James 3:5 KJV — MannaFest

James 3:5

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

KJV

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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ASV

So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!

WEB

In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

YLT

so also the tongue is a little member, and doth boast greatly; lo, a little fire how much wood it doth kindle!

DBT

Thus also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wood it kindles!

About this book

New Testament

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James — The Lord's brother writes to the twelve tribes scattered abroad — five chapters of direct, practical wisdom on the life faith produces. Pure religion, the tongue, the prayer of the righteous.

Author: James the Lord's brother (traditional — cf. Gal 1:19), leader of the Jerusalem church
Date: Early — possibly mid-40s AD, making it likely the earliest NT letter

Book overview →Read full book →Read chapter 3 →

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Cross-references

46 verses on the floor

Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Jeremiah 9:3–8
And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.
Proverbs 12:18
There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
Matthew 15:11
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Show all 46 cross-references ▾

Cross-references: OpenBible.info (CC-BY), based on the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

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Voices4

On this verse

Draft selections — awaiting the founder’s edit.

True wisdom makes men meek, and avoiders of strife and envy: and hereby it may easily be distinguished from a wisdom that is earthly and hypocritical,

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

As the helm is a very small part of the ship, so is the tongue a very small part of the body: but the right governing of the helm or rudder will steer and turn the ship as the governor pleases; and a right management of the tongue is, in a great measure, the government of the whole man.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

boasteth great things--There is great moment in what the careless think "little" things [BENGEL]. Compare "a world," "the course of nature," "hell," Jas 3:6, which illustrate how the little tongue's great words produce great mischief. how great a matter a little fire kindleth--The best manuscripts read, "how little a fire kindleth how great a," &c.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed

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, 1710puritan

On this verse

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Original language

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Words6

Word trails from this verse

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

G319634× in canon G110049× in canon G444270× in canon G2400200× in canon G3779208× in canon G3173243× in canon

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The walk8

Where the connections lead

Two steps out along the cross-reference floor, votes-ranked — destinations reached by more than one path rise (the text's own hubs). Every stop is a page.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

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Continue: James 3 →