James 3:3-13

3 Behold, we put the bits in the mouths of the horses, that they may obey us, and we turn round their whole bodies.

4 Behold also the ships, which are so great, and driven by violent winds, are turned about by a very small rudder, wherever the pleasure of the helmsman will.

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

6 and the tongue [is] fire, the world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set in our members, the defiler of the whole body, and which sets fire to the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell.

7 For every species both of beasts and of birds, both of creeping things and of sea animals, is tamed and has been tamed by the human species;

8 but the tongue can no one among men tame; [it is] an unsettled evil, full of death-bringing poison.

9 Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, and therewith curse we men made after [the] likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth goes forth blessing and cursing. It is not right, my brethren, that these things should be thus.

11 Does the fountain, out of the same opening, pour forth sweet and bitter?

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

13 Who [is] wise and understanding among you; let him shew out of a good conversation his works in meekness of wisdom;

James 3:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JAMES 3

In this chapter the apostle cautions against censoriousness, and reproving others with a magisterial air; advises to bridle the tongue, and guard against the vices of it; and shows what true wisdom is, and from whence it comes. He advises the saints not to arrogate too much to themselves, and take upon them to be the censorious reprovers of others; which he dissuades from, by the consideration of the greater damnation such shall receive, and by the frailty of all men, and a common proneness to offend by words; for he must be a very singular man indeed that does not offend by words, Jas 3:1,2 wherefore he exhorts them to watch over their words, and bridle their tongues; which he illustrates by the methods used with horses to keep them in subjection, and with ships, to turn them as occasion serves, and the master pleases, Jas 3:3,4 and though the tongue is a little member, and not comparable to a horse, or ship, for its bulk; yet it boasts of great things, has a world of iniquity in it, and much mischief is done by it, being influenced by the powers of hell; therefore care, and all possible means, should be used to restrain it, Jas 3:5,6 though it is not tameable by man, only by the Lord, when all sorts of creatures are, even the most fierce and savage, and therefore are worse than they, being an unruly evil, and full of deadly poison, Jas 3:7,8. And what is the most monstrous and shocking, blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth, are pronounced by the same tongue, which is used in blessing God, and cursing men made after his image, which by no means ought to be done, Jas 3:9,10 and which is not to be paralleled in nature; no instance like it can be given, no fountain sending forth, in the same place, water sweet and bitter, salt and fresh, or any fig tree bearing olives, or vine figs, Jas 3:11,12. And because all this evil springs from a vain opinion men have of their own wisdom, the apostle proceeds to give an account of true wisdom; and observes, that that shows itself in good works, in a holy conversation, attended with meekness and humility, and not in envying, strife, and lies, Jas 3:13,14. Such sort of wisdom is not from heaven, but of the earth; it is not rational; it is no better than that of brutes; yea, no other than that of devils, since where the above sins prevail, it is a hell on earth, there is nothing but confusion, and everything that is vile and wicked, Jas 3:15,16 but, on the other hand, true wisdom is of an heavenly original, of a pure, peaceable, gentle, and tractable nature, and is full of good fruits or works in its effects, particularly mercy, and is clear of partiality and hypocrisy, Jas 3:17 and as one of its fruits is righteousness, that is sown in peace by the peacemaker, and produces it, Jas 3:18.

Footnotes

• [a]. i.e. a forest. But some regard the expression as meaning 'materials.'
• [b]. Gehenna.
• [c]. Or, perhaps, 'the Lord and [the] Father.' The form of the phrase must be noted: it is one article with two nouns, and so they are in some respect one, perhaps here only in respect of the blessing.
• [d]. Or 'conduct,' 'manner of life,' as 1Tim. 4.12.