And the tongue is a fire
It is like to fire, very useful in its place, to warm and
comfort; so is the tongue in Christian conversation, and in the
ministry of the word; the hearts of God's children burn within
them, while they are talking together, and while the Scriptures
of truth are opening to them; but as fire should be carefully
watched, and kept, so should men take heed to their ways, that
they sin not with their tongue, and keep their tongue from evil,
and their lips from speaking guile; for as fire kindles and rises
up into a flame, so unchaste, angry, and passionate words, stir
up the flame of lust, anger, envy, and revenge; and as fire is of
a spreading nature, so are lies, scandal, and evil reports vented
by the tongue; and as fire devours all that comes in its way,
such are the words of an evil tongue; and therefore are called
devouring words, ( Psalms 52:4 ) they
devour the good names of men, and corrupt their good manners, and
destroy those who make use of them; and what wood is to fire, and
coals to burning coals, that are whisperers, tale bearers,
backbiters, and contentious persons to strife, ( Proverbs
26:20 Proverbs
26:21 )
a world of iniquity;
that is, as the world is full of things, and full of sin, for it
lies in wickedness, so is the tongue full of iniquity; there is a
world of it in it; it abounds with it; it cannot well be said how
much sin is in it, and done, or occasioned by it; as blasphemy
against God, Father, Son, and Spirit; cursing of men,
imprecations on themselves, their souls, and bodies, and on
others, with a multitude of profane and dreadful oaths; obscene,
filthy, and unchaste words; angry, wrathful, and passionate ones;
lies, flatteries, reproaches, backbitings, whisperings, tale
bearings And the Jews say, that he that uses an evil tongue
multiplies transgression, and that it is equal to idolatry,
adultery, and murder F8, and the cause of all sin; and which
they express by way of fable, in this manner F9:
``when Adam sinned, God laid hold on him, and slit his tongue into two parts, and said unto him, the wickedness which is, or shall be in the world, thou hast begun with an evil tongue; wherefore I will make all that come into the world know that thy tongue is the cause of all this.''The Syriac version renders this clause thus, "and the world of iniquity is as wood"; or the branch of a tree; the tongue is fire, and a wicked world is fuel to it.
So is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the
whole
body:
the body politic, a whole nation, filling it with contention,
strife, division, and confusion; and the ecclesiastical body, the
church, by sowing discord, fomenting animosities, making parties,
and spreading errors and heresies, whereby the temple of God is
defiled; and the natural body, and the several members of it,
even the whole person of a man, soul and body, bringing upon him
a blot of infamy and reproach never to be wiped off; as for
instance, the vice of the tongue, lying, does; and oftentimes
through the tongue, the actions done in the body, which seem
good, are quite spoiled:
and setteth on fire the course of nature,
or "wheel of nature": the natural body, as before, in which there
is a continual rotation or circulation of the blood, by which it
is supported; this is the wheel broken at the cistern at death,
in ( Ecclesiastes
12:6 ) or the course of a man's life and actions, yea, of all
generations, and the vicissitudes and changes which have happened
in them, on which the tongue has a great influence; and so the
Syriac version renders it, "and sets on fire the series of our
genealogies, or our generations, which run like wheels": or it
may intend the frame of nature, the whole fabric of the universe,
and the general conflagration of it, which will be owing to the
tongue; or because men's tongues are against the Lord, to provoke
the eyes of his glory, because of the hard speeches which ungodly
sinners have spoken against Christ and his people, of which they
will be convinced by flames of fire about them:
and it is set on fire of hell;
that is, by the devil; for as heaven sometimes is put for God,
who dwells in heaven, ( Matthew
21:25 ) ( Luke 15:18 ) so hell is
put for the devil, whose habitation it is; see ( Matthew
16:18 ) , and the sense is, that the tongue is influenced,
instigated, and stirred up by Satan, to speak many evil things,
and it will be hereafter set on fire in hell, as the tongue of
the rich man in ( Luke 16:24 ) . To which
purpose are those words of the Talmud F11;
``whoever uses an evil tongue, the holy blessed God says to hell, I concerning him above, and thou concerning him below, will judge him, as it is said, ( Psalms 120:3 Psalms 120:4 ) . "What shall be done to thee, thou false tongue? sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper", there is no arrow but the tongue, according to ( Jeremiah 9:8 ) and there is no mighty one but God, ( Isaiah 42:13 ) "coals of juniper", (Mnhyg wnyyh) , these are hell.''