James 3:11

11 Does a fountain send forth at the same place both sweet and bitter water?

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 With it we bless God, even the Father; and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

11 Does a fountain send forth at the same place both sweet and bitter water?

12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, produce olive berries? or the vine, figs? In the same manner no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is wise and ready among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works in meekness of wisdom.