James 3:11

11 Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet [water] and bitter?

James 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

James 3:11

Doth a fountain send forth at the same place
"Or hole"; for at divers places, and at different times, as Pliny ^F13 observes, it may send forth

sweet [water] and bitter:
and it is reported ^F14, 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 103.
F14 Isodor. Hispal. Originum, l. 13. c. 13. p. 115.

James 3:11 In-Context

9 Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:

10 out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

11 Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet [water] and bitter?

12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? Neither [can] salt water yield sweet.

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom.