James 3:11

11 Can fresh water and salt water flow out of the same spring?

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 our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. With our tongues we call down curses on people. We do it even though they have been created to be like God.

10 Praise and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, it shouldn't be that way.

11 Can fresh water and salt water flow out of the same spring?

12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives? Can a grapevine bear figs? Of course not. And a saltwater spring can't produce fresh water either.

13 Are any of you wise and understanding? You should show it by living a good life. Wise people aren't proud when they do good works.