James 3:11

11 numquid fons de eodem foramine emanat dulcem et amaram aquam

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.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 103.
F14 Isodor. Hispal. Originum, l. 13. c. 13. p. 115.

James 3:11 In-Context

9 in ipsa benedicimus Dominum et Patrem et in ipsa maledicimus homines qui ad similitudinem Dei facti sunt
10 ex ipso ore procedit benedictio et maledictio non oportet fratres mei haec ita fieri
11 numquid fons de eodem foramine emanat dulcem et amaram aquam
12 numquid potest fratres mei ficus olivas facere aut vitis ficus sic neque salsa dulcem potest facere aquam
13 quis sapiens et disciplinatus inter vos ostendat ex bona conversatione operationem suam in mansuetudine sapientiae
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.