10
“So in a fable, a man with the same breath blows hot and cold. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (compare Ps 62:4). brethren--an appeal to their consciences by their brotherhood in Christ. ought not so to be--a mild appeal, leaving it to themselves to understand that such conduct deserves the most severe reprobation.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 3:11-12
fresh water and salt water: Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring turns from the body to nature. Nor can a fig tree grow olives or a grapevine bear figs, since each keeps to its kind. The tongue that blesses and curses in verses 9 and 10 fails that consistency.
James 3:11
“The spring is the heart of man, the flowing stream of water is his speech, and the opening through which it pours is his mouth. The sweet water is sound doctrine, while the bitter water is just the opposite.”
Hilary of Arles · written before 449 · Introductory Tractate on the Letter of Jamespatristic
2 more voices on this verse
James 3:11
“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place - Margin, “hole.” The Greek word means “opening, fissure,” such as there is in the earth, or in rocks from which a fountain gushes. Sweet water and bitter - Fresh water and salt, Jas 3:12. Such things do not occur in the works of nature, and they should not be found in man.”
James 3:11
“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place,.... "Or hole"; for at divers places, and at different times, as Pliny (m) observes, it may send forth sweet water and bitter: and it is reported (n), there is a lake with the Trogloditae, a people in Ethiopia, which becomes thrice a day bitter, and then as often sweet; but then it does not yield sweet water and bitter at the same time: this simile is used to show how unnatural it is that blessing and cursing should proceed out of the same mouth. (m) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c.”
can a fig tree grow olives: Spurgeon draws the lesson that believers should act according to their nature, as children of God. A fig tree bears figs because figs are its nature. Jesus used the same test of the fruit and the tree in Matthew 7:16.
James 3:12
“So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh - For the reading of the common text, which is οὑτως ουδεμια πηγη ἁλυκον και γλυκυ ποιησαι ὑδωρ, so no fountain can produce salt water and sweet, there are various other readings in the MSS. and versions. The word οὑτως, so, which makes this a continuation of the comparison in Jas 3:11, is wanting in ABC, one other, with the Armenian and ancient Syriac; the later Syriac has it in the margin with an asterisk.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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James 3:12
“THERE is only one answer to the question, of course, the fig tree can do nothing of the kind. It would be quite contrary to its nature and, therefore, the Apostle argues that Christians ought to act according to their nature. If we are, indeed, the children of God, we should act as His children and always act as His children. We are not consistent if at one time we speak as heirs of Heaven should speak and at another time speak as the heirs of wrath speak!”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3226: “Figs and Olives” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Earthly Wisdom and the Wisdom From Above
Who is wise and understanding among you?: The question of who is wise and understanding among you turns from the tongue to wisdom's test. Let him show it by his good conduct, the doer thread of chapter 1 again. Wisdom is proven by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
James 3:13
All wish to appear "wise": few are so. show--"by works," and not merely by profession, referring to Jas 2:18. out of a good conversation his works--by general "good conduct" manifested in particular "works." "Wisdom" and "knowledge," without these being "shown," are as dead as faith would be without works [ALFORD]. with meekness of wisdom--with the meekness inseparable from true "wisdom."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
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James 3:13
“It is plainly intimated by what this chapter first goes upon that such a faith is, however, apt to make men conceited and magisterial in their tempers and their talk. Those who set up faith in the manner the former chapter condemns are most apt to run into those sins of the tongue which this chapter condemns.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 3:13
“Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you? - This is spoken with reference to the work of public teaching; and the meaning of the apostle is, that if there were such persons among them, they should be selected for that office. The characteristics here stated as necessary qualifications, are wisdom and knowledge. Those, it would seem, on which reliance had been placed, were chiefly those which were connected with a ready elocution, or the mere faculty of speaking.”
James 3:14-16
if you harbor bitter jealousy: and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. Such wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, demonic, drawn from the world, the natural man and the demons. Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
James 3:14
“If ye have bitter envying and strife - If ye be under the influence of an unkind, fierce, and contemptuous spirit, even while attempting or pretending to defend true religion, do not boast either of your exertions or success in silencing an adversary; ye have no religion, and no true wisdom, and to profess either is to lie against the truth. Let all writers on what is called polemic (fighting, warring) divinity lay this to heart.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
James 3:14
“If ye have bitter zeal - True Christian zeal is only the flame of love. Even in your hearts - Though it went no further. Do not lie against the truth - As if such zeal could consist with heavenly wisdom.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 3:14
“The mature faithful should not have any bitterness or jealousy in them, since such things are not given by God but are conceived by diabolical fraud. For where there is jealousy there is strife, disloyalty and every kind of evil which divine authority condemns.”
Cassiodorus · written before 585 · Summary of Jamespatristic
earthly, unspiritual, demonic: Matthew Henry reads unspiritual as psychike, the natural reason of the soul working without any light from above. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie demonic back to the hell that sets the tongue on fire in 3:6. True wisdom is asked of God, as 1:5 promised.
James 3:15
“This wisdom descendeth not from above - Compare the notes at 1Co 3:3. The wisdom here referred to is that carnal or worldly wisdom which produces strife and contention; that kind of knowledge which leads to self-conceit, and which prompts a man to defend his opinions with over-heated zeal. In the contentions which are in the world, in church and state, in neighborhoods and families, at the bar, in political life, and in theological disputes, even where there is the manifestation of enraged and irascible feeling, there is often much of a certain kind of wisdom.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 3:15
“It springs from earthly principles, acts upon earthly motives, and is intent upon serving earthly purposes. It is sensual indulging the flesh, and making provision to fulfil the lusts and desires of it. Or, according to the original word, psychike, it is animal of human--the mere working of natural reason, without any supernatural light.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 3:15
“Earthly is what is IN the earth; earthy, what is of the earth. sensual--literally, "animal-like": the wisdom of the "natural" (the same Greek) man, not born again of God; "not having the Spirit" (Jude 19). devilish--in its origin (from "hell," Jas 3:6; not from God, the Giver of true wisdom, Jas 1:5), and also in its character, which accords with its origin.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
there will be disorder: Disorder here, akatastasia, shares its root with restless in 3:8. Matthew Henry notes that one sin begets another, so jealousy and selfish ambition breed every evil practice. Gill traces the disorder through families, states and churches.
James 3:16
“For where envying and strife is,.... Where these are cherished in the heart, and especially where they break out into action, in families, neighbourhoods, states, or churches: there is confusion and every evil work; these occasion disturbances, raise uneasiness, make disquietude, and cause tumults whenever they appear; and put persons upon doing everything that is wicked, to gratify such insatiable lusts.”
1 more voice on this verse
James 3:16
“One sin begets another, and it cannot be imagined how much mischief is produced: there is every evil work. And is such wisdom as produces these effects to be gloried in? This cannot be without giving the lie to Christianity, and pretending that this wisdom is what it is not.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
James 3:17-18
the wisdom from above: answers verse 15: first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Purity leads the list and governs the rest. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness, opposite the strife of verse 16.
James 3:17
“But the wisdom that is from above - Compare the notes at 1Co 2:6-7. The wisdom which has a heavenly origin, or which is from God. The man who is characterised by that wisdom will be pure, peaceable, etc. This does not refer to the doctrines of religion, but to its spirit. Is first pure - That is, the first effect of it on the mind is to make it pure. The influence on the man is to make him upright, sincere, candid, holy.”
2 more voices on this verse
James 3:17
“But the wisdom from above is first pure - From all that is earthly, natural, devilish. Then peaceable - True peace attending purity, it is quiet, inoffensive.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 3:17
“It is not gained by conversing with men, nor by the knowledge of the world (as some think and speak), but it comes from above. It consists of these several things:-- 1. It is pure, without mixture of maxims or aims that would debase it: and it is free from iniquity and defilements, not allowing of any known sin, but studious of holiness both in heart and life.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Peacemakers who sow in peace: Clarke calls the virtues of verse 17 the fruit of righteousness, which grows when the peace of God rules the heart. Wesley adds that peacemakers sow good seed and reap a plentiful harvest. Jealousy and ambition reap disorder instead.
James 3:18
“And the fruit of righteousness is sown - The whole is the principle of righteousness in the soul, and all the above virtues are the fruits of that righteousness. Is sown in peace - When the peace of God rules the heart, all these virtues and graces grow and flourish abundantly. Of them that make peace - The peace-makers are continually recommending this wisdom to others, and their own conduct is represented as a sowing of heavenly seed, which brings forth Divine fruit. Perhaps sowing in peace signifies sowing prosperously - being very successful.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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James 3:18
“And the principle productive of this righteousness is sown, like good seed, in the peace of a believer's mind, and brings forth a plentiful harvest of happiness, (which is the proper fruit of righteousness,) for them that make peace - That labour to promote this pure and holy peace among all men.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
James 3:18
“You shall rejoice in the morning, that is, in the world to come, if you have gathered the fruits of righteousness by weeping and labor in this world.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Sermons on Genesis 10.3patristic
James 3:18
“There the results were present; here, future. fruit . . . sown--Compare Ps 97:11; Isa 61:3, "trees of righteousness." Anticipatory, that is, the seed whose "fruit," namely, "righteousness," shall be ultimately reaped, is now "sown in peace." "Righteousness," now in germ, when fully developed as "fruit" shall be itself the everlasting reward of the righteous.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
James 3:18
“For light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart; and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The form: A wisdom teaching on speech, built from a chain of pictures and closed by a contrast of two wisdoms, as Ohrid classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Small things that steer great ones | Verses 3 to 5 give three pictures in a row, the bit in a horse's mouth, the rudder of a ship and the spark that sets a forest ablaze. Each sets a small thing against a large one it controls or destroys. Theophylact of Ohrid reads the first two as proof that small things under good management do great work, and the tongue must be managed the same way.Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James, on James 3:7. | James 3:3, James 3:4, James 3:5 |
| Questions from nature that expect no | Verses 11 and 12 ask whether one spring gives fresh and salt water, whether a fig tree grows olives and whether a vine bears figs. Each question expects the answer no, and together they show that a mouth giving both blessing and cursing works against its own nature. Charles Spurgeon draws the lesson that the children of God should act according to their nature at all times.Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3226, "Figs and Olives" (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition). | James 3:11, James 3:12 |
| Two wisdoms set side by side | Verses 14 to 16 describe a wisdom marked by bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, which the writer calls earthly, unspiritual and demonic. Verse 17 answers with the wisdom from above and lists seven marks of it, from pure to sincere. Verse 18 ends on peacemakers who sow in peace. The two lists let a hearer test a teacher by what his wisdom produces.the site's count of the Berean text, the verses of James 3 in the store, translation id 3, the Berean Standard Bible. | James 3:14, James 3:15, James 3:17, James 3:18 |
How the chapter is built
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 and 2 give the warning to teachers and its reason, that everyone stumbles and the one who never stumbles in speech is perfect. Verses 3 to 12 build the case against the tongue in pictures, moving from what it steers, to what it burns, to what no one can tame, to the contradiction of blessing and cursing. Verses 13 to 18 turn from speech to wisdom and close on peace. The word wise in verse 13 answers the teachers of verse 1, so the chapter begins and ends with the same people.
A hard line read two ways
Verse 8 says no man can tame the tongue. Bede reads the line in two ways that both hold. No good teacher can tame the tongues of those who will not restrain themselves, and no speaker avoids every fault of speech. John Wesley notes that the writer says we in these verses by a common figure of speech, and holds that he counts himself in only as a way of speaking. Adam Clarke reads the world of wickedness in verse 6 as a mass or great collection of evil, the way English speaks of a world of trouble.
Where it draws on the Old Testament
The list of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures in verse 7 follows the order of Genesis 9:2 and recalls the rule over the creatures given in Genesis 1:26. The people cursed in verse 9 are made in God's likeness, the words of Genesis 1:26. Basil of Caesarea reads the chapter with Psalm 34:13, keep your tongue from evil. The power of the tongue for death and for life is the teaching of Proverbs 18:21. The fire of verse 6 is lit by hell, the Greek word gehenna, the valley outside Jerusalem that Jesus used as a name for judgment.
Where to go deeper
The speech teaching of Proverbs that this chapter draws on has its own page at /featured/the-tongue. The valley behind the word hell has its page at /featured/gehenna, and the wisdom books at /featured/bible-wisdom. The two wisdoms of verses 13 to 18 are listed as an owed feature page.
Keep studying
Studies5
Words12
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on James 3:1; Hilary of Arles, Introductory Tractate on the Letter of James, on James 3:11 and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on James, on James 3:3 and 3:7.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3226: “Figs and Olives” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.