James 3:11

11 Can both fresh water and salt water ^[a] flow from 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 the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!

11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

12 My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally Can both fresh and bitter