1Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Introduction
Introduction to Chapter 3
Another measure of spiritual maturity is a believer’s speech. James devoted a good portion of this letter to attacking a careless and corrupt tongue. He appealed, however, not only for controlled tongues (3:1-12) but also for controlled thoughts (3:13-17). The mouth is, after all, connected to the mind. Pleasant speech demands a wise source. Controlled talk and cultivated thought are necessary.
Introduction to Lesson 21 (vv. 1-12)
From his discourse on idle faith, James proceeded to discuss the idle speech. The failure o bridle the tongue, mentioned earlier (1:26), is now expanded. As disturbing as those who have faith with no works are those Christians who substitute words for works. One’s tongue should be controlled. Small though it is, the tongue is powerful and all too prone to perversion and pollution.
Commentary
1. Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Again addressing “my fellow believers,” a sign that a new topic is being considered, James suggested moderation and restraint in adding more teachers. Too many of the new Jewish Christians aspired to teach and thereby carry some of Rabbis' rank and admiration. It is doubtful that the reference here is to official teachers of the apostolic and prophetic status. These are the unofficial teachers in the church family’s synagogue meetings, where much latitude was given even for strangers to speak. Paul frequently used this courtesy given visitors. James’ complaint was simply that too many believers were overly anxious to speak up and show off (cf. John 3:10[4]; 9:40-41). James issued a caution to these “would-be” teachers. Do not make teaching your profession, for many want to be teachers who need to learn more instead of teaching others. There were many teachers or rabbis among the Jews, and they all claimed to have the truth, and each wished to draw disciples away from among them. The Apostle James issued them a caution though they had the exact nature as he did. In another book, James gave a warning that said, “Love labor and hate the rabbi’s office.” Similar warnings are still needed, for there are still multitudes whom God has not called and can never call because He has never qualified them for the work required to get into the priest’s office. Their case is awful, for they shall receive condemnation greater than ordinary sinners. They have already sinned by thrusting themselves into the office of a priest: an office to which God has not called them, but through their insufficiency, the flocks over whom they have assumed mastery perish for lack of knowledge, and God will require their blood at the watchman’s hand.
2. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
We offend everyone in many ways. “We all stumble” or trip. Some have produced these words as proof that no man can live without sinning against God; for James himself, a holy apostle, speaking of himself, all the apostles and the whole Church of Christ says, “We all stumble in many ways.” James did not point the finger at the offenders without including himself. Nothing seems to trip-up a believer more than a dangling tongue. Suppose a believer is never at fault (lit., “stumbles not”) in what he says (lit., “in the word”); he is a perfect, mature, fulfilled, complete person. He can bridle his whole body. Spiritual maturity requires a tamed body. This is a horrible and dangerous doctrine and pushed to its consequences, it would significantly affect the entire gospel system’s credibility. Offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. To understand this correctly, we must refer to the caution James gives in the preceding verse: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” To this, he could have added, “Do not affect that for which you are not qualified.” But he says, “if any man offends you, don’t be tripped-up in doctrine,” but teach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the same “is a man fully instructed” in divine things. How often the term logos, which we render the word, is used to express “doctrine” and the gospel’s doctrine, we have seen in many parts of the preceding comment. The man, therefore, who advanced no false doctrine and gave no imperfect view of any of the great truths of Christianity, that man proved himself, thereby, to be thoroughly instructed in divine things, to be no novice, and consequently, among the many teachers, to be a perfect master and worthy of the sacred vocation. Able also to bridle the whole body.
3. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
Here James addresses “controlling the tongue” (cf. 1:26). The lesson picks up from the saying given in 1:19: “Let everyone be quick to hear but slow to speak,” and provides in turn, a transition to James’ discussion of true wisdom and (3:13), for the connection between wisdom and restraint was, in the ancient world genuinely well-known (cf. Prov. 17:28)[5].
The tongue may be small, but it is influential. Three illustrations make this point clear: (1) the bit and the horse, v. 3; (2) the rudder and the ship, v. 4; (3) the spark and the forest. James’s use of imagery is drawn from natural phenomena and is similar to the Lord’s parables. It is likewise characteristic of Jewish thought. James was both immersed in Jewish tradition and well-versed in Greek classics.
This particular verse deals with putting bits into Horses’ mouths. To show the necessity of regulating the tongue, to which his appeal led James to them who wished to thrust themselves into the teacher’s office, supposing, because they had the gift of a ready flow of speech that therefore they might convince teachers of divine things. He continues to show that the tongue must be bridled as the horse and governed as the ships; though it is small, it can rule the whole man and irritate and offend others.
It is commonplace to assert the difficulty of controlling (bridling) the tongue with the analogy of bridling a horse. The analogy also suggests the tongue’s power since to control it is to guide a great beast.
4. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.
The argument is made clear by another standard comparison: the tongue is to the body as the rudder is to a ship. Just as little bits . . . turn grown horses, small rudders guide large ships. The tongue can boast of great things; that is, it can do great things, whether of a good or evil kind, though it is small. He seems to be referring to the powerful and all-commanding eloquence of the Greek orators. They could carry the great mob whithersoever they wished; calm them to peaceableness and submission or excite them to furious sedition. The boast is not challenged because James recognizes the power of speech.
This illustration is equally striking and unmistakable. A ship is a large object. It seems to be unmanageable by its vastness, and driving storms also propel it. Yet it is easily managed by a small rudder, and he that has control of the ship itself. So with the tongue. It is a little member compared with the body; in its size, not unlike the rudder compared with the boat. Yet the proper control of the tongue in respect to its influence on the whole man is not unlike the control of the rudder in its power over the ship for though ships are so great - So great in themselves, and in comparison with the rudder, which though a tiny thing controls even such bulky and unwieldy objects, as a ship.
Ships, on occasion, may be driven by fierce winds - by winds that would seem to leave the boat beyond control. It is probable that by the “fierce winds” propelling the ship, the apostle meant to illustrate the power of the passions in compelling man. Even a man under impetuous passion will be restrained if the tongue is controlled correctly, as the ship driven by the winds is by the helm.
Yet, they are turned around with a very small helm - The ancient rudder or helm was made in the shape of an oar. This was very small compared with the vessel’s size - about as small as the tongue is compared with the body. Yet, the ship will go anywhere the helmsman pleases. It is entirely under his control.
5. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
Again, the argument is clear. A tiny spark consumes an entire forest, so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. The tongue is petite but powerful! James develops the image by declaring, “the tongue is a fire.” “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark” (3:5).
The tongue is a little member - Little compared with the body, as the bit or the rudder is, compared with the horse or the ship.
“but it makes great boasts.” - The apostle intends to illustrate the power and influence of the tongue. This may be done in a great many respects: and the apostle does it by referring to its boasting; to the effects which it produces, resembling that of fire, (James 3:6) [1]; to its untameableness (James 3:8-9) [2]; and it is giving utterance to the most inconsistent and unpredictable thoughts, (James 3:9-10) [3]. The particular idea here is that the tongue seems to be conscious of its influence and power and boasts mainly of what it can do. The apostle means no doubt to convey the idea that it boasts not unjustly of its importance. It has all the influence in the world, for good or for evil, which it claims.
“Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” - The Greek word means a wood, forest, grove, and then fire-wood, fuel. This is the meaning here. The sense is that a very little fire is sufficient to ignite a large quantity of combustible materials and that the tongue produces effects similar to that. A spark will kindle a lofty pile, and a word spoken by the tongue may set a neighborhood or a village “in flames.” Can you imagine what a flame of discord and insubordination one man, merely by his persuasive tongue, may kindle among the ordinary people?
6. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
“The tongue also is a fire,” it is often the instrument for producing the most desperate contentions and insurrections—a world of evil. This is an unusual form of speech, but the meaning is plain enough; the term “world” signifies a mass, a great collection, and an abundance. We use the word in the same sense – “a world of troubles,” “a world of work.” The tongue is not only powerful; it is stubborn. It is small and influential, but worse than that; it can be satanic and infectious. “The tongue also is a fire” (cf. Prov. 16:27; 26:18-22), a world of evil. The tongue sets itself up among the members, or parts of one’s body, corrupting, staining or spotting, and inflaming the whole body; the tongue is at the center of the entire course of life (lit. “the wheel of existence or wheel of birth.”). It is as though the tongue is at the center or hub of the wheel of nature, and, like the fireworks display, the wheel is set on fire at the center. The more it burns, the faster it revolves until the whole wheel spins in a blaze, spitting fire in all directions. But the tongue is only the fuse. The source of the deadly fire is hell itself (lit. Gehenna, a place in the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where human sacrifice had been offered (Jer. 7:31)[6] and where continuous burning of rubbish made it a fitting illustration of the lake of fire.)
“sets the whole course of one’s life on fire,” I question whether this verse is well understood. There are three different interpretations of it:
1) James does not intend to express the whole circle of human affairs, so much affected by the tongue of man; but rather the punishing wheel of the Greeks, and not unknown among the Jews on which they were accustomed to place criminals to educe them to confess or to punish them for crimes under which punishing wheels (sometimes called the wheel of life), a fire was often put to add to their torments.
2) But is it not possible that by the “wheel of life,” James has blood circulation in mind? Angry or irritating language has a tremendous influence on the circulation of the blood; the heart beats hard and frequently: the blood is hurried through the arteries to the veins, through the veins to the heart, and through the heart to the arteries again, and so on; an extraordinary degree of heat is at the same time engendered, the eyes become more prominent in their sockets; the capillary vessels filled with blood; the face flushed with blood; and in short, the whole wheel of nature is set on fire by those in hell.
3) It is true, however, that the rabbis use the term “the wheel of generations” to mark the successive generations of men, and James might refer to this; as if he had said: “The tongue has been the instrument of confusion and misery through all the ages of the world.” But the other interpretations are more likely.
7. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,
The tongue is not only like an uncontrolled fire; it is also like “All kinds ( of animals or beasts),” that is, every species of wild beasts is tamed, i.e., brought under man’s power and dominion – birds of the air, reptiles on land, and creatures of the sea – all are being tamed and have been tamed by man. Beastly nature has been tamed by human nature. But no human can tame the tongue.
The phrase “All kinds (species) of animals (beasts)” signifies the strength and fierceness of wild beasts, the swiftness of birds, the poison of serpents, the exceeding great strength of sea-monsters; is tamed — is subdued, or is capable of being subdued (even domesticated); by humankind — by the human nature; the art and ingenuity of man have overcome every sort of these; so that they have been made subservient to his use and pleasure. According to that term’s general prominence, the apostle cannot mean that such creatures as sharks and whales have been tamed or made harmless and familiar with man. Some beasts, naturally savage, have been; but large fishes are incapable of their nature. But even they have been conquered and brought entirely under the power of man so that he could use them as he desired. But no man can tame the tongue — namely, the tongue of another; no, nor his own, without exceptional help from God; both the shark and whale become easy prey to the skill and influence of the human being.
8. but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
“but no human being can tame the tongue.” No cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able to silence it. Nothing but the grace of God, suppression, or death can bring it under subjection.
“It is a restless evil,” an evil that cannot be restrained; it cannot be brought under any kind of supervision; it breaks all bounds.
“Full of deadly poison” refers here to the tongues of serpents, which are supposed to be the means of conveying their poison into wounds made by their teeth. Throughout the whole of this poetic and highly oratorical description, James must have the tongue of the slanderer, maligner, backbiter, whisperer, and a tale-bearer, particularly in view. Vipers, basilisks (a legendary creature), and rattlesnakes are not more dangerous to life than these are to the peace and reputation of men.
“Fortunately James did not say that God cannot control the tongue (or tame it),” while true enough, fails to touch the problem, namely, that the tongue is indeed out of control because man fails to exercise the dominion over it that God commanded. It was true in James’ day, as it is in this, that “It is a restless evil,” It is like a caged beast, even under the best of circumstances, always seeking an opportunity to break free and set the whole world on fire. James does not mean here that a Christian cannot tame his tongue. “If he could not, he would hardly be responsible for its notions, but in James 3:10, he said, “My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”
“It is full of deadly poison.” is similar to “full of adultery” (2 Peter 2:14) and “full of envy” (Romans 1:29). Paul also made use of the same metaphor: “The venom of asps is under their lips” (Romans 3:13).
9. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
“With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father,” — That is, with the same tongue we both praise God and curse men; for the apostle, as appears from the next clause, did not speak of himself particularly, or of his fellow-apostles, or even of true private Christians, who certainly do not curse men. Perhaps in this last clause, he glanced at the unconverted Jews, who often cursed the Christians bitterly in their synagogues. Made after the similitude of God — Which we have indeed now lost, but yet there remains within humanity an ingrained nobleness, which we ought to reverence, both in ourselves and others. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing — And the same tongue is often the instrument of expressing both; and “too frequently, when the act of devotion is over, the act of slander, or outrage and insult, commences.” “My brethren, these things ought not so to be” — at least among those who profess Christianity. It is a shame that any such thing should be found in human nature, and it is a still greater shame that anything of the kind should be practiced by any that profess to be the disciples of Him who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.
“We praise ... we curse.” Note the use of “we” as in James 3:2; here again, the use of it does not indicate any guilt on James's part. As Ward said, “Then, we of pastoral tact shows how far James could go in his desire to win rather than repel.”
“With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father,” The Jewish custom, whenever they named God, of adding, “Blessed be he,” very likely lies behind this.
“Our Lord and Father.” Scholars have busied themselves to find out where James got this expression, but as Lenski said, “He coined it!” The two titles have only one article, showing that James intended for us to read both titles as if pertaining to Jesus Christ our Saviour, showing His divinity and Godhead.
“made in God’s likeness” is a reference to Genesis 1:26[7], the sin and inconsistency of the same tongue blessing God and cursing men lying in the fact of man’s likeness to God, any curse of men, therefore, is a curse against God in the likeness of men, thus being a curse against God in a parallel of his creation.
10. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
In the warning given here and in the preceding verse (James 3:9), James might have referenced a widespread custom of early Christian times, in which Christians were “cursed bitterly in Jewish synagogues. It would appear, however, that it is not particularly the sins of Jews in cursing Christians that James dealt with, but the habit of some “brethren” engaged in the awful business of cursing men! All such unchristian conduct is vigorously denounced. Not only is this contradictory phenomenon contrary to the will of God, but it is also contrary to the natural order of things.
"Although the believer has in the indwelling Holy Spirit the potential for controlling the tongue, he may not be seizing this potential."
"To the person who praises God in the worship service and then abuses people verbally at home or work, James commands, "Purify your speech through the week." With the person who says, "Oh, I know I talk too much," and laughs it off, James is not amused. He insists, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak." The person who boasts, "I always speak my mind, no matter who gets hurt," James is not impressed. He commands, "Discipline your speaking." To the person who says, "I know I gossip too much, but I just can’t help it," James still says, "Control your tongue." James demands, "Change your speech habits;” "of the person who is in the habit of speaking with insults, ridicule, or sarcasm, the apostle demands, "Change your speech habits." He expects discipline to be happening in the life of a Christian. Any Christian can ask for the grace needed, for God gives good gifts ( James 1:17)[8] and gives them generously ( James 1:5).
". . . the Bible nowhere places much value on knowledge that remains merely cerebral. Nothing is known until it also reshapes the life."
"The reference is not to the use of profanity in vulgar speech but seems to envision angry disputes and slanderous remarks in inner-church party strife (cf. James 4:1-2[9]; James 4:11-12)."
“Should not.”—The Greek equivalent for this is only found here in the New Testament and seems strangely weak when we reflect on the usual intensity of the writer. Was he sadly conscious beforehand of the failure of his protest? At least, there seems no trace of satire in the sorrowful tempo of his lines, “Out of the same mouth!”
11. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
“Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring”? It is as if he had said, “No such inconsistency is found in the natural world, and nothing of the kind ought to be known in the moral world.” It was said “that the apostle’s strategy was to confirm his doctrine by four similarities; the first taken from fountains, the second and third from fruit-trees, and the fourth from the sea, “which in its natural state contains salt, and does not produce fresh water.” The Alexandrian MS. says, “So neither can salt water produce sweet.” The Syriac version reads, “Salt waters cannot be made sweet,” and the Vulgate, “So neither can salt water make fresh water.” In like manner, we ought to maintain consistency in our words or discourses. If we profess religion and devotion, we should speak at all times as persons who are endeavoring to employ our tongues to the noble purposes for which the use of speech was granted to man.
It is reported that along the Dead Sea, there were both salt-water and fresh-water fountains, so James made his meaning clear by adding “from the same opening.” The illustration shows that man’s behavior in blessing God and cursing men with the same tongue was a monstrous perversion of nature; in fact, it’s an altogether impossibility in nature.
The image here is appropriate to the Epistle because Palestine has both salt and bitter springs. Though “sweet” springs are sometimes found nearby, yet “sweet and bitter” (water) do not flow “at the same place” (aperture). Grace can make the same mouth that “sent forth the bitter” once, send forth the sweet for the time to come: as the wood (typical of Christ‘s cross) changed Marah‘s bitter water into sweet.
Illustrations highlight this natural inconsistency (cf. Matthew 7:16[10]). A water source can yield only one kind of water. A tree can only produce the fruit of its kind. A salt spring cannot produce fresh water any more than a fallen human nature can naturally make pure words. A fountain, a tree, and the tongue all have the power to delight (cf. James 3:5; James 3:8).
"Small and influential, the tongue must be controlled; satanic and infectious, the tongue must be corralled; salty and inconsistent, the tongue must be cleansed."
As in the preceding chapters, James dealt with root causes of human behavior that are out of harmony with God’s will. He contrasts strongly with the religious teachers that Jesus rebuked for their superficiality and hypocrisy. He was, of course, picturing human behavior as it is naturally apart from the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit.
12. My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
“My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?.” Once more, James used illustrations drawn from the teaching of Jesus (Matthew 12:34,35[11]).
“Can a fig tree, etc.” — implying that it is an impossibility: as before in James 3:10, he had said, “this should not be.” James does not, as Matthew (Matthew 7:16, Matthew 7:17), ask the question, “Do men gather figs of thistles?” as Jesus asked. His argument is, No tree “can” bring forth fruit inconsistent with its nature, for example, the fig tree does not produce olive berries, neither does a vine, figs: so if a man speaks bitterly, and afterward speaks good words, the latter must be so only seemingly, and in hypocrisy, they cannot be accurate.
“Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? or a vine, figs?” The inquiry sounds like a memory of our Lord’s, “Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:16.)
Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Here the tremendous thrust of James’ teaching is made. In nature, a fountain can't be both salt and sweet, and it is the same with men. “Cursing” shows the natural character of them that do it. Even their “blessing” is in no sense to be interpreted as “sweet.” Their nature denies any goodness that might otherwise have appeared in their pious talk.
So, can no fountain … salt … and fresh — The oldest authorities read, “Neither can a salt (water spring) yield fresh.” So the mouth that emits cursing cannot emit blessing. also
So can no fountain…—This, the last clause of the sentence above in the Authorised version, is very confused in the original but seems to be merely this, Neither can salt (water) bring forth fresh; or, as Wordsworth renders it, Nor can water that is salt produce what is sweet. And such in effect is Alford’s comment: “If the mouth emits cursing, thereby making itself a brackish spring, it cannot to any purpose also emit the sweet stream of praise and good words; if it appears to do so, all must be hypocrisy and mere seeming.” Every blessing is tainted by the tongue which has uttered curses, and even “Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.”
General Notes
[1] “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6)
[2] “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.” (James 3:8, 9)
[3] “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” (James 3:9, 10)
[4] "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?” (John 3:10)
[5] “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” (Proverbs 7:28)
[6] “They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire--something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.” (Jer. 7:31)
[7] “Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
[8] “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
[9] “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:1, 2)
[10] “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matt. 7:16)
[11] “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matt. 12:34-35)
