Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 3:1
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Ch. Jas 3:1-12. Sins of Speech, and their condemnation
1. be not many masters ] Better, “ do not become, or do not get into the way of being many teachers.” The English word “master,” though perhaps conveying the idea of a “schoolmaster” in the sixteenth century, and therefore used in all the versions from Wycliffe and Tyndale onward, is now far too general in its meaning. What St James warns his “brethren” against is each man’s setting himself up to be a teacher, and in this he echoes our Lord’s command, (Mat 23:8-10). In the Christian Church, as in the Jewish, there was the peril of a self-appointed Rabbi-ship. The sages of Israel had given the same caution, as in the maxim, Love the work, but strive not after the honour, of a Teacher, ( Pirke Aboth, 1. 10).
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation ] The change from the second person to the first is characteristic of the writer’s profound humility. He will not give others a warning without at the same time applying it to himself. The Greek word for “condemnation”, though literally meaning “judgment” only, is yet almost always used in the New Testament for an adverse judgment, (e. g. Mat 23:14; Rom 2:2; Rom 13:2 ; 1Co 11:29; 1Co 11:34). The very form of St James’s phrase is as an echo of our Lord’s words in the first of the passages referred to.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My brethren, be not many masters – Be not many of you teachers. The evil referred to is that where many desired to be teachers, though but few could be qualified for the office, and though, in fact, comparatively few were required. A small number, well qualified, would better discharge the duties of the office, and do more good, than many would; and there would be great evil in having many crowding themselves unqualified into the office. The word here rendered masters ( didaskaloi) should have been rendered teachers. It is so rendered in Joh 3:2; Act 13:1; Rom 2:20; 1Co 12:28-29; Eph 4:11; 1Ti 2:11; 1Ti 4:3; Heb 5:12; though it is elsewhere frequently rendered master. It has, however, in it primarily the notion of teaching ( didasko), even when rendered master; and the word master is often used in the New Testament, as it is with us, to denote an instructor – as the school-master.
Compare Mat 10:24-25; Mat 22:16; Mar 10:17; Mar 12:19, et al. The word is not properly used in the sense of master, as distinguished from a servant, but as distinguished from a disciple or learner. Such a position, indeed, implies authority, but it is authority based not on power, but on superior qualifications. The connection implies that the word is used in that sense in this place; and the evil reprehended is that of seeking the office of public instructor, especially the sacred office. It would seem that this was a prevailing fault among those to whom the apostle wrote. This desire was common among the Jewish people, who coveted the name and the office of Rabbi, equivalent to that here used, (compare Mat 23:7), and who were ambitious to be doctors and teachers. See Rom 2:19; 1Ti 1:7. This fondness for the office of teachers they naturally carried with them into the Christian church when they were converted, and it is this which the apostle here rebukes. The same spirit the passage before us would rebuke now and for the same reasons; for although a man should be willing to become a public instructor in religion when called to it by the Spirit and Providence of God, and should esteem it a privilege when so called, yet there would be scarcely anything more injurious to the cause of true religion, or that would tend more to produce disorder and confusion, than a prevailing desire of the prominence and importance which a man has in virtue of being a public instructor. If there is anything which ought to be managed with extreme prudence and caution, it is that of introducing men into the Christian ministry. Compare 1Ti 5:22; Act 1:15-26; Act 13:2-3.
Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation – ( meizon krima. Or rather, a severer judgment; that is, we shall have a severer trial, and give a stricter account. The word here used does not necessarily mean condemnation, but judgment, trial, account; and the consideration which the apostle suggests is not that those who were public teacher would be condemned, but that there would be a much more solemn account to be rendered by them than by other men, and that they ought duly to reflect on this in seeking the office of the ministry. He would carry them in anticipation before the judgment-seat, and have them determine the question of entering the ministry there. No better stand-point can be taken in making up the mind in regard to this work; and if that had been the position assumed in order to estimate the work, and to make up the mind in regard to the choice of this profession, many a one who has sought the office would have been deterred from it; and it may be added, also, that many a pious and educated youth would have sought the office, who has devoted his life to other pursuits. A young man, when about to make choice of a calling in life, should place himself by anticipation at the judgment-bar of Christ, and ask himself how human pursuits and plans will appear there. If that were the point of view taken, how many would have been deterred from the ministry who have sought it with a view to honor or emolument! How many, too, who have devoted themselves to the profession of the law, to the army or navy, or to the pursuits of elegant literature, would have felt that it was their duty to serve God in the ministry of reconciliation? How many at the close of life, in the ministry and out of it, feel, when too late to make a change, that they have wholly mistaken the purpose for which they should have lived!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jam 3:1
Be not many masters–
The qualifications necessary for teachers of Christianity
The words might have been better rendered thus, Be not many teachers, knowing that we shall undergo a severer judgment; and were occasioned by certain novices assuming the office of teachers when utterly unqualified for it.
The meaning is, the office of a spiritual instructor is attended with great difficulty and danger, and the duties of it are hard to be discharged. Let none undertake it rashly, destitute of the gifts and graces necessary for so sacred a function; for teachers, as well as hearers, must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. God will require more from teachers than from others; and their private miscarriages, or unfaithfulness to the duties of their office, will expose them to the severest punishment.
I. PERSONAL RELIGION is a necessary qualification in the Christian teacher. Those must be clean that bear the vessels of the sanctuary. Their Master is holy, their work is holy, and therefore it becomes them to be holy also. They engage in the work of the ministry, not seeking their own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved (1Co 10:33). Having tasted that the Lord is gracious, they are unwilling to eat their spiritual morsels alone, and earnestly wish to have others partakers of the same grace of life. Animated by such a spit it, the pious minister is vigorous and active, diligent and unwearied, in his Masters service. Grace, in lively exercise, makes the teacher honest and impartial, bold and courageous. He will not, through a slavish dread of man, put his candle under a bushel, or withhold the truth in unrighteousness; but endeavours to keep back from his hearers nothing profitable, however distasteful, and to declare to every one of them the whole counsel of God. He is no respecter of persons; but warns every man, and teaches every man, in all wisdom, that he may present every man perfect in Christ. With sacred sincerity, what the Lord saith that will he speak; though philosophers should call him enthusiast, the populace salute him heretic, or the statesman pronounce him mad. This integrity and uprightness preserves the minister from fainting under a prospect of outward difficulties and a sense of his own weakness. Grace, in lively exercise, not only animates the teacher to his work, but assists him in it, and greatly tends to crown it with success. It does so by disposing him to give himself to prayer, as well as to the ministry of the Word. He is a favourite at the court of heaven, and improves all his interest there for his peoples good. Further, personal religion promotes knowledge of the truth and aptness to teach, both which are indispensably necessary in the spiritual instructor. And as piety thus prevents men from mistaking the duties, so it preserves them from prejudices against the doctrines of Christianity. Just as one who perceived the light and brightness of the sun would be little moved by any attempts to prove that there was nothing but darkness around him. But, above all, inward piety assists in understanding and explaining experimental religion. Those are best suited to speak a word in season to weary souls who can comfort them in their spiritual distresses with those consolations wherewith they themselves have been comforted of God. True religion will promote in ministers a pious and exemplary behaviour.
II. ORTHODOXY, or soundness in the faith, is highly necessary in a spiritual instructor. Much more stress is laid upon this in the sacred writings than some seem willing to allow (1Ti 1:3; 1Ti 6:3; 1Ti 6:5; 1Ti 6:20-21; 2Ti 1:13; Tit 1:9; Tit 2:1; Tit 2:7-8; Jud 1:2). Is it either ridiculous or hurtful to judge of things as they really are? If orthodoxy, in this sense, has done evil, let its enemies bear witness of the evil; but if good, why do they reproach it? Do superstition, enthusiasm, bigotry, or persecution for conscience sake, flow from just sentiments of religion and of the proper means to promote it? or rather do they not flow from wrong sentiments of these? Truth and general utility necessarily coincide. The first produces the second.
III. A TOLERABLE GENIUS AND CAPACITY, WITH A COMPETENT MEASURE OF TRUE LEARNING, are requisite to fit for the office of a spiritual instructor. Infidels may wish, as Julian the apostate did, to see learning banished from the Christian Church. And men of low education, or of selfish spirits may think meanly or speak diminutively of a gospel ministry, as if the weakest abilities sufficed to qualify for it. But a Paul cried out, Who is sufficient for these things? (2Co 2:16). Elihu tells us that scarcely one of a thousand is qualified to deal with the conscience Job 33:23). Uncommon talents are necessary to explain obscure passages of Scripture, to resolve intricate cases of conscience, and to defend the truth against gainsayers–services to which ministers have frequent calls. But, above all, one who would teach others to be religious, must himself have a clear and distinct notion of religion. We cannot avoid despising the man who is ignorant in his own profession, whatever his knowledge may be of other matters. The spiritual instructor should be mighty in the Scriptures, able not only to repeat, but to explain them, having the Word of God dwelling in him richly, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
IV. Ministers have need to be persons of PRUDENCE AND CONDUCT, and to know men as well as books. A minister should study himself. He should not only be acquainted with his own spiritual state, but with the particular turn of his genius; for our usefulness will in a great measure depend upon knowing what our gift is. A minister should study the make and frame of the human mind; for till the springs of human nature are, in a good measure, disclosed to him, and he has learned how far the bodily passions, or a disordered imagination, may either cloud genuine piety or cause a resemblance of it, he will be often at a loss what judgment to frame of religious appearances. He should know all the avenues to the soul, and study the different capacities and tempers of men, that he may be able, with becoming address, to suit himself to them all.
V. A due mixture OF A STUDIOUS DISPOSITION AND OF AN ACTIVE SPIRIT is necessary in teachers of Christianity. The ministry is no idle or easy profession, but requires an almost uninterrupted series of the most painful and laborious services. (J. Erskine, D. D.)
Dissuasives from proud censure
1. The best need dissuasives from proud censuring. It is the natural disease of wit, a pleasing evil; it suiteth with pride and self-love, and feedeth conceit. It serveth vainglory, and provideth for our esteem abroad; we demolish the esteem of others, that out of the ruins of it we may raise a structure of praise to ourselves.
2. Censuring is an arrogation of mastership over others. It is a wrong to God to put myself in His room; it is a wrong to my neighbour to arrogate a power over him which God never gave me.
3. Christians should not affect this mastership over their brethren. You may admonish, reprove, warn, but it should not be in a masterly way. How is that?
(1) When we do it out of pride and self-conceit, as conceiving yourselves more just, holy, wise, etc.
(2) When we do it as vaunting over their infirmities and frailties in a braving way, rather to shame than to restore them: this doth not argue hatred of the sin, but envy, malice against the person.
(3) When the censure is unmerciful, and we remit nothing of extreme rigour and severity; yea, divest the action of extenuating circumstances.
(4) When we infringe Christian liberty and condemn others for things merely indifferent.
(5) When men do not consider what may stand with charity as well as what will agree with truth; there may be censure where there is no slander.
(6) When we do it to set off ourselves, and use them as a foil to give our worth the better lustre, and by the report of their scandals to climb up and commence into a better esteem. In the whole matter we are to be actuated by love, and to aim at the Lords glory.
4. A remedy against vain censures is to consider ourselves (Gal 6:1). How is it with us? Gracious hearts are always looking inward; they inquire most into themselves, are most severe against their own corruptions.
(1) Most inquisitive after their own sins.
(2) Most severe against themselves.
5. Rash and undue judging of others, when we are guilty ourselves, maketh us liable to the greater judgment. The apostle proceedeth upon that supposition. Sharp reprovers had need be exact, otherwise they draw a hard law upon themselves, and in judging others pronounce their own doom; their sins are sins of knowledge, and the more knowledge the more stripes. (T. Manton.)
Introduction into the office of religious teachers
Introduction into the office of religious teachers is the subject to which the admonition has reference. The unconverted Jews were vain of their privileges, and of their superiority in knowledge to the unenlightened Gentiles. This part of their character is forcibly drawn by Paul (Rom 2:17-20). There were some corrupters also of the gospel–mixing up its simple provisions for human salvation into a heterogeneous compound with the observances of the Mosaic ceremonial who manifested the same propensity to become teachers of others; their character, too, is graphically touched by the same apostle (1Ti 1:5-7; Tit 1:9-11). In the latter passage, the motive to which the teaching of such false doctrine is attributed–doctrine that trimmed itself to the prejudices and likings of the hearers for selfish ends–is inexpressibly base. But by various other motives besides avarice may the same desire be prompted. It may spring from vanity–from the ambitious love of distinction and fondness for pre-eminence–even when the teaching is not that of false doctrine, but of the true gospel, the doctrine of the Cross. Envy of the eminence of others, it would appear from Pauls representation, had actuated some in his day–a motive even more unworthy than the simple love of distinction for themselves Php 1:15-18). What a shocking way for malice to adopt to give itself indulgence!–preaching Christ from rivalry, and under the idea that the success of such rivalry might be a new element of distress to the suffering apostle! How little such men–who judged of others by their own narrow-minded selfishness–knew of the elevation and nobleness of principle and feeling by which this servant of Christ was animated. Still further. Ill-directed zeal, where there is a deficiency of prudence, or of self-diffidence and experience, may produce, without any morally-evil motive, the same effect. This is frequently the case with new converts. Undue eagerness, then, for the office of teachers in the Church–whether thus arising from such corrupt motives as vanity, avarice, ambition, and envious rivalry, or from the less censurable ones of self-ignorance, inconsideration, and misguided zeal–the apostle seeks to repress. The meaning plainly is, that the believers should be in no haste to become public instructors, in order that the number might not be multiplied of such as, in knowledge and in character, were not suitable for the office. The ground on which James here rests his caution, is that of the specially solemn responsibility with which the office of teacher is invested: Knowing that we (we who are, or become, teachers namely) shall receive greater condemnation–we shall be subjected to stricter judgment, as by some the words have been rendered–of which, as a necessary consequence, the result must be, when there is wilful or careless failure, or failure even from incompetency, greater condemnation. The errors of teachers–whether arising from want of proper and sufficient investigation and study, from prejudice and partiality, or from whatever other corrupt or defective source–as they are more extensively mischievous than those of others, so are they proportionally more criminal; the obligation lying upon them being the greater to find out, by diligent search and careful discrimination of truth from falsehood, what they ought to teach and what to shun, so thus they may faithfully and fully, without alteration, addition, or abatement, declare the thing that is right. And, while such considerations constitute the ground of a specially solemn account which public teachers have to render for what they teach, hasty aspirants after the office should further bear in mind that a station of public eminence exposes its occupant to observation, that the sins and failings of such a one are more marked, and are more injurious to the cause of God and of His truth than even grosser misdemeanours on the part of Christians in more private spheres; and hence, even in the present life, we need not be surprised should we observe discipline peculiarly severe dealt out by Providence to those who either, from any corrupt motive, go aside in their teaching from the Divine standard, or who, while they publish truth, fail to adorn it by their own consistent deportment. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Shrinking from the ministerial office
Mark here how the apostle includes himself. He says, We shall receive. He does so in a spirit of humility and self-distrust, which serves to bring out more forcibly the magnitude of the danger against which he is warning his readers. We find Paul writing in a similar manner (1Co 9:27). The most eminent ministers of the Church in all ages have felt this, and to such an extent that they have often shrunk back at first from the sacred office altogether. It was so with Ambrose, who, when elected Bishop of Milan, fled from the city, and had to be searched out and brought back from his place of concealment. It was so with the still more celebrated Father Augustine, who went forward to receive ordination only after the most urgent solicitations. It was so with John Knox, for he, when called to the ministry in the Castle of St. Andrews, first made an ineffectual attempt to address the congregation that had chosen him, and then, bursting into tears, rushed out of the assembly and hid himself in his own chamber. His countenance and behaviour, from that day till the day he was compelled to present himself in the public place of preaching, did sufficiently declare the grief and trouble of his heart, for no man saw any sign of mirth from him, neither had he pleasure to accompany any man for many days together.
What a lesson is here to all who either have entered on, or are looking forward to, the work of spiritual teaching I (John Adam.)
Respect for authority
When Faraday was preparing to lecture in natural science at the Royal Institution, he advertised for a retired sergeant to help him with his experiments. Being asked why he sought for a military man, he explained that some of the materials that would be used were dangerous, and that, therefore, he wanted for an assistant not one who would follow his own ignorant judgment, and blow up himself, the professor, and the audience, but one who would do exactly what he would be told, and nothing else. (E. J. Hardy, M. A.)
Masters
i.e., self-constituted censors of others. (Calvin.)
The itch of teaching
Wiesinger heads this chapter, Against the itch of teaching. (Calvin.)
Inconsistent teachers
Words had taken the place of works. (Huther.)
Teachers to love their work
The sages of Israel had given the same caution as in the maxim: Love the work, but strive not after the honour of a teacher. (Pirke Aboth. 1:10.)
The teaching gift
It is obvious that true teachers must always be a minority. There is something seriously wrong when the majority in the community, or even a large number, are pressing forward to teach the rest. (A. Plummer, D. D.)
Self-assertion
Bishop Hall said, There are three things which, of all others, I will never strive for: the wall, the way, and the best seat. If I deserve well, a low place cannot disparage me so much as I shall grace it; if not, the height of my place shall add to my shame, while every man shall condemn me for pride matched with unworthiness. (H. O. Mackey.)
Self-glorification, a disqualification for Gods work
Dare any of us say with the French king, Letat cest moi–The State is myself–I am the most important person in the Church? If so, the Holy Spirit is not likely to use such unsuitable instruments; but if we know our places, and desire to keep them with all humility, He will help us, and the Churches will flourish beneath our care. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER III.
They are exhorted not to be many masters, 1.
And to bridle the tongue, which is often an instrument of
much evil, 2-12.
The character and fruits of true and false wisdom, 13-18.
NOTES ON CHAP. III.
Verse 1. Be not many masters] Do not affect the teacher’s office, for many wish to be teachers who have more need to learn. There were many teachers or rabbins among the Jews, each affecting to have THE truth, and to draw disciples after him. We find a caution against such persons, and of the same nature with that of St. James, in Pirkey Aboth, c. i. 10: Love labour, and hate the rabbin’s office.
This caution is still necessary; there are multitudes, whom God has never called, and never can call, because he has never qualified them for the work, who earnestly wish to get into the priest’s office. And of this kind, in opposition to St. James, we have many masters-persons who undertake to show us the way of salvation, who know nothing of that ways and are unsaved themselves. These are found among all descriptions of Christians, and have been the means of bringing the ministerial office into contempt. Their case is awful; they shall receive greater condemnation than common sinners; they have not only sinned in thrusting themselves into that office to which God has never called them, but through their insufficiency the flocks over whom they have assumed the mastery perish for lack of knowledge, and their blood will God require at the watchman’s hand. A man may have this mastery according to the law of the land, and yet not have it according to the Gospel; another may affect to have it according to the Gospel, because he dissents from the religion of the state, and not have it according to Christ. Blockheads are common, and knaves and hypocrites may be found everywhere.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Be not many masters; let not every man make himself a master of other mens faith and manners, a censor, or supercilious reprover of their failings and infirmities, Mat 7:1. All reproof is not here forbidden, neither authoritative by church officers, nor charitative by private brethren; but that which is irregular, either in the ground of it, when that is false; or the manner of it, when it is masterly and imperious, or preposterous, as when we reprehend others and are no less reprehensible ourselves, Rom 2:21; or in the end of it, when we seek to advance our own reputation by observing or aggravating others faults, &c.
Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation; by how much the more severe and rigid we are in judging others, the greater will be our judgment, not only from men, who will be apt to retaliate, but from God himself, Mat 7:1-3; Luk 6:38; Rev 2:2,3. See the like expression, Mat 23:8,14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. be notliterally, “becomenot”: taking the office too hastily, and of your own accord.
manyThe office is anoble one; but few are fit for it. Few govern the tongue well (Jas3:2), and only such as can govern it are fit for the office;therefore, “teachers” ought not to be many.
mastersrather,”teachers.” The Jews were especially prone to thispresumption. The idea that faith (so called) without works (Jas2:14-26) was all that is required, prompted “many” toset up as “teachers,” as has been the case in all ages ofthe Church. At first all were allowed to teach in turns. Even theirinspired gifts did not prevent liability to abuse, as James hereimplies: much more is this so when self-constituted teachers have nosuch miraculous gifts.
knowingas all mightknow.
we . . . greatercondemnationJames in a humble, conciliatory spirit, includeshimself: if we teachers abuse the office, we shall receivegreater condemnation than those who are mere hearers (compare Lu12:42-46). CALVIN,like English Version, translates, “masters” that is,self-constituted censors and reprovers of others Jas4:12 accords with this view.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My brethren, be not many masters,…. The apostle having dispatched the subject of faith and good works, which constitute the pure and undefiled religion mentioned in Jas 1:27 which gave rise to this discourse, he proceeds to consider the evidence of a religious man, suggested in Jas 1:26 who is one that bridles the tongue; and enters into an account of the use and abuse of the tongue: and which is introduced by this exhortation; and which seems to be opposed to an affectation among the Jews, to whom James writes, of being called “Rabbi, Rabbi”, or “Mori, Mori”, master, master, condemned by Christ, Mt 23:8. The words may be rendered, “be not many teachers”; or be not fond, and forward, and ambitious of being preachers of the word, but rather choose to be hearers of it, agreeably to the advice in Jas 1:19, “be swift to hear, slow to speak”; not but that the office of a teacher is a good work, and a very desirable one; and spiritual gifts, qualifying for it, are to be coveted with a view to the glory of God, and the good of souls; and to have many teachers is a blessing to the churches of Christ and a large number of them is often not only proper, but absolutely necessary: but then this office should not be entered upon without suitable gifts, a divine mission, and a regular call by a church; and when entered into, should not be performed in a magisterial way, as lords over God’s heritage, and as claiming a dominion over the faith of men, but as helpers of their joy, peace, and comfort; nor according to the commandments of men, but according to the oracles of God. Or it may be, this exhortation may have respect to censorious persons, rigid and severe reprovers of others, who take upon them, in a haughty manner, to charge and rebuke others for their faults; reproof for sin ought to be given; sin should not be suffered upon the brethren; to reprove is not blameworthy, but commendable, when it is done in a right manner, with a good spirit, and to a good end: in case of private offences, it should be privately given, and for public ones, men should be rebuked before all; but then this ought to be done in a gentle manner, and in a spirit of meekness; and when it is a clear case, and plain matter of fact, and which ought not to be exaggerated and aggravated; mole hills are not to be made mountains of, or a man be made an offender for a word, or a matter of human frailty; and reproof should be given by persons not guilty of the same, or worse crimes, themselves, and always with a good end; not to screen and cover their own vices, or to be thought more holy and religious than others, or to satisfy a revengeful spirit, but for the glory of God, and the restoring of the person that has sinned.
Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation: should men enter into the office of teaching others without a call, or perform it negligently, or live not according to the doctrine they teach others, such would be judged out of their own mouths, and by their own words, and their condemnation would be aggravated; and should men judge rash judgment, they themselves will be judged at a higher tribunal; and should they be too censorious, and bear too hard on others, they will have judgment without mercy.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Government of the Tongue. | A. D. 61. |
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
The foregoing chapter shows how unprofitable and dead faith is without works. It is plainly intimated by what this chapter first goes upon that such a faith is, however, apt to make men conceited and magisterial in their tempers and their talk. Those who set up faith in the manner the former chapter condemns are most apt to run into those sins of the tongue which this chapter condemns. And indeed the best need to be cautioned against a dictating, censorious, mischievous use of their tongues. We are therefore taught,
I. Not to use our tongues so as to lord it over others: My brethren, be not many masters, c., <i>v. 1. These words do not forbid doing what we can to direct and instruct others in the way of their duty or to reprove them in a Christian way for what is amiss; but we must not affect to speak and act as those who are continually assuming the chair, we must not prescribe to one another, so as to make our own sentiments a standard by which to try all others, because God gives various gifts to men, and expects from each according to that measure of light which he gives. “Therefore by not many masters” (or teachers, as some read it); “do not give yourselves the air of teachers, imposers, and judges, but rather speak with the humility and spirit of learners; do not censure one another, as if all must be brought to your standard.” This is enforced by two reasons. 1. Those who thus set up for judges and censurers shall receive the greater condemnation. Our judging others will but make our own judgment the more strict and severe, Mat 7:1; Mat 7:2. Those who are curious to spy out the faults of others, and arrogant in passing censures upon them, may expect that God will be as extreme in marking what they say and do amiss. 2. Another reason given against such acting the master is because we are all sinners: In many things we offend all, v. 2. Were we to think more of our own mistakes and offenses, we should be less apt to judge other people. While we are severe against what we count offensive in others, we do not consider how much there is in us which is justly offensive to them. Self-justifiers are commonly self-deceivers. We are all guilty before God; and those who vaunt it over the frailties and infirmities of others little think how many things they offend in themselves. Nay, perhaps their magisterial deportment, and censorious tongues, may prove worse than any faults they condemn in others. Let us learn to be severe in judging ourselves, but charitable in our judgments of other people.
II. We are taught to govern our tongue so as to prove ourselves perfect and upright men, and such as have an entire government over ourselves: If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. It is here implied that he whose conscience is affected by tongue-sins, and who takes care to avoid them, is an upright man, and has an undoubted sign of true grace. But, on the other hand, if a man seemeth to be religious (as was declared in the first chapter) and bridleth not his tongue, whatever profession he makes, that man’s religion is vain. Further, he that offends not in word will not only prove himself a sincere Christian, but a very much advanced and improved Christian. For the wisdom and grace which enable him to rule his tongue will enable him also to rule all his actions. This we have illustrated by two comparisons:– 1. The governing and guiding of all the motions of a horse, by the bit which is put into his mouth: Behold, we put bits into the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body, v. 3. There is a great deal of brutish fierceness and wantonness in us. This shows itself very much by the tongue: so that this must be bridled; according to Ps. xxxix. 1, I will keep my mouth with a bridle (or, I will bridle my mouth) while the wicked is before me. The more quick and lively the tongue is, the more should we thus take care to govern it. Otherwise, as an unruly and ungovernable horse runs away with his rider, or throws him, so an unruly tongue will serve those in like manner who have no command over it. Whereas, let resolution and watchfulness, under the influence of the grace of God, bridle the tongue, and then all the motions and actions of the whole body will be easily guided and overruled. 2. The governing of a ship by the right management of the helm: Behold also the ships, which though they are so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things,Jas 3:4; Jas 3:5. As the helm is a very small part of the ship, so is the tongue a very small part of the body: but the right governing of the helm or rudder will steer and turn the ship as the governor pleases; and a right management of the tongue is, in a great measure, the government of the whole man. There is a wonderful beauty in these comparisons, to show how things of small bulk may yet be of vast use. And hence we should learn to make the due management of our tongues more our study, because, though they are little members, they are capable of doing a great deal of good or a great deal of hurt. Therefore,
III. We are taught to dread an unruly tongue as one of the greatest and most pernicious evils. It is compared to a little fire placed among a great deal of combustible matter, which soon raises a flame and consumes all before it: Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, c., Jas 3:5Jas 3:6. There is such an abundance of sin in the tongue that it may be called a world of iniquity. How many defilements does it occasion! How many and dreadful flames does it kindle! So is the tongue among the members that it defileth the whole body. Observe hence, There is a great pollution and defilement in sins of the tongue. Defiling passions are kindled, vented, and cherished by this unruly member. And the whole body is often drawn into sin and guilt by the tongue. Therefore Solomon says, Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, Eccles. v. 6. The snares into which men are sometimes led by the tongue are insufferable to themselves and destructive of others. It setteth on fire the course of nature. The affairs of mankind and of societies are often thrown into confusion, and all is on a flame, by the tongues of men. Some read it, all our generations are set on fire by the tongue. There is no age of the world, nor any condition of life, private or public, but will afford examples of this. And it is set on fire of hell. Observe hence, Hell has more to do in promoting of fire of the tongue than men are generally aware of. It is from some diabolical designs, that men’s tongues are inflamed. The devil is expressly called a liar, a murderer, an accuser of the brethren; and, whenever men’s tongues are employed in any of these ways, they are set on fire of hell. The Holy Ghost indeed once descended in cloven tongues as of fire, Acts ii. And, where the tongue is thus guided and wrought upon by a fire from heaven, there it kindleth good thoughts, holy affections, and ardent devotions. But when it is set on fire of hell, as in all undue heats it is, there it is mischievous, producing rage and hatred, and those things which serve the purposes of the devil. As therefore you would dread fires and flames, you should dread contentions, revilings, slanders, lies, and every thing that would kindle the fire of wrath in your own spirit or in the spirits of others. But,
IV. We are next taught how very difficult a thing it is to govern the tongue: For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed, of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame,Jas 3:7; Jas 3:8. As if the apostle had said, “Lions, and the most savage beasts, as well as horses and camels, and creatures of the greatest strength, have been tamed and governed by men: so have birds, notwithstanding their wildness and timorousness, and their wings to bear them up continually out of our reach: even serpents, notwithstanding all their venom and all their cunning, have been made familiar and harmless: and things in the sea have been taken by men, and made serviceable to them. And these creatures have not been subdued nor tamed by miracle only (as the lions crouched to Daniel, instead of devouring him, and ravens fed Elijah, and a whale carried Jonah through the depths of the sea to dry land), but what is here spoken of is something commonly done; not only hath been tamed, but is tamed of mankind. Yet the tongue is worse than these, and cannot be tamed by the power and art which serves to tame these things. No man can tame the tongue without supernatural grace and assistance.” The apostle does not intend to represent it as a thing impossible, but as a thing extremely difficult, which therefore will require great watchfulness, and pains, and prayer, to keep it in due order. And sometimes all is too little; for it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Brute creatures may be kept within certain bounds, they may be managed by certain rules, and even serpents may be so used as to do not hurt with all their poison; but the tongue is apt to break through all bounds and rules, and to spit out its poison on one occasion or other, notwithstanding the utmost care. So that not only does it need to be watched, and guarded, and governed, as much as an unruly beast, or a hurtful and poisonous creature, but much more care and pains will be needful to prevent the mischievous outbreakings and effects of the tongue. However,
V. We are taught to think of the use we make of our tongues in religion and in the service of God, and by such a consideration to keep it from cursing, censuring, and every thing that is evil on other occasions: Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be,Jas 3:9; Jas 3:10. How absurd is it that those who use their tongues in prayer and praise should ever use them in cursing, slandering, and the like! If we bless God as our Father, it should teach us to speak well of, and kindly to, all who bear his image. That tongue which addresses with reverence the divine Being cannot, without the greatest inconsistency, turn upon fellow-creatures with reviling brawling language. It is said of the seraphim that praise God, they dare not bring a railing accusation. And for men to reproach those who have not only the image of God in their natural faculties, but are renewed after the image of God by the grace of the gospel: this is a most shameful contradiction to all their pretensions of honouring the great Original. These things ought not so to be; and, if such considerations were always at hand, surely they would not be. Piety is disgraced in all the shows of it, if there be not charity. That tongue confutes itself which one while pretends to adore the perfections of God, and to refer all things to him, and another while will condemn even good men if they do not just come up to the same words or expressions used by it. Further, to fix this thought, the apostle shows that contrary effects from the same causes are monstrous, and not be found in nature, and therefore cannot be consistent with grace: Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig-tree bear olive-berries, or a vine, figs? Or doth the same spring yield both salt water and fresh?Jas 3:11; Jas 3:12. True religion will not admit of contradictions; and a truly religious man can never allow of them either in his words or his actions. How many sins would this prevent, and recover men from, to put them upon being always consistent with themselves!
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Be not many teachers ( ). Prohibition with and present middle imperative of . “Stop becoming many teachers” (so many of you). There is thus a clear complaint that too many of the Jewish Christians were attempting to teach what they did not clearly comprehend. There was a call for wise teachers (verses 13f.), not for foolish ones. This soon became an acute question, as one can see in I Cor. 12 to 14. They were not all teachers (1Cor 12:28; 1Cor 14:26). The teacher is here treated as the wise man (3:13-18) as he ought to be. The rabbi was the teacher (Matt 23:7; John 1:38; John 3:10; John 20:16). Teachers occupied an honourable position among the Christians (Eph 4:11; Acts 13:1). James counts himself a teacher (we shall receive, 3:1) and this discussion is linked on with 1:19-27. Teachers are necessary, but incompetent and unworthy ones do much harm.
Heavier judgment ( ). “Greater sentence.” See Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47 for (the sentence from the judge, Ro 13:2). The reason is obvious. The pretence of knowledge adds to the teacher’s responsibility and condemnation.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Masters [] . Literally, and better, teachers, with a reference to the exhortation to be slow to speak (ch. 1 19). Compare 1Co 14:26 – 34. Jas. is warning against the too eager and general assumption of the privilege of teaching, which was not restricted to a particular class, but was exercised by believers generally.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) Brethren of the dispersion are warned against any fleshly desire of anxiety to teach except, or unless each was aware of the responsibility it brings upon him toward his fellow man and God. He asserts that a greater degree of judgment, heavier judgment, falls upon the teacher than upon the pupil. The teacher must be judged by the standards of a teacher, Mar 12:40; Heb 13:17.
2) James seems to have been an able teacher, honored in his work, where he had gained honor. Many desire to have the honor of a teacher with little realization of the gravity or seriousness of the responsibility to God and one’s fellow man. Good teachers are necessary, and to be honored. But incompetent, unworthy, and untrustworthy teachers may do much harm.
AT THE CROSSROADS
He stood at the crossroads all alone, With the sunrise in his face; He had no thought for the world unknown, He was set for a manly race. But the road stretched east and the road stretched west, and the boy did not know which road was the best So he took the wrong road, and his life went down, And he lost the race and the victor’s crown; He was caught at last in a sinful snare, Because no one stood at the crossroads there, To show him the better road.
Another day at the selfsame place, A boy with high hopes stood; He, too, was set for a manly race, He was seeking the things that were good. But one was there who the roads did know, -And that one showed him which way to go; So he turned away from the road that went down, And he won the race and the victor’s crown. He walks today on the Highway fair, Because one stood at the crossroads there, To show him the better road.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 Be not many masters. The common and almost universal interpretation of this passage is, that the Apostle discourages the desire for the office of teaching, and for this reason, because it is dangerous, and exposes one to a heavier judgment, in case he transgresses: and they think that he said, Be not many masters, because there ought to have been some. But I take masters not to be those who performed a public duty in the Church, but such as took upon them the right of passing judgment upon others: for such reprovers sought to be accounted as masters of morals. And it has a mode of speaking usual among the Greeks as well as Latins, that they were called masters who superciliously animadverted on others.
And that he forbade them to be many, it was done for this reason, because many everywhere did thrust in themselves; for it is, as it were, an innate disease in mankind to seek reputation by blaming others. And, in this respect, a twofold vice prevails — though few excel in wisdom, yet all intrude indiscriminately into the office of masters; and then few are influenced by a right feeling, for hypocrisy and ambition stimulate them, and not a care for the salvation of their brethren. For it is to be observed, that James does not discourage those brotherly admonitions, which the Spirit so often and so much recommends to us, but that immoderate desire to condemn, which proceeds from ambition and pride, when any one exalts himself against his neighbor, slanders, carps, bites, and malignantly seeks for what he may turn to a sinister purpose: for this is usually done when impertinent censors of this kind insolently boast themselves in the work of exposing the vices of others.
From this outrage and annoyance James recalls us; and he adds a reason, because they who are thus severe towards others shall undergo a heavier judgment: for he imposes a hard law on himself, who tries the words and deeds of others according to the rule of extreme rigor; nor does he deserve pardon, who will pardon none. This truth ought to be carefully observed, that they who are too rigid towards their brethren, provoke against themselves the severity of God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE TONGUE
Jas 3:1-18.
IN giving you an exposition of this third chapter of James there is no break in thought from the last discourse. The great subject of faith, as illustrated by works, is most intimately related to the opening sentences of todays study. It is a rule that Christian men and women, hearing an Apostles appeal that they demonstrate faith by works, immediately remember the obligation of witnessing in the Name of the Lord. In truth, not a few seem to regard speaking for Jesus the solitary way of serving Him. I know people who have no commercial worth whatever, no disposition to industry, no qualifications for a business life, who delight in attendance upon, and speech in, all public services. Some of these same look with decided contempt upon the men and women whose devotion to domestic or commercial duties detain them oft from the House of God, and who, when they come, seldom make a speech or even utter aloud a prayer.
Let it ever be remembered that attendance upon Christian assemblies is a virtue, the practice of which is enjoined by the Apostles appeal. Let us often recall the fact that Jesus Christ Himself coupled the promise of confessing us before the Father and the holy angels, with the condition that we should confess Him before men; whilst an Apostle expressly declares:
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom 10:9-10).
And yet, beloved, Christianity is capable of being expressed in other ways than by the tongue, and we are convinced that some men who devote themselves closely, and yet honestly, to commercial duties, and some women who regard the obligation to the home equally as important as the attendance on public assemblies, by their sweetly consistent course, honoring Christ quite as much and giving to the Lord, are just as definite illustrations of a living faith as are those who respond to every new voice, push their way to the center of every crowd, and make their voices heard in every assembly.
If it were not for these same domestic mothers there would be little hope of building up a body of believers, for the Church is recruited from childhood; and if it were not for the same industrious brethren and fathers it would be impossible to erect any houses of God, pay gas bills, coal bills, and salaries of church servants from sexton to pastor.
Now, James is known as the practical Apostle. It is natural, therefore, that he should pass immediately from calling upon people to demonstrate faith by works, to the warning against confusing all good works with words. And with this thought of the connection between chapters let us pass directly to the study before us.
I find three ideas somewhat thoroughly discussed in this chapter: The Solemn Responsibility of Teaching, The Terror of the Untamed Tongue, The Characterization of Two Wisdoms.
THE SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHING
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
The teaching to which James refers here is probably professional. He is thinking of such offices as Prophet, Apostle, Pastor, Teacher, Evangelist, and he warns men against rushing in where angels hesitate to tread.
If I understand this opening sentence, James means to say this:
The Gospel ministry should not be mans choice; Recently some of the leading magazines of the country have been discussing the decline in the ministry, especially the decline in the number of young men who are entering the profession. The reasons they assign are selfish and material, everyone. Some have said it is because the salaries are small; others because the promotion comes slowly; still others because it does not give one sufficient social prestige, and so forth: all of which show how we have departed, both from the faith of the fathers and the teaching of the Word. When Peter once employed this speech, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore? (Mat 19:27), the Masters reply was both an encouragement and rebuke. The peerless Apostle Paul did not come up from his knees saying, Lord, if I yield myself to Thee and enter the Gospel ministry how much salary can I have? How honorable a station may I hold? Into what elite society may I expect to move? His was the better question of the truly called man, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? The moment men begin to choose the ministry, as they choose other professions, as a calling which is to be considered from the standpoint of personal profit, promotion, popularity, or power, that moment the office is prostitute and rendered impotent.
I agree absolutely with Charles Spurgeon that no man should enter the ministry who can remain out of it, and yet satisfy his conscience. Much as I long to see a multitude come into this profession, which I believe to be the most blessed one known to man, I should mourn not a little to find that I had influenced a single youth to enter this calling who had no clear convictions that it was Gods will for him.
My brethren, be not many masters.
This does not relate to instructors in biology or any other natural science. It is not so much an injunction to the teaching in the primary school, in the grades, in the academy, in the university, as it is to the men who have set their eyes toward a public ministry in the Name of Jesus.
When one thinks of the responsibility of that office, how that even the eternal destiny of immortal souls will be determined by its faithful or unfaithful discharge, he is compelled to cry out, Who is sufficient for these things? The greatest preachers the Church has ever known have entered their pulpits with fear and trembling, and before they dared to stand upon their feet to speak, have gone upon their knees to plead with God for Divine wisdom, knowing full well that what they said would affect the eternal interest of their auditors. If men hesitate to sit upon a jury when the question of a mans release from indictment or death upon the gallows is the one to be determined and they dowhy should men rush into a profession where every word will become a savor or life unto life, or death unto death?
I can join sincerely this morning in the prayer which Christ requested of us that we should ask the Father to send forth labourers into His harvest, since the harvest truly is great, and the laborers are so few; but I have sat in councils where ministers of the Gospel seemed alarmed lest they should ordain to the fellowship of their profession a man who could not write a college title after his signature, nor point with pride to the seminary from which he graduated; but I confess to you that my anxiety lies always in another direction, namely, Has this man chosen the ministry for himself, or has he been called to it by the King of kings, who alone has the right to make appointments to this office?
The judgment of public speech is necessarily severe. James refers to that fact by saying,
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
The man who would fain be a teacher of his fellows must submit himself to Divine judgment; then, whether he will or not, the public will submit him to its judgment. You go into the sacred Scriptures, and hear what God has to say concerning those who teach without having been commissioned of Him. Paul, writing in Second Corinthians (2Co 11:13) speaks of certain men as false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. While to the Galatians he writes, of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. And he declares that they who seemed to be somewhat in repute added nothing to him (Gal 2:4; Gal 2:6). And his beloved Timothy he warns against some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the Law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm (1Ti 1:6-7). John, in his Letter to the Church at Smyrna (Rev 2:9), calls certain of the Jews who assayed to teach, the synagogue of Satan.
You may! recall that Kirwin in The Happy Home, speaks of those teachers in the public schools, who merely make their vocation a temporary expedient to something else, after this manner:
Public hackneys in the schooling trade,Who feed a pupils intellect with store Of syntax truly, but with little more;Anxious only that their boys may learn,While morals languish, a despised concern;Dismiss their cares when they dismiss their flock; Machines themselves, and governed by a clock.
And yet, who would compare the baneful effects of false teaching in the school to that accomplished when the same is brought into the church? Dr. M. J. Savage once spake sanely enough when he said: Teach your child false arithmetic if you will, you will get that knocked out of him very soon in business; teach him false geographythat the Grecian Archipelago is in the Indian Ocean. That is a matter of slight importance. Teach him false history. It will make very little difference to him whether he can tell who came first, Richard III. or Henry VII. Teach him falsely almost anywhere else, and it is of slight importance compared with false teaching regarding the relation of the soul to God. Train your child to keep a clear-eyed vision of the highest and last truth that God reveals and to listen to the last word that He teaches. This, on your peril, is the most important thing that you can do. And this, beloved, is the portion of the ministry, and the very importance of it submits it to the severest judgment. If it stands the test, praise is its portion; if notexecrations. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
The office of teacher calls for superior wisdom and care.
For in many things we offend all, If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body,
Oh, beloved, if we are to teach, just as James here clearly intimates, we must have wisdom that is better than human, and care akin to that which characterized the Christ. Think on what the great Isaiah said concerning his commission:
The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned,
The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back (Isa 50:4-5),
Analyze that sentence and what does it mean? It means vastly more than ability to speak. All intellectual men share that in common. It means vastly more than the learning of the schools; there the teaching is human; here it is Divine. It means the power to comfort. When Jesus said, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, He meant to do it, not by inviting us to pillow our heads upon His bosom as did John, but by teaching eternal Truths by which we would find peace and rest.
It means power to counsel. You remember how Solomon wrote in the Proverbs: Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength (Pro 8:14). And the man engaged in the ministry should so reveal God as to make Him all of this to his faithful auditors. For, as Pastor Stalker has said, Whenever a preacher strikes correctly a note of the eternal Truth, it is Christ that does it. Whenever a preacher makes you feel that there is a world of realities above and behind the one you see and touch; whenever he lays hold of your mind, touches your heart, awakens your aspirations, rouses your conscience, that is Christ trying to grasp you, to reach you with His love, to save you.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God (2Co 5:20).
THE TERRORS OF THE UNTAMED TONGUE
Our Apostle passes from discussing the solemn responsibility of teaching, to take up another phase of the tongues temptations. Just as he began this chapter by showing the dangers of entering a profession to which we had not been called, and using the tongue in a service for which it had not been selected, he pauses to declare the character of the unregenerate tongue.
Two or three things he makes perfectly clear:
Man is incapable of taming the tongue.
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
But the tongue can no man tame.
Think of it, beloved! People come back from Africa and report to us the ferocious beasts which inhabit the interior, and we shudder at the description; make mention of the serpents that crawl in its rotting wastes, and we are filled with alarm. Men who live upon the seas report the mighty monsters of the deep, and sometimes take up the most peculiar and awful of them and put them on public exhibition, and we almost fear to approach them, even after they are dead. In our museums, on the occasions of great national or international expositions, the thesaurian is mounted, and we look at him to rejoice that he passed from the scenes of earth before our day. But James declares that worse than the hyena, more terrible than the monsters of the deep, or even the rehabilitated mastadon, is that little harmless looking member we bear in our mouths! It is the one thing of earth that man has never yet tamed. And while women exhibit abilities in so many other directions, it must be confessed that most of them have signally failed in this, and it remains as true that The tongue can no [woman] tame, as it is, The tongue can no man tame.
Ridpath in his History says, Ben Johnson has a play called, The Silent Woman, who turns out, as might be expected, no woman at all, but Nothing, as Master Chumbly said, but a great lubberly boy. While George Eliot, herself a woman, refers in Felix Holt to this besetting weakness of her sex by describing Mrs. Transome in the hour of anger, whose outburst of temper was taken advantage of by Mr. Jermyn; and then the author remarks, She, poor woman, knew quite well that she had been unwise and that she had been making herself disagreeable to Harold, to no purpose. But half the sorrows of women would be averted if they could repress the speech they know to be uselessnay, the speech they have resolved not to utter!
But in passing let me remark that while James affirms that no man has ever yet tamed the tongue or can, and history makes womans failure equally clear, he does not intimate that the tongue is untamable. That which is too hard for man yields to the touch of God. He is not preaching us, then, a Gospel of despair, but by impressing a truth, is putting us on our guard; and in this connection he reminds us of another thing:
Its deadly poison is but poorly appreciated.
It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
How unruly it is one may imagine if he goes back to the figure before employed, Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire. What so unruly as a flame? What so hungry? I once traveled for thirty or forty miles across the black spot in Minnesota over which the famous Hinckley fire had raged, leaving the devastation of nature and human dead in its trail. In that awful time the beasts of the fields, wild and domestic, sought refuge in vain. The forests, valued by thousands, if not millions of dollars, were consumed, and ingenious man in many an instance failed to make his escape; he died the agonizing death of burning. And yet it all came from one little spark. And James says what that spark, when kindled to wood, is, in its devastating, destroying power, the human tongue becomes in its restless evil, and in its deadly poison.
If one takes up the Word of God and runs it through, he will be surprised to see what crimes this little member has accomplished, how it has given breath to lies, existence and aid to scandal, ruin to reputation, stain to character, converted hope into despair, transgressed every Law of God, turning true worship to idolatry, the Name of God to profanity, casting scorn upon the Sabbath, visiting maltreatment to fathers and mothers, stirring up the spirit of murder, seducing to adultery, inciting to theft, expressing covetousness! There is not a soul in hell but has been hurled there by the human tongue.
Dr. A. P. Gouthey comments:
Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pro 18:21).
Boys flying kites call in their white-winged birds,You cant do that when you are flying words;Thoughts unexpressed often fall back dead,But God Himself cant kill them when theyre said.
What person among us can estimate the effects of one talebearers work, say nothing of the hundreds who are constantly engaged in it? God alone knows the blasted hopes, broken hearts, and wrecked homes which fire in the world directly as a result of this sin. Young ladies have been whispered out of society and into the deepest shame. Ministers have been whispered out of the pulpit and into disgrace. Wives and husbands have been whispered out of their homes and into divorce courts. Many have been whispered out of health and happiness and into premature graves, and thousands have been whispered away from Heaven into hell. Absolutely nothing has been sacred to the scandal-mongers. Neither home, nor virtue, nor church, nor state, nor reputation, have been safe from their attack. Like the German hordes in Belgium, they have gone with hobnailed boots across every sacred thing to carry out their infamous work of wreck and blight and ruin.
Deadly poison! I have often thought, and I believe it profoundly, that a man or woman whose tongue has been untamed by the Spirit of God, has no more right to membership in the Church of Jesus Christ, than does a gambler, drunkard, or the adulterer, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Mat 12:34).
The tongue is an index of character; and as for evil effects, the man who impoverishes himself by drink, the woman who sells herself for money, the crowd that gathers about the table of the green cloth, do not injure so deeply, and certainly not more eternally, than do those who carry about untamed tongues. I should like once to see a new article introduced into the discipline of churches, directed against the godless use of this unruly member. And I could wish that the Christian custom of Hannah More might be adopted by all good men and women. Whenever was told anything derogatory of another, her instant reply was, Come, let us go and see that person at once and learn if it is true?
Before passing from this subject, let me remind you that the use of the tongue and pen are practically one. I hope to live to see the day when newspaper reporters can be prosecuted for lying, and either put in the penitentiary or hanged for not telling the truth, when such publication can accomplish nothing but the gratification of the prurient and the breaking of human hearts and the blasting of human hopes.
To illustrate, Dr. Deems recited an instance of a New York paper which contained an account of the terrible fall of a beautiful young woman in that metropolis. There was nothing on earth to be accomplished by its publication except the gratification of those who search every sheet for the sensational. This young womans widowed mother, who, having brought up a large family, now resided in a distant land, happy in the thought that her children were doing well, received a marked copy of this paper detailing the sickening degradation of her child; and when she read it, reason reeled from its throne and she was made in one moment a subject for a mad-house, while scores of others suffered under the scandal.
Does any man imagine that he can do such a thing as that and not be made to answer for that dear mothers madness; imagine that he can do it and escape being called into judgment for the sorrow which he has needlessly dragged into human lives?
We are not saying this to condone the offense of the guilty girl. Such an offense cannot be condoned; for it, she had to answer to God. But we are saying that publishing scandal for scandals sake reveals a sordid mind and putrid tongue, or both; and James describes it, full of deadly poison. But again, according to the Apostle,
The voice of the tongue unveils the springs of character.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
The tongue shows what the indwelling spirit is; the tongue unveils the secret springs of life. I have heard men tell, by a sentence, how black were their hearts. I have read articles from pens that were tame enough from a literary standpoint; but eloquent in description of the character that indicted them. There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man (Mar 7:15). Ah, what words the wise man wrote into Ecclesiastes (Ecc 5:6): Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. Did you ever think of the fact that Satan is characterized as the accuser of our brethren * * which accused them before our God day and night (Rev 12:10). His tongue has always either been praising self, or blasting others; and in either exercise it was revealing his inmost character.
The same may be affirmed with reference to the tongue of man. The saintly Gordon has seldom been more exact and apt in illustration than when he said: Speech is that which especially reveals the flavor or quality of the man. It may sometimes feign sanctity, to be sure, when it is wanting in the life; and it may seek to make itself redolent with a borrowed grace, as the tippler disguises his breath with spices and perfumes; but the illusion cannot be long maintained. Thy speech betrayeth thee is a saying of universal application. One cannot live sinfully and talk generously. Show me your tongue, says the doctor, as the first demand of the patient. Here is the most favorable point for a diagnosis. And the truest diagnosis of the soul can be made in the same way by examining the tongue to see what kind of a deposit and coloring the thoughts and desires have left there.
Another writer truly declares:
It is the nature of all sin to harden and embitter, but especially is this true of backbiting. It is always closely associated with jealousy, envy, pride, and hatred, and these traits are the most blasting and deadly known to humanity. One cannot long indulge the sin of backbiting without searing ones conscience and stultifying all ones finer sensibilities. And the tragedy of this whole matter is, that the sin of backbiting moves in such respectable company that one may be guilty without bringing oneself under suspicion even in the highest circles of religion! Indeed, this foul sin is often committed in the very name of the highest type of piety! On the merest hearsay a person more than once has been brought under the most deadly suspicion by the backbiter; all in the name of perfect love! O religion! What crimes have been committed in thy name!
THE CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO WISDOMS
James will conclude this chapter by describing the characterization of two wisdomsthe wisdom that is from above, and the wisdom that is from below. It is hardly necessary to take the time to call your attention to the difference between learning and wisdom. The former any man with ordinary mind may get by application to study; the latter is always a gift, and is bestowed either by Satan on the one side or God on the other; it either comes up from below or down from above.
The first is earthly, sensual, devilish. There is no little of the best wisdom of this world which belongs under one or all of these termsearthly, sensual, devilish.
Take it in science; how much of it is earthly; how much of it is sensual? God is not regarded. The attempt is to frame His universe without Him, to rule Him out of the world of His own creation. It is not only earthly then, but it is also devilish, for that has been the desire of the devil from the beginning.
What, in art? Leo Tolstoi tells us, Art for the most part has been immoral, and today its most boasted productions are earthly, sensual, devilish.
Music has better escaped, and yet how much of that is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Go into the theater tonight if you do not believe it, and hear what they singearthly, sensual, devilish.
Go into schools and listen to the rationalism that characterizes the greater colleges and universities of the country, and describe it if you can! You will find yourself forced to make use of James terms.
Aye, go into the homes and look at the nude statuary pedestaled upon center tables and niches in the walls, and study the paintings that adorn many so-called Christian homes, and you will need James words when you attempt description. People have come to the conclusion, reached the deliberate fallacy, that if only a thing is artistic it cannot be earthly, sensual, devilish. But Tolstoi says that Art exceeds in them all.
I never think along this line without being reminded of Campbell Morgans statement concerning his new home: I very well remember when I was married; my father came into my home. He was a Puritan, and I used to think that it was hard lines that he was, but today I thank God for it. He came into my home soon after I was married, and looked around. We showed him into every room, and then, in his own peculiar way, he said to me, Yes, it is very nice; but nobody will know walking through here whether you belong to God or the devil. I went through and looked at the rooms again, and I thought, He is quite right! and we. made up our minds straightway that there should be no room in our house henceforward that had not some messagein picture, or text, or bookfor every comer, which should tell them that we, at any rate, would serve the King. Thank God for the contrast.
There is another wisdom mentioned.
It is pure, peaceable, gentle, persuadable, compassionate, and honest. Pure! The wisdom that is from above is first pure. We may put it down as positively certain that any wisdom which is impure is not from God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10): and the Apostle tells us, With the heart man believeth unto righteousness (Rom 10:10), Goethe was a great poet, but as Dr. Hillis says, During his life he kept two friends busy, the one weaving laurels for his brow, the other cleaning mud from his garments. When, therefore, Mr. Horton tells me that he believes Goethe was inspired of God, I am compelled to reply to the statement, Rot!
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable.
These words are related. That which is pure can be peaceable; and the one who has been made pure by wisdom from above will prefer peace. When a few years ago the Queen of England Was sick, one of her loyal subjects said, There is one tongue in Europe from which a hundred words could change the face of all properties in Christendom, and in a hundred days array homes, bringing in hostilities and change the face of affairs in all the continents and isles of the world; but this tongue, in the poor sick mouth, is pleased to voice the sweet utterance that keeps the world in Easter peace.
Peaceable, gentleor rational. There are those who imagine that to receive the Spirit makes people impracticable, if not insane. On the contrary, the only rational man, the only rational woman, is the man or woman Who has the wisdom that is from above, the counsel of the Holy Ghost of God.
Easy to be intreatedpersuadable. I was profoundly impressed by what I witnessed in one of our meetings. There was a man present who is a follower of another. His chief was severely arraigned in some of the sermons, and I may say, I think justly so, but this man sat through it without evincing any spirit of resentment. He did not rise and storm out of the house as I have seen others do when their opinions were opposed; but with an eager ear and an open Book, he caught every word and traced every passage as if he were present to learn. Beloved, that is a proof of wisdom * * from above; those who have it are persuadable; their minds are open to receive whatever is from God. Easy to be intreated.
Compassionateor, Full of mercy and good fruits. Remember again that James is the younger brother of Jesus. He had heard Him say, Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. He knew then that the spirit of compassion was from above and that compassion will bear the fruits of goodness. For every tree is known by his own fruit (Luk 6:44). Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Mat 7:20).
Unchangeable, invariablewithout partiality. Ah, beloved, that is the difference between wisdom and learning. The Apostle says, Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
The science of law does not apply the same formulas in which it expressed itself twenty-five years ago; the science of medicine cannot make use of the language of ten years since; the science of astronomy has changed with every new discovery; but the wisdom that is from above is without variance. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
The Word of our God shall stand for ever (Isa 40:8). One is human learning, variable; the other is Divine wisdom, without partiality.
Without hypocrisyhonest. It does not make any difference what profession one makes, if he is guilty of hypocrisy, his wisdom is from below, not from above. The most honest man that ever walked the earth was Jesus Christ, and in proportion as His Spirit indwells men, we are like Him in this also. I was once familiar with a man in Kentucky who had committed the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, and repeated them with almost perfect accuracy; and yet he was a horse-thieftried, convicted, incarcerated. He had not the wisdom that is from above; he had memorized the Scriptures; he had never committed them to heart. Dr. Dixon tells of a boy of fourteen years, refusing to stretch the cloth as he measured, and thereby losing his job; but he lived to become Adam Clark, the Commentator, Without hypocrisy.
In conclusion, the call to righteousness.
The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
This is a fitting climax to the definition of Divine wisdom. Truly it lifts a man above the storm and into peace. Mr. Moody tells the story how during the early days of the Civil War, when the North had been defeated at Bull Run, and at many other points, it looked as though the Republic was going to pieces. He, with others, was much cast down and discouraged. For awhile every speaker in the meeting hung his harp upon the willows. It was one of the gloomiest meetings I was ever in. Finally an old man with beautiful white hair got up to speak, and his face literally shone. Young men, he said, you do not talk like sons of the King. Though it is dark just here, remember it is light somewhere else. Then he went on to relate how a friend of his had been in the mountains spending the night, intending to climb to the top to see the sun rise. On the next morning as they started up, a storm came on, and his friend said to the guide, I will give this up; take me back. The guide smiled upon him and said, We will soon get above the storm. On they went and it was not long before they had gotten up to where it was as calm as any summer evening. Down in the valley a terrible storm raged; they could hear the thunder and see the lightnings flash. And the old mans application was, Though all is dark around you, come a little higher, and the darkness will flee!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
OUR SINS OF SPEECH
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Jas. 3:1. Masters.Teachers. In the sixteenth century master meant schoolmaster. Do not get into the way of being teachers. Do not set yourselves up as teachers (Mat. 23:8-10). The title of Doctor of the Law was highly coveted among the Jews. Greater condemnation, judgment, than those who are not judged by the standard for teachers. To assert ourselves as teachers is to bring upon ourselves the responsibilities of teachers.
Jas. 3:2. Offend.Or, stumble. Perfect man.In the sense of holding himself in complete moral restraint. Control of speech is named, not as in itself constituting perfection, but as a crucial test indicating whether the man has or has not attained unto it.
Jas. 3:3. Behold.Better, , if now.
Jas. 3:4. Governor.Read, the impulse of the steersman willeth, or may wish.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jas. 3:1-4
Masterfulness in Speech.Our Lord in His teaching reproved the pride of the Rabbis, or teachers, of his time: They love the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the market-places, and to be called of men, Rabbi. And He gives the counsel which St. James does but repeat in this passage: But be not ye [My disciples] called Rabbi; for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. In the tabernacle and temple services everything was kept in the control of the priesthood. There was no attempt at public religious instruction. When the school of the prophets was founded, authorised and systematic religious instruction may be said to have begun. These trained prophets went to and fro through the country using every opportunity for teaching the Scriptures, and the will of God as revealed in them, to the people. After the return from the Captivity synagogues were founded, and the services held in them included both worship and instruction. Persons held in good esteem, or claiming to be Rabbis, were at liberty to give expositions or exhortations, and in this practice is found the beginning of the modern sermon, as a part of Christian worship. But while there was much that was valuable and helpful in this custom, it opened the way to a possible serious evil. It proved difficult to keep unsuitable persons from giving these exhortations, and difficult to put the exhortations into any wise limitations. In every age, and in every society, there are men who love to hear themselves talk, and who push themselves in at every opportunity. In every age, and in every society, there are men who love to be masters, who must lord it over others. And they are often by no means the best persons for the positions they force themselves into. The masterful men and the talkers were a grave anxiety in the synagogue life of the Jews. And when synagogues of Christian Jews were established, the same evil cropped up; it even became more serious because Christianity encouraged the use of special gifts for mutual edification. St. James dealt with a serious and growing evil, when he thus warned the Jewish Christian disciples against too readily setting up to be masters, or teachers. In the Christian Church, as in the Jewish, there was the peril of self-appointed Rabbiship. The idea that he can teach often comes to a Christian disciple as a temptation from the evil one, which needs to be steadily resisted.
I. The disposition to put everybody else right.This is not the spirit of the real teacher, but it is the spirit of the would-be teacher, whose masterfulness finds expression in that desire to teach. It is a characteristic of natural disposition, and is close kin with the energy that overmasters difficulties. But it is a perilous characteristic, and needs to be early placed in forcible restraints, and afterwards kept in wise control by the man himself. Unrestrained it makes a man positive, heedless of the opinions of others, and unlovely in his relations with others. It may even make him a heresy-monger, keen to observe any failures from the standard of what he happens to think to be truth. Morally the disposition to set everybody else right is altogether reprehensible: it involves an assumption of superiority which is essentially un-Christian. The man who appoints himself as teacher, whether other people recognise his teaching gifts or not, thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think; and consequently does himself as much moral mischief as he does others. St. James puts one thing upon the consideration of those who are so ready to make themselves teachers. They seriously increase their personal responsibility. The judgment of a teacher must necessarily be a more searching and severe thing than the judgment of a private Christian. Instead of wanting to be a teacher, the gifted teacher always shrinks back from the responsibility, saying, Who is sufficient for these things? (2Co. 2:6). The test of all ministry must come at last in the day of trial, and fiery inquisition of God.
II. The need every man has for putting himself right.The true teacher feels how much he has to learn; the would-be teacher feels how much he knows. Humility is the pervading spirit of the true teacher; self-confidence is the spirit of the man who thinks he can teach. He is confident of being himself right, and is not in the least likely to admit, with St. James, that in many things we offend all. Our Lord taught, in a similar way, that the man who could easily find motes in his brothers eyes was most likely to have a beam in his own, and he had better see to his own beam before he presumed to attend to other peoples motes. All men have work enough in the disciplining of their own characters; and if a man has a masterful disposition, let him exercise it well on his own faults and frailties. He would do well to exercise that masterful disposition in getting his own masterfulness into good control. We all offend in some things: so we all need to teach and train ourselves.
III. The control of ourselves should come before attempting to control others.If the would-be teacher means to gain control of his entire self, he will have to begin with his tongue. If he is like a masterful horse, he will have to put a bit in his mouth. If he is like a wayward, tossed-about ship, he will have to put on a rudder, and take care to hold it firm, and move it wisely. If such a man offend not in word, he is a perfect man, in this sense, that he is able also to bridle the whole body. Who cannot recognise the practical wisdom of St. Jamess counsel? Who has not earnestly said to himself, If I could only master my speech, I could easily master myself? Men talk when they have nothing to say. Men talk before they think. Men talk without criticising what they are going to say. And therefore they constantly offend in word. The work of ruling this one rebel [the tongue] is so great, that a much less corresponding effort will keep the other powers in subjection. Control of speech is named, not as in itself constituting perfection, but as a crucial test indicating whether the man has, or has not, attained unto it. The true spirit of the teacher, whom God calls forth to teach, may be partly seen in Moses, and more fully seen in Jeremiah. With something like unworthy hesitation Moses exclaimed, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. With the shrinking back of a sincere humility, Jeremiah said, Ah! Lord God, behold I cannot speak; for I am a child. The man who thinks he can God does not use. In his case it is all the man; there is no room for God. The man who fears he cannot God will use, because He can make His strength perfect in the mans weakness.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Jas. 3:2. Control of Speech a Sign of Character.If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man. Isaac Barrow says, A constant governance of our speech, according to duty and reason, is a high instance and a special argument of a thoroughly sincere and solid goodness. There are remarkable differences in natural disposition, which make the control of speech much easier for some men than for others. And, indeed, sometimes a naturally silent disposition is the real explanation of what seems to be a mans self-control. And it also needs to be considered, that undue freedom of speech is allied to certain weaknesses of character. The self-assertive man is usually a great talker. So is the conceited man; so is the ambitious man; so is the man who has been a spoilt child. In public life the great talker often succeeds in making himself important. Character means that a man has got all the forces of his being into moderate limitations, and harmonious and mutual relations. His work in his speech gains prominence, because it is most difficult, but most influential when accomplished.
The Sense of Infirmity in Every Man.For in many things we all stumble. This should prevent our showing any superiority, or masterfulness, in our dealing with others. Were we to think more of our own mistakes and offences, we should be less apt to judge other people. While we are severe against what we count offensive in others, we do not consider how much there is in us which is justly offensive to them. Self-justifiers are commonly self-deceivers. We are all guilty before God; and those who vaunt it over the frailties and infirmities of others little think how many things they offend in themselves. Nay, perhaps, their magisterial deportment, and censorious tongues, may prove worse than any faults they condemn in others. Let us learn to be severe in judging ourselves, but charitable in our judgments of other people.Matthew Henry.
Jas. 3:4. Christian Ability.Dropping the particular reference to the tongue, or the power of the tongue, take the text as illustrating the fact, that man turns about everything, handles all heaviest bulks, masters all hardest difficulties, in the same waythat is, by using a small power so as to get the operation of a power greater than his own. We have no power to handle ships at sea by their bulk. The soul is a magnitude more massive than any ship, and the storms it encounters are wilder than those of the sea. And yet there are small helms given to us, by which we are able always to steer it triumphantly on, to just the good we seek, and the highest we can even conceive. It is assumed that we have no ability in ourselves, more than simply to turn ourselves into the track of another more sufficient power, and so to have it upon us. Helms do not impel ships. Ours is only a steering power, though it is a very great power at that. For when we so use it as to hold ourselves fairly to Gods operation, as we hold a ship to the winds, that is sufficient, that will do everything, turning even our impossibilities themselves into victory. Glance at the analogies of our physical experience. Great, overwhelmingly great, as the forces and weights of nature are, what do we accomplish more easily than to turn about their whole body and bring them into manageable service? Doing it always by some adjustment, or mode of address, which acknowledges their superior force. (Winds, waters, gunpowder, steam, electricity, etc.) Prepared by such analogies, our dependence, in the matter of religion, ought to create no speculative difficulties; but we have as much difficulty as ever in making that practical adjustment of ourselves to God, which is necessary in any and every true act of dependence. Some take it upon themselves to do, by their own force, all they are responsible for. But we have no capacity, under the natural laws of the soul, as a self-governing creature, to govern successfully anything, except indirectly, that is by a process of steering. We can steer the mind off from its grudges, ambitions, bad thoughts, by getting it occupied with good and pure objects that work a diversion. If we could wholly govern ourselves, our self-government would not be the state of religion, or bring us any one of its blessed incidents. The soul, as a religious creature, is put in affiance, by a fixed necessity of its nature, with God. Having broken this bond in its sin, it comes back in religion to become what it inwardly longs forrestored to God, filled with Gods inspirations, made conscious of God. And this is its regeneration. All impossibilities we can easily and surely master, by only bringing ourselves into the range of Gods operations. The helm-power only is ours; the executive is Gods. What is wanted is the using of our small helms so as to make our appeal to Gods operation. And there must be a clearing of a thousand particular and even smallest things that will steer off the soul from Goda clearing of the helm for free action. The faith which is the condition of salvation is simply trusting ourselves over to God, and so bringing ourselves into the range of His Divine operation. The reason why so many fail is, that they undertake to do the work themselves, heaving away spasmodically to lift themselves over the unknown crisis by main strengthas if seizing tho ship by its mast, or the main bulk of its body, they were going to push it on through the voyage themselves! Whereas it is the work of God, and not in any other sense their own, than that, coming in to God by a total trust in Him, they are to have it in Gods working. In a similar way many miscarriages occur after conversion. Nothing was necessary to prevent them, but simply to carry a steady helm in lifes duties. Many disciples fall out of course by actually steering themselves out of Gods operation. And there is danger that the man who is tending the small helm of duty with great exactness may become painfully legal in ita precisionist, a Pharisee. The word operation may be taken as referring only to the omnipotent working of His will or spiritual force. But there is a power of God which is not His omnipotence, and has a wholly different mode of working; I mean His moral powerthat of His beauty, goodness, gentleness, truth, purity, suffering, compassion, in one word, His character. In this kind of power He works, not by what He wills, but by what He is. What is wanted, therefore, in the regeneration of souls, and their advancement toward perfection afterward, is to be somehow put in the range of this higher power and kept there. And here exactly is the sublime art and glory of the new Divine economy in Christ. For He is such, and so related to our want, that our mind gets a way open through Him to Gods Divine beauty and greatness, so that we may bring our heart up into the transforming, moulding efficacy of these, which we most especially need. This exactly is Christianitythat Christ in humanity is God humanised, Divine feeling and perfection let down into the modes of finite sentiment and apprehension. In His human person, and the revelation of His cross, He is the door, the interpreter to our hearts, of God Himselfso the moral power of God upon our hearts. Christ, as the Son of man, is that small helm put in the hand, so to speak, of our affections, to bring us in to Gods most interior beauty and perfection, and to put us in the power of His infinite, unseen character; thus to be moulded by it and fashioned to conformity with it.Horace Bushnell, D.D.
Ships and Rudders.The ships that were so great in former days were, in fact, scarcely more than cock-boats, or small coasters, scraping round the shores of the inland seas; whereas, now, what we call the great ships are big enough to store in their hold a whole armed fleet of the ancient time, vessels and men together; and these huge bulks strike out into the broad oceans, defying the storms, yet still turned about as before, whithersoever the helmsman will. There he stands at his post, a single man, scarcely more than a fly that has lighted on the immense bulk of the vessel, having a small city of people and their goods in the world of timber under him, and perhaps with only one hand, turning gently his lever of wood, or nicely gauging the motion of his wheel, he steers along its steady track the mountain mass of the ship, turning it always to its course, even as he would an arrow to its mark.Horace Bushnell, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEMPTATION IN TEACHING
Text 3:12
1.
Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.
2.
For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
Queries
177.
How can we ever overcome the shortage of teachers if we heed James warning not to be many teachers?
178.
Is James speaking to teachers, or to all Christians here?
179.
What does the King James version say instead of teachers, and what does the word mean?
180.
How does Jas. 3:1 compare with Mat. 12:37?
181.
In what sense may the person of Jas. 3:1 be called a master?
182.
Why the prohibition against the choice of being a teacher?
183.
What is implied by the expression knowing?
184.
Is hell hotter for a sinning teacher than for a sinning non-teacher?
185.
Is James saying we all offend someone many times, or that we all sin? (use several different reasons).
186.
Does the stumbling with words of Jas. 3:2 include the non-teacher?
187.
What is your description of the perfect man of Jas. 3:2? (compare with Jas. 1:4).
188.
What is the contrast between the beginning and ending of Jas. 3:2?
189.
What is meant by the expression heavier judgment?
190.
What portion of Jas. 3:2 compares with Jas. 1:4?
191.
In what way is bridling the body linked to bridling the tongue?
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 3:1.
Dont carelessly assume the responsibility of teaching, dear brothers in Christ, for with the blessings comes also the responsibility for erroneous teaching.
2.
Most prominent among the many sins we all perform is the sin of carelessness in the usage of words. If we control our words, we demonstrate our ability to completely control the whole manincluding the deeds of the flesh!
B.*Jas. 3:1.
Dear brothers, dont be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others;
2.
If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way.
Summary
Before teaching, think soberly. We teach with our tongue and it is more difficult than the body to control.
Comment
Do not many of you become teachers would at first glance seem to restrict the great commission. Matthew 28 and other parallel passages request the apostles and the church through the apostles to teach the Word of God that they might observe (do) all things . . . A more careful examination of the context of James 3 reveals that the teacher and the wise man are treated as if they were substantially identical. Far from prohibiting either teaching or wisdom, James is saying the two must be carefully coupled. For a foolish and careless man to assume the position of teacher, would be dangerous to his soul as for a small child to play with dynamite. Other people would also be involved in the careless teaching or the dynamite, and the responsibility is multiplied.
A man who uses his tongue constantly is in much more temptation to use it carelessly and thoughtlessly than a man whose occupation seldom demands the use of his tongue. It would seem that the novice should (and usually does) approach the task of teaching with fear and trembling; with long and careful preparation and great concern lest he mishandle the tremendous opportunity and responsibility before him. Yet the temptation to the one who teaches constantly might be to speak with haste; or to slight his preparation. Erroneous concepts might be taught before they are thought. One instructor of teachers was heard to say to a large assembly of teachers, There isnt a person in this room that will not be teaching heresy in some form or another within the next two years.
Over eagerness to be teachers might tempt some to assume the responsibility carelessly. Sober preparation is as necessary in teaching as for a doctor approaching an operation. Although teaching is commissioned by Jesus, and without it Christianity could not grow, its execution is so influential upon others that some men might be tempted to view it as a great social and political opportunity rather than a sobering responsibility. James cautions against over eagerness to be teachers in view of the great responsibility involved and the dangerous weapon used. Although the tongue is used to win souls for Christ, and to teach the saints to observe all things in Christ, the tongue can also be misused. It is as potent when misused as when used correctly. A great portion of chapter three is used to impress the reader with the enormity of the power of the tongue.
Thank God for my tongue. But God help me that I use such a magnificent power against sin and unrighteousness and not against man and the work of God. God help me to see the true nature of the enemy; the principalities and powers of evil, and may my tongue ever bring forth praise unto God and help unto man. If by teaching I may be enabled to influence people for Christ, then God grant that I take the responsibility soberly and with great care! For wisdom I pray that I might know how.
Then Ill never be a teacher, you may affirm.
But let me remind any who think to avoid condemnation through avoiding responsibility: God instructed the older women to teach the younger. God instructed the elders to be apt to teach. God instructed parents to teach their children, and condemned parents who did not do so. Although the rabbi (teacher) referred to here can be a teacher resident in a congregation, or a travelling missionary, James in no way indicates that the teacher is an officer within the church. Rather, he is one who takes on a work and a responsibility. To try to avoid entirely the responsibility of teaching might in some ways be comparable to the person who says, I fear to become a Christian lest I should backslide and my later state as a sinner be worse than my present state as a sinner.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
FOURTEEN THREE-PART SERMON STARTERS
PROFESSIONAL WRECKERS Jas. 3:1-5
1.
Every man has a tendency to wreak havoc Jas. 3:2.
2.
A very small crow-bar can wreck a big house Jas. 3:3-4.
3.
The tongue is the greatest wrecker of all, tearing down in a few minutes a lifetime of work. (Jas. 3:5).
THE BEGINNING OF SELF-CONTROL Jas. 3:1-5
1.
We all need self-control. (Jas. 3:2 a).
2.
Small things control big issues, such as animals, ships, and lives. (Jas. 3:3-4).
3.
The tongues control is the beginning of self-control. (Jas. 3:5; Jas. 3:2 b).
THE FULL-GROWN MAN Jas. 3:2 (Introductory note: Perfect = full-grown).
1.
Children stumble, men walk. . . . We all wish to grow up. (Jas. 3:2 a).
2.
Self-control is the real mark of a man. (Jas. 3:2 b, cf Gal. 5:23).
3.
The tongue is the key to real manhood. (Jas. 3:2 b).
THE TEACHERS BURDEN Jas. 3:1-2
1.
Heavier responsibility. (v. la).
A.
Other lives at stake.
B.
Greater knowledge increases ones responsibility.
2.
Heavier judgment. (Jas. 3:1 b).
A.
God expects more from greater ability.
B.
Ability to teach, admonish, guide ones own self.
3.
Heavier reward. (Jas. 3:2 b, the perfect man).
A.
Teaching is in obedience of Gods desires.
B.
Heavenly treasures in the form of souls won.
WHY LITTLE GIRLS LIKE HORSES Jas. 3:3
1.
Power inherent in Gods creature . . . the whole body.
(compared with the frail girls body).
2.
The huge creature can be controlled . . . they may obey. (control is the difference between appreciation and fear).
3.
A small member controls the big brute.
(little girls with reins can control horses).
LESSONS FROM BOATS Jas. 3:4
A.
Power essential for movement.
(whether steam, motor, or sail, force is necessary).
B.
Movement essential for control.
(Likewise we must be moving and doing before there is self-control).
C.
Directed control on a small rudder.
(Haphazard control would get nowhere. Our lives must have direction and goal). (With proper power, movement and direction, a small effort will control a large life).
THE WORLD OF INIQUITY Jas. 3:6 (Introduction: Thats a lot of sin!)
A.
The many kinds of sin promoted by the tongue.
(Lust of the flesh, of the eye, pride of life).
B.
The world-spread misuse of the tongue.
(Universality of lies, national lies, etc.).
C.
The amount of sin promoted by a single tongue.
(A life ruined, a family, a church, a community, a nation).
Conclusion: Why did God give us such a powerful member?
Its proper use . . . to praise Him and spread the Gospel.
THE BURNING OF NATURE Jas. 3:6 (Introduction: Natures life process).
A.
Sin grows through being fed by many tongues.
B.
Sin kills with its terrible destruction and wages.
(People who enjoy death and corruption thrill with sins processes).
C.
The tongue gives rebirth to sin, starting the cycle of growth and death again. (Illustration: the tale-bearer).
PROMPT DESTRUCTION Jas. 3:6
A.
BURNING PROCESS of the tongue.
. . . like a forest fire, feeds itself and grows.
B.
All-inclusive DESTRUCTION of the tongue.
. . . a world of iniquity.
C.
Peculiar QUICKENING nature of the tongue.
. . . Sets in motion a process of giving birth to new sin.
. . . the wheel of nature.
Conclusion: The tongue is made for quickening life instead of quickening death; for progress instead of the burning process, for construction rather than destruction.
WHEN THE LION-TAMER RUNS Jas. 3:7-8
A.
Lion-Tamers usually do not run.
. . . every kind of beast has been tamed.
B.
A wild untamed beast is to be feared.
. . . His action is unpredictable.
. . . He is a man-killer.
. . . Death alone stops him.
C.
An uncontrolled tongue goes untamed. (application).
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE UNCONTROLLED TONGUE Jas. 3:8
A.
Untamed.
B.
Restless Evil.
C.
Full of Poison.
MR. TWO-FACED Jas. 3:9-12
A.
The face worn before God.
B.
The face worn before some men.
C.
The inconsistent action against nature and reason.
OUT OF THE SAME MOUTH Jas. 3:9-10
A.
Blessings for the Father.
B.
Cursings for the Fathers image.
C.
Sweet words of love and vile filth of vessels of dishonor.
(See 2Ti. 2:20-21).
TONGUE-PAINTED PICTURES Jas. 3:1-8
A.
Professional Wreckers. (Jas. 3:1-5).
B.
Sins Hot Spot. (Jas. 3:6).
C.
Lion-Tamers in Flight. (Jas. 3:7-8).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
CHAPTER VI
THE FOOLISH TEACHER
Jas. 3:1-12
Introduction
In Jas. 1:16; Jas. 1:26 James said Be swift to hear, slow to speak. In a sense, the balance of chapter one develops the thought of how to hear. Now, James takes up the subject of speaking.
James refers to the speakers as teachers and as the truly wise. Both are obviously the same, the first portion (Jas. 3:1-12) being an admonition against foolish speaking by the teacher, and the second portion (Jas. 3:13-18) being an admonition to be a wise speaker (teacher, from the context) and to speak the things of wisdom. The rule of wisdom is in this chapter coupled with the warning against foolish speaking.
In the warnings of the first twelve verses, some might be prone to conclude that to avoid teaching would be to avoid the pitfalls herein mentioned. Let us remember what James has been emphasizing all alongthat faith without works is profitless, and that our faith is not completed until it is coupled with works. The admonition is not to do nothing, for this again would be faith without works. James, however, is saying that what we do is of some importance also! Faith coupled with foolish works, and foolish words will bring the wrong kind of fruit.
Faith coupled with the wrong kind of works is again a means of missing out on justification. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19-21). James has already warned against doing no works. Now, he warns against doing the wrong kind of works; and in particular, saying the wrong kind of words. Even as Paul says, So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of faith (Gal. 6:10), so James speaks, Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom. (Jas. 3:13).
Outline
Think soberly as you assume this responsibility of teaching, for we are not only judged by whether or not we are working, but we are judged by what we work, also. There is real temptation in teaching, for the tongue is often wild and uncontrolled, doing very extensive damage.
THE FOOLISH TEACHER
TEMPTATION IN TEACHING Jas. 3:1-2
A BIG THING IN A LITTLE PACKAGE Jas. 3:3-5 a
WILD AND UNCONTROLLED Jas. 3:5 b Jas. 3:8
WHERE IT ALL BEGINS Jas. 3:9-12
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Be not many masters.Better, teachers, which meaning was conveyed by masters when the English Bible was first published. The condemnation is of those who appoint themselves, and are as blind leaders of the blind (Mat. 15:14). No man had a right to exercise the sacred functions of the appointed masters in Israel (see Note on Joh. 3:10), and none might take the honour of the priesthood unto himself, but he that was called of God, as was Aaron (Heb. 5:4). Whereas we know from our Lords own words that the Scribes and Pharisees loved respectful greetings in the markets, and to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi (Mat. 23:1-12). Nevertheless His disciples were not to be acknowledged thus: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. The neglect of this wholesome caution perplexed the early Church, as much as the later branches thereof. (Comp. Act. 15:24; 1Co. 1:12; 1Co. 14:26; Gal. 2:12.)
The greater condemnation.Rather, the greater judgmentmore strictly searching and severe. None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself (Rom. 14:7), and, if this be true of common Christian life, how deep is the responsibility incurred in the attempt to teach others! Naywho is sufficient for these things? (2Co. 2:6.) The test of all ministry must come at last in the day of trial and fiery inquisition of God; this and not the worlds opinion will be the real approval (1Co. 3:11-15). If the work of any teacher abide. his reward will be exceeding great; if it be burned, woe to him! He himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire, scathed by that which shall consume the rubbish he has raked together; the faith which prompted such a man shall save him, but no reward can follow useless teaching; nor can there be escape for his own soul, except he wrought honestly.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 3
THE TEACHER’S PERIL ( Jas 3:1 ) 3:1 My brothers, it is a mistake for many of you to become teachers, for you must be well aware that those of us who teach will receive a greater condemnation.
In the early church the teachers were of first rate importance Wherever they are mentioned, they are mentioned with honour. In the Church at Antioch they are ranked with the prophets who sent out Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey ( Act 13:1). In Paul’s list of those who hold great gifts within the Church they come second only to the apostles and to the prophets ( 1Co 12:28; compare Eph 4:11). The apostles and the prophets were for ever on the move. Their field was the whole Church; and they did not stay long in any one congregation. But the teachers worked within a congregation, and their supreme importance was that it must have been to them that the converts were handed over for instruction in the facts of the Christian gospel and for edification in the Christian faith. It was the teacher’s awe-inspiring responsibility that he could put the stamp of his own faith and knowledge on those who were entering the Church for the first time.
In the New Testament itself we get glimpses of teachers who failed in their responsibility and became false teachers. There were teachers who tried to turn Christianity into another kind of Judaism and tried to introduce circumcision and the keeping of the law ( Act 15:24). There were teachers who lived out nothing of the truth which they taught, whose life was a contradiction of their instruction and who did nothing but bring dishonour on the faith they represented ( Rom 2:17-29). There were some who tried to teach before they themselves knew anything ( 1Ti 1:6-7); and others who pandered to the false desires of the crowd ( 2Ti 4:3).
But, apart altogether from the false teachers, it is James’ conviction that teaching is a dangerous occupation for any man. His instrument is speech and his agent the tongue. As Ropes puts it, James is concerned to point out “the responsibility of teachers and the dangerous character of the instrument they have to use.”
The Christian teacher entered into a perilous heritage. In the Church he took the place of the Rabbi in Judaism. There were many great and saintly Rabbis, but the Rabbi was treated in a way that was liable to ruin the character of any man. His very name means, “My great one.” Everywhere he went he was treated with the utmost respect. It was actually held that a man’s duty to his Rabbi exceeded his duty to his parents, because his parents only brought him into the life of this world but his teacher brought him into the life of the world to come. It was actually said that if a man’s parents and a man’s teacher were captured by an enemy, the Rabbi must be ransomed first. It was true that a Rabbi was not allowed to take money for teaching and that he was supposed to support his bodily needs by working at a trade; but it was also held that it was a specially pious and meritorious work to take a Rabbi into the household and to support him with every care. It was desperately easy for a Rabbi to become the kind of person whom Jesus depicted, a spiritual tyrant, an ostentatious ornament of piety, a lover of the highest place at any function, a person who gloried in the almost subservient respect showed to him in public ( Mat 23:4-7). Every teacher runs the risk of becoming “Sir Oracle.” No profession is more liable to beget spiritual and intellectual pride.
There are two dangers which every teacher must avoid. In virtue of his office he will either be teaching those who are young in years or those who are children in the faith. He must, therefore, all his life struggle to avoid two things. He must have every care that he is teaching the truth, and not his own opinions or even his own prejudices. It is fatally easy for a teacher to distort the truth and to teach, not God’s version, but his own. He must have every care that he does not contradict his teaching by his life, continually, as it were, not, “Do as I do,” but, “Do as I say.” He must never get into the position when his scholars and students cannot hear what he says for listening to what he is. As the Jewish Rabbis themselves said, “Not learning but doing is the foundation, and he who multiplies words multiplies sin” (Sayings of the Fathers 1: 18).
It is James’ warning that the teacher has of his own choice entered into a special office; and is, therefore, under the greater condemnation, if he fails in it. The people to whom James was writing coveted the prestige of the teacher; James demanded that they should never forget the responsibility.
THE UNIVERSAL DANGER ( Jas 3:2 ) 3:2 There are many things in which we all slip up; but if a man never slips up in his speech, he is a perfect man, able to keep the whole body also on the rein.
James sets down two ideas which were woven into Jewish thought and literature.
(i) There is no man in this world who does not sin in something. The word James uses means to slip up. “Life,” said Lord Fisher, the great sailor, “is strewn with orange peel.” Sin is so often not deliberate but the result of a slip up when we are off our guard. This universality of sin runs all through the Bible. “None is righteous, no not one,” quotes Paul. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ( Rom 3:10; Rom 3:23). “If we say we have no sin,” says John, “we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” ( 1Jn 1:8). “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins,” said the preacher ( Ecc 7:20). “There is no man,” says the Jewish sage, “among them that be born, but he hath dealt wickedly; and among the faithful there is none who hath not done amiss” ( 2Est 8:35). There is no room for pride in human life, for there is not a man upon earth who has not some blot of which to be ashamed. Even the pagan writers have the same conviction of sin. “It is the nature of man to sin both in private and in public life,” said Thucydides (3: 45). “We all sin,” said Seneca, “some more grievously, some more lightly” (On Clemency 1: 6).
(ii) There is no sin into which it is easier to fall and none which has graver consequences than the sin of the tongue. Again this idea is woven into Jewish thought. Jesus warned men that they would give account for every word they spoke. “By your words you will be justified; and by your words you will be condemned” ( Mat 12:36-37). “A soft answer turns away wrath; but a harsh word stirs up anger…. A gentle tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness in it breaks the spirit” ( Pro 15:1-4).
Of all Jewish writers, Jesus ben Sirach, the writer of Ecclesiasticus, was most impressed with the terrifying potentialities of the tongue. “Honour and shame is in talk; and the tongue of man is his fall. Be not called a whisperer, and lie not in wait with the tongue; for a foul shame is upon the thief, and an evil condemnation upon the double tongue…. Instead of a friend become not an enemy; for thereby thou shalt inherit an ill name, shame and reproach; even so shall a sinner that hath a double tongue” ( Sir_5:13 through Sir_6:1 ). “Blessed is the man who has not slipped with his mouth” ( Sir_14:1 ). “Who is he that hath not offended with his tongue?” ( Sir_19:15 ). “Who shall set a watch before my mouth and a sea, of wisdom upon my lips, that I shall not suddenly fall by them and my tongue destroy me not?” ( Sir_22:27 ).
He has a lengthy passage which is so nobly and passionately put that it is worth quoting in full:
Curst the whisperer and the double-tongued; for such have
destroyed many that were at peace. A backbiting tongue hath
disquieted many and driven them from nation to nation; strong
cities hath it pulled down and overthrown the houses of great men.
It hath cut in pieces the forces of people and undone strong
nations. A backbiting tongue hath cast out virtuous women and
deprived them of their labours. Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall
never find rest and never dwell quietly, neither shall he have a
friend in whom he may repose. The stroke of the whip maketh marks
in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones.
Many have fallen by the edge of the sword; but not so many as
have fallen by the tongue. Well is he that is defended from it
and has not passed through the venom thereof; who hath not drawn
the yoke thereof, nor hath been bound in her bands. For the yoke
thereof is a yoke of iron and the bands thereof are bands of
brass. The death thereof is an evil death, the grave were better
than it…. Look that thou hedge thy possession about with
thorns and bind up thy silver and gold and weigh thy words in a
balance and make a bridle for thy lips and make a door and bar for
thy mouth. Beware thou slide not by it, lest thou fall before him
that lieth in wait and thy fall be incurable unto death
( Sir_28:13-26 ).
LITTLE BUT POWERFUL ( Jas 3:3-5 ) 3:3-5 If we put bits into horses’ mouths to make them obedient to us, we can control the direction of their whole body as well. Look at ships, too. See how large they are and how they are driven by rough winds, and see how their course is altered by a very small rudder, wherever the pressure of the steersman desires. So, too, the tongue is a little member of the body, but it makes arrogant claims for itself.
It might be argued against James’ terror of the tongue that it is a very small part of the body to make such a fuss about and to which to attach so much importance. To combat that argument James uses two pictures.
(i) We put a bit into the mouth of a horse, knowing that if we can control its mouth, we can control its whole body. So James says that if we can control the tongue, we can control the whole body; but if the tongue is uncontrolled, the whole life is set on the wrong way.
(ii) A rudder is very small in comparison with the size of a ship; and yet, by exerting pressure on that little rudder, the steersman can alter the course of the ship and direct it to safety. Long before, Aristotle had used this same picture when he was talking about the science of mechanics: “A rudder is small and it is attached to the very end of the ship, but it has such power that by this little rudder, and by the power of one man–and that a power gently exerted–the great bulk of ships can be moved.” The tongue also is small, yet it can direct the whole course of a man’s life.
Philo called the mind the charioteer and steersman of man’s life; it is when the mind controls every word and it itself is controlled by Christ that life is safe.
James is not for a moment saying that silence is better than speech. He is not pleading for a Trappist life where speech is forbidden. He is pleading for the control of the tongue. Aristippus the Greek had a wise saying, “The conqueror of pleasure is not the man who never uses it. He is the man who uses pleasure as a rider guides a horse or a steersman directs a ship, and so directs them wherever he wishes.” Abstention from anything is never a complete substitute for control in its use. James is not pleading for a cowardly silence but for a wise use of speech.
A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE ( Jas 3:5 b-6) 3:5b-6 See how great a forest how little a fire can set alight. And the tongue is a fire; in the midst of our members the tongue stands for the whole wicked world, for it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the ever-recurring cycle of creation, and is itself set on fire by hell.
The damage the tongue can cause is like that caused by a forest fire. The picture of the forest fire is common in the Bible. It is the prayer of the Psalmist that God may make the wicked like chaff before the wind; and that his tempest may destroy them as fire consumes the forest and the flame sets the mountains ablaze ( Psa 83:13-14). Isaiah says “wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest” ( Isa 9:18). Zechariah speaks of “a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves” ( Zec 12:6). The picture was one the Jews of Palestine knew well. In the dry season the scanty grass and low-growing thorn bushes and scrub were as dry as tinder. If they were set on fire, the flames spread like a wave which there was no stopping.
The picture of the tongue as a fire is also a common Jewish picture. “A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire,” says the writer of the Proverbs ( Pro 16:27). “As pitch and tow, so a hasty contention kindleth fire” ( Sir_28:11 ). There are two reasons why the damage which the tongue can do is like a fire.
(i) It is wide-ranging. The tongue can damage at a distance. A chance word dropped at one end of the country or the town can finish up by bringing grief and hurt at the other. The Jewish Rabbis had this picture: “Life and death are in the hand of the tongue. Has the tongue a hand? No, but as the hand kills, so the tongue. The hand kills only at close quarters; the tongue is called an arrow because it kills at a distance. An arrow kills at forty or fifty paces, but of the tongue it is said ( Psa 73:9), ‘They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.’ It ranges over the whole earth and reaches to heaven.” That, indeed, is the peril of the tongue. A man can ward off a blow with the hand, for the striker must be in his presence. But a man can drop a malicious word, or repeat a scandalous and untrue story, about someone whom he does not even know or about someone who stays hundreds of miles away, and cause infinite harm.
(ii) It is uncontrollable. In the tinder-dry conditions of Palestine a forest fire was almost immediately out of control; and no man can control the damage of the tongue. “Three things come not back–the spent arrow, the spoken word and the lost opportunity.” There is nothing so impossible to kill as a rumour; there is nothing so impossible to obliterate as an idle and malignant story. Let a man, before he speaks, remember that once a word is spoken it is gone from his control; and let him think before he speaks because, although he cannot get it back, he will most certainly answer for it.
THE CORRUPTION WITHIN ( Jas 3:5 b-6 continued) We must spend a little longer on this passage, because in it there are two specially difficult phrases.
(i) The tongue, says the Revised Standard Version is an unrighteous world. That ought to be the unrighteous world. In our bodies, that is to say, the tongue stands for the whole wicked world. In Greek the phrase is ho ( G3588) kosmos ( G2899) tes ( G3588) adikias ( G93) , and we shall best get at its meaning by remembering that kosmos ( G2889) can have two meanings.
(a) It can mean adornment, although this is less usual. The phrase, therefore, could mean that the tongue is the adornment of evil. That would mean that it is the organ which can make evil attractive. By the tongue men can make the worse appear the better reason; by the tongue men can excuse and Justify their wicked ways; by the tongue men can persuade others into sin. There is no doubt that this gives excellent sense; but it is doubtful if the phrase really can mean that.
(b) Kosmos ( G2889) can mean world. In almost every part of the New Testament kosmos ( G2889) means the world with more than a suggestion of the evil world. The world cannot receive the Spirit ( Joh 14:17). Jesus manifests himself to the disciples but not to the world ( Joh 14:22). The world hates him and therefore hates his disciples ( Joh 15:18-19). Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world ( Joh 18:36). Paul condemns the wisdom of this world ( 1Co 1:20). The Christian must not be conformed to this world ( Rom 12:2). When kosmos ( G2889) is used in this sense it means the world without God, the world in its ignorance of, and often its hostility to, God. Therefore, if we call the tongue the evil kosmos ( G2889) , it means that it is that part of the body which is without God. An uncontrolled tongue is like a world hostile to God. It is the part of us which disobeys him.
(ii) The second difficult phrase is what the Revised Standard Version translates the cycle of nature (trochos ( G5164) geneseos, G1083) . It literally means the wheel of being.
The ancients used the picture of the wheel to describe life in four different ways.
(i) The wheel is a circle, a rounded and complete whole, and, therefore, the wheel of life can mean the totality of life.
(ii) Any particular point in the wheel is always moving up or down. Therefore, the wheel of life can stand for the ups and downs of life. In this sense the phrase very nearly means the wheel of fortune, always changing and always variable.
(iii) The wheel is circular; it is always turning back upon itself in exactly the same circle; therefore, the wheel came to stand for the cyclical repetition of life, the weary round of an existence which is ever repeating itself without advancing.
(iv) The phrase had one particular technical use. The Orphic religion believed that the human soul was continually undergoing a process of birth and death and rebirth; and the aim of life was to escape from this treadmill into infinite being. So the Orphic devotee who had achieved could say, “I have flown out of the sorrowful, weary wheel.” In this sense the wheel of life can stand for the weary treadmill of constant reincarnation.
It is unlikely that James knew anything about Orphic reincarnation. It is not at all likely that any Christian would think in terms of a cyclical life which was not going anywhere. It is not likely that a Christian would be afraid of the chances and changes of life. Therefore, the phrase most probably means the whole of life and living. What James is saying is that the tongue can kindle a destructive fire which can destroy all life; and the tongue itself is kindled with. the very fire of hell. Here indeed is its terror.
BEYOND ALL TAMING ( Jas 3:7-8 ) 3:7-8 Every kind of beast and bird, and reptile and fish, is and has been tamed for the service of mankind; but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
The idea of the taming of the animal creation in the service of mankind is one which often occurs in Jewish literature. We get it in the creation story. God said of man, “Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” ( Gen 1:28). It is, in fact, to that verse that James is very likely looking back. The same promise is repeated to Noah: “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered ( Gen 9:2). The writer of Ecclesiasticus repeats the same idea: “God put the fear of man upon all flesh, and gave him dominion over beasts and fowls” ( Sir_17:4 ). The Psalmist thought on the same lines: “Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field; the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea” ( Psa 8:6-8). The Roman world knew of tame fish in the fish-ponds which were in the open central hall or atrium of a Roman house. The serpent was the emblem of Aesculapius, and in his temples tame serpents glided about and were supposed to be incarnations of the god. People who were ill slept in the temples of Aesculapius at night, and if one of these tame serpents glided over them, that was supposed to be the healing touch of the god.
Man’s ingenuity has tamed every wild creature in the sense of controlling and making useful; that, says James, is what no man by his own unaided efforts has ever been able to do with the tongue.
BLESSING AND CURSING ( Jas 3:9-12 ) 3:9-12 With it we bless the Lord and Father and with it we curse the men who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth there emerge blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers. Surely the one stream from the same cleft in the rock does not gush forth fresh and salt water? Surely, brothers, a fig-tree cannot produce olives, nor a vine figs, nor can salt water produce fresh water?
We know only too well from experience that there is a cleavage in human nature. In man there is something of the ape and something of the angel, something of the hero and something of the villain, something of the saint and much of the sinner. It is James’ conviction that nowhere is this contradiction more evident than in the tongue.
With it, he says, we bless God. This was specially relevant to a Jew. Whenever the name of God was mentioned, a Jew must respond: “Blessed be he!” Three times a day the devout Jew had to repeat the Shemoneh Esreh, the famous eighteen prayers called Eulogies, every one of which begins, “Blessed be thou, O God.” God was indeed eulogetos ( G2128) , The Blessed One, the One who was continually blessed. And yet the very mouths and tongues which had frequently and piously blessed God, were the very same mouths and tongues which cursed fellowmen. To James there was something unnatural about this; it was as unnatural as for a stream to gush out both fresh and salt water or a bush to bear opposite kinds of fruit. Unnatural and wrong such things might be, but they were tragically common.
Peter could say, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you” ( Mat 26:35), and that very same tongue of his denied Jesus with oaths and curses ( Mat 26:69-75). The John who said, “Little children, love one another,” was the same who had once wished to call down fire from heaven in order to blast a Samaritan village out of existence ( Luk 9:51-56). Even the tongues of the apostles could say very different things.
John Bunyan tells us of Talkative: “He was a saint abroad and a devil at home.” Many a man speaks with perfect courtesy to strangers and even preaches love and gentleness, and yet snaps with impatient irritability at his own family. It has not been unknown for a man to speak with piety on Sunday and to curse a squad of workmen on Monday. It has not been unknown for a man to utter the most pious sentiments one day and to repeat the most questionable stories the next. It has not been unknown for a woman to speak with sweet graciousness at a religious meeting and then to go outside to murder someone’s reputation with a malicious tongue.
These things, said James, should not be. Some drugs are at once poisons and cures; they are benefits to a man when wisely controlled by his doctor but harmful when used unwisely. The tongue can bless or curse; it can wound or soothe; it can speak the fairest or the foulest things. It is one of life’s hardest and plainest duties to see that the tongue does not contradict itself but speaks only such words as we would wish God to hear.
THE MAN WHO OUGHT NEVER TO BE A TEACHER ( Jas 3:13-14 ) 3:13-14 Who among you is a man of wisdom and of understanding? Let him show by the loveliness of his behaviour that all he does is done with gentleness. If in your hearts you have a zeal that is bitter, and selfish ambition, do not be arrogantly boastful about your attainments, for you are false to the truth.
James goes back, as it were, to the beginning of the chapter. His argument runs like this: “Is there any of you who wishes to be a real sage and a real teacher? Then let him live a life of such beautiful graciousness that he will prove to all that gentleness is enthroned as the controlling power within his heart. For, if he has a fanatical bitterness and is obviously controlled by selfish and personal ambition, then, whatever claims he makes in his arrogance, all he does is to be false to the truth which he professes to teach.”
James uses two interesting words. His word for zeal is zelos ( G2205) . Zelos ( G2205) need not be a bad word. It could mean the noble emulation which a man felt when confronted with some picture of greatness and goodness. But there is a very narrow dividing line between noble emulation and ignoble envy. The word he uses for selfish ambition is eritheia ( G2052) which was also a word with no necessarily bad meaning. It originally meant spinning for hire and was used of serving women. Then it came to mean any work done for pay. Then it came to mean the kind of work done solely for what could be got out of it. Then it entered politics and came to mean that selfish ambition which was out for self and for nothing else and was ready to use any means to gain its ends.
A scholar and a teacher is always under a double temptation.
(i) He is under the temptation to arrogance. Arrogance was the besetting sin of the Rabbis. The greatest of the Jewish teachers were well aware of that. In The Sayings of the Fathers we read, “He that is arrogant in decision is foolish, wicked, puffed up in spirit.” It was the advice of one of the wise men: “It rests with thy colleagues to choose whether they will adopt thy opinion: it is not for thee to force it upon them.” Few are in such constant spiritual peril as teachers and preachers. They are used to being listened to and to having their words accepted. All unconsciously they tend, as Shakespeare had it, to say,
“I am Sir Oracle,
And when I open my lips let no dog bark!”
It is very difficult to be a teacher or a preacher and to remain humble; but it is absolutely necessary.
(ii) He is under the temptation to bitterness. We know how easily “learned discussion can produce passion.” The odium theologicum is notorious. Sir Thomas Browne has a passage on the savagery of scholars to each other: “Scholars are men of peace, they bear no arms, but their tongues are sharper than Actius’ razor; their pens carry farther, and give a louder report than thunder: I had rather stand the shock of a basilisco, than the fury of a merciless pen.” Philip Lilley reminds us that Dr. H. F. Stewart said that the arguments of Pascal with the Jesuits reminded him of Alan Breck’s fight with the crew of the Covenant in Stevenson’s Kidnapped: “The sword in his hand flashed like quicksilver into the middle of our flying enemies, and at every flash came the scream of a man hurt.” One of the most difficult things in the world is to argue without passion and to meet arguments without wounding. To be utterly convinced of one’s own beliefs without at the same time being bitter to those of others is no easy thing; and yet it is a first necessity for the Christian teacher and scholar.
We may find in this passage four characteristics of the wrong kind of teaching.
(i) It is fanatical. The truth it holds is held with unbalanced violence rather than with reasoned conviction.
(ii) It is bitter. It regards its opponents as enemies to be annihilated rather than as friends to be persuaded.
(iii) It is selfishly ambitious. It is, in the end, more eager to display itself than to display the truth; and it is interested more in the victory of its own opinions than in the victory of the truth.
(iv) It is arrogant. Its attitude is pride in its knowledge rather than humility in its ignorance. The real scholar will be far more aware of what he does not know than of what he knows.
THE WRONG KIND OF WISDOM ( Jas 3:15-16 ) 3:15-16 Such wisdom is not the wisdom which comes down from above, but is earthly, characteristic of the natural man, inspired by the devil. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil thing.
This bitter and arrogant wisdom, so-called, is very different from real wisdom. James first of all describes it in itself, and then in its effects. In itself it is three things.
(i) It is earthly. Its standards and sources are earthly. It measures success in worldly terms; and its aims are worldly aims.
(ii) It is characteristic of the natural man. The word James uses is difficult to translate. It is psuchikos ( G5591) , which comes from psuche ( G5590) . The ancients divided man into three parts–body, soul and spirit. The body (soma, G4983) is our physical flesh and blood; the soul (psuche, G5590) is the physical life which we share with the beasts; the spirit (pneuma, G4151) is that which man alone possesses, which differentiates him from the beasts, which makes him a rational creature and kin to God. This is a little confusing for us, because we are in the habit of using soul in the same sense as the ancient people used spirit. James is saying that this wrong kind of wisdom is no more than an animal kind of thing; it is the kind of wisdom which makes an animal snap and snarl with no other thought than that of prey or personal survival.
(iii) It is devilish. Its source is not God, but the devil. It produces the kind of situation which the devil delights in, not God.
James then describes this arrogant and bitter wisdom in its effects. The most notable thing about it is that it issues in disorder. That is to say, instead of bringing people together, it drives them apart. Instead of producing peace, it produces strife. There is a kind of person who is undoubtedly clever, with acute brain and skilful tongue; but his effect, nevertheless, in any committee, in any church, in any group, is to cause trouble and to disturb personal relationships. It is a sobering thing to remember that the wisdom he possesses is devilish rather than divine.
THE TRUE WISDOM (1) ( Jas 3:17-18 ) 3:17-18 The wisdom which comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, willing to yield, full of mercy and of good fruits, undivided in mind, without hypocrisy. For the seed which one day produces the reward which righteousness brings can only be sown when personal relationships are right and by those whose conduct produces such relationships.
The Jewish sages were always agreed that the true wisdom came from above. It was not the attainment. of man but the gift of God. Wisdom describes this wisdom as “the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty” ( Wis_7:25 ). The same book prays, “Give me the wisdom that sitteth by thy throne” ( Wis_9:4 ); and again, “O send her from Thy holy heavens, and from the throne of thy glory” ( Wis_9:8 ). Ben Sirach began his book with the sentence, “All wisdom cometh from the Lord, and is with him for ever” ( Sir_1:1 ); and he makes Wisdom say, “I came out of the mouth of the Most High” ( Sir_24:3 ). With one voice the Jewish sages agreed that wisdom came to men from God.
James uses eight words to describe this wisdom, and every one has a great picture in it.
(i) The true wisdom is pure. The Greek is hagnos ( G53) and its root meaning is pure enough to approach the gods. At first it had only a ceremonial meaning and meant nothing more than that a man had gone through the right ritual cleansings. So, for instance, Euripides can make one of his characters say, “My hands are pure, but my heart is not.” At this stage hagnos ( G53) describes ritual, but not necessarily moral, purity. But as time went on the word came to describe the moral purity which alone can approach the gods. On the Temple of Aesculapius at Epidaurus there was the inscription at the entrance: “He who would enter the divine temple must be pure (hagnos, G53) ; and purity is to have a mind which thinks holy thoughts.” The true wisdom is so cleansed of all ulterior motives and of self that it has become pure enough to see God. Worldly wisdom might well wish to escape God’s sight; the true wisdom is able to bear his very scrutiny.
(ii) The true wisdom is eirenikos ( G1516) . We have translated this peaceable but it has a very special meaning. Eirene ( G1515) means peace, and when it is used of men its basic meaning is right relationships between man and man, and between man and God The true wisdom produces right relationships. There is a kind of clever and arrogant wisdom which separates man from man, and which makes a man look with superior contempt on his fellows. There is a kind of cruel wisdom which takes a delight in hurting others with clever, but cutting, words. There is a kind of depraved wisdom which seduces men away from their loyalty to God. But the true wisdom at all times brings men closer to one another and to God.
(iii) The true wisdom is epieikes ( G1933) . Of all Greek words in the New Testament this is the most untranslatable. Aristotle defined it as that “which is just beyond the written law” and as “justice and better than justice” and as that “which steps in to correct things when the law itself becomes unjust.” The man who is epieikes ( G1933) is the man who knows when it is actually wrong to apply the strict letter of the law. He knows how to forgive when strict justice gives him a Perfect right to condemn. He knows how to make allowances, when not to stand upon his rights, how to temper justice with mercy, always remembers that there are greater things in the world than rules and regulations. It is impossible to find an English word to translate this quality. Matthew Arnold called it “sweet reasonableness” and it is the ability to extend to others the kindly consideration we would wish to receive ourselves.
THE TRUE WISDOM (2) ( Jas 3:17-18 continued) (iv) The true wisdom is eupeithes ( G2138) . Here we must make a choice between two meanings. (a) Eupeithes ( G2138) can mean ever ready to obey. The first of William Law’s rules for life was, “To fix it deep in my mind that I have but one business upon my hands, to seek for eternal happiness by doing the will of God.” If we take the word in this sense, it means that the truly wise man is for ever ready to obey whenever God’s voice comes to him. (b) Eupeithes ( G2138) can mean easy to persuade, not in the sense of being pliable and weak, but in the sense of not being stubborn and of being willing to listen to reason and to appeal. Coming as it does after epieikes ( G1933) , it probably bears this second meaning here. The true wisdom is not rigid but is willing to listen and skilled in knowing when wisely to yield.
(v) We take the next two terms together. The true wisdom is full of mercy (eleos, G1656) and good fruits. Eleos ( G1656) is a word which acquired a new meaning in Christian thought. The Greeks defined it as pity for the man who is suffering unjustly; but Christianity means far more than that by eleos ( G1656) . (a) In Christian thought eleos ( G1656) means mercy for the man who is in trouble, even if the trouble is his own fault. Christian pity is the reflection of God’s pity; and that went out to men, not only when they were suffering unjustly, but when they were suffering through their own fault. We are so apt to say of someone in trouble, “It is his own fault; he brought it on himself,” and, therefore, to feel no responsibility for him. Christian mercy is mercy for any man who is in trouble, even if he has brought that trouble on himself. (b) In Christian thought eleos ( G1656) means mercy which issues in good fruits, that is, which issues in practical help. Christian pity is not merely an emotion; it is action. We can never say that we have truly pitied anyone until we have helped him.
(vi) The true wisdom is adiakritos ( G87) , undivided. This means that it is not wavering and vacillating; it knows its own mind, chooses its course and abides by it. There are those who think that it is clever never to make one’s mind up about anything. They speak about having an open mind and about suspending judgment. But the Christian wisdom is based on the Christian certainties which come to us from God through Jesus Christ.
(vii) The true wisdom is anupokritos ( G505) , without hypocrisy. That is to say, it is not a pose and does not deal in deception. It is honest; it never pretends to be what it is not; and it never acts a part to gain its own ends.
Finally, James says something which every Christian Church and every Christian group should have written on its heart. The Revised Standard Version correctly translates the Greek literally: “The harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” This is a highly compressed sentence. Let us remember that peace, eirene ( G1515) , means right relationships between man and man. So, then, what James is saying is this, “We are all trying to reap the harvest which a good life brings. But the seeds which bring the rich harvest can never flourish in any atmosphere other than one of right relationships between man and man. And the only people who can sow these seeds and reap the reward are those whose life work it has been to produce such right relationships.”
That is to say, nothing good can ever grow in an atmosphere where men are at variance with one another. A group where there is bitterness and strife is a barren soil in which the seeds of righteousness can never grow and out of which no reward can ever come, The man who disturbs personal relationships and is responsible for strife and bitterness has cut himself off from the reward which God gives to those who live his life.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
7. Christian synagogue, also, rejects many teachers with untamable and self-contradictory tongues, Jas 3:1-12.
1. My brethren Our apostle’s standpoint is still in the Christian synagogue, where he is checking the errors and faults of his brethren. In the last chapter he reproved their obsequiousness to rich incomers, and refutes their excuses; he here checks their ambitious loquacity, aiming to be teachers before they had become competent learners. In Jas 1:19-26 he had criticised rather the garrulity of hearers and answerers; he here reprehends the assumptions of the speakers.
Masters Rather, teachers. This did not forbid the expression of Christian experience and interchange of exhortation and counsel by the many. Nor did it forbid catechists and imparters of the elements of established Christian knowledge to be many. Nor does it forbid Sabbath-school instructors at the present day, who are happily very many; but it reprehends self-conceited and self-appointed doctrinaries, ready to blurt their individual notions and maintain them in the assemblies. The result would be crude theologies, heated disputations, and erratic sects and heresies. Alford and Huther condemn Grotius for interpreting many teachers as equivalent to all teachers. But as the whole Church is addressed in the caution it can hardly mean less. The picture it suggests is, that (as in 1Co 14:26-33) every member of the Church was free to use his tongue in the assembly, and used his freedom fully. The institute of the single pastorate for the single Church was, perhaps, as yet not fully established, though its need was fully felt, and its existence coming in.
Condemnation Namely, for the offend of next verse, to which we are all liable. Greater condemnation will fall on him who assumes the higher responsibilities and exhibits his assumption most loudly.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Do not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment. For in many things we all stumble. ’
James’ initial warning is against the natural desire that many have to teach others. They feel that they have a truth worth passing on and want to convince others. That is all very well if they are well taught and truly understand the Scriptures, and have the right attitudes and are loving and caring. But in those early days there was no New Testament, and many who had been converted had little knowledge of the ‘new way’ and of the Apostles’ teaching. Thus James is warning of the danger of setting themselves up as Teachers, lest they turn out to be erring teachers. For to be a Teacher of the word brings great responsibility, and even the best stumble.
We get the impression from this that large numbers wanted to be Teachers, and very few to be listeners. So James warns them what a solemn thing it is to be a Teacher of the word. This was especially so when they only had the Old Testament to teach from. For by being Teachers, without a full knowledge of what Jesus had taught, or of what the Apostles taught, they could easily lead men astray into false ideas or unsatisfactory ways. Let them therefore be quick to hear and slow to speak (Jas 1:19). For it was one thing to teach others privately what they had learned, and what they believed, as they ‘gossiped the Gospel’, it was quite another to be set up as an official Teacher in the assembly and be responsible for the flock, or to stand up to teach or prophesy in the assembly without proper inspiration, prayer and spiritual preparation. It would seem that there were a number indeed who took up such a position for personal aggrandisement, or even in order to attack and criticise others. But in those early days not many would be qualified to be official Teachers, having neither heard Jesus, nor been taught by the Apostles, nor having become sufficiently knowledgeable about their teaching. It was good then that they be wary of making claims beyond their present ability, for the tongue was a powerful instrument, and by it they could do great harm. It was good therefore that the churches be careful whom they appointed, and that people themselves did not set themselves up to teach what they were in fact ignorant of, or themselves unfit to teach. In the same way Paul had to warn against those who taught without having any knowledge of what they were talking about (1Ti 1:6-7).
James therefore wants even those who have been appointed, and all who would aspire to teach alongside them, to be aware of the responsibility that they carried. For one day they would have to give account for what they had taught and would be judged accordingly. And he warns them that even an experienced teacher like himself, and like the Apostles, can stumble in teaching the word if they are not prayerful and watchful. How much more then those who have newly come to faith in Jesus, and have not been taught by Him, and are therefore still very much involved with their old ideas in spite of having become Christians. For he wants them to appreciate that to lead men into error or false ways would be a grievous sin.
And then there was the question of the way in which that teaching was being carried out. It could be done censoriously, or even with bitterness, or it could flail men as a result of a savage tongue. It could undermine confidence, and weaken faith, or even give false confidence. Its aim could simply be with the aim of self-aggrandisement. And it could stir up wrong emotions.
But on the other hand James would recognise that it could be life-giving and sustaining and encouraging. It could thus help to maintain unity of the people of God. He was not trying to prevent men from teaching, but warning that it was not a task to be taken on lightly. For the alternative was that it could destroy instead of building up. Many depended on the reliability of the Teacher of the word. It was therefore not a position to be taken up without due consideration. And all needed to be aware of their own inadequacy.
‘Knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.’ In Eze 34:1-10 the faithless leaders of the nation are condemned for being neglectful and abusive shepherds of God’s people, and God declares that He will require it of them. In Mat 5:19 the one who relaxed the commandments of God is least under the Kingly Rule of God, while those who teach what the Scribes and Pharisees teach will not even enter it. In Mat 18:6 comes the warning of what will happen to those who cause the humblest believers to stumble. ‘For to him that has will more be given, but to him who has not, even what he has will be taken away’ (Luk 19:26).
‘For in many things we all stumble.’ James recognises man’s weakness, including his own. All, even the best, come short and fail. But that is all the more reason for men not to push themselves forward until they are spiritually adequate.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Power of the Tongue – Many men who were big, rich men or leaders in society would naturally want to be exalted among a local congregation (Jas 3:1), but James warns that the office of a teacher comes with greater judgment (Jas 3:2). He explains the power of the tongue by using several illustrations from nature; the bridled horse, the rudder of a ship, and the spark that ignites a forest fire (Jas 3:3-6). James then explains the difficulty of a man bridling his own tongue (Jas 3:7-12). Thus, the tongue can be a source of blessing or cursing.
1. The Tongue Determines Maturity Jas 3:1-2
2. The Tongue Directs our Course Jas 3:3-5
3. The Tongue Must be Tamed Jas 3:6-12
Jas 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Jas 3:1
Heb 5:12, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
2Pe 2:1, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
One is our Master, or teacher, whose name is Christ Jesus, our Lord. Note:
Jas 3:1 “knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” – Comments – James seems to include himself here as a teacher of God’s Word, although the early Church fathers called him the first bishop of the church in Jerusalem. Eph 4:11 tells us that teachers are a part of the 5-fold ministry.
The Greek word (condemnation) is also translated “judgment.” The reason for not becoming many teachers is given: because teachers shall receive a greater judgment; that is, the person in this office will have to give a greater accountability than others. On the Day of Judgment, our words will be a part of our judgment (Mat 12:36-37).
Mat 12:36-37, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Jesus teaches that there will be degrees of divine judgment for those who reject Christ (Luk 10:12-16) as well as those who accept Him (Luk 12:47-48).
Luk 10:12-16, “But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.”
Luk 12:47-48, “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
Teacher must practice what they preach, for they will be judged heavier than those non-teachers. Let God do the judging and calling of teachers into this ministry.
Let not an unclean vessel try to clean up someone else’s life, or else the blind will lead the blind (Luk 6:39).
Luk 6:39, “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?”
1Ti 1:7, “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
God uses clean vessels (2Ti 2:20-21).
2Ti 2:20-21, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
Scripture References – Note similar verses:
Mat 7:1-5 Judge not, lest ye be judged,
Mat 12:36-37, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Mat 23:8, “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.”
Luk 6:37-38, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Jas 3:1 Comments – Frances J. Roberts translated this verse as, “Do not many desire to be teachers, for thereby is attached more heavy responsibility.” Note:
Let Him fully satisfy thy soul-hunger, and then thou shalt go forth with a full basket on thine arm. Twelve baskets there were (Mat 14:20); one for each disciple. There will always be the multitudes to be fed, but the few called to minister. This is by My own arrangement. As the Scripture says: Do not many desire to be teachers, for thereby is attached more heavy responsibility (Jas 3:1).” [112]
[112] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 154.
Jas 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Jas 3:2
Jas 3:2 “If any man offend not in word” Comments – James has just mentioned the office of a teacher, or rabbi (Jas 3:1), within the context of this Jewish epistle that also mentioning their synagogues (Jas 2:2). It is the tongue that is a teacher’s instrument of service. James is saying that a teacher should be able to bridle his tongue, so that he can use his office wisely.
Scripture References – Note similar verses that warn us not to offend in word:
Psa 34:13, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”
Psa 39:1, “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”
Isa 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
1Pe 3:10, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:”
Jas 1:19, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
Jas 1:26, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
“the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body” – Comments No child of God is perfect in the sense that he is without fault; but if he will learn to control his tongue, he will develop into Christian maturity and be able to direct his conduct and lifestyle. His tongue will be able to bridle his body and set the course of his life, just as the horse is bridled and guided by a small bit in its mouth and the ship is set on course by a small rudder.
Jas 3:3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
Jas 3:3
Scripture Reference – Note a similar verse of the horse and its bridle:
Psa 32:9, “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.”
Note also in Job 39:19-25 how God describes the might of the war horse.
Jas 3:4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
Jas 3:4
Creflo Dollar explains how a ship can be set on course for its destination. If the steersman allows the ship to swerve slightly off course, it may not be noticeable at first. However, if this mistake is not corrected, the ship finds itself further off course than it ever intended to go. It becomes very difficult to get back on course. In a similar way, many people allow their tongue to slip slightly again and again without correcting these small mistakes. Eventually, problems come into their lives that they never anticipated, and it becomes a big task for them to get back under God’s divine blessings. [113]
[113] Creflo Dollar, Changing Your World (College Park, Georgia: Creflo Dollar Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.
Jas 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Jas 3:5 Psa 12:3
Jas 3:5 “Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” – Comments – How a little gossip turns in to a raging fire and does not stop until many people are destroyed. It would be interesting to find out the world’s most devastating forest fire and realize that it started with just a spark.
Scripture Reference – Note:
Pro 26:20-21, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.”
Jas 3:5 Comments – The little tongue does great things. The point is that such a little member has such great power. For example, a little gossip can turn a whole congregation into strife.
Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Jas 3:6
Psa 57:4, “My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire , even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.”
Jas 3:6 “so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body” Comments In Mat 15:11-20 Jesus explains how the tongue defiles the entire man, since out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and causes a man to become defiled.
Mat 15:18-20, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” (Mar 7:1-23)
Scripture Reference – Note similar verses:
Mat 12:34, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Mat 12:36-37, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Tit 1:15, “Unto the pure all things are pure. but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
Jas 3:6 “and setteth on fire the course of nature” – Comments That is, “it sets on fire the wheel, or course, of nature (existence).” Remember how the rudder of a ship guides its course. The same is with our tongue, saying that it sets the course of our life.
Jas 3:6 “and it is set on fire of hell” – Comments James has been discussing the power of the tongue, now he discusses its deadly power. The kind of defilement brought about by the tongue, which sets a man’s life on a deadly course, comes from hell itself. The thoughts and words are from the devil. The Greek word here used for “hell” is “Gehenna.” This word has its origin from the Hebrew phrase “valley of Hinnom ( ), which is a the valley on the south side of Jerusalem (Jos 18:16, Neh 11:30). In Jas 3:6 this Greek word is used to describe Hell.
Jos 18:16, “And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel,”
Neh 11:30, “Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom.”
Jas 3:6 Comments – The tongue is like kindling wood. It may look small, but it is able to ignite an entire forest on fire. In a similar way, one tongue can cause problems to an entire group of people.
Also, note the power or effects of speaking a blessing or curse in this passage (see Gen 27:12-13).
Gen 27:12-13, “My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.”
Jas 3:5-6 Illustration – This is illustrated in Ecc 10:12-13.
Ecc 10:12-13, “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.”
Mischief, or wicked madness, was the result of a lot of foolish talk.
Jas 3:5-6 Scripture References – Note similar verses:
Pro 21:23, “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”
Pro 26:20-21, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.”
Jas 3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
Jas 3:7
Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Jas 3:8
Jas 1:4-5, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Jas 3:8 “it is an unruly evil” Comments – Jas 3:8 tells us that the tongue us “a restless evil.” The tongue is like a horse biting at the bridle and pulling the reins to tear out of the racing chute. It spills forth poison and evil words. We have to constantly hold back our tongue, likewise from speaking the wrong thing.
Illustration – As a young boy Dad bought a mare with her young filly. To make the mare ride away from the filly at the barn was very difficult. The mare was constantly trying to turn back to the barn. But on the return trip to the barn, she was fighting all along the way to break into a gallop and get back quickly. The tongue is restless, like a mare returning to her baby, always fighting to break out into poisonous words.
Illustration – There is a large praying mantis that spits accurately into one’s eyeball. As a young boy one was on the window screen and our grandparents warned us of him. We approached too close and prodded him and the praying mantis spit right in my eye. He did not miss. The tongue is accurate like that, when it is turned loose, it does not miss hitting the mark.
Jas 3:8 Comments – The tongue is like an untamed lion pacing a cage ready to break loose and destroy, or like a venomous snake ready to strike out at any threatening object. People use their words like this.
Psa 140:3, “They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.”
Jas 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Jas 3:9
Scripture References – Note similar verses:
Rth 4:14, “And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD , which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.”
Joh 15:8, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
Heb 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Jas 3:9 “and therewith curse we men” – Scripture Reference – Note:
Ecc 7:21-22, “Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.”
Jas 3:9 “which are made after the similitude of God”- Comments Since we are made in God’s image, we are:
1. Not to murder:
Gen 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
Lev 19:27-28, “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”
2. Not to defile our bodies:
1Co 3:17, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
3. Not to cover the man’s head:
1Co 11:7, “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.”
4. Not for a man to wear long hair:
1Co 11:14, “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?”
Scripture Reference – Note:
Gen 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Jas 3:9 Comments – We can see in Jas 3:9 a description of strife in a church, while everyone stands together and sings songs of praise. For example, I was leading the singing at mission in Fort Worth, Texas in the spring of 1983. One member comes to the front just before we sing and asks if he can say or do something. He goes over to another member and apologizes for what he had said. He later shared that he had lost his wife and God had restored his wife back to him.
We speak a blessing upon others, or we speak a curse upon them. We can speak blessing of peace, mercy and grace upon each other. Note:
Jdg 9:27, “And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.”
Rth 2:4, “And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.”
Rth 2:20, “And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.”
Rth 3:10, “And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.”
2Sa 15:20, “Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.”
2Sa 16:5, “And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.”
2Sa 19:21, “But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’S anointed?”
Psa 10:7, “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.”
Psa 59:12, “For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.”
Psalms 109
Mat 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
Mat 10:13, “And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.”
Also, most of the Pauline epistles:
Rom 1:7, “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Jas 3:10
Pro 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Scripture Reference – Note:
Mat 12:34, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Jas 3:12 “Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs?” – Comments – You cannot sow one seed and expect another type to come up.
Jas 3:12 “so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” – Comments – Note how God miraculously changed the bitter waters of Marah to sweet water in Exo 15:22-27. The fountain was either salty or fresh, but not both.
Jas 3:9-12 Comments – A Description of the Double-Minded Man – This passage of Scripture describes the double-minded man in Jas 1:8.
Jas 1:8, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Slow to Speak: Overcoming an Unbridled Tongue Through Meekness of Wisdom (Bridling our Tongues in the Mental Realm) In Jas 3:1-18 James continues to allude to the assembly of Jewish believers in the Temple and local synagogues as they listened to the reading and interpretation of the Scriptures by a rabbi or teacher. These Jewish believers would be tempted to exalt themselves above others, seeking to be the teacher, or rabbi, which served as the head of local Jewish congregations (Jas 3:1-12). James now warns his readers to avoid the temptation to exalt himself above others as a teacher and exercise an unruly tongue.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Power of the Tongue Jas 3:1-12
2. The Path of Life and Death Jas 3:13-18
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Path of Faith and Patience – Once James lays the foundational truths in our lives that there are two ways to face trials, with humility or with pride, by becoming doers of God’s Word or by yielding to our own lusts (Jas 1:2-27), we are ready to receive much wisdom from God to help us overcome anything. James will then take us through a course of learning how to walk by faith in every area of our lives. He will show us how we demonstrate our faith by not showing partiality (Jas 2:1-26), by taming our tongue (Jas 3:1-18), and by managing our temper (Jas 4:1 to Jas 5:6).
Outline – Note the proposed outline:
1. Quick to Hear Jas 2:1-26
2. Slow to Speak Jas 3:1-18
3. Slow to Wrath Jas 4:1-12
4. Covetousness Jas 4:13 to Jas 5:6
5. Final Appeal: Patience and Prayer Jas 5:7-18
Jas 2:1-26 Quick to Hear: Overcoming Partiality by Refusing to Judge the Poor and Showing Him Mercy (Submitting our Hearts to God) One of the greatest temptations of the flesh is to show partiality among the various social classes of a church congregation. In Jas 2:1-26 we find a teaching on having faith towards God without showing partiality towards others. Jas 2:1-26 paints a picture of Jewish believers gathering in the synagogue (Jas 2:2) according to their tradition. They show partiality by seating the rich Jews in good seats near the front to be seen by others, while making the poor Jews sit or stand in the back. We know from the writings of Eusebius that James, the first bishop of the church in Jerusalem, worshipped and prayed in the Temple, showing that he sought to coexist with non-believing Jews as much as possible ( Ecclesiastical History 2.23.1-25). Thus, Jewish believers would have continued their tradition of worshiping in the Temple in Jerusalem and attending the synagogue as well as assembling with local believers. I have seen the partiality described in Jas 2:1-26 many times while a missionary in Africa, where the rich were seated in the front at functions and the poor stood outside on in the rear. This African custom was adopted by their churches as well, providing a vivid picture of this warning against showing partiality among the early church.
Outline – Here is a proposed outline:
1. Facing the Temptation of Showing Partiality Jas 2:1-7
2. The Path of Death Jas 2:8-13
3. The Path of Life Jas 2:14-26
Other Passages on Partiality – We find a similar passage of Scripture regarding warnings against partiality in 1Co 3:1 to 1Co 4:21, in which Paul teaches the Corinthians to stop showing partiality towards church leaders.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Caution against False Activity in Teaching and the Use of the Tongue.
The danger of teaching and much speaking:
v. 1. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
v. 2. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
v. 3. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body.
v. 4. Behold also the ships, which, though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
v. 5. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
v. 6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. It seems that in many of the congregations, which were composed largely of Jewish Christians, the custom of permitting almost any man to speak that so desired had been taken over. This was a dangerous practice in more than one respect, and therefore the apostle writes: Become not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we (as such) shall receive the more severe condemnation. In the Jewish synagogues, especially in the Dispersion, in the cities outside of Palestine, there was little restriction in the matter of teachers; almost anyone would be listened to that desired to be heard. But whereas all believers are kings and priests before God and the Lord Jesus, they are not all teachers of the congregation, they may not all arrogate to themselves the office of preacher. But there was not only danger under such circumstances that the Gospel-message would not receive its proper attention, but the speakers were also inclined to let personal matters sway them, the result being that the discourses in the common assemblies were anything but edifying at times. It was necessary, therefore, to remind the unauthorized teachers of the fact that the responsibility resting upon the office and the account which the teachers must give on the last day, Heb 13:17, would make the sentence passed upon them all the more severe.
The apostle now gives reasons for the sternness of his rebuke: For manifoldly we offend, all of us. If a man does not offend in word, that man is a perfect man, able to keep under the restraint of the bridle also the whole body. The general course of life may well be called a way and each individual action a step; therefore any offense or lapse or transgression may well be termed a stumble. All men without exception become guilty of such stumbling, even the best of Christians are subject to sins of weakness. And now James, in applying this general truth to the case in hand, states that a man who can control his speech at all times, never offending by so much as a single word, may well be considered a perfect man, since the ability to control the tongue argues at least for the probability of controlling the entire body and keeping all the members from sinning. If a man is able to perform the more difficult task, he will have little trouble with that which is comparatively easy.
But the difficulty of controlling the tongue is now shown by two examples. The apostle writes, in the first place: But if we put bits into the mouths of the horses to make them obey us, and we direct their entire bodies. This was an example with which his readers were familiar, which they understood. Horses are driven and kept in control by means of the bits placed into their mouths, the driver merely pulling the reins in order to have the horses’ head in any direction that he chooses. In another case the ease of control is still more apparent and also wonderful: Behold also the ships, although they are so great and, moreover, tossed about with fierce winds, yet are guided with a very small rudder, whithersoever the mind of the steersman wills. This fact is apparent in our days even more than in the times of small vessels. Ships of many thousands of tons displacement obey the slightest pressure of the helmsman, or slight turn of the wheel on the bridge. Even when the sea is agitated, the pilot or officer has little trouble in directing the course of the vessel as he chooses, as he thinks best, so long as the steering apparatus is in order and the rudder does not break. It is a marvel of human ingenuity to be able to keep a large vessel in control with such tiny devices as compared with its great size.
The apostle now makes the application: So also the tongue is a small member, and yet boasts of great exploits. The writer speaks of the tongue as though it had a personality of its own and made use of its power by deliberate action. As small as it is among the members of the body, yet it can boast of performing great deeds. By way of comparison the apostle again calls out: Behold how small a fire, what a forest it does kindle! or: What an immense fire, what an immense forest the tongue does kindle! It takes only a small fire, a burning match carelessly thrown aside, to start a fire which may consume many square miles of forest. And such is also the destructive power of the tongue: The tongue also is a fire, a world of unrighteousness; the tongue steps forth among our members, and it stains the entire body and inflames the wheel of nature, and itself is inflamed by hell. Like the small firebrand that causes the devastating forest fire, so also is the tongue in its unbridled state. It is a world of unrighteousness, it works a world of mischief, its entire sphere becomes that of iniquity when it begins its transgressions. The tongue steps forth among the members, it assumes the leadership, among them, it rules them, it makes them do its bidding. Thus it happens that it succeeds in staining the whole body, in polluting all the members; it sets in motion and inflames the wheel of nature, the whole circle of innate passions, jealousy, backbiting, slander, blasphemy, and every vile deed. Truly the tongue, if permitted to pursue its course unhindered, is inflamed of hell, is in the control of Satan himself.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Jas 3:1-12
WARNING AGAINST OVER–READINESS TO TEACH, LEADING TO A DISCOURSE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT OF THE TONGUE.
Jas 3:1
(1) Warning. Be not many teachers. The warning is parallel to that of our Lord in Mat 23:8, seq., “Be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Teacher [, and not, as Textus Receptus, ], and all ye are brethren.” Comp. also ‘Pirqe Aboth,’ 1.11, “Shemaiah said, Love work and hate lordship ().” The readiness of the Jews to take upon them the office of teachers and to set up as “guides of the blind, teachers of babes,” etc., is alluded to by St. Paul in Rom 2:17, seq., and such a passage as 1Co 14:26, seq., denotes not merely the presence of a similar tendency among Christians, but also the opportunity given for its exercise in the Church.
(2) Reason for the warning. Knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment (). By the use of the first person, St. James includes himself, thus giving a remarkable proof of humility. (The Vulgate, missing this, has wrongly sumitis) Comp. verses 2, 9, where also he uses the first person, with great delicacy of feeling not separating himself from those whose conduct he denounces. . The form of expression recalls our Lord’s saying of the Pharisees, “These shall receive greater condemnation ( ) “ (Mar 12:40; Luk 20:47).
Jas 3:2
gives the reason for this . We shall be judged because in many things we all stumble, and it is implied that teachers are in danger of greater condemnation, because it is almost impossible to govern the tongue completely. With the thought comp. Ecc 7:20, “There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” is adverbial, as in Mat 9:14, and may be either
(1) “in many things,” or
(2) “oft.” .
“No se ipsos quidem excipiunt apostoli” (Bengel). If any stumbleth not in word (R.V). “Control of speech is named, not as in itself constituting perfection, but as a crucial test indicating whether the man has or has not attained unto it” (Plumptre). (see Jas 1:4). (cf. Jas 1:26). It is only found in these two passages; never in the LXX.
Jas 3:3
Illustration of the last statement of Jas 3:2. The bit in the horse’s mouth enables us to turn about the whole body. So the man who can govern his tongue has the mastery over the whole body. A remarkable parallel is afforded by Sophocles, ‘Antigone,’ 1. 470, . So also Philo, ‘De Op. Mundi,’ p. 19, . The manuscript; authority is overwhelming in favor of (A, B, K, L; , , etc.; and Vulgate, si autem) instead of of the Received Text (C has , and the Syriac ecce): thus the apodosis is contained in the words, ... Translate, with R.V., now if we put the horses‘ bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. (For a similar correction of to , see Rom 2:17)
Jas 3:4
Second illustration, showing the importance of the tongue and its government. The rudder is a very small thing, but it enables the steersman to guide the ship wherever he will, in spite of the storm. Whithersoever the governor listeth ( , , B); whither the impulse of the steersman willeth (R.V); Vulgate, impetus dirigentis.
Jas 3:5
(1) Application, of illustration. The tongue is only a little member, but it boasts great things. The true reading appears to be (A, B, C). The compound verb of the Textus Receptus, , is found in the LXX. (Eze 16:50; Zep 3:11; 2 Macc. 15:32; Ecclesiasticus 48:18).
(2) Third illustration. A very small fire may kindle a very large forest. (, A2, B, C1, Vulgate) should be read instead of (A1, C2, K, L, ff). It is equivalent to quantulus as well as quantus. A somewhat similar thought to the one before us is found in Ecclesiasticus 11:32, “Of a spark of fire a heap of coals is kindled.” “Matter,” A.V.; “wood,” R.V. The word is only found here in the New Testament. In the LXX. it is used for a “matter” of judgment in Job 19:29; “matter” in the philosophical sense in Wis. 11:18. (cf. Wis. 15:13); the “matter” of a book in 2 Macc. 2:24; the “matter” of a fire in Ecclesiasticus 28:10 (the whole passage, verses 8-12, is wroth comparing with the one before us); and for “forest” in Job 38:40; Isa 10:17. It is most natural to take it in this sense here (so Syriac and Vulgate, silva). “The literal meaning is certainly to be preferred to the philosophical”. Forest fires are frequently referred to by the ancients. Virgil’s description of one (‘Georgies,’ 2.303) is well known; so also Homer’s (‘Iliad,’ 11.155).
Jas 3:6
Application of illustration The translation is doubtful, of the Received Text must certainly be deleted. It is wanting in , A, B, C, K, Latt., Syriac. Three renderings are then possible.
(1) “And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of nature.”
(2) “And the tongue is a fire, that world of iniquity: the tongue is among our members that which defileth the whole body,” etc.: so Vulgate.
(3) “And the tongue is a fire: that world of iniquity, the tongue, is among our members that which defileth the whole body,” etc. Of these, the first, which is that of the Revisers, appears to be preferable. A fourth rendering, which is wholly untenable, deserves notice for its antiquity, viz. that of the Syriac, “The tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity (is the forest).” The world of iniquity ( ). The tongue is thus characterized, because it leads to and embraces all kinds of wickednesses. As Bishop Wordsworth points out, it contains within itself the elements of all mischief. A somewhat similar use of is found in the LXX. of Pro 17:6, , “The whole world of wealth is for the faithful: for the faithless not a penny.” : “is set” or “has its place,” and so simply “is.“ The tongue
(1) defiles the whole body, and
(2) sets on fire , “the wheel of birth” or “of nature”a very strange expression, and one almost without parallel.. For , comp. Jas 1:23. The Vulgate has rotam nativitatis nostrae) Alford translates the phrase, “the orb of the creation,” and in favor of this the use of the word in Psa 77:1-20. (76) 19 may be appealed to. But more natural is the interpretation of Dean Plumptre, who takes it as “a figure for the whole of life from birth, the wheel which then begins to roll on its course and continues rolling until death.” So Huther and Dean Scott in the ‘ Speaker’s Commentary.’ This view has the support of the Syriac Version: “The course of our generations which run as a wheel;” and is implied in the (false) reading of , , (compare the Vulgate). It should also be noticed that life is compared to a wheel in Ecc 12:6 (LXX., ). And is set on fire. The tongue has already been called a fire. It is now shown how that fire is kindledkern beneath, kern Gehenna. A similar expression is found in the Targum on Psa 120:2, “Lingua dolosa .. cum carbonibus juniperi, qui incensi sunt in Gehenna interne.” Gehenna, here personified, is mentioned also in Mat 5:22, Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30; Mat 10:28; Mat 18:9; Mat 23:15, Mat 23:33; Mar 9:43, Mar 9:45, Mar 9:47; Luk 12:5. Thus the passage before us is the only one in the New Testament where the word is used except, by our Lord himself. The word itself is simply a Graecised form of , “valley of Hinnom,” or fully, “valley of the sons of Hinnom” (variously rendered by the LXX. or or , Jos 18:16). This valley, from its associations, became a type of hell; and hence its name was taken by the Jews to denote the place of torment. In this sense it occurs in the New Testament, and frequently in Jewish writings (see Buxtorf, ‘Lexicon,’ sub verb. ), and it is said that the later rabbis actually fixed upon this valley as the mouth of hell.
Jas 3:7
Fourth illustration, involving a proof of the terrible power of the tongue for evil. All kinds of wild animals, etc., can be tamed and have been tamed: the tongue cannot be. What a deadly power for evil must it therefore be! The famous chorus in Sophocles, ‘Antigone,’ 1. 332, seq., , is quoted by nearly all commentators, and affords a remarkable parallel to this passage. Every kind of beasts, etc.; literally, every nature () of beasts hath been tamed by man‘s nature ( ); Vulgate, omnis enim natura bestiarum domita sunt a natura humana. With this fourfold enumeration of the brute creation (“beasts .. birds.., serpents things in the sea”), cf. Gen 9:2, “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon all the beasts () of the earth, upon all the fowls () of the heavens, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea.” Serpents () would be better rendered, as B.V., creeping things.
Jas 3:8
It is an unruly evil; rather restless, reading (, A, B) for of Textus Receptus (C, K, L); Vulgate, inquietum malum (cf. Jas 1:8). The nominatives in this verse should be noticed: “The last words are to be regarded as a kind of exclamation, and are therefore appended in an independent construction”. A restless evil! Full of deadly poison! Compare the abrupt nominative in Php 3:19 with Bishop Light-feet’s note. Deadly (); here only in the New Testament. In the LXX. it is found in Num 18:22; Job 33:23; 4 Macc. 8:17, 24; 15:23. For the figure, cf. Psa 140:3, “They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips.”
Jas 3:9, Jas 3:10
Examples of the restless character of the tongue: “With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it too we curse men who are made in his image.” In the first clause we should read (, A, B, C, Coptic, Syriac, ff, and some manuscripts of the Vulgate) for (Receptus, with K, L, and Vulgate). Made after the similitude of God; better, likeness (). The words, which are taken from Gen 1:26 ( ) are added to show the greatness of the sin. Theologically they are important, as showing that the “likeness of God” in man was not entirely obliterated by the Fall. St. James’s words would be meaningless if only Adam had been created in the image and likeness of God. So St. Paul speaks of fallen man as still “the image () and glory of God” (1Co 11:7; and cf. Gen 9:6).
Jas 3:11, Jas 3:12
Illustrations showing the absurdity of the conduct reprobated. From one principle opposite things cannot be produced. Nothing can bring forth that which is not corresponding to its nature.
(1) The same fountain cannot give both sweet and bitter water.
(2) A fig tree cannot yield olives, nor a vine figs.
(3) Salt water cannot yield sweet.
How, then, can the tongue yield both blessing and cursing? It will be seen that the thought in (2) is different from that in Mat 7:16, to which it bears a superficial resemblance. There the thought is that a good tree cannot yield bad fruit. Here it is that a tree must yield that which corresponds to its nature; a fig tree must yield figs and not olives, etc. So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. The Received Text, which the A.V. follows, is wrong here. Read, (A, B, C, and , except that it reads ), and translate, neither can salt water yield sweet; Vulgate, sic neque salsa dulcem potest facere aquam; Syriac, “Thus also salt waters cannot be made sweet.” The construction, it will be seen, is suddenly changed in the middle of the verse, and St. James ends as if the previous clause had been , ….
Jas 3:13-18
WARNING AGAINST JEALOUSY AND FACTION. Jas 3:13 contains the positive exhortation to meekness; Jas 3:14 the negative warning against jealousy and party spirit; and then the following verses place side by side the portraits of the earthly and the heavenly wisdom.
Jas 3:13
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? ( ;); better, who is wise and understanding among you? ‘ is found here only in the New Testament. In the LXX. it is joined with (as here) in Deu 1:13; Deu 4:6. “The is one who understands and knows: the is one who carries out his knowledge into his life” (Dr. Farrar, who aptly quotes Tennyson’s line, “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers”). Out of a good conversation ( ); better, as R.V., by his good life. “Conversation” is unfortunate, because of its modern meaning. Meekness (); cf. Jas 1:21.
Jas 3:14
Bitter envying, in itself may be either good or bad, and therefore is added to characterize it. Bishop Lightfoot (on Gal 5:20) points out that “as it is the tendency of Christian teaching to exalt the gentler qualities and to depress their opposites, falls in the scale of Christian ethics (see Clem. Romans, 4-6), while , for instance, rises.” It may, perhaps, be an incidental mark of early date that St. James finds it necessary to characterize as . Where St. Paul joins it with and there is no qualifying adjective (Rom 13:13; 1Co 3:3; 2Co 12:20; Gal 5:20). (On the distinction between and , both of which are used by St. James, see Archbishop Trench on ‘Synonyms,’ 26). Strife (); better, party spirit, or faction (cf. Rom 2:8; 2Co 12:20; Gal 5:20; Php 1:17; Php 2:3). The A.V. “strife” comes from a wrong derivation, as if were connected with , whereas it really comes from , a hired laborer, and so signifies
(1) working for hire;
(2) the canvassing of hired partisans; and
(3) factiousness in general (see Lightfoot on Gal 5:20).
Glory not; i.e. glory not of your wisdom, a boast to which your whole conduct thus gives the lie.
Jas 3:15-18
Contrast between the earthly and the heavenly wisdom:
(1) the earthly (Jas 3:15, Jas 3:16);
(2) the heavenly (Jas 3:17, Jas 3:18).
Jas 3:15
” This wisdom [of which you boast] is not a wisdom which cometh down from above.” Vulgate, non est enim ista sctpientia desursum descendens. But is earthly, sensual, devilish. Dr. Farrar well says that this wisdom is “earthly because it avariciously cares for the goods of earth (Php 3:19); animal, because it is under the sway of animal lusts (1Co 2:14); demon-like, because full of pride, egotism, malignity, and ambition, which are the works of the devil (1Ti 4:1).” Sensual (), Vulgate, animalis; R.V. margin, natural or animal. The position of the word is remarkable, occurring between and . it is never found in the LXX., nor (apparently) in the apostolic Fathers. In the New Testament it occurs six timesthree times of the “natural” body, which is contrasted with the (1Co 15:44 (twice), 46); and three times with a moral emphasis resting upon it, “and in every instance a most depreciatory” (see 1Co 2:14), “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,” and Jud 1Co 1:19, , . The in general in the New Testament is that which is common to man with the brute creation, including the passions, appetites, etc.; and therefore, by the use of this word to describe the wisdom which cometh not from above, but is “earthly, sensual [or, ‘animal’], devilish,” we are reminded of the contrast between the spirit of man which goeth upward and the spirit of a beast which goeth downward (Ecc 3:21). The “animal” man, then, is one who is ruled entirely by the in the lower sense of the word; and by the depreciatory sense given to the adjective we are strongly reminded that “nature” is nothing without the aid of grace. See further Archbishop Trench’s ‘Synonyms of the N. T.,’ 71., and for the later history of the word (it was applied by the Montanists to the orthodox), Suicer’s ‘Thesaurus,’ vol. it. p. 1589.
Jas 3:16
substantiates the assertion just made in Jas 3:15. Render, as in Jas 3:14, jealousy and faction. : confusion, of which God is not the author (1Co 14:33).
Jas 3:17
The wisdom which is from above; , equivalent to an expression not unknown among rabbinical writers. First pure, then peaceable. “The sequence is that of thought, not of time” (Plumptre). Purity must be secured, even at the expense of peace. Gentle, and easy to be entreated ( ). The former of these two terms signifies “forbearing under provocation” (cf. 1Ti 3:3; Tit 3:2; 1Pe 2:18); the latter is found only here. Vulgate, snadibilis; Syriac, “obedient;” R.V. as A.V., “easy to be entreated,” i.e. ready to forgive. Thus the conjunction of the two terms and reminds us of the Jewish saying in ‘Pirqe Aboth,’ 5.17, describing four characters in dispositions, in which the man who is “hard to provoke and easily pacified“ is set down as pious. Without partiality (); here only in the New Testament. The word is used in the LXX. in Pro 25:1; and by Ignatius (Eph 3:1-21; Magn. 15; Trall. 1), but none of these passages throw light on its meaning. It may be either
(1) without variance, or
(2) without doubtfulness, or
(3) without partiality;
probably (1) as R.V. text.
Without hypocrisy; applied to in 1Ti 1:5; 2Ti 1:5; to in Rom 12:9; 2Co 6:6; and to in 1Pe 1:22.
Jas 3:18
The fruit of righteousness; an expression taken from the Old Testament; e.g. Pro 11:30; Amo 6:12; and occurring also in Php 1:1]. Of them that make peace. may be either
(1) “for them,” or
(2) “by them that make peace.
This verse gives us St. James’s version of the beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers ( )” (Mat 5:9).
HOMILETICS
Jas 3:1-12
Speech
I. THE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHERS. This is forcibly shown by St. Paul in 1Co 3:15, etc. Even of those who have built upon the right foundation the work is to be tested by fire, and “if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” What, then, must be the “greater condemnation “in store for others whose very foundation was faulty? In a commentary especially designed for teachers of others, a strong recommendation may be permitted of Bishop Bull’s noble sermon on the text, “Be not many masters:” ‘Concerning the Great Difficulty and Danger of the Priestly Office’ (Bull’s ‘Works,’ vol. 1. sermon 6).
II. IMPORTANCE OF MASTERY OF THE TONGUE. Without a bit in the horse’s mouth it is impossible for the rider to have command over his steed. So, without a bridle on the tongue, no man can govern himself aright. David felt this, and said, “I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me” (Psa 39:1). Even Moses, the meekest of men, was shut out of the land of promise because he “spake unadvisedly with his lips.” And with regard to the one sin, of which we read that it “hath never forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come,” it is clear that it is a sin of the tongue, for it is always spoken of as “blasphemy,” and never in general terms as” sin against the Holy Ghost.” “We rule irrational animals with a bit; how much more ought we to be able to govern ourselves!” (Wordsworth).
III. THE VARIED CHARACTER OF SINS OF SPEECH.
1. Sins directly against God; e.g. blasphemy, the mockery of holy things, swearing.
2. Sins against our neighbor; e.g. evil-speaking, lying, and slandering.
3. Sins against ourselves, infringing sobriety, discretion, or modesty. (See Barrow’s’ Sermons,’ vol. 1. sermon 13)
IV. IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE THINGS. The bridle is a very little thing, but the rider cannot do without it. The rudder is very small, but it enables the steersman to guide a very large vessel. A tiny spark may set on fire a huge forest. So the size of a battle-field is quite disproportionate to the extent of country won and lost upon it. The tongue is a very little member, but a victory over it will save the whole man; on the contrary, a failure to rule the tongue involves far more than the sin of the moment; for, small as it is, the tongue “boasts great things, and defiles the whole body,” and so leads to the ruin of the whole man.
V. THE TONGUE IS A FINE. The apostle is speaking of the tongue as an instrument of ruin, destruction, and devastation. As such it is kindled from beneath”set on fire of hell” (1Co 3:6). But there is another sense in which the tongue is a fire, kindled from above, cheering and warming and gladdening men’s hearts, and if its power for evil is great, so also is its power for good. “The fire of man’s wrath is kindled from beneath, as the fire that cleanses is kindled from above. Bearing in our minds the wonder of the day of Pentecost, it is hardly too bold to say that we have to choose whether our tongue shall be purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit or defiled by that of Gehenna” (Plumptre).
VI. THE GUILT OF SLANDER.
1. The slanderer injures himself. “The tongue… defiles the whole body.”
2. Slander is uncontrollable. “The tongue can no man tame.” It “sets on fire the wheel of birth;” that wheel “which catches fire as it goes, and burns with a fiercer conflagration as its own speed increases … You may tame the wild beast; the conflagration of the American forest will cease when all the timber and the dry under-wood is consumed; but you cannot arrest the progress of that cruel word which you uttered carelessly; that will go on slaying, poisoning, burning, beyond your own control, now and forever.”
3. Slander is unnatural. “These things ought not so to be.” It is a contradiction to nature, as much as for a fig tree to bear olives, or for a fountain to produce both fresh and salt water.
4. Slander is diabolical in character. “The tongue is set on fire of hell.” The very name of Satan is “the slanderer.” (See Robertson’s ‘Sermons,’ vol. 3. sermon 1)
Jas 3:13-18
Wisdom.
I. WISDOM SHOWS BY ITS FRUITS IN HEART AND LIFE. The following are some of the fruits of the heavenly wisdom:
(1) purity;
(2) peacefulness;
(3) forbearance under provocation, i.e. slowness in taking offence;
(4) placability, i.e. readiness to forgive an offence actually committed.
“By their fruits ye shall know them;” and therefore the presence or absence of such qualities as these form tests by which every one may recognize the presence or absence in his own heart of the wisdom which is from above.
II. THE SINFULNESS OF PARTY SPIRIT. A sin which is not always recognized, especially in religious circles, as being a sin. Its true character, however, may be seen by a consideration of
(1) its source, which is not from above, but from beneath (Jas 3:15); and
(2) its results. It leads to “confusion and every evil work” (Jas 3:16).
III. THE CHARACTER OF THE NATURAL MAN. The meaning of “animal” or “natural” () in Scripture requires careful consideration. The fact that wherever a moral emphasis rests upon this word it is always depreciatory, and that here (Jas 3:15) it stands between “earthly” and “devilish,” forms one of the clearest indications of the absolute need of grace. Scripture has nothing but condemnation for the man who is ruled by the . “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.” Mere good nature will never save a man. It is not enough to be “well disposed.“ Esau was all this. He stands out in Holy Scripture as the type of the natural man, ruled only by the good-natured, generous, brave, and kindly, but“ not having the Spirit;” no grace, and therefore, by the verdict of an inspired writer, his character is stamped as that of “a profane person” (Heb 12:16).
HOMILIES BY C. JERDAN
Jas 3:1, Jas 3:2
A dissuasive from ambition to teach.
Throughout this chapter the apostle sounds a loud note of warning against sins of the tongue. The opening exhortation directs our thoughts to the responsibilities and dangers of the religious teacher. No one is under more constant temptation to sin with his lips; for it is the daily work of his life to speak regarding the most solemn themes.
I. THE CAUTION. “Be not many teachers, my brethren” (Jas 3:1). It would appear that the Pharisaic Jews of the time of the apostles vied with one another for distinction as teachers. At Church meetings it often happened that the time for free conference was consumed by those who had least to say which was likely to be profitable. So James counsels the members of the Church to be “swift to hear” and “slow to speak” in the religious assembly. While the office of the spiritual teacher is highly honorable, it is difficult to sustain it with honor. To do so demands superior intellectual power, keen spiritual insight, intimate acquaintance with Scripture, accurate knowledge of human nature, and a variety of other aptitudes which few possess. This dissuasive is needed by the modern Church little less than by the congregations of “the Dispersion.” Our young men who aspire to the pulpit should consider well whether they have received a heavenly call thither. They should ponder the wise advice of an experienced pastor to a young student: “Do not enter the ministry if you can help it;” i.e. unless you have a burning desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as a preacher. This dissuasive reminds us also of Paul’s rule: “Not a novice” (1Ti 3:6). How often is the young convert, especially in times of feverish revivalism, encouraged to narrate his “experience,” and to address large religious meetings, greatly to his own spiritual detriment, and to the damage of the cause of Christ! James’s counsel has a relation also to the pew. In its spirit it enjoins those who “hear the Word” to cultivate a docile and teachable frame of mind. Nothing hinders edification more than habits of pert and paltry criticism of the accidents of preaching.
II. ITS GROUND. (Verses 1, 2) How weighty is the responsibility of the religious teacher! He undertakes to perform the most important of all kinds of work, and by the use of means which involve the most difficult of all attainments, even to a godly man. The minister of the gospel is especially tried as regards the government of the tongue; and, alas! the most experienced pastors, even James and his fellow-apostles,often “stumble in word.” Teachers who are habitually unfaithful are guilty of peculiarly heinous sin; they shall be indicted at the bar of God for blood-guiltiness. Since the pastor is like a city set on a hill, his errors work more mischief in society than those of an ordinary member of the Church. The lowest deep of perdition shall be occupied by unconverted preachers of the gospel.
LESSONS.
1. To Christian teachers. Let us labor and pray, with heart and mind, and with books and pen, so that our pulpit utterances shall not be hasty or unguarded, and that we may be “pure from the blood of all men.”
2. To the members of the Church. Give your minister your loving sympathy, and do not continually advertise and bewail his infirmities. Seeing that his work is so arduous, maintain the habit of constantly “helping“ him with your prayers.C.J.
Jas 3:2-6
The Tower of the tongue.
Passing from the peculiar responsibility which attaches to teachers of religion, James proceeds to speak generally of the enormous influence of the faculty of speech, especially upon the speaker himself, and of the abuse to which it is liable.
I. A DIRECT STATEMENT OF THIS POWER. “If any stumbleth not in word, the same,” etc. (verse 2). In most cases, the capacity to control one’s utterances indicates the measure of one’s attainment as regards the keeping of his heart. Sins of the tongue form so large a portion of our multitudinous “stumblings”they so frequently help to seduce us into other sinsand they afford such a searching test of character, that any one who has learned to avoid riffling into them may without exaggeration be described as “a perfect man.” Of course, no person lives in this world of whom it can be affirmed that he never errs in word. James has just remarked that “in many things we all stumble.” But he is now suggesting an ideal casethat of a man who is perfectly free from lip-sins; and he asserts that such a person would be found to be both blameless and morally strong over the whole area of his character. The power which can bridle the tongue can control the entire nature. So great is the influence of human speech!
II. SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS POWER. (Verses 3-6) The apostle here compares the tongue first to two familiar mechanical appliances, and then to one of the mighty forces of nature. In all the three selected cases very insignificant-looking means suffice to accomplish great results. The illustrations are extremely graphic; each is more telling than the preceding. They together show that James, the apostle of practical Christianity, possessed the perceptions and the instincts of a poet.
1. The horse-bridle. (Verse 3) The first illustration only emphasizes the thought which underlies the word “bridle” in verse 2, and in Jas 1:26. The wild horses that roam at will over the American prairies seem quite unsubduable. Yet how complete is the control which man acquires over the tame horse! By means of the bitthe part of the bridle, which the animal biteshe is kept completely under command. The horse is controlled literally by the tongue. Now, in like manner, a man may “turn about his whole body” by subjecting his speech to firm self-government. The spirited steed of this verse may be regarded as a symbol of the flesh, with its lusts and passions. But the man who uses his tongue aright will find its influence very powerful in helping him to subdue his depraved carnal nature.
2. The shifts rudder. (Jas 1:4) Both romance and poetry gather round the idea of a ship. Even the old “galley with oars” was a “gallant” spectacle; and in our time there is no sight more picturesque than that of a sailing-vessel.
“Behold! upon the murmuring waves
A glorious shape appearing!
A broad-winged vessel, through the shower
Of glimmering luster steering!
“She seems to hold her home in view,
And sails as if the path she knew;
So calm and stately in her motion
Across the unfathomed, trackless ocean.”
(John Wilson)
The merchantmen of the ancients were of considerable size (Act 27:1-44., 28); but in our day naval architecture works on a colossal scale of which the ancients never dreamed. And what is it that directs the largest vessel so steadily on its course, and enables it to persevere even in spite of furious storms? It is simply that little tongue, or rudder, at the stern. The steering apparatus is “very small” in proportion to the bulk of the ship; but how wonderfully great its influence! It not only “turns about” the body of the vessel itself; its action is also powerful enough to counteract the driving force of “rough winds.” Now, the faculty of speech is the rudder of human nature. The tongue “boasteth great things;” and well it may, for “death and life are in its power” (Pro 18:21). If the spirited horse is a symbol of the flesh, the “rough winds” which beat upon the ship are suggestive of the world. The rudder of speech, rightly directed, will help us to continue straight on our heavenward course, despite the fierce gusts and gales of external temptation.
3. The little fire. (Jas 1:5, Jas 1:6) What a terrific power there is in fire! One tiny neglected spark may kindle a conflagration that will consume a city. The great fire of 1666 in London, which began in a little wooden shop near London Bridge, burned down every building between the Tower and the Temple. And how terrible are the seas of fire, kindled often by some casual spark, which roll along the prairies of North America! The power of a little tongue of flame is simply stupendous; and thus it is a most apposite illustration of the destructive energy of human speech. For “the tongue is a fire.” Sometimes this tremendous power is exerted for good; indeed, the “tongue of fire” is the appropriate emblem of Christianity as the dispensation of the Holy Spirit (Act 2:3). More usually, however, fire is contemplated as an instrument of evil. So “the tongue is a fire” as regards its intense energy. Unsanctified speech scorches and consumes. The liar scatters firebrands; the slanderer kindles lambent flames; the profane swearer spits the fire of hell into the face of God. “The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue;” i.e. a whole microcosm of evil resides within the sphere of its operation. It “defileth the whole body;” just as fire soils with its smoke, the tongue stirs up the heart’s corruption, and uses it to stain one’s own life and character. It “setteth on fire the wheel of nature;”for the whole circle of an unsanctified life, from birth onwards, is kept burning by the evil tongue. And it “is set on fire by hell;” for the ultimate inspiration of this destructive agency is of internal origin. This fire is devil-lighted, hell-kindled. Satan loaded the human tongue at the Fall with dynamite; and every day he ignites the treacherous magazine from the unquenchable fire. Thus, as the spirited horse represents the flesh, and the fierce winds the world, the raging fire leads us to think of the devilthe power of “the evil one.”
CONCLUSION. Let us earnestly seek the grace of God, to deliver our tongue from the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Let us guard the portals of our lips, so that no uncharitable or slanderous words may issue from them. Let us welcome the Pentecostal “tongue of fire,” that it may purify us from the evil tongue which is “set on fire by hell.”C.J.
Jas 3:7-12
The tongue ungovernable and inconsistent.
At first the apostle had reminded his readers that speech may be made a great power for good (Jas 3:2-4). Then he went on to say that in actual fact it is employed by most men as an engine of evil (Jas 3:5, Jas 3:6). He proceeds now to justify his strong language on this point.
I. THE UNTAMABLENESS OF THE TONGUE. (Jas 3:7, Jas 3:8) We have here a fourfold classification of the inferior creatures. God gave man dominion over them at the creation, and intimated his supremacy anew after the Flood. There is no variety of brute nature that has not yielded in the past, and that does not continue to yield, to the lordship of human nature. The horse, the dog, the elephant, the lion, the leopard, the tiger, the hyena; the partridge, the falcon, the eagle; the asp, the cobra; the crocodile;these names suggest ample evidence of man’s power to tame the most diverse species of wild animals. But, says James, there is one little creature which human nature, in its own strength, finds it impossible to domesticate. The tongue of man is fiercer than the most ferocious beast, The rebellion of our race against good is far more inveterate than any insubordination of the brutes. Indeed, the revolt of the lower creatures against the authority of man is only the shadow and symbol of man’s revolt against the authority of God. Year by year man is subduing the earth and extending his dominion over it; but his natural power to govern the tongue remains as feeble as it was in the days of Cain. This “little member” reveals the appalling depths of human corruption. “It is a restless evil;” unstable, fickle, versatile; ever stirring about from one form of unrighteousness to another; assuming Protean shapes and chameleon hues; its words sometimes filthy, sometimes slanderous, sometimes profane, sometimes angry, sometimes idle. And the untamed tongue “is full of deadly poison.” It is a worse poison-bag than that of the most hurtful serpent. The words of a false tongue are fangs of moral venom, for which no human skill can supply an antidote. Is not calumny just a foul virus injected into the social body, which kills character, happiness, and sometimes even life? Its venom spreads far and wide, and man is powerless to destroy it.
II. THE INCONSISTENCY OF THE TONGUE. (Verses 9-12) The same person may just now put the faculty of speech to its highest use; and, almost immediately afterwards, wickedly abuse it. The tongue has been given us that therewith we may “bless the Lord and Father;” and to utter the Divine praise is the most ennobling exercise of human speech. The Christian calls him “Lord,” and adores him for his eternal Godhead; he also calls him “Father,” and blesses him for his adopting grace. Then, with melancholy inconsistency, the same mouth which has been praising God may be heard invoking evil upon men. How often do those who profess godliness speak passionate and spiteful words! Do not Christians who belong to the same congregation sometimes backbite one another? Do not believers of different communions often, out of mere sectarian rivalry, denounce one another’s Churches? Even godly men sometimes cherish the spirit which would “forbid” others to work the work of the Lord, simply because these are not of their company. Now, such inconsistency is seen in all its aggravation when we consider the fact that truly to bless God forbids the cursing of any man. “The Lord” is the “Father” of all men, for men “are made after the likeness of God.” In his princely intellect, and his hungering heart, and even in his uneasy conscience, man reflects the image of his Maker. God and he are so close of kin to each otherby nature, and through Christ’s incarnationthat real reverence for God requires that we “honor all men.” How inconsistent, then, for the same mouth to bless the Father and to curse the children! The inconsistency appears on the very face of the English word “curse.” To curse means primarily “to invoke evil upon one, by the sign of the cross.“ The cross is the symbol of the highest blessing to the world; and yet those who enjoy the blessedness which it brings have used it as an instrument of cursing. We bless God for the cross; and then we curse men in the name of the cross. Such inconsistency, the apostle adds, is flagrantly unnatural (verses 11, 12). None such is to be met with in the physical world. A spring of water cannot transgress the law of its nature. A fruit tree can only bear fruit according to its kind. How unnatural, then, that in the moral world the same fountain of speech should emit just now a rill of clear sweet praise, and soon afterwards a torrent of bitter slander, or a stream of brackish minced oaths! Where a true believer falls into this sinful inconsistency, it is because the fountain of the old nature within his heart has not yet been closed up. He needs to have the accursed tree on which Jesus died cast into the bitter stream within him, to sweeten it, and to make it a river of living water. In the case of a soul that has experienced the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, this unnatural inconsistency of speech not only “ought not so to be,” but does not need to be.C.J.
Jas 3:13-16
False wisdom.
The apostle suggests here that those who aspired too hastily to become Christian teachers (Jas 3:1) showed themselves to be sadly deficient in wisdom. They were unwise at once in their estimate of their own powers, and in their judgment as to the kind of public discussions, which would be profitable for the Church. The cause of gospel truth could never be advanced by dogmatic disputations or bitter personal wrangling. Attend, therefore, says James in verse 13, to a description first of false wisdom, and then of true (verses 17, 18). Many members of the Churches of “the Dispersion” desired to appear “wise” (verse 13), but only some were really so. Many might even be “knowing,” or “endued with knowledge,” who were not wise.
“Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one,
Have ofttimes no connection.”
(Cowper)
Knowledge is only a hewer of wood, while wisdom is the architect and builder. A man may possess a large library, or even amass vast stores of knowledge, and yet be “a motley fool.” Indeed, no fool is so great as a knowing fool. The wise man is he who can use his knowledge for the largest moral and spiritual good. And the true wisdom is bound up with the life of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Job 28:28; 2Ti 3:15). It makes the will of God its rule, and his glory its end. So the man who lives without God should be thought of as the impersonation of stupidity, and Satan as the supreme fool of the universe. But, if a man be “wise unto salvation,” how will his wisdom appear?
1. By “his good life.“ (Verse 13) The quiet even flow of one’s daily occupation will furnish an ample sphere for it. Even the heathen philosopher, Seneca, has said, “Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in lifein a firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do, as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color.” The weighty ‘Essays’ of Lord Bacon “come home to men’s business and bosoms;” yet their author cannot justly be called “the wisest,” if he was in his own life “the meanest of mankind.”
2. By “his works in meekness of wisdom.“ Character is perceived not only by its subtle aroma, but in connection with individual actions. Wisdom shows itself in acts of holiness. And these acts are done “in meekness,” which is one of wisdom’s inseparable attributes. True wisdom is mild and calm, patient and self-restraining. And yet a meek spirit is not a mean spirit. The “poor in spirit” are not the poor-spirited. The “meekness of wisdom” consists with the greatest courage and the most ardent zeal. An old commentator says, “Moses was very meek in his own cause, but as hot as fire in the cause of God.” And the Man Christ Jesus was mild, just because he was strong and brave. There was no fierceness, no fanaticism, no sourness, about him. He is our perfect Pattern of the “meekness of wisdom” (1Pe 2:22, 1Pe 2:23; Mat 27:12-14). The spirit of strife and wrangling is not the spirit of Christ. James now proceeds to a statement of principles regarding false or earthly wisdom.
I. ITS NATURE. (Verse 14) The spurious wisdom of the “many teachers’ carried in it not so much burning zeal as “bitter zeal.” Its spirit was factious, arrogant, bigoted, Its roots lay in the angry passions of the heart. Its aim was personal victory rather than the triumph of the truth. While it may be sometimes dutiful to contend earnestly in defense of the gospel, the love of controversy for its own sake, and the cherishing of a contentious spirit towards brethren, is always sinful, much less a ground for “glorying.” A professing Christian who lives to foster either doctrinal wranglings or social quarrels presents to the world a caricature of Christianity, and is himself a living lie “against the truth.”
II. ITS ORIGIN. (Verse 15)
1. “Earthly.“ Every good gift is from above; but this so-called wisdom is of earthly origin, and busies itself about earthly things. Those cultivate it whose souls are wholly immersed in worldly pursuits.
2. “Sensual;” i.e. psychical or natural, as opposed to spiritual. It originates in the lower sphere of man’s intellectual nature; it is the wisdom of his unspiritual mind and his unsanctified heart. Until the human spirit becomes possessed by the Spirit of God, its works will be “the works of the flesh.”
3. “Devilish.” The false wisdom is demoniacal in source, as it is in character. The envious heart, like the evil tongue, “is set on fire by hell” (verse 6). Implicitly followed, this wisdom will tend to make a man “half-beast, half-devil.” These three adjectives correspond to our three great spiritual enemies. Earthly wisdom has its origin in the world; natural wisdom, in the flesh; demoniacal wisdom, in the devil. And, recognizing this, our prayer should be, “From all such deceits, good Lord, deliver us.”
III. ITS RESULTS. (Verse 16) Where there are “bitter zeal and faction” in the heart, these may be expected to produce commotion and wretchedness in society. What misery has not the spirit of strife and self-seeking wrought in the midst of families, and in the bosom of Churches! It is a fruitful source of heart-burnings and of lifelong alienations. It sows tares among the wheat. And the harvest of “this wisdom” shall be “a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.”
LESSONS.
1. Loathe the vile spirit of strife.
2. Covet earnestly the gift of holy wisdom.
3. Remember that the climax of the true wisdom consists in meekness.C.J.
Jas 3:17, Jas 3:18
True wisdom.
These two verses exhibit, with much terseness and beauty, the features of the true or heavenly wisdom, i.e. the characteristic qualities of the state of mind, which is produced by a sincere reception of saving truth. The picture here presented forms a direct contrast to the description of false or earthly wisdom given in Jas 3:14-16.
I. THE NATURE OF TRUE WISDOM. (Jas 3:17) In origin it is “from above.” It is not the product of self-culture, but altogether supernatural and gracious. And, being a gift of God, it is “good” and “perfect” in all its characteristics (Jas 1:5, Jas 1:17). James here represents the heavenly wisdom as possessed of seven great excellences. Seven was the perfect number among the Jews; and there are, so to speak, seven notes in the harmony of Christian character; or seven colors in the rainbow of the Christian life, which, when blended, form its pure white sunlight. Of these seven, the first is marked off from the others, because it refers to what a man is within his own heart; while the other six deal with the qualities shown by true wisdom in connection with one’s deportment towards his fellow-men.
1. In respect of a man himself. Here true wisdom is “pure.“ This word means chaste, unsullied, holy. Purity is the fundamental characteristic of everything that is “from above.” Righteousness lies at the foundation of all that is beautiful in character. Christian wisdom leads a man “to keep himself unspotted from the world,” and to “cleanse himself from all defilement of flesh and spirit.” Every person, therefore, who lives a sensual, selfish, or openly sinful life, shows himself to be destitute of the heavenly wisdom. For its chief element is holinessthat purity which is obtained through the blood of Christ and by the indwelling of his Spirit.
2. In respect of his demeanor towards his fellow-men. The expressions, “first,” and “then,” do not imply that the wise man must be perfectly “pure” before he begins to be “peaceable.” They indicate the logical order, and not merely the order of time. The phrase, “first pure, then peaceable,” has often been sadly abused in the interests of the “bitter jealousy and faction” which belong to false wisdom. But surely, even in doctrinal matters, we are to be peaceable with a view to purity, as well as pure for the sake of peace. “Peaceable;” indisposed to conflict or dissension. “Jealousy and faction” are characteristics of earthly wisdom. The heavenly wisdom deprecates disputatious debate, and labors to quench animosities. “Gentle;” forbearing, courteous, considerate. Gentleness is just the outward aspect of the grace of peaceableness, the vesture in which the peaceable spirit should be clothed. “Easy to be entreated;” accessible, compliant, open to conviction, and willing to listen to remonstrance. The wise man thinks more about his duties than his rights. “Full of mercy and good fruits;” overflowing with feelings of kindness and compassion, and finding a healthy outlet for these in acts of practical beneficence. “Without variance;” steady, persistent, unmistakable, never “divided in its own mind” (Jas 2:4; Jas 1:6), and therefore never halting in the fulfillment of its mission. “Without hypocrisy;” perfectly sincere always really being what it seems and professes. Wisdom’s ways are not tortuous. It knows that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points.
II. THE RESULTS OF TRUE WISDOM. (Verse 18) The fruit of the earthly wisdom is “confusion and every vile deed” (verse 16), but the fruit of the heavenly wisdom consists in “righteousness.” “Peace” is the congenial soil in which this wisdom takes root and grows; the seed “sown” is the precious Word of God; they “that make peace” are the spiritual farmers who scatter it in hope; and “righteousness” is the blessed harvest which shall reward their toil. The eternal recompense of the righteous shall be their righteousness itself. The heavenly wisdom shall be its own reward in heaven.
LESSONS.
1. The harmony between this doctrine and the teaching of our Lord in the Beatitudes (Mat 5:3-12), as well as that of Paul in his portraiture of love (1Co 13:1-13).
2. The excellency and attractiveness of the true wisdom.
3. The rarity of its acquisition, especially as regards its choicest features, even on the part of professing Christians.
4. The necessity of asking this wisdom from God himself.
5. The character of Jesus Christ our Model in our endeavors after it.C.J.
HOMILIES BY T.F. LOCKYER
Jas 3:1-12
The ethics of speech.
In these verses is dealt a rebuke against the craving for authority, which, as he reminds them, involves “heavier judgment.” How? Partly as coming under judgment itself (see Mat 23:8-10); partly as involving increased responsibility. And responsibility and judgment are very near akin. More especially, in these words of warning, he has in view that confused assembly of theirs, in which all vied together in attempts to speak. How great the danger of “stumbling” in such speech! A stirring up of impatience, rancor, strife. This leads to thoughts on the power of the tongue, for good and for harm; with practical conclusions as to the inconsistency of unbridled speech.
I. THE POWER OF THE TONGUE.
1. For good. (Jas 3:2-5) Speech? It is the quick, instinctive, volatile expression of the man. A subtle effluence, showing the inner life. And as the inner life is agitated and stirred, tossing first this way, then that, how readily may the words also be committed to the impulses of the heart! And as those impulses may so easily be, for the moment, wrong impulses, how easily may wrong words be spoken! And so the transient feeling has fixed itself in a word that bites, and is not forgotten. And the feeling itself is fixed by the word that has uttered it; the man is committed to what otherwise he might have been glad to forget. James’s first meaning, then, in the statement that the man who stumbles not in words is “a perfect man,” is perhaps this: that one who has attained to mastery over so subtle and delicate an activity of the nature as speech, is perforce a man who has mastered all the more tangible and more controllable activities. The “whole body,” all conduct, is brought into subjection, if this element of life is rightly swayed. Is it not so? Your experience will tell you that this is the last, the most intractable of the activities which you are called on to subdue. But there is another meaning in the words than this. The man who schools himself to such restraint as absolute mastery over speech implies, has not merely learned perfection of self-control in the matter of other and more tangible activities, but is learning a better perfection than thateven the self-restraint of his whole interior nature. To restrain conduct is much; but to restrain thought, purpose, passion! to lay a firm, a mastering control on all the complex desires and impulses of our nature! Oh, surely that is a perfection of self-restraint indeed! And the bridling of the tongue means thus the bridling of the unruly passions of the heart. The restraint of expression is the restraint of the impulse that seeks to express itself (see for converse of this law the former exposition, where we have noticed how the exercise of a faculty perfects the faculty that is exercised: Jas 2:22). Do you not know this also from your experience? Let loose the word, and you have let loose the feeling; conquer the word, and you have conquered the feeling. So, then, the illustrations: the bridle, the helm. And the tongue, a little member, boasteth great things.
2. For harm. (Verses 5-8) The remarks under this head have been partly anticipated above. Let loose the word, and you have let loose the passions. An unbridled tongue is an unbridled nature. Unchecked speech is unchecked wickedness. Yes; the activities of the man and the interior impulses are alike let loose for harm if the tongue be uncontrolled. Illustrations: fire among wood. So the “world of iniquity,” defiling the body, setting on fire the wheel of nature, and itself set on fire of hell! And then? Tame the tongue, and tame the nature, who may! Even ravenous and noxious creatures are not untamable as that is; a restless evil; full of deadly poison. So the psalmist (140:3). And your experience? A subtle, insinuating poison, which works its way into your whole nature, and infects all social joy.
II. THE INCONSISTENCY OF UNBRIDLED SPEECH. Picture their quarrelsome assemblies again: their invectives against one another, their common virulence towards the Gentile Christian Churches. And withal hymns to God! That is, hate and love in the same heart together, and all essentially towards God himself (verse 9)! The inconsistency (verse 10). So illustrations: fountain, tree (verses 11, 12). These contrarieties, impossible in nature, can exist in us! And yet in truth they cannot. For ours is one nature. Can salt water yield fresh (verse 12)? Neither can a cursing nature bless, or a hating nature love. And so our very praise is vitiated, and our worship becomes blasphemy. Oh, what are our dangers daily in this matter of speech! And perhaps, to shun them, we say we will hold our peace, even from good (Psa 39:1-13). Nay, but we must rather learn of him who was meek and lowly in heart. And so our speech shall be pure as his was, and our turbulent nature shall find rest.T.F.L.
Jas 3:13-18
Wisdom, true and false.
The temptation to be “teachers” (Jas 3:1) arose from the notion that they possessed wisdom. How shall they show this wisdom, how shall they even use it, if they may not teach? The life is to be at once the practice and the manifestation of a wisdom that is true (Jas 3:13). James here reverts to his earlier theme (Jas 1:5); and we have for our considerationThe false wisdom and the true, in their origin, nature, and fruits.
I. THE FALSE WISDOM.
1. What was the nature of the false wisdom which prompted them to much speaking? It was nothing other than the spirit of faction and jealousycompeting with one another for precedence; envying one another. And this was a lying against the truth! What truth? Their brotherhood in Christ, and the love which such brotherhood required. Such false wisdom was:
(1) Earthly: it pertained altogether to the corrupt ways of this world.
(2) Sensual: it was prompted, not by the spirit which God had made his home, but by the passions (see critical notes).
(3) Devilish: they were as demoniacs, in their ungoverned rage and wild clamorings.
2. What were the fruits of such wisdom as this? “Confusion.” Think of their assemblies, with the wrangling, cursing, and swearing! so also confusion in all the relations of social life. “And every vile deed;” for what would not men descend to, to further their base, party aims?
3. What was the origin of such wisdom? “Not from above:” no, indeed, but rather “set on fire of hell”!
II. THE TRUE WISDOM.
1. Its nature. “First pure:” for at any cost, even at the cost of peaceableness, a Christian must be true. So Christ, even though it involved the “woes” of Mat 23:1-39.; even though it involved the cross! And his followers likewise (Mat 10:34). “Then peaceable,” as against the jarrings and discords of the false wisdom; “gentle,” as against faction and jealousy; “easy to be entreated,” as against the sullen resentments shown by those who imagine themselves to be offended; “without variance,” i.e. fickleness of purpose; and “without hypocrisy,” to which double-mindedness so easily leads.
2. Its fruits. Peace, as opposed to confusion; and the good fruits of mercy, as opposed to vile deeds.
3. Its origin. “From above:” yes, from the Father of lights (Jas 1:17). So the tongues of fire (Act 2:3).
Who is a wise man? Alas, who! But let us ask of God, who giveth liberally; remembering that “he that winneth souls is wise,” and that “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever” (Pro 11:30; Dan 12:3).T.F.L.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jam 3:1. Be not many masters Many teachers. The word among the Jews, commonly signified the same with Rabbi, a title of which the Scribes and Pharisees were exceedingly fond, as it signifies frequently the head of a sect, or author of a doctrine, Mat 23:7. But in that sense no Christians are to desire the title, much less to assume the thing thereby intended; for Christ alone is our Master, or the author of the doctrines which we are to embrace. But the word is here used in a more general sense, and the verse may be thus paraphrased: “Give me leave, my brethren, to caution you against another evil, which I have seen some reason to apprehend; and to press you, that you be not many teachers; that none of you rashly undertake the office of teachers, into which many are ready to intrude themselves, without due qualifications, or a real divine call: but I would urge you to be cautious against such an assuming disposition, as knowing that we who bear that office, must expect that we shall undergo greater and stricter judgment than others in a more private station of life.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
VI. FOURTH ADMONITION WITH REFERENCE TO THE FOURTH FORM OF TEMPTATIONPROPAGADISM
CAUTION AGAINST THE JUDAISTIC BIAS TO FANATICAL ACTIVITY OF TEACHING. REFERENCE TO THE POWER OF THE TONGUE AND TO THE DEPRAVITY, LICENCE AND DUPLICITY OF THE FANATICALLY EXCITED TONGUE. THE CONTRAST OF FALSE AND TRUE WISDOM IN SPEECH ACCORDING TO THEIR OPPOSITE OPERATIONS
James 3
1My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the 3same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole1 body. Behold2, we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us; and3 we turn about their whole body. 4Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds4, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever5 the governor listeth.6 5Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.7 Behold, how great a matter a little8 fire kindleth! 6And the tongue9 is a fire, a world of iniquity: so10 is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and11 setteth on fire the course of nature12; and it is set on fire of hell. 7For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8But the tongue can no man tame;13 it is an unruly14 evil, full of deadly poison. 9Therewith bless we God15, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries16? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh17. 13Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of Wisdom 14 But if ye have bitter envying 15and strife in your hearts18, glory not, and lie not against the truth19. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16For where envying and strife is, there20 is confusion and every evil work. 17But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and21 without hypocrisy. 18And the fruit of22 righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Analysis: Caution against the Judaistic bias to fanatical activity of teaching, Jam 3:1. 2.The power of the tongue Jam 3:3-4 (first half). The depravity of the tongue Jam 3:5-6.The untamableness of the tongue, Jam 3:7-8.The duplicity (German doubletonguedness, Doppelzngigkeit) of the [fanatically excited] tongue, Jam 3:9-12.The contrast of false and true wisdom in speech according to their opposite operations, Jam 3:13-18.
Caution against the Judaistic bias to fanatical activity of teaching.
Jam 3:1-2. The exhortation progresses from Judaistic visionariness (James 1) and from Judaistic particularism and exclusiveness (James 2) to Judaistic, fanatical activity of teaching, to the evil, exciting and pernicious tongue-sins of bitter emulation, cursing, envying and party-strife exhibited in a false, devilish wisdom in contrast with true and heavenly wisdom. That this section is an essential point peculiar to the entire Epistle, is evident from the fact that it has been announced already in Jam 1:17; Jam 1:26. The fanatical, proselyting and polemical mania for teaching, which is here described by James, had previously been delineated by the Lord Himself, Matthew 23., and by Paul the Apostle in Rom 2:17; it is here and there illuminated in Acts (James 15) and in the Pauline Epistles (2Co 11:13; Php 3:2; Galatians 2.), and it is finally condemned in Rev 2:9. Wiesinger heads this chapter against the itch of teaching and adds the observationthat the author passes on to the ready-tongued teaching and finding fault with others, because this is the false actualization of the of his readers, whereby they think themselves warranted to dispense with genuine actualization [i. e. the practical exhibition of living faith by good works.M.]. Nothing is nearer to a faith which consists in knowledge only than conceit of teaching and dogmatical-ness (cf. Rom 2:17 etc.). Thus James 3. is the carrying out of the censure James had already passed on his readers in Jam 1:19-20 and similarly as in Jam 1:26-27, where the author had indicated inability to bridle the tongue as the characteristic of a purely imaginary religion and the exhibition of compassionating love as the characteristic of true religion, he now returns to [we ought to say: he now takes up in earnest] this subject, and represents to his readers that the human inability, so strongly developed in them, of taming the tongue, ought to cure them effectually of the desire to teach others. Huther: Words had taken the place of works.
Jam 3:1. Do not become many teachers.The exposition of Huther (and of de Wette, Wiesinger) be not teachers in great numbers, gives hardly a satisfactory sense. For if reference were made to ecclesiastically ordained offices of teaching (as Wiesinger maintains with reference to 2Ti 4:5), the language of the Apostle would hardly convey the rebuke he intends to administer. It is evidently his purpose to censure the false mania for teaching, the dogmatizing contentiousness, which is thoroughly characteristic of the Judaizing Christian. We therefore connect (with Gebser and Schneckenburger) with and so that and form one idea. Do not end with being a great host of teachers. Luther: Let not every one dare to be a teacher. The expression has consequently an ironical colouring and even stronger than the of Grotius.
Knowing that we.They know it and they ought to be conscious of it. [Huther remarks that , being closely joined in the Imperative, is itself hortatory: knowing, that ye might know. James says here we shall receive and in Jam 3:2 we all offend and thus forcibly practises his precepts Jam 3:2; Jam 3:17-18. Cf. 1Co 6:12.M.].
A greater condemnation.Although cannot signify responsibility only (so Hottinger and Augusti) the ordinary N. T. usage does not necessitate us to insist with Wiesinger (who remarks however that a sententia damnatoria is out of the question) and Huther on the meaning punitory sentence. The fact that James includes himself is certainly against the latter construction. The humility of love (Wiesinger) surely could not cause him to assert something, which was inapplicable to Himself, and Huthers observation that the punitory sentence might be postponed, does not by any means settle the difficulty. denotes primarily judgment, then more definitely a Judicial sentence and it generally becomes a punitory sentence by the connection, just as the connection here does not make it so. Moreover, how were the readers of the Epistle to know that all teachers as such have to expect heavy punishment (German, punitory sentences). The increased measure of the sentence may be gathered from various sayings of our Lord (Mat 23:13 and elsewhere). The increased measure, to be sure, indicates that the severer sentence agreeably to nature may easily turn into a punitive sentence.
Jam 3:2. For manifoldly we offend all ().This assertion is absolutely valid. The Apostle includes himself without any qualification, just as Peter (Act 15:11), Paul (Php 3:12) and John (1Jn 1:8) include themselves in similar assertions. Although does not bear directly on the errores, qui docentibus obvenire possint (Grotius), but comprehends moral offences in the widest sense (Huther), the word is so chosen as forthwith to point to moral errors and offences and these occur for the most part in the sphere of teaching (Lehrrede=didactic utterance).
If a man offendeth not in word.The asyndeton indicates that James progresses in the same sphere of thought and hence aims not at an antithesis, as Wiesinger rightly observes. Although the may not have to be limited to (cf. Jam 1:19), as Pott maintains, the context requires us to think of didactic offences which were the soul of Judaizing proceedings.
He is a perfect man.Supply . Every word is here significant; denotes the rarity of such a man, indicates that the Apostle refers in particular to a sphere of males and their doings, describes once more the N. T. maturity of faith, principial completion. The proposition may easily be generalized and made to denote the ideal of the Christian life which none can attain here on earth (see de Wette); but James manifestly refers to something attainable, which is evident from what follows.
Able even to bridle the whole body.This inference is founded on the thought that the tongue is that member of the body over which man finds it most difficult to establish the mastery and that he who does not offend in word, shows that he has established that mastery. Consequently: he who offendeth in no word and thereby shows himself to be the master of his tongue, has obtained the mastery over his whole body. But just as the inference is here not to the physical tongue as such but only as the organ and symbol of readiness of speech, so James does not set the body as such in opposition to man as a relative independent power which offers moral resistance to the will of the Ego (Wiesinger, Huther), but the body denotes here the organ and symbol of all human action with the exception of speech. The sense in brief is therefore as follows: he who truly masters his words, will also master his works. Life under the law of liberty is most difficult to be evidenced in the mastery of ones speech. Huther also afterwards acknowledges the figurative in the language of James: The indeed is the fountain of evil deeds (Mat 15:19), but the lust which is rooted therein, has so thoroughly appropriated the members of man and as it were fixed its dwelling in them, that they appear as lusting subjects and may be represented as such in living-concrete language. But the figures of the horse and the ship, which follow, prove that the reference is not only to opposing sinfulness (the seeming law in the members Rom 7:23), but also to the naturalness itself which is subordinated to the spirit and needs guiding; for the horse does not resist its rider, and the ship its helmsman, as the old man resists the new. Huther moreover sets here aside several explanations (the whole connection of the acts and changes of man Baumgarten, etc.), which are more or less well suited to define the idea on which the as it were, in connection with the body needing to be guided, is based. But the organic concretion and membering (Gliederung=articulating) of the lusts of
the heart in the sinfully untuned corporealness must be held fast.
The power of the tongue, Jam 3:3-4.
James illustrates the power and import, of the tongue by two comparisons. In Jam 3:2 he had set it forth as being relatively the most mighty member among the members of the body, he now develops the thought that it is the ruling member, the control of which involves the control of the whole body. He takes for granted that it is only the spirit which can control the body; but the organ of its rule, the instrument to be controlled for the control of the body, is just the tongue. The word is the disposer of acts. This whole discussion of the wild power of the tongue is not bombast (Schleiermacher), but designed to make clear to his readers their perverseness. Wiesinger. Right, but James knows also a power of the tongue in a good sense.
First figure. Jam 3:3. But if we put the bit into the mouths of horses.The Apostle introduces first the figure of horses, because he had already before borrowed therefrom the figurative expression (Jam 3:2; Jam 1:25). Hence the Genitive should probably be joined with (Theile), and not with (Oecumenius and al. Huther). [ appears to stand first for the sake of emphasis. Translating literally But if of horses we put the bits into the mouth is not English. (Alford). We have therefore expressed the idea in idiomatic English; the distinction of Lange to connect with instead of joining it with is really a distinction without a difference. We put bits into the mouths of horses, that is real, material bits; of course, such bits we do not put into the mouths of men. The sense is really the same on either construction. The similitude contains the application.M.]. The bits [Lange throughout uses the word Zaum=bridle, but is not the bridle, but its metal mouthpiece. I have therefore uniformly rendered Zaum=bit.M.] of horses as literal bits are contrasted with the figurative. But both kinds belong to the respective mouths: the horse-bit belongs to a horses mouth, the man-bit to a mans mouth. Thus the principal accent lies certainly on . These constitute the tertium comparationis, not the smallness of the , as the majority of commentators suppose Huther. The apodosis begins with (Wiesinger, Huther); it is not contained in Jam 3:5 (Theile); nor does it require us to supply something in thought (de Wette). occurs in the N. T. only here and Jam 3:4
Second figure.
Jam 3:4. Behold even the ships.The organ of guiding, probably connected with the natural unruliness of the horse to be guided, was the principal idea of the first figure: the mouth, the tongue; in the second figure it is the contrast between the smallness of the organ, the fine touch required to influence it and the greatness as well as the storm-tossed condition of the ship to be turned. The small ruder on which the will of man with almost the stillness of spirits, exerts its impulse, governs the whole great ship with all the fearful reaction of the wind and the waves, which like infuriated elementary spirits oppose the firm spirit of the steersman. Hence the first , as well as , denotes intensification. The participial sentence brings out the immense weight which the rudder has to overcome; which are so great, or though so great. to drive on, set in motion, is used elsewhere in the N. T. of navigating proper [cf. Mar 6:48; Joh 6:19, LXX., for Isa 33:21.M.], but then also of restless agitation 2Pe 2:17. Fierce winds are the wild navigators of the ship whom the human navigator opposes with his rudder. They have doubtless a symbolical import, as Bede did think, not however as the appetitus mentium originating within, but as the great temptations () of the world, coming from without, the place of whose nativity, to be sure, is within (see Jam 1:6). The little rudder is here obviously the antitype of the little tongue. [Bedes exposition may be found useful in point of application, although it is hardly sound in point of exegesis. Naves magn in mari, mentes sunt hominum in hac vita, sive bonorum sive malorum. Venti validi, a quibus minantur, ipsi appetitus sunt mentium, quibus naturaliter coguntur aliquid agere etc.M.].
Whithersoever the direction.Although hardly denotes the impulsus externus, the steermans pressure on the rudder (Erasmus and many others), the translation eager will, desire of something (Bede, Calvin, Huther etc.) is hardly sufficient; always indicates active will developed into an effort or onset; hence here the direction, the course of the navigator, kept in action by the rudder. On similar comparisons among the classics see Gebser, Theile. [ signifies primarily any violent pressure onwards (), then the first stir or move towards a thing, then impulse, eager desire in the sense of will. I render will, because the will of the steersman directs the impulse given to the rudder and thereby to the ship.M.].The two similitudes of the bit and navigation have often been connected by the ancients in a similar manner, so that Pricus even thought that James might have borrowed them from Plato or some other Greek writer. Gebser. Huther further calls attention to the circumstance that the reference here is to the actual , not to the technical or official .
Jam 3:5. Thus also the tongue.A little member like the little rudder.
And boasteth great things.Since describes absolutely haughty and overbearing conduct, the reading seems to be preferable (see note in Appar. Crit. above). For James had spoken of a great and praiseworthy doing; he could not with pass at once from the figure of the rudder to the pernicious doing of the tongue. The moreover separates the thought under notice from the contemplation of the pernicious operation of the tongue, which follows. The selection of the term simply intimates that the tongue not only does great things, but boasts of the great things. Bede: Magna exaltat. The explanation accomplishes great things Luther (similarly Oecumenius, Calvin and al.), gives tone to the fundamental idea without preserving the shading [i.e. the gradual shading offM.]. Persevering to the idea (Huther, similarly Wiesinger) is not based on the context.
The pernicious doing of the tongue.
Jam 3:3 (second half), Jam 3:6. Behold how small a fire. gives prominence to the quantity according to the construction, either in point of greatness or smallness; here in point of smallness (Cajetanus, Huther). de Wette understands it as denoting a great fire; but the Apostles design was not so much the aesthetic contemplation of a forest-conflagration, as to point to the wicked origin thereof in a little spark; against this Wiesinger justly lays stress on [which is not=consumed, but=lighteth up, kindleth. Seneca (Cont. v, 5) employs very similar language quam lenibus initiis quanta incendia oriantur.M.].Huther, adverting to corresponding descriptions in Homer, Pindar, Philo etc., points out that the concrete sense of =forest, is preferable to the vaguer materia=combustible etc. [The classical descriptions are found in Homer, ll. xi. 115; Plutarch, Sympos. viii. p. 730; Pindar, Pyth. iii. 66; Virgil, Georg. ii. 303.M.].
Jam 3:6. The tongue also is a fire.The figure of a spark or a very small fire producing the conflagration of a forest, is now applied to the incendiary ravages of the tongue. The tongue is fiery as to its nature in general, i. e. the organ of speech, easily inflamed by spiritual fire, by passionate, vehement and consuming impulse. James here passes over the fact that the tongue is destined to become an organ of heavenly fire, Acts 2, for his eye is fixed on the pernicious fire of fanaticism which begins to inflame the Judaistic spirits throughout the world.
It, the world of unrighteousness [that world of iniquity].Not an elliptical clause, requiring to complete it in the sense the tongue is the fire, the world is the forest.Morus and al. This cosmos then is a further designation of the tongue. According to Wiesinger in general, denotes the sum-total of what is created (Mat 13:35; Eph 1:4), the cosmos of unrighteousness, hence here the sum-total of unrighteousness. So Huther citing LXX. Pro 17:8. Calvin: Acsi vocaret mare et abyssum. Olshausen and al., it is as it were the unrighteous world itself, which has its seat in the tongue. See the interpretations of Theile, Estius, Herder, Gebser, Clericus (who with others holds the words to be spurious), in Huther. Oecumenius and many others read =adornment of unrighteousness: the tongue adorns unrighteousness by rhetorical arts. Wiesinger objects 1. that is a passive idea, 2. that the sense would be too feeble. The word need not be taken in the sense of adornment, but we may nevertheless suppose that James here, as frequently, returns to the original signification of the Greek word. In point of fact it is the tongue which sophistically, rhetorically, poetically, parenthetically and imperatively gives to unrighteousness its worldly, apparently respectable and even splendid form. We therefore suppose that James wanted to say that the tongue is the form of the world, worldliness, worldly culture, the seemingly beautiful world of unrighteousness. At all events he could have described it as the sum-total of unrighteousness only in a highly figurative sense. We therefore hold with Tischendorf and Neander against Huther and the majority of commentators, that does not belong appositionally to what goes before, but belongs to what follows. The addition the sum-total of unrighteousness would not explain the proposition the tongue is a fire. But it is to be understood that the tongue is prominent among the members as the world of unrighteousness. It is however matter of inquiry what is the meaning of ? The following interpretations are idle, to say nothing of their incorrectness: it stands, it is placed, it is set; that of Huther also is inadequate; it sets itself, appears in connection with what follows, as that which polluteth the whole body. In agreement with the full meaning of and with the context, the word according to the analogy of Heb 8:3 and other passages, taken absolutely, denotes the presidency, the domination of the tongue among the members. In virtue of its worldly culture, which understands even how to beautify unrighteousness, the tongue rules among the members. But what a contrast between its works and its position! And it is just it, which from its prominence pollutes the whole body.Before the world it washes all unrighteousness clean, before God or truth it stains and pollutes the whole body, i. e. the tongue, by the preceding, sinful word paves the way to all the sinful acts of all the members. Although does not suit (notwithstanding Bengels explanation ut ignis perfumum), it suits the saying the tongue is the as its perfect antithesis. Apparent comeliness is the most essential deformity of life. How it pollutes the life is apparent from what follows. [But there seems really to be no objection to the rendering makes itself, which is preferable to Langes, because it is founded on better grammar than his and gives a good, clear and unforced sense. is used here as in Jam 4:4. Huther. The tongue by acting in and upon the members, makes itself to be the defiler of the whole body. It is so made , which, as their name intimates, ought to move in harmonious melody and amicable concert with each other; and so glorify their maker. But the tongue mars their music by its discord. It is even like an intestine volcano; and sends forth a dark stream of lava, and a murky shower of ashes and smoke, and is thus a source of pollution, sullying and staining as with foul blots () the beauty of all around it; and also like a volcano, it emits a flood of fire. Wordsworth.M.].
And inflameth.Wiesinger takes , in the sense as well as, and sets both in the relation of logical subordination to . We object with Huther, because the following words are not only explanatory but intensive. The tongue inflames
The wheel of the development of life.That denotes a wheel requires no further proof (see 1Ki 7:30 etc.; Eze 1:15; Eze 1:19-20). But the question is what is the meaning of and what is therefore the meaning of ? According to Huther denotes here as in Jam 1:23 (see the passage), birth, the wheel of birth; that is: the wheel revolving from our birth, i. e. life. Similarly Oecumenius. Taking the separate features differently, Calvin and al. reach the same idea: the wheel is the cursus, the genesis is the natura; the two unitedlife.Wiesinger (after Kern) passes from the interpretation it inflameth the revolving wheel, the spherical course of being (Pott, Schneckenburger), to another: it inflameth the circumference of our corporeal being (literally of that which has become). As the axis or centre of the circle it diffuses its fire over the whole circumference. However, genesis, taken in the sense of birth, is not life itself but itself only the first revolution of the wheel. Although we need not think (with de Wette following more ancient commentators) of the orb of creation absolutely, or of the cycle of the self-renovation of mankind ( , Wolf and al.); it does not follow that genesis here should be taken as birth only, and life only as individual life. The genesis of man rather progresses in an ethical sense through the whole of his earthly existence, and if it is said that the tongue setteth on fire the wheel or the revolution of the development of life, the word in this generality applies not only to individual life, but also to the life of humanity, primarily of course, to the life of the Jewish people, but in its widest sense even to the development of the life of this (earthly) cosmos. The fanatical fire, which at first made the development of the life of individual Jews a continuously growing fire of a burning and revolving wheel, at last seized the development of the life of the whole Jewish nation (for chiliastic worldliness lay at the bottom of the crucifixion of Christ and of the Jewish War) and imperceptibly communicates itself to all mankind and to the earthly as the causality of the fiery day, the last dayimmanent in the world. James is fully right in saying that it is the tongue which changes the wheel of the human development of life into a burning fire-wheel; or we might say: a ship on fire entering the port. Perhaps every man may find in his course of life a proportionate quantity of this feverish fire-impulse (see Psalms 90) This verb is , in N. T.; it occurs in the LXX. Exo 9:24. Huther, with whom we should interpret the word of the fire of passion and not with Morus de damnis qu lingua dat, although the self-consumption of this sin of burning passion is also alluded to, and the reference is not to a mere kindling (Michlis). [Alford renders the orb of creation, and Wordsworth the wheel of nature. The idea in both is really the same. The note of the latter will doubtless be prized; The is the wheel of nature, the orbis terrarum, the world itself in its various revolutions; in which one generation follows another, and one season succeeds another; and so is used by Simplicius in Epict. p. 94, and other like expressions in authors quoted here by Wetstein, p. 670.In a secondary sense, this is the wheel of human nature, of human life, of human society, which is compared to a wheel by Solomon Ecc 12:6; and so Greg. Naz. (in Sentent. ap. a Lapide), and Silius Ital. 3, 6, rota volvitur vi, and Bthius (de Consol. 2, Proverbs 1), hc nostra vita est rotam volubili orbe versamus. This wheel is ever rolling round, ever turning apace, whirling about, never continuing in one stay, seeking rest and finding none. So these words of the Apostle are explained by Oecumen., Bede, and Bp. Andrewes, 1, 361; 2, 294, 319.The functions of a wheel, set on fire by the internal friction of its own axis, are deranged, and so the organization of human society is disturbed and destroyed by the intestine fire of the human tongue; a fire which diffuses itself from the centre and radiates forth to the circumference by all the spokes of slander and detraction, and involves the social framework in combustion and conflagration.M.].
And itself is inflamed.Not only once, but habitually ( Part. Pres.). It is as unwarrantable to change the participle into the preterite as to explain it of the future, as a prophecy of hell-fire (Grotius and al.).
By hell. Gehenna itself uniformly and throughout to be distinguished from Sheol (besides the synoptical gospel found here only), as a symbolically described fire-region ( ) will not be wholly completed before the end of the world. The positive primitive fire of Gehenna is brought about by the immanent heat of devilish passions which proceed from the devil through his kingdom. This devilish heat, therefore, is here described as the causality of that fanatical heat of men (cf. Jam 3:15). That fiery heat of fanaticism the origin of which the Judaists wanted to refer to God (Jam 1:13). James refers directly to the devil. And in this manner it exhibited itself by hatred, lying and death and particularly by frenzy. The strongest utterance concerning the evil tongue excepting the sayings of our Lord of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost and the apocalyptic saying of the blasphemies of the beast (Daniel 7, 8 ReJames Jam 3:13)! Approximating descriptions are produced by Huther, Psa 52:4; Psa 120:3-4; Pro 16:26; Sir 5:15. Wiesinger in addition to the specification of sin according to the members of the body, as here indicated, cites also Rom 3:13; Col 3:5. But the latter passage belongs to another chapter; the seeming members (Scheinglieder) of the old man.But Rom 6:13; Rom 6:19 belongs hither.
The untamableness of the tongue, Jam 3:7-8.
Jam 3:7. For every nature of the wild beasts. creates difficulty. Huther thinks that it substantiates, especially with reference to Jam 3:8, the foregoing judgment expressed concerning the tongue. But the assertion concerning the untamableness of the tongue does not substantiate the assertion concerning the depravity of the tongue. Wiesinger makes substantiate even the preceding , while Pott holds that it simply indicates the transition. In our opinion the substantiates the words immediately preceding: itself is imflamed by hell. Whereby will he prove that assertion? By the untamableness of the tongue. If the nature of the tongue were only animal, man, the power of human nature could tame it as well as every thing animal. But the untamableness of the tongue shows that there is something devilish in its excitement, over which human nature left to itself has no power. Only by the wisdom which is from above Jam 3:15, can be conquered the wisdom which is from beneath, i. e. devilish wisdom, Jam 3:15, and that not in the form of taming, breaking in and enslaving, but in the form of free transformation by regeneration. James first specifies what can be tamed,universal animal nature, then what can tame ithuman nature. Man as man is a match for a beast, but if the animal element in man is strengthened by the devils, he can acquire the superiority of the only by Divine grace. James divides the animal world into four classes. He first mentions together quadrupeds (not beasts in general, Pott, or wild beasts in particular, Erasmus etc.) and birds, that is the higher and more noble species of beasts. Then the dismal creeping beasts (not animalia terrestria in general [Pott], not only serpents in particular [Luther, Calvin], but amphibia and worms as in Gen 24:25), and the stupid sea-animals (not only fishes in the literal sense [Huther], nor sea-wonders [Luther], nor sea-monsters [Stier]). Huther: The classification is here the same as in Gen 9:2, which passage may have been before the Apostles mind. James doubtless thought of serpents as the representatives of creeping beasts, with reference to the conjurers of serpents, of trained fishes, dolphins or the like as the representatives of sea-animals. We see here, moreover, that even menageries or the art of taming beasts have some reference to apostolical truth. The opinion of the Apostle really amounts to this: all , every , as further specified is subjected to human ; the condition only, that man understand the natures, which are subjected to him and seize them at the right spot of want, docility or dependence. Huther rightly observes that James does not describe the relation of man the individual to individual beasts, but the relation of human nature to animal nature in general.
By human natureSo we must take the Dative [it is the Dative of the agentM.], not as a dativus commodi. Human nature is here the whole power of mankind, as it is made to depend on itself in dependence upon God, Genesis 1; hence not only the ingenii solertia (Hottinger), but that ingenuity regarded as the most proper characteristic of human in its superiority to animal power.
Is tamed and hath been tamed.For this is a process which beginning with the most remote past continues to the most distant future. The beasts are more and more subjected to human nature, while the diabolically excited tongue (to which in the modern world must also be reckoned the pen, so that Satan now speaks more to men by the goose-quill [or the steel-penM.] than by the mouth of the serpent) becomes increasingly untamable (see Rev 13:6). is by this process illustrated as a fact, and consequently assumed in the two tenses of the verb, and not limited to the present only (Schneckenburger and al.); moreover denotes not the conquest of our resistance (Huther) which also takes place in conversion, but the translation into a coerced-psychico-physical dependence by the use of appropriate means. If it is said therefore that the tongue cannot be tamed by human nature, this implies also that it cannot be tamed in the form of taming. This expression may also affirm with reference to the animal world that mans original relation to the beasts has not altogether remained the same (see Gen 9:2; cf. Gen 1:28; Gen 2:20). Wiesinger: In the opinion of James also mans dominion over the creatures is not lost (cf. Psa 8:7; Psa 8:9) but it has been modified like his relation to the earth itself. Jam 3:9 also furnishes a parallel to this verse.
Jam 3:8. But the tongue no one of men.Estius and al.: the tongue of others; Huther, ones own tongue. Doubtless primarily ones own tongue, for the taming of the tongue must proceed from the heart; but the more general sense must not be lost sight of. Before the human tongue diabolically grown wild natural humanity stands as before a dragon, for whom there is not found a Knight St. George among men as they are. Bengel, who interprets: nemo alius, vix ipse quisque, overlooks that the antithesis between the natural power of man and a higher power is here postulated. But that which still causes James to utter an expression of indignation, is the pernicious working of the tongue in the Judaistic world of his time.
The turbulent evil.We interpret in the positive ethical sense as wickedness or evil and the adjective (see App. Crit.) with reference to Jam 1:8 and Jam 3:16 according to the meaning of the word in Luk 21:9; 1Co 14:33; 2Co 6:5; 2Co 12:20. The revolutionary conduct of the Judaistic tongues became at that time more and more inflamed in order to prepare for the Jewish people nothing but evil, death and ruin. [Alford thinks that the figure here seems to correspond nearly to what is related of Proteus, that he eluded the grasp of Menelaus under many various shapes. Cf. Hermas, Pastor 2, 3, , .M.].
Full of death-bringing poison.The diabolical nature, the death-bringing serpent-virulence of the strife of tongues; contains substantially the same idea, as the opinion expressed in the preceding verse; inflamed by hell, Psa 58:5; Psa 140:4.
The duplicity of the (fanatically excited) tongue, Jam 3:9-12. The new element which is introduced (but not noticed by Huther and Wiesinger) in Jam 3:9, is the falseness, the duplicity, the self-contradiction and consequently the self-judgment (i. e. self-condemnation) of the tongue. The serpent-like nature of the tongue, Jam 3:8, forms an apt transition to the duplicity of the same, inasmuch as it is simultaneously deceitful and venemous.
Jam 3:9. Therewith bless we the Lord.(See Appar. Crit.) is instrumental. Blessing and cursing constitute a familiar antithesis; the blessing, , as applied to God, denotes however praising Him. The unusual connection the Lord and Father appears to have been stated not without design. Although the Lord here does not directly designate Christ, yet it describes God as the God of revelation, who has finally revealed Himself in Christ as Father. In Him even the Jew praises unconsciously and reluctantly the revelation of God in Christ. (Rom 9:5).
And therewith curse we men which.A difficulty, insufficiently noticed by many commentators, arises from the circumstance that the Apostle includes himself in we. In order to escape it, Benson, Gebser and al. suppose that the reference is solely to those who set themselves up as teachers. To be sure the reference is primarily to them, but then also in general to the Judaistic element as a whole. Is the proposition a general confession of sins concerning the abuse of the tongue? or a hypothetical judgment; if we curse men, we do so with the same tongue wherewith we praise God? The design of a particular reproof forbids the former, and the premising of the fact the latter. The difficulty may be solved either by taking the second clause as a question expressive of surprise or by hearing James speak as the representative of his people in the name of his guilty people. [Alford recommends the retention of which instead of who, which would personally designate certain men thus made, while which is generic. This distinction, he continues, which some modern philologists are striving to obliterate, is very important in the rendering of Scripture, and has been accurately observed by our English translators.M.]. The latter is probably the most natural solution.
Have been created after the likeness of God.That is, the subjects of this Lord, the children of this Father according to their destination, or also the images representing this Lord and Father. This is the glaring contradiction. Wiesinger and Huther (the latter with reference to Bengels remanet nobilitas indelebilis) here observe that sinful man also remains created in the likeness of God (Gen 1:26). Without detracting from the general application of the proposition the Apostle may be thinking of such men, in whom the likeness of God () i. e. the actuality and visibility of the image, has reappeared [Germ. has become again, wieder gewordenM.], i. e. Christians, and particularly according to their majority, Gentile Christians. With regard to them, the contradiction of the cursing Judaists, was perfect; they praised the Father of revelation, they cursed the children of revelation.
Jam 3:10. Out of the same mouth goeth forth.It is the sinful mouth as to its fanactical excitement in general, but the mouth of Judaism in particular as at that time it continued traditionally to praise God in the Old Testament and began with talmudical rancor (the source of the later Talmud) to curse the Gospel and its adherents.
It shall not be thus. [ , , . These things, my brethren, ought not so to be.M.]. This address to the brethren hardly means only: it is not right that these things (denoting the substance) are done thus (denoting the form). has its full weight and denotes at once that the thing must not be done according to the oracle [here of course with reference to the revealed will of GodM.] and that the thing itself is unprofitable (with reference to ) Moreover the Plural and the emphatic are to be noticed. [ is . in N. T.M.].
Jam 3:11. Doth a fountain perchance out of the same chink send forth the sweet and the bitter?, ., to bubble over, overflow [Lange renders bubble with an evident attempt to find a word as nearly intransitive as possible, is generally intransitive, but it is used transitively by Anacreon, 37, 2 , , . It means therefore to cause to burst forth, and this is the reason why I render send forth.M.], , the opening of the fountain [ is probably connected with , , to see; Wordsworth adds that so the word non (the place of springs) is derived from the Hebrew (ayin), an eye, Joh 3:23.M.]; the sweet and the bitter describe the heterogeneous waters applied to blessing and cursing. Such an occurrence is unknown in nature, hence in the moral world also it only appears as something monstrously unnatural. The fountain is not exactly man, but the disposition, the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth (the chink of the fountain) speaketh (Germ: Whereof the heart is full, the mouth overfloweth.M.]. However here again the reference is not to the moral unnaturalness of this duplicity in general but the concrete bearing of the reproof on Judaism becomes increasingly apparent. It is not the Divine purpose and law that the fountain of Judaism in its historical going forth for the world should send forth such a contradiction between praising God and cursing the children of God. The application to the end of the Christian Middle Ages lies near.
Jam 3:12. Can a fig-tree, my brethren, yield olives?The figurative statement of the preceding verse is continued in the figures taken from nature, i. e. the idea that nature does not bring forth that which is contradictory and inconsistent. But if the former figure was meant to say: your duplicity [double-tonguedness] is like a fountain which sends forth at the same time sweet water and bitter, if it were possible to find such a fountain, the figures which now follow set forth with still greater distinctness the impossibility of such a contradiction in nature. And this certainly brings out not only the reprehensible and morally unnatural character of duplicity, but it also expresses the idea that one of the two must be false, either the cursing or the blessing; so that if their cursing the images of God be true, their praising God must be lying and hypocrisy (Huther). To this must be added that in the metaphors which follow the reference is to the character itself, as is the case in the saying of our Lord Mat 7:16.Thus we infer their double-mindedness of character which is false on the side of godliness () from their duplicity of speech. It may however seem strange that James should use several examples in order to corroborate the thought that as nature is always at unity with itself, true and consistent, so also ought man to be true and consistent. The multiplying of examples has primarily the effect of illustrating more forcibly the general application of the law of life, which the Apostle had laid down. But the supposition might occur that the examples may have also a symbolical import. The fig-tree, the symbol of a luxurious natural life cannot bring forth olives, the symbols of spiritual life. The vine, the symbol of theocracy and ultimately of Christianity, cannot produces figs, happiness [i.e. outward], the fulness of the Jewish natural life. The meaning whereof would be as follows: if you want to be natural Jews you cannot bring forth the fruits of the children of the Spirit; but if on the other hand, you want to be Christians, you must not cherish Jewish ideals, sit under the fig-tree of outward prosperity and expect to enjoy its fruit. This would explain the last figure after this manner: as the salt-spring or the salt-current is a mixture which cannot yield pure and drinkable refreshment of life, so a mixture of Jewish severity and hardness and Christian vitality cannot produce the pure water of life of the New Covenant. We leave this symbolism undecided as a whole, but maintain at all events that the salt water is designed to denote a mixture, in which the two elements pure by themselves, have been stained and corrupted. Salt water cannot be drunk. This would give a train of thought which beginning with duplicity in speech passed on to double-mindedness and thence again to its final cause, doubleness of belief, the mixture of legalism and evangelical vitality. On similar biblical figurative modes of speech among the ancients, see Gebser, p. 290; Theile, p. 196.
The contrast of false and true wisdom in speech as to their origin, character and opposite operations. Jam 3:13-18.
Ver 13. Who is wise and intelligent among you?The same words occur in LXX. Deu 1:13; Deu 4:6. Heb. . Wisdom is the knowledge of ends acquired by enlightenment; intelligence (or understanding, German, EinsichtM.), the knowledge of relations acquired by experience and practice [Wisdom is the gift of God, intelligence and knowledge are the results of education.M.]. The Apostles question sounds like an exclamation of the greatest anxiety; it characterizes the desperately bad spiritual situation of Israel. Their few wise and experienced men are to rise and conjure the storm by the wisdom of gentleness.
Let him show out of a good conversation.James is here more explicit and definite in describing the works to which he had referred as evidences of faith in James 2. Such as flow from a good or beautiful life, in which it develops itself. And in order to remove all doubt concerning the main object he has at heart, he adds emphatically: in meekness of wisdom. We refer this clause to the whole proposition which precedes it: all the works of this good conversation are to culminate in meekness of wisdom.The deviating construction of Neander: let him show it by his good conduct; his works in meekness of wisdom is recommended by a certain vivacity and pregnancy, but requires the verb to be mentally repeated; the also would be rather in the way while the demand of the exhibition of works, so common to James, would be rather obscured, is based on , who wants to advance true claims to being wise. Every weakening of the expression either by reading meek wisdom (Bede and al.), or wise meekness (Laurentius), affects the full sense of the words: the meekness wherein wisdom evidences itself (Wiesinger somewhat different: which is proper to wisdom and proceeds therefrom), see Jam 1:19-20. [Alford: in that meekness which is the proper attribute of wisdomM.]. Wiesinger thinks that it describes the disposition attending the doing; but James obviously calls for the activity of meekness, for meekness itself in corresponding acts. It alone was able to deliver the Jewish Christians as well as the Jews from fanaticism, conjure the storm and save the hope of Israel. See the promise Mat 5:5.
Jam 3:14. But if ye have bitter zeal [emulation].This was the real situation of affairs and on this account James addresses them personally on the subject. We render not jealousy but zeal, for doubtless the reference is primarily to a religious and not to a moral passion. James means the specifically Jewish emulation which was considered by those who exhibited it as enthusiasm for the glory of God, as Paul describes it Romans 10. The adjective shows that it was a false, unholy zeal; indicates passionateness and animosity; this certainly turns zeal into jealousy, for religious zeal becomes zealotical and fanatical through the admixture of jealousy and hostility. is really the envy, rivalry and party-strife rooted in venality; so Paul frequently uses the word (Rom 2:8; 2Co 12:20 etc.). denotes not only an active having but a real fostering.
In your hearts.In contrast with the word of the readers who make boast of their wisdom. Huther.
Boast not.The offence of their excited teaching, striving, judging and cursing was twofold: firstly a haughty self-elevation or proud demeanour against others, secondly a more or less conscious lying suppression of their better consciousness. But both sins were more aggravated from being directed against the truth itself. According to Wiesinger denotes Christian truth (because otherwise would be tautological: to lie against the truth). Huther seems to understand by it only the real fact that the condition of the heart is in opposition to the word. But with James theocratical truth and Christian truth converge into one truth of the revelation of God, the effect and import of which are in the lives and consciences of men. The boasting and lying therefore was directed not against a mere object and against a mere fact; but it was a haughty and hypocritical insurrection against the very truth which the zealots, with an evil conscience, professed to protect (see Rom 2:23). It becomes more and more evident that James addresses not only the Jewish Christians, but his nation in general.
Jam 3:15. [For] this wisdom is not that.Negatio cum vi prmissa Theile. must be taken in connection with , the latter is therefore introduced ironically here as in Mat 11:25; 1Co 2:6; false wisdom the opposite of the true. Luthers translation: This is not the wisdom which cometh down from above must be corrected accordingly. The participle emphatically denotes the continual coming down, as in Jam 1:17; it has therefore adjective force and must not be resolved into the Indicative as do Schneckenburger and al. The expression is a little difficult, but it ceases to be so if we consider that it is the purpose of James to give the most emphatic negation to the false pretence that it was . Hence he gives his judgment: it is on the contrary (described false by the use of three adjectives) earthly, sensuous, devilish. It is earthly as to its earthly nature and origin and thus opposed to the heavenly (Php 3:19); it is sensuous or properly speaking psychical (Luther has the improper rendering human; the Vulgate better animalis; Allioli following it animal; Stier and de Wette: sensuous, which in consideration of the modern idea of sensuousness may pass [for want of a better termM.], having its origin in a psychically restrained passionate constitution deprived of the rule of the Spirit (1Co 2:14; 1Co 3:3; Judges 19) and is opposed to the spiritual [pneumatical] wisdomof the spiritual life excited by the Holy Ghost; it is devilish ( is .), proceeding from the devil or inspired by accursed devils and is opposed to the Divine. Hornejus has not wrongly delineated the moral sides of these evil characteristics: terrena, quia avariti dedita est, qu operibus terrenius inhiat; animalis, quia ad animi lubidines accomodatur; dmoniaca, quod ambitioni et superbi servit, qu propria diaboli vitia sunt. These were surely also the characteristics of Judaistic and Ebionite zealotism. The earthly was peculiarly exhibited in their chiliastic claims to the rule of the earth, the psychical in their fanatical and hateful passions, the devilish in their great errors nourished by haughtiness and hypocrisy.
Jam 3:16. For where is emulation [zeal] and party-strife. makes this assertion the proof of the one preceding it. In what goes before James describes a wisdom properly animated by evil zeal and party-strife, and designates it as earthly, sensuous and develish. The proof is that that spirit of emulation and party-strife is so disastrous in its consequences. He does not say where is such wisdom, for he has torn the mask of wisdom from this evil spirit of emulation. In its nakedness it is carnal and devilish conduct. occurring here without the adjective might lead one to think at once of jealousy, but the zeal is sufficiently characterized as evil from being connected with rivalry and party-strife. Everywhere is exhibited the rebellious element. is not only mere disorder but the dissolution of order; in the theocratic sense it denotes rebellion (Numbers 16; Pro 26:28), in church-life a seditious spirit opposing the order of God, who has constituted civil order (Rom 13:1, etc.) and church order (1Co 14:33).
And all manner of [every] evil work. might be rendered foul (German faul) in an ethical sense. [Shakspeare uses the word in the sense of wicked, abominable. A foul fault: Foul profanation. The current value of faul in German is rotten, lazy, its ethical value denotes moral rottenness, evil.M.]. Such was the situation of Jewish affairs at that time. The rebellious attitude broke out everywhere in insurrections against the Christians, which were the prelude of the insurrection against the Romans, with numerous episodes of evil work, and all proceeding from the same fountain of diabolical fanaticism.
Jam 3:17. But the wisdom from above.See Proverbs; the Wisdom of Solomon; Sirach; Matthew 11; 1 Corinthians 8. Its first characteristic is distinguished from the others, as its principle.
Consecrated [pure].. Really consecrated or hallowedM.], i.e. not only pure from the influence or even from the inspiration of worldly, carnal and devilish motives, but only chaste, free from the spirit of apostasy into which the fanatical zealots fell, but also animated by the Divine Spirit and therefore wholly consecrated to the service and glory of God; consequently full of a dignified and priestly character. From this principle flow its social virtues. It is peaceable, ironical (Mat 5:9), equitably disposed (1Ti 3:3), gladly yielding ([compliantM.]. the opposite of stubborn, Tit 3:5; not easily persuaded, but well inclined to enter into the views and reasons of others, compliant). All this as opposed to the contentiousness of false zeal. But it not only resists evil, but overcomes evil with good; it is full of compassion (in the widest sense, in its sympathy with the necessitous Jam 1:27; Jam 2:13) and good fruits, in which compassion is evidenced. The contrast is exhibited in the seditious character and the foul doings of false wisdom. So stood in those days Christianity over against its enemies and so it was to show itself also in the Jewish Christians over against Judaism. This attitude of wisdom induced James still further to add in its praise , ! de Wette, Wiesinger and Huther render the first word without doubting; that is, consequently, confident, decided. This would give a good sense if 1. the reference here were not to social conduct and 2. if a certain correspondency between and were not necessary.Now since the word (as well as that which follows) has to be taken in an active sense, although its primary meaning is passive (not distinguished, undecided, so that the first word might mean undivided, being a unit [einheitlich], there being only one wisdomnon duplex Wetstein; simple Neanderand the second undivided, i.e., without any false admixture) the idea not separatistic, not sectarian seems to lie nearest (so Baumgarten, Schneckenburger and al.: qu non discernit homines; Luther, Grotius, etc.: without partiality; Vulgate: non judicans; Semler: non temere judicans: With this corresponds then , without hypocrisy, without dissembling, sincere Rom 12:9; 2Co 6:6. [The reader is referred for further information on to notes on Jam 1:6-8; Jam 2:4; on to Jam 1:22; Jam 1:26; Jam 2:1].
Jam 3:18. Fruit of righteousness.This difficult expression might be taken literally as follows: the fruit which consists in the life-righteousness as just described (Genit. appos. not only justification, Schneckenburger), is once more turned into seed, it is sown in the world, primarily among erring brethren, in peace, i.e., in the form of peace, in the exhibitions of a peaceful demeanour [not , i.e., unto eternal life, de Wette), and then becomes the lot of the children of peace as the harvest of peace and the kingdom of peace. But Wiesinger rightly calls attention to Jam 1:20. For the wrath of man worketh not, accomplishes not the righteousness of God, and adds that which the readers pretend to realize by their contentious wisdom, can only prosper under the quickening influence of peace. The righteousness of God in its full manifestation in the world, for which Christians are yearning and for which at that time the Jews in particular were yearning also, is a harvest-fruit which has to be sown by the peaceful demeanour of the peacemakers ( Dat. actionis. Huther). The term , etc., would be therefore a pregnant expression for: the seed, which yields the fruit of righteousness, is sown. (Huther). This construction is also favoured by the remark of Huther, made elsewhere, that James is fond of beginning his speech with the teleological leading idea. Huther rightly observes that the sowing is not only teaching proper (Schneckenburger), still it remains a fundamental form of evangelical peace-making. The dat. comm. in for the children of peace, is reluctantly given up and Wiesinger would like to connect this meaning with the Dat. actionis. It must be observed, however, that the world-historical harvest of righteousness will affect all men, although it will be a kingdom of peace only to the children of peace. The words of the Apostle therefore were primarily an exhortation addressed to his readers, i.e., to the twelve tribes to this effect: if you really seek the righteousness of God, then prepare the future harvest of righteousness in such wise that as children of peace you scatter the seed by a peaceful behaviour (which includes, to be sure, the peace of the Christian righteousness of faith). Sow peace and you will reap rightousness to your joy. But the idea must be so construed that the Apostle is made at the same time to lay stress on the fact that the harvest of righteousness is prepared under all circumstances. Whether you join in or not: that righteousness, for which you suppose to contend in zealotical party-strife, is now sown with the patience of the sower (see Jam 5:7) by the peacemakers who are really in the world, by Christians in their exhibitions of peaceful demeanour ( hardly denotes mere mode, but rather the form of the seed, evangelical peace), and at the time of harvest it will appear in its full maturity.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The fault which James reproves in the greater part of this chapter, is nothing but a natural manifestation of the egotism of sinful human nature, a fault which, although suppressed, is by no means fully overcome even in Christians. It would seem that, as elsewhere, there were many among the first readers of this Epistle in particular, of whom the author knew or at least was afraid that they were more fond of speaking than of hearing, more fond of teaching others than of receiving instruction themselves. He therefore seizes the fault, described in Jam 1:19; Jam 1:26 by the root, at the same time pointing out, that those who set themselves up as teachers, are in the greatest danger of bringing on themselves greater condemnation than their hearers. His doctrine in this respect is in perfect agreement with that of our Lord, Mat 12:36-37.
2. There are not a few in our day who set up as teachers and leaders of the congregation without being sufficiently prepared for this important and difficult work, who thus render more difficult the work of the duly appointed servants of the Gospel and scatter the flock without cause; and there are others who suffer themselves to be duly led and to be prepared for the holy ministry, but whose desire to enter the ministry springs from very impure motives. How desirable that both would seriously lay to heart the teaching of James on this subject! [Ministerial preparation is not sufficiently appreciated by the uneducated portions of the laity and not unfrequently made light of by the ecclesiastical authorities. In a new country, like America, the supply of ministers is not equal to the demand and owing to this circumstance men morally and spiritually fitted but intellectually and educationally unfitted, are frequently put in charge of churches, whose best interests are apt to be grievously affected in such incompetent hands. The moral and spiritual qualifications of candidates for the holy ministry is a conditio sine qua non, but their possession cannot cover or supply intellectual and educational deficiency. How can a man preach the Gospel intelligently and beneficially, if he is ignorant of the first principles of correct interpretation, completely at sea in scientific theology and void of all knowledge of Church History and other cognate branches of a theological education? If these lines are read by any minister, who is conscious of his intellectual deficiency, the writer would affectionately entreat him to remember that he ought to be thoroughly equipped for the study of Gods Holy Word and that he cannot teach his people aright, if he does not understand aright. The cacoethes docendi is a great evil in our days and has ruined many a man, who had he only been content to sit awhile on the students bench might have been eminently successful in the ministry.M.]. It is of course self-evident that the Apostles warning is not directed against a great number of teachers as such, which on the contrary is in many respects useful and desirable (cf. Eph 4:11), but rather against an eager pressing into the Ministry of the Word, when men touch the Holy illotis manibus. The language of Homer: , . [The rule of many is not good, let there be one rulerM.], applies also to Church government.
3. The familiar saying of James manifoldly we offend all is frequently but erroneously taken and used as a dictum probans of the doctrine of the universal sinfulness of human nature. The author speaks not of men in general, but of Christians in particular. He considers not so much gross transgression as sins of infirmity and haste; and particularly the danger to which the hearer is less exposed than the teacher, namely the danger of offending in word. The preacher of the Gospel may very easily offend in word, on the one hand by setting forth his own perverse notions instead of the objectively given truth of salvation, or on the other by onesided preaching or by want of clearness and simplicity. Thus he may even, involuntarily give offence and estrange his hearers, or on the other hand, he may lull them into a false sleep of peace and thus do infinitely more harm than good with his preaching. How urgently ought he therefore to press the exhortation that men should not prematurely set themselves up as teachers, since probably they would do much better to continue disciples a little longer! Cf. Heb 5:12. But this warning ought not to deter any one who sincerely desires to serve God in the ministry of the Word and truly loves the Lord and His Church. By watchfulness and prayer the servant of the Gospel may preserve himself from many sins of the tongue. The best corrective, in this respect, is doubtless the petition Ps. 19:15; 141:3.
4. In order to form a correct estimate of the magnitude of the sins which Christians also commit with the tongue, first of all it must not be forgotten that the faculty of speech is originally a Divine gift bestowed on man. Compare Herders Origin of Language (1770), a work which is still very valuable. This idea was not unfamiliar even to the pagans. Cf. Hesiod: ., 5:79; Horat. Od. 1, 10, Jam 3:2-3; Ovid, Fastor., 5:667. See also Dr. J. C. Ammans Dissertat. de loquela, Amsterd. 1700, and especially Schubert, History of the Soul, 3d ed. 1839, p. 153163. The word uttered is only the outward sound of the begetting inward language of ideas through the corporeal medium. Ennemoser.
5. No Christian moralist may omit to bestow the greatest possible attention on the doctrine of James concerning the sins of the tongue. For speaking is also a doing and a doing of such daily and manifold occurrence, that its good and its evil consequences are all but incalculable. Compare the familiar French proverb: le style cest Ihomme, and the motto of the well-known diplomatist Talleyrand le langage est donn pour cacher ses penses. No wonder that the Old Testament abounds in warnings against the perverse use of the tongue; see e.g. Ps. 15:24, 34, and other passages.
6. In saying that if any man offend not in word, he is a perfect man, James of course takes for granted, that such a mastery of the tongue is not solely the fruit of a politic wisdom, but rather the fruit of Christian self-control as the product of faith and love. He who has learned from this principle to set a watch before his lips, may with certainty be supposed to have attained so high a degree of discretion and life-wisdom, that to him the performance of any other duty cannot be particularly difficult, still less impossible. Cf. Pro 10:19; Pro 13:3; Pro 17:27. But in order to obtain and to preserve the mastery of ones tongue, one must before have become master of ones most violent emotions and remain collected in ones intercourse with friends and enemies. Ps. 16:32. Cf. the language of Plutarch on this head: de capienda ex hostibus utilitate, opp. ed. Reiskii, Tom. 6, p. 355 sq; also de garrulitate, Tom. 8, p. 13 sqq.
7. Plutarch (de Auditione, p. 137, and in conviv. Sept. p. 556, vol. 6, ed. Reiskii) relates that Amasis, King of Egypt sent a sacrifice to Bias and requested him to send back the best and the worst part thereof: Bias sent back the tongue. Heubner.
8. James who wrote his Epistle as a warning to believers, from the nature of the case could only advert to the harm caused by the abuse of the tongue, not (or only slightly) to the profit that might accrue to the cause of the Lord by the well-ordered use of the power of speech. To realize this light-side of the matter ought to be the daily effort of every Christian, but more particularly that of the Christian teacher.
9. The words of James (Jam 3:9) would be unmeaning, if he meant that only the first man bore the likeness of God, which by the fall was wholly and eternally lost to his descendants. The ravaging power of sin is manifested not in the potentiality but in the actuality of mans likeness to God, and the Conf. Belg. art. 14, is therefore right in speaking of small remnants (scintillul) of the Divine image in fallen man, which are perfectly sufficient to take away all his excuses. [Art. IX. of the Articles of Religion in the Church of England and the Prot. Ep. Church in the U. S. says: man is very far gone from original righteousness.M.]. Lange (Positive Dogmatik, p. 299) is perfectly right in saying that man is the image of God, i.e. the visible form of the Infinite in the totality of his being. The Being of God consists in His eternally embracing Himself perfectly in the clearness and liberty of His Being, in that He is the Absolute Spirit. And in like manner the being of the image of God consists in mans living in himself as a spirit, in his continually taking back the whole manifoldness of his existence into the unity of his consciousness and out of it re-forming it anew.
10. The doctrine of James (Jam 3:11-12) exhibits a remarkable agreement with the sayings of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 7:16-19; Luk 6:43-45); a new proof that the publication of the fundamental law of the kingdom of heaven could not be forgotten by this servant of the Lord.
11. The bearing of James concerning the wisdom, which is from above (Jam 3:13 etc.) is remarkable for its recalling not only many of the proverbs of Solomon but also many cognate ideas in Jesus Sirach and the Book of Wisdom. James, although occupying a purely evangelical standpoint, is nevertheless full of the ethical portion of the Old Testament, and in part even of the deutero-canonical writings. However it is impossible to examine the doctrine of this entire chapter more closely without discovering that the author himself has and exemplifies that heavenly wisdom, which in Jam 3:16-17 he has so admirably and beautifully delineated as contrasted with earthly wisdom.
12. Very important is the connection of knowledge and life, on which James here insists. He who does not prove his wisdom by works, which have the seal of a meek disposition, contradicts himself and gives the lie to his confession of the Lord, which he is constantly making. He may boast in the possession of the truth but he is an opponent of the truth, if he does not receive it as the principle of his life; cf. 1Jn 4:20-21. His wisdom, as contrasted with that from above, is purely earthly, as contrasted with that of the pneumatical man purely psychical, as contrasted with that of good angels (cf. 1Pe 1:12), even devilish.
13. The peaceable scatter in peace the seed of genuine Christian wisdom, which grows into the harvest of righteousness. This applies not only to teachers but to every one who has received from God wisdom and the gift to influence others. Von Gerlach.
14. The seven qualities which James attributes to the wisdom from above (Jam 3:17) are nothing but the seven colours of the one ray of light of heavenly truth, which has been revealed and has appeared in Christ Himself. He is therefore supremely entitled to the name the Wisdom of God (Luk 11:49).
15. Even the closing sentences of this instruction recho notes from the Sermon on the Mount, Mat 5:8-9.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
A. Jam 3:1-12
The lust of rule one of the most ancient diseases in the Church of Christ.Even the manifold warnings of Christ (Mat 18:1; Joh 13:12-17 and other passages) have been insufficient hitherto to prevent disputes about precedency among those who confess Him.The higher the position we hold before others, the greater will be our responsibility.Manifoldly we offend all. The remaining infirmity of the elect.The truth, solemnity and comfort of this saying.The use and abuse which may be and at different times have been made of this saying.How the knowledge of our own, manifold infirmities ought to make us judge others leniently.No matter how much the Christian may offend, he ought nevertheless to advance.Christian self-controlMan, lord of the animal creation but not lord of himself.Even the bravest sailor suffers each time ship-wreck on the rocks of the tongue.The power of the tongue evident 1, from the harm it can do, 2, from the utter impossibility of wholly subduing it.The faculty of speech which makes man superior to the beasts is not seldom the means of making him inferior to themThe sad part acted by the evil tongue in every century of the history of the Christian Church.The sinful tongue is the sinful man. Sinful man is able to raise himself above every other irrational creature but he is unable to raise himself above his own nature.That which is impossible with men, is possible with God.The sad want of many mens conformity to their proper being.How extremes meet also in the use of the tongue.That which is never seen united in nature, is often simultaneously found present in men.Man at once a lord and a slave (Jam 3:5. Behold how small a fire kindleth how great a forest.) Suitable text for a Reformation-sermon. [That is a sermon preached on the festival of the Reformation, which in Germany is kept October 31, the anniversary of Luthers fastening the 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg A. D. 1517M.].There is not a thumbs breadth between our strong side and our weak side.The melancholy inconsistency and the still sadder consistency of the abuse of the tongue.
Starke:He who wants to teach others in spiritual things, ought to be first well established himself. A man must be a pure and obedient sheep of Christ before he can become a shepherd. Hos 4:6.Many, although they have not Divine wisdom and experience but possess only a literal knowledge, acquired not in the school of the Holy Ghost, but from the books and writings of men, straightway presume to be guides of the blind etc. Rom 2:18.
Quesnel:If all men have to observe caution in speech, how much more those, whose office requires them frequently and religiously to discourse of holy things? Rom 15:18.Men must fairly strive to attain evangelical perfection, especially if they seek to be employed in the Ministry, 2Ti 3:17.
Osiander:If a man is able to govern his tongue so effectually as not to utter any thing censurable, he is doubtless equally able so to govern and guide his body as not to indulge in any vice, Job 27:4-5.Many men are more unruly than a horsemen whom God by the infliction of severe punishment has to make somewhat orderly. David cautions us against this disposition Psa 32:9.If irrational creatures suffer themselves to be guided and ruled, how much rather ought rational creatures suffer it likewise? Isa 1:3.
Luther:The tongue guides men either to virtue or to vice, 1Co 15:33.The tongue of a Christian is ruled only with the bridle of faith and love, Psa 116:10.
Quesnel:Who knows not how to govern his tongue, is like a passenger on a ship without rudder in the open sea exposed to the fury of the storm.If the rudder of our body is controlled by the Spirit of God, we sail in safety on the sea of the world, Rom 8:14.
Cramer:Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but infinitely more by evil tongues, Sir 28:21.
Langii op:How easily may an uncircumcised and untamed tongue cause discord in a whole family, so that the best of friends fall out with one another! Sir 28:15-16.God has distinguished us from the brutes by the use of the tongue, and we are distinguished from one another by the good or evil use we make of it, Psa 119:23.
Hedinger:Evil tongues and bad lungs have caused the death of many. The former spiritually and mostly. How much murder is committed with the tongue? how forward and swift is this poor member to wound the conscience? Whoso is wise puts a lock to his lips. Sir. 22:33O God, create us a new tongue, that we may praise Thee! Pro 18:21.
Quesnel:There is no sin, of which the tongue may not be the cause and instrument, and which as a poisoned seed it may not contain, Mat 15:18.Think, O ye liars and slanderers, how shameful and hurtful a member ye carry in your mouth! Psa 57:5.Whoso desires to be delivered from the sins of the tongue must particularly apply himself to work in faith at the bottom of his heart by repentance and renovation, Mat 12:33.As the Holy Spirit did set on fire the tongues of the Apostles with godly zeal, so contrariwise the spirit of hell sets on fire the tongues of the ungodly with venom and great malice to crush the good name and reputation of their neighbour, Act 2:3-4; Act 2:11.The diligence of men is able to change the wildest natures of beasts! but none is able to change the sinful nature of men, save the Wisdom and Omnipotence of God, Eze 36:26.God must needs take a coal from His altar and touch our tongue or it cannot be tamed. We stammer by nature like Moses, until God makes us eloquent, Isa 6:5.The tongue of the hellish serpent has thrown us into the greatest confusion, but the tongues of the Holy Ghost show us again the way to eternal peace, Act 2:4; Act 2:38.We shun serpents, yet consort with people that carry poison in their mouths, Psa 44:4; Psa 55:22.How ill-suited it is that those should engage in the praises of God, the whole of whose lives dishonours God! A golden collar cannot be so ill-becoming to a sow covered with filth and dirt as the praise of God to a filthy sinner, Amo 5:23.
Langii op.:The nobility of human nature is very exalted and no man may offend it in word or deed without sinning against God, Gen 9:6.We ought to honour the image of God in every man be he never so bad, 1Jn 4:12.
Starke:Man is so perverse, that there is nothing left in the world which is like him. He wants to render impossibilities possible, to do good and evil at the same time, which is contrary to the whole order of nature, Ecc 1:15; Psa 58:4.If we want to show others their follies and sins, we must not do it in boisterous scolding, but in compassionating brotherly love, 2Ti 2:24-25.Words are fruits enabling us to form an estimate of the heart, i.e. the tree which bears them; if this is pure, the others are not bad, Mat 12:23.
Stier:Future accountability is solemn and difficult even in the case of our own soul. Who would lightly undertake to be accountable for the souls of others? Indeed is it not written, Many are called but few chosenwho will call himself in order to fall with so much more surety into condemnation? Many did it then, and alas! many do it now. But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi, said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, and would not be dissuaded when he was told thou hast no good tidings ready. He stuck to his let me run. (2Sa 18:19-23). There are many such teachers and runners, who are not sent. They surely are not the true teachers and masters that shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.(Dan 12:3),but they will stand illy.Manifoldly we offend allJames includes himself in this confession in order to put to shame the proud brethren. Not indeed that he intended to expose the supposed errors of his Divinely-inspired Epistle to their criticism or now to ours, but he rather meant solemnly to assert respecting life in general apart from the sacred office, that the perfect man who does not even trip in a word, cannot be found anywhere. Even the Apostles were assuredly not sinless, holy and infallible in their daily and hourly private life; the promise of the Holy Ghost to guard them from all error related only to their sacred office, just as it was with reference to their office and the principal and fundamental truths of their message that the seventy as well as the twelve were told He that heareth you, heareth me.Although the proud tongue may boast, I can be silent, or I can thoroughly dissemble myselfit is a thing beyond its control, there it is brought to shame. The most expert hypocrite can never reach such a point of dissembling as to prevent its failing him even in a word; the heart runs over, the hell within bursts out on the tongue. Our speech is and remains the nearest, surest and most irresistible effluence of the heart. What follows lastly from Jamess sermon against the sins of the tongue? Whither they leadto the world full of unrighteousness, whence they comefrom the inward abyss of corruptionhe has shown; it is not difficult to apply here the only remedy.
Heubner:We are more on our guard with respect to sins in deed than with respect to sins in word.Whoso fails to govern his tongue is like a rider on an unruly horse, or like a sailor in a ship without a rudder.The tongue is a channel which transmits the evil of hell.An unconditional impossibility to tame the tongue does not exist. If thy tongue is cursing, it is unfitted for praise.
Viedebandt:The rule of the tongue is more important than the rule of the world.What an evil full of deadly poison is many a newspaper tongue!If Satan has your heart, he also rules your tongue. The tongue and the heart are only a span apart.
Neander:James attacks the being of mock piety at all points. Such is that pious cant which while it utters the praises of God in words, hatefully censures and condemns men, in whom the image of God ought to be honoured, aside.Thus James points out the fundamental idea of this whole Epistle, that everything depends on that disposition which gives direction to a mans whole life, the recognition of which truth was as remote as possible from that tendency, attacked by him at all points, which only considers the outward, single acts, and the appearance of things.
Jakobi:The Apostle shows from the harmony, visible in universal creation, that it is unnatural and therefore ungodly and therefore displeasing to God if the same tongue is used in the service of heaven and hell, and if praises and curses proceed out of the same mouth God, says another Apostle, is a God of order. Because the fig-tree, the olive tree and the vine bear fruit each according to its kind, figs, olives and grapes, and because sweet fountains and salt fountains always send forth the same kind of water and because of this order in nature, God rejoices in all his works (Psa 104:31), and looking down from heaven upon the earth, behold, all things are very good. Therefore it cannot be good and well-pleasing to God, if contrary to the Divinely appointed order the gifts and faculties intrusted to man are employed in opposite uses, if the same tongue which has just stammered the praise of God, utters shameful words, folly and unseemly jests. Therefore as long as this continues to be done among Christians, so long as we who have just had on our tongue the sweet word of God, indulge in bitter revilings of those who share with us the greatest of all blessings, as long as out of the same opening of the mouth there flow such sweet and such bitter streams, so long the sad dissension of sin continues in us and we do not yet stand in the unity and truth of the Divine life.
Lisco:The sins of the tongue: 1. They are of all sins the most corrupt; 2, They are of all sins, the most difficult to be avoided.He who governs himself solves the problem of the Christian life.The tongue 1, is the communicator of our thoughts and 2, ought to be solely the mediator of good.
Porubszky: (Jam 3:1-2):Religious conversation in social life.(Jam 3:3-12). The tongue of scandal.
Beck:Three golden rules for a Christians life: 1, have humility in your heart (Jam 3:1-2), 2, have truth in your mouth (Jam 3:3-9), 3, practise faithfulness in your life (Jam 3:10-12).
W. Hofacker (Sermons p. 635):Our speaking tongue one of the greatest gifts of Gods grace.
Jam 3:1-10. Epistle for the 16th Sunday after Trinity in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and elsewhere.
Gerok:Watch thy tongue: 1, It looks so little and so small 2, Yet worketh such great things for all; 3, Kindles many a fire of hell, 4, Yet heaven has ordered it so well [German: 1, Sie ist nur klein und scheint gering 2, und richtet an so grosse Ding; 3, sie hat maneh Hllenfeuer entflammt 4, und fhrt doch ein so himmlish Amt.M.].
Ruperti:Several oft-forgotten duties to be practised by the Christian in order that he may become master of his tongue in his intercourse with others.
Alt:The evil word towards ones neighbour.
B. Jam 3:13-18
VJames Jam 3:13-18. Epistle for Quinquagesima Sunday in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and elsewhere.
The difference between abstract knowledge of Christian truth and true life-wisdom.The tree is known by its fruit.Meek wisdom the crown of Christian virtue.The intimate union of truth and love on Christian ground. The wisdom which is from above, and the wisdom which is from beneath; the sevenfold more exalted character of the former and the threefold baseness of the latter.The wisdom from above: 1, how it is evidenced, 2, how it is rewarded, 3, how it is learned.The harvest feast of the peaceable: 1, the seed, 2, the fruit, 3, the harvest-joy; here in its beginning, hereafter in its perfection,James himself is in his Epistle a continuing proof of the truth of what he says, Jam 3:13-18.
Starke:The possession of a natural, wise, prudent understanding is a great gift of God, but to be truly enlightened with the light of truth is invaluable, Pro 3:13; 2Co 4:6.
Cramer:Our Christianity is then inseparable, for a good understanding have all they that do His commandments, Psa 111:10.Many mens meekness is a worm-eaten fruit of nature. They are rather tamed lions than meek sheep of Christ, Mat 11:29.
Nova Bibl. Tb.:Wisdom and meekness are noble virtues which ought to regulate the whole of our conversation; they are the springs of all other virtues, Pro 19:2.Those who are ready to dispute and quarrel and are ever at odds with their neighbour, exhibit an infallible token that they are still lacking true wisdom, Pro 18:6; Pro 20:3.
Quesnel:A teacher above all things should be an enemy of all disputing and contention, 2Ti 2:24.
Cramer:Cunning is not wisdom. Hence little wisdom in the fear of God is better than much wisdom allied to contempt of God, Sir 19:21
Quesnel:The wisdom of the world is very different from the wisdom of the Gospel. It is only cunning wisdom whose end is to rule on earth, but which is ruled itself by nothing but brutal lusts, 1Co 1:21; 1Co 2:7-8.Sin punishes itself even in this world, because man in the service of it does not enjoy his life on account of the great trouble and annoyance to which sin puts him, Psa 32:10.
Cramer:As smoke causes pain to the eyes and prevents their seeing distinctly, so it happens to reason and wisdom, for if it is disturbed by the passions, it cannot see any thing and decide what is white or black, right or wrong.The most simple Christian who practises these seven qualities of virtue will be wiser than the seven sages of Greece. Remember only one for each day of the week.Those who scatter the poison of their evil heart in anger, contention and brawling, will reap from it the unhappy fruit of eternal trouble, tribulation and anguish, Rom 2:8-9.Be content, ye peacemakers, if your souls are afraid to dwell with those that hate peace, (Psa 120:6), remember that ye shall hereafter dwell forever in a peaceable habitation, Isa 32:18
Stier:To be only prudent and understanding does not amount to much and is a very doubtful and suspicious thing, but to be wise and prudent, that is the right thing.Every good gift as well as true wisdom is from above, but that which is passed oft for it with lying against the truth, all false wisdom is not from heaven, but earthly; not from the Spirit of God but human, from mans soul, flesh and blood; not from Christ the King of the kingdom of God, the destroyer of the works of the devil, but rather devilish still, from the influence and seduction of evil spirits. Indeed on this profound saying of James might be written a history of all knowledge falsely so called, of all so-called philosophy or even theology.All the trouble and confusion in the Church, all the disorder and unruliness or rebellion of self-will opposing the Spirit of God originates in the brawling of carnality; hence schism, factions, sects, hence other evils and particularly also evil hypocrisy under corced unity. Even in the world and in things earthly a family and many a city give unceasing testimony that good cannot mature under the influence of envy and contention, but that these conduce to nothing but evil. Still more lamentable and ravaging are the contentions concerning Gods Word in the house and city of God, the carnal wrangling of brethren and members in Christ.Many are officiously engaged in imparting to others opinions, which are their truths and in disputing away errorsbut where is the good fruit of all these efforts ? whom have they improved thereby, converted and won for the kingdom of heaven? On the other hand look at many quiet people in the land: they make no noise, they do not deal in great things, they walk everywhere in meekness and gentlenessbut wherever they go they carry something along with them, which passes from them like a breath of life;the words which they utter at the right time, are seedsall their walk and work burst into fruitfulness around them with a silent, deep power, and many things are recorded on high as the fruit of their righteousness, whereof men know and suspect nothing. Grace works by them, they live in love and this is their deep power.Fruits, gentlemen, fruits that shall make men whole. It was this which the king of Prussia demanded of the University of Knigsberg, and truly it was a great royal word, a Solomonic word, in its time. Wholesome, healthy fruits will grow where healthy seed has been sown, but the seed itself had before grown as the produce of ripe fruit; thus righteousness is sown and transmitted from one to another.
Heubner: (Jam 3:15).This is a description truly applicable to those who by their writings,either immoral, provoking vice, or irreligious, undermining the faith of Christiansespecially if they exhibit skill and genius, have exerted the influence of devils upon the world. The subtle and disguised ones are the worst; subtle poison insinuates itself most thoroughly.Earthly wisdom effects nothing good for eternity.
Neander.:Holy Scripture often designates, by the name of the flesh, all evil, whatever is opposed to the Spirit of God, to the Divine life. If the word is used in this general sense, it includes also mans spiritual nature, reason and the soul, as far as it has not been made subject to the Divine Spirit, but persists in its selfish being, pretends to be something by itself, independent of God, without (extra) God and hence opposed to Him. The term flesh in this biblical sense includes all these ideas. Its meaning is by no means restricted to what we call flesh, sensuality in the narrower sense of the word. Now if we take flesh in this more general sense, biblical usage distinguishes it from that which in the narrower sense is designated as psychical, i.e., the spiritual [part of man], as far as it is made not to conform to God, but to conform to the world [German: In sofern es nicht vergttlicht ist, sondern verweltlicht.]. Reason however cultivated remains still within the sphere of the psychical [i.e. the rational soul not only not influenced by the Divine Spirit but rather influenced by the physical and the cosmical. The German for psychical is seelisch, as stated before.M.]. The seed of whatever is truly good in action, proceeding from righteousness, can only prosper where peace reigns and with those, the end and aim of whose actions is peace. Where all is strife, nothing truly Christian can prosper.
Jakobi (on the feast of the ingathering of the harvest):What a description of wisdom! Truly such wisdom cometh from above, from the Father of Light with whom every thing is light, and pure and holy; thence it cometh as the best and most perfect light, communicated by Him, in whom is treasured up the fulness of all good, communicated by the Son of Eternal Wisdom and Love to all those, who renouncing earthly, human and devilish wisdom, and looking to Him alone in simplicity of faith, suffer Him to create in them a pure heart and receive a new sure spirit, the spirit of truth, which is also for this very reason the spirit of true wisdom.
Porubszky:Wisdom in action.Envy sets us at variance 1, with God, 2, with man, 3, with ourselves.
Beck:Heavenly wisdom the fountain of earthly peace.
Schmaltz: The fire of discord.
Kstlin:Of true, Christian wisdom as contrasted with false, earthly wisdom.
Alt:With the wisdom of Christians we will overcome the evil of time.
[Jam 3:2. Barrow:To offend originally signifies to impinge (infringe), to stumble upon somewhat lying across our way, so as thereby to be cast down, or at least to be disordered in our posture, and stopped in our progress: whence it is well transferred to our being through any incident temptation brought into sin, whereby a man is thrown down, or bowed from his upright state and interrupted from prosecuting a steady course of piety and virtue. By an opposite manner of speaking (Psa 37:23-24) our tenor of life is called a way, our conversation walking, our actions steps, our observing good laws uprightness, our transgression of them tripping, faltering, falling. By not offending in word, we may then conceive to be understood such a constant restraint and such a careful guidance of our tongue, that it doth not transgress the rules prescribed by the Divine law, or by good reason; that it thwarteth not the natural ends and proper uses for which it was framed, to which it is fitted; such as chiefly are promoting Gods glory, our neighbours benefit, and our own true welfare.
A constant governance of our speech according to duty and reason is a high instance and a special argument of a thoroughly sincere and solid goodness.
The offences of speech are various. 1. Some of them are committed against God, and confront piety; 2. others against our neighbour, and violate justice, charity, or peace; 3. others against ourselves, infringing sobriety, discretion, or modesty; 4. some are of a more general and abstracted nature, rambling through all matters, and crossing all the heads of duty.
Cf. on this subject Dr. Barrows sermon on this text; Bp. Butler on the Government of the Tongue, an abstract of which is here given; Bp. Taylors Sermons on the Good and Evil Tongue; On Slander and Flattery; On the Duties of the Tongue.
Abstract of Butlers Sermon on the Government of the Tongue. (Bohns edition.)
One of the most material restraints under which virtue places us in the obligation of bridling the tongue. Let us then ask
1. What vice is opposed to this precept? and
2. When can a man be fairly said to act up to it?
1. The vice alluded to is not evil-speaking from malice, nor from selfish design. It is talkativeness or a disposition to talk at random without thought of doing either good or harm. Now talkative persons, when other subjects fail them, will indulge in scandal or divulge secrets; or, further, they will go on to invent matter, and all in order to engage attention; and if a quarrel ensue, they will defame and revile their enemy, but without malice.
As all our faculties may be made instruments of evil, so also the tongue. Deliberate and wilful falsehood, indulged in from malice or revenge, does not arise from having no government of the tongue. But there is a vicious habit, without malice, which arises from a desire to arrest attention; and in these people the very least thing excites the tongue, and so gives birth to innumerable evils, especially to strife. Its effects are often as bad as those of malice or envy; it wrongly distributes praise and blame, and, being used at random, always does harm.
2. In what does the government of the tongue consist? We are to measure our faculties by the end for which they have been given to us. The end of speech clearly is to communicate our thoughts to each other, either for real business or for enjoyment. In this secondary use, it contributes to promote friendship, and so is serviceable to virtue and its tendency is to general good.
Corresponding to these two uses is the abuse of speech. As to its primary end, deceit in business does not come within our scope. It is in its secondary sense that it becomes the object of our inquiry, for the government of the tongue relates chiefly to what we call Conversation. Certain cautions are to be observed in governing the tongue. First, that there is a fit time to speak and a time to keep silence. This rule is too often forgotten; and they who forget it, too often, if they amuse at all, amuse at their own expense. The times for silence are when they are in company of their superiors, or when the discourse is of subjects above themselves; and these obvious rules are generally passed over by those who in their talkative mood forget that the very essence of conversation is that it should be mutual, and talkative persons are generally disregarded. Men, then, should be silent, both when they have nothing to say, or nothing but what were better left unsaid.
In talking on indifferent subjects, the first rule is not to spend too much time on them; the second, to be quite sure, that they are indifferent. Conversation about other people and their matters is often very dangerous; as in such cases we cannot always be indifferent and neutral, or escape being drawn into rivalry. But as we cannot entirely avoid speaking of others, we should take care that what we say, be true. It is important to know the characters of the bad as well as the good, and abuse will scarcely follow, if these two rules be observed: 1st, That to speak evil of a man undeservedly is worse than to speak good of him undeservedly, for the former is a direct injury to the person as well as to society. 2nd, That a good man will always speak all the good which he can of his fellows, and never any harm unless he has some positive reason for so doing; for example, just indignation against villany, or to prevent the innocent from being deceived. For we must always study justice: and we do justice to society at large by exposing bad characters.
Those who observe the above cautions and precepts have due government over their tongues.M.].
[Jam 3:3. Wordsworth:St. James follows up the metaphor of the preceding verse with an argument a fortiori. We can rule irrational animals with a bit; how much more ought we to be able to govern ourselves! And if we rule our tongues, we do in fact govern the whole man; for the tongue is to man what a bit is to horses, and a rudder is to ships; it rules the whole; let it therefore be governed aright.M.].
[Jam 3:5. Virgil, Georgic 2, 303.
Nam spe incautis pastoribus excidit ignis,
Qui furtim pingui primm sub cortice tectus
Robora comprendit, frondesque elapsus in altas
Ingentem clo sonitum dedit; inde secutns
Per ramos victor, perque alta cacumina regnat
Et totum involvit flammis nemus; et ruit atram
Ad coelum pice crassus fuligine nubem;
Prsertim si tempestas vertice sylvis
Incubuit, glomeratque ferens incendia ventus;
For the benefit of those not familiar with Latin, I subjoin Davidsons translation. The quotation itself mutatis mutandis forcibly illustrates the incendiary ravages of the tongue.
For fire is often let fall from the unwary shepherds
Which at first secretly lurking under the unctuous bark,
Catches the solid wood, and shooting up into the topmost leaves,
Raises a loud crackling to heaven: thence pursuing its way,
Reigns victorious among the branches and the lofty tops,
Involves the whole grove in flames, and darts the black
Cloud to heaven, condensed in pitchy vapor;
Chiefly if a storm overhead rests its fury on the woods,
And the driving wind whirls the flames aloft.M.].
[Jam 3:6. Wordsworth:That world of iniquity, that universe of mischief, as containing within it the elements of all mischief; as the world contains within itself mineral combustibles and volcanic fires, and electric fluid, which may blaze forth into a conflagration.
By the faculty of speech man is distinguished from the rest of creation: by it his thoughts are borne, as upon eagles wings, to the remotest shores, and are carried to distant ages; by it they are endued with the attributes of omnipresence and immortality; by it men are reclaimed from savage ignorance; by it cities are built and are peopled, laws promulgated, alliances formed, leagues made; by it men are excited to deeds of heroic valor, and to prefer eternity to time, and the good of their country to their own; through it the affairs of the world are transacted; it negotiates the traffic of commerce, and exchanges the produce of our soil and climate for that of another; it pleads the cause of the innocent, and checks the course of the oppressor; it gives vent to the tenderest emotions; it cheers the dreariness of life. By it virtuous deeds of men are proclaimed to the world with a trumpets voice; by it the memory of the dead is kept alive in families. It is the teacher of arts and sciences, the interpreter of poetic visions, and of subtle theories of philosophy; it is the rudder and helm by which the state of the world is steered; it is the instrument by which the Gospel of Christ is preached to all nations, and the Scriptures sound in the ears of the Church, and the world unites in prayer and praise to the Giver of all good, and the chorus of Saints and Angels pours forth hallelujahs before His throne.
Such being the prerogatives of speech, it is a heinous sin to pervert the heavenly faculty, to insult the Name of the Giver Himself, or to injure man, made in the image of God. All true Christians will put away profane and impure language, calumny and slander, injurious to Gods honour, the welfare of society, and their own eternal salvation. They will abhor it worse than pestilence, and they will pray to Him from whom are the preparations of the heart, and who maketh the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind, who quickened the slow speech of His servant Moses, and put words of fire into his mouth, and whose Spirit on the Day of Pentecost descended in tongues of fire on the Apostles, and filled them with holy eloquence, so to direct their thoughts and words, that both now and hereafter they may ever sing His praise.M.].
[Jam 3:10. Vayikra Rabba: James 33:Rabbi Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, said to his servant Tobias, Go and bring me some good food from the market: the servant went and brought tongues. At another time, he said to the same servant, Go and buy me some bad food: the servant went and bought tongues. The master said, What is the reason that when I ordered thee to buy me good and bad food, thou didst bring tongues? The servant answered, From the tongue both good and evil come to man:, if it be good, there is nothing better; if bad, there is nothing worse.M.].
[Jam 3:13. Pyle:Whatever Christian convert or Jewish zealot, therefore, would be indeed a master of religious wisdom, let him show his wisdom first in the suppression of this wretched habit, and in reducing himself to a meek and charitable disposition towards his brethren.M.].
[Jam 3:14. Bp. Hall:Never brag vainly that ye are Christians: and do not shame and contradict that truth which ye profess, by a real denial of the profession thereof.M.].
[Jam 3:16. Wordsworth:Strife and party-spirit would destroy Sion, and can build up nothing but Babel. Cf. Bp. Sanderson I. pp. 214, 350; and see Clemens Rom. I. capp. 39.M.].
[Herbert:
Be calm in arguing, for fierceness makes
Error a fault and truth discourtesy:
Why should I feel another mans mistakes
More than his sickness or his poverty?
In love I should: but anger is not love;
Nor wisdom neither; therefore gently move.
M.].
[Fortiter in re, leniter in modo.M.]
[On the meaning and use of the term wisdom from above see Schoettgen; illustrations:
1. Sohar, Yalcut Rubeni f. James 19: The wisdom from above was in Adam more than in the supreme angels: and he knew all things.
2. Sohar Chadath, f. James 35: The angels were sent from above and taught him (Enoch) the wisdom that is from above.Ibid. f. 42, 4. Solomon came, and he was perfect in all things, and strongly set forth the praises of the wisdom that is from above.
For particular texts consult the following, besides the above:
Jam 3:1. Bp. Bull: The priests office difficult and dangerous. Visitation Sermon. Works 1, 137.
Jam 3:2. Barrow: Not to offend in word, an evidence of a high pitch of virtue. Works 1.
Jam 3:14-17. Abp.Whately: Party-spirit. Bampton Lecture 33.
Jam 3:16. South: The nature, causes and consequences, of envy. Sermons, 5, 389.
Jam 3:17. Leighton: The nature and properties of heavenly wisdom. Works, 3, 86.M.].
Footnotes:
[1] Jam 3:1. Lange: Become not many teachers, my brethren, since ye know, that we shall [as such] receive a greater [a more severe] condemnation [judicial sentence.]
[ knowing that we shall receive greater condemnation.M.]
Jam 3:2. [Cod. Sin. has for .M]
Lange: For manifoldly we offend all; if a man offendeth not in word he is a perfect man, able even to bridle the whole body.
[For oftentimes we all offend word, this man is a perfect man, able to bridle also the whole body.M.]
[2]Jam 3:3. [Rec. reads against the most authentic codd. C. and Griesbach read . A. B. G. Sin. and al. Lachmann and Tisch. have . [So Alford, Wordsw. Ecce enim, Syr. Si autem, Vulg.M.]
[3] Jam 3:3. [B. C. . [So Cod. Sin. Alf. Rec. with A. K. L. (?)M.]
Lange: But if we put bits into the horses mouths, in order that they may obey us, we guide also their whole body.
[ the bits into the mouths of horses in order to their obeying us, we also turn about their whole body.M.]
[4]Jam 3:4. [ . B. C. K. Cod. Sin. . . Rec. A. L.M.]
[5]Jam 3:4. [ Rec. Sin. B.M.]
[6] Jam 3:4. Cod. Sin. B read for .M.]
Lange: Behold even the ships, although they are so great and are [moreover] tossed about by fierce winds, even they are guided with a very small rudder, whithersoever the direction [course] of the steersman [guide] may wish.
[.. though so great and driven by are turned about by a very small rudder, whithersoever the will of the steersman may wish.M.]
[7]Jam 3:5. The reading A. C.* recommended by Tischend, is preferable to .
[8] Jam 3:5. The difference between and keeps balancing between the authorities and the critics. In point of sense both amount to the same thing with the exception that , the more difficult reading, gives also the stronger expression: what a fire, i. e. what a little fire. [ is decidedly the more authentic reading. It is in A.** B. C.* Cod. Sin. Vulg. received by Lachmann, Tisch., Alford, Wordsw., de Wette, Huther and others. Alford maintains that is quantulus as well as quantus and cites Lucian, Hermot. 5.M.]
Lange: Thus also the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things.Behold what a little firewhat a forest it doth kindle [Jerusalem on fire.]
[ Behold how small a fire kindleth how great a forest.M]
[9]Jam 3:6. [Cod. Sin. omits before .M.]
[10]Jam 3:6. before the second is wanting in [A. B. C. K. Cod. Sin.M.]
[11]Jam 3:6. [Cod. Sin. reads for Rec. and many others.M.]
[12] Jam 3:6. [Cod. Sin. reads after M.]
Lange: The tongue also is a fire; it, the world [the adornment of the world, worldliness [Germ.: Weltformigkeit] of unrighteousness. The tongue steppeth forth [rules] among our members, it, which defileth the whole body and inflameth the [revolving] wheel of the development of life, and itself is inflamed by hell.
[And the tongue is a fire, that world of iniquity. The tongue makes itself in our members the polluter of the whole body [Wordsworth], and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and itself is set on fire by hell.M.]
Jam 3:7. Lange: For every nature of the wild beasts and of the birds of the creeping creatures and of sea-creatures is tamed and hath been tamed by human nature.
[ of beasts and birds [lit. winged things], of creeping things and things in the sea M.]
[13]Jam 3:8. [ . Cod. Sin. A. K.M.]
[14] Jam 3:8. is on good grounds preferred by Lachm. Tisch. according to A. B. Vulg. and Cod. Sin. to , Rec. C. G. K.
Lange: But the tongue no one of men is able to tame, the [causing restlessness and disquiet; Germ: unruhstiftend] evil full of death-bringing poison.
[ it is a restless evil, full of death-bringing poison.M.]
[15] Jam 3:9. A. B. G. Tisch. Lachm. [and Cod. Sin] read .
Lange: With it praise [bless] we the Lord and Father [also as Father] and with the same curse we men, who after the image [similitude] of God are created [have become, destined to become His children.]
[Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, and therewith have been created after the likeness of God.M.]
Jam 3:10. Lange: praising and cursing.
[ goeth forth [Stier, de Wette, Allioli and al.]M.]
Lange: It shall not be thus, my brethren, that these things come thus to pass.
[16]Jam 3:12. is opposed by the most important witnesses. The immediate sequel in Text. Rec. becomes modified into . Cod. Sin. favours etc. [Syr. ita etiam aqua salsa non fieri potest dulcis.M.]
[17] Jam 3:12. [Cod. Sin. omits before .M.]
Lange: Doth the fountain, perchance, bubble out of the same opening sweet and bitter [water]? A fig-tree, my brethren, surely cannot produce olives, or the vine figs? [Thus] nor can [any fountain] salt [water] give sweet water.
[Doth a fountain, perchance, out of the same chink [Alford] send forth the sweet and the bitter? Can a fig-tree, my brethren, yield olives nor can salt [water] yield sweet water.M.]
Jam 3:13. Lange: Who is wise and intelligent among you? Let him show through good conduct his works [that is] in gentleness of wisdom.
[ intelligent among you [Bengel, Stier, de Wette, al] out of a good conversation his works in meekness of wisdom.M.]
[18] Jam 3:14. [Cod. Sin. .M.]
Lange: But if ye harbor bitter zeal and quarrelsomeness in your hearts, boast not yourselves
[But if ye harbor bitter emulation and party-strife boast not.M.]
[19] Jam 3:14. [Cod. Sin. .M.]
Jam 3:15. Lange: For this wisdom is not that which cometh down from above, but an earthly, sensuous [soulish (Germ. seelisch, almost impossible to render in English without a circumlocution), passionate], devilish one.
[This wisdom is not that which is coming from above, but earthly, sensuous, devilish.M.]
[20] Jam 3:16. [Cod. Sin. has after ; so A.M.]
Lange: For where is emulation and quarrelsomeness, there is seditious work and all manner of ovil doing.
[ emulation and party-strife, there is perturbation and every evil deed.M.]
[21]Jam 3:17. A. B. C. Sin. and al. omit after .
[22] Jam 3:17. before is omitted in A. B. C. L. [and Cod Sin.M.]
Lange: But the wisdom from above is first of all consecrated [theocratically pure or chaste, free from apostasy], then peaceable, equitably disposed [philanthropical, humane], gladly yielding, full of compassion and good fruits, without separatism, without hypocrisy.
[ first pure, then peaceable, equitable, compliant, undistinguishing, without hypocrisy.M.]
Jam 3:18. Lange: But the [future] fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This Chapter contains much wholesome Exhortation to the People of God, on the several Parts of Conduct. The close of it hath a beautiful Description of the Wisdom which is from above, in Opposition to that which is earthly.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (2) For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. (3) Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. (4) Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. (5) Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. (7) For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: (8) But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9) Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? (12) Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. (13) Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. (14) But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
We shall enter into a more perfect apprehension of the several directions we meet with in the whole of this Chapter, and indeed, it might be added, the whole of this Epistle, if we consider the general scope of the Apostle’s directions, in relation to those to whom he wrote. The Church then, as the Church now, had a nominal congregation, which mingled with the people of God. The Holy Ghost, therefore, by his servant the Apostle, instructs the true Church, from being led away by the practice of such men. Hence, we find in the two preceding chapters, expressions, of double-minded men; mere hearers of the word; men seeming to be religious. So again, of certain persons, who were partial observer, of the law: unconscious that one offence constituted a transgressor, as truly so, as a man guilty of all. And in this Chapter, he describes the bitter envying, and strife in the heart, and of lying against the truth The Reader will do well to consider these things. It is not the Church, to whom James is writing, that he chargeth with this inconsistency; for the Church is considered in a regenerate state. But it is the mere Professor, who mingled with God’s people, though in reality, had no part, nor lot in the matter. By an attention to these different characters, what the Apostle here sets forth will be found under divine teaching, very instructive.
I would pause over the Apostle’s words, of the wonderful circumstance which he takes notice of, and which, more or less, the people of God too fully know, and feel; that those members of ours, which under grace, are used for glorifying the Lord, in praising him, are also made the instruments of sin. With the tongue bless we God even the Father. And, though a truly regenerated child of God is restrained from using the tongue to curse; yet, too often; perhaps, the tongue is used in angry words. Hence, Reader! every child of God hath an evidence in himself, when regenerated by the Holy Ghost, of a double principle within him; grace, and corruption. Indeed, what higher proof can a child of God need, than his own heart? I have so largely considered this subject in this Poor Man’s Commentary, upon several occasions before, and particularly in the Canticles, Jas 5:2 and Rom 7:7 , that I rather would refer to those scriptures, than enlarge. But, as the Apostle saith, and very blessedly saith it, the wise man, (that is, the truly regenerated believer, made wise unto salvation, through the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and who is endued with divine knowledge,) will skew out of a good conversation his works of grace with meekness and wisdom.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jas 3:2
She gossiped, like all the rest of Old Chester; but by some mysterious method, Susan Carr’s gossip gave the listener a gentler feeling towards his kind. When she spoke of her neighbour’s faults, one knew that somehow they were simply virtues gone to seed; and what was more remarkable, her praise had no sting of insinuation in it, no suggestion that she could speak differently if she chose.
Margaret Deland, Philip and His Wife, p. 44.
References. III. 2. J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany, p. 483. III. 4. T. F. Crosse, Sermons, p. 226. S. Gregory, How to Steer a Ship, p. 1. H. Bushnell, Christ and His Salvation, p. 140. III. 4-15. T. Spurgeon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. p. 344.
Jas 3:5
These fires are one of the saddest features of the mountain districts. The ravages of the past are visible in almost every valley; and every year fresh areas of living green we being swept by the pitiless flames and left a melancholy wilderness. The ease with which a forest fire is started is astounding, and only rivalled by the rapidity of its progress, when once it gains a hold upon the trees, and by the extent of the destruction ere the blaze is quenched. A single lighted match thrown carelessly upon the ground, a shower of sparks from a passing locomotive, a camp-fire insufficiently extinguished, may be the origin. And from this tiny cause, ‘how great a matter a little fire kindleth’.
James Outram, In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies, p. 147.
These fires are one of the great dangers of California. I have seen from Monterey as many as three at the same time, by day a cloud of smoke, by night a red coal of conflagration in the distance. A little thing will start them, and, if the wind be favourable, they gallop over miles of country faster than a horse.
R. L. Stevenson, in The Old Pacific Capital.
References. III. 5. O. Bronson, Sermons, p. 229. III. 5, 6. J. J. Blunt, Plain Sermons, p. 123.
Jas 3:6
An Apostle speaks of the tongue both as a blessing and as a curse. It may be the beginning of a fire, he says, a ‘universitas iniquitatis,’ and, alas! such did it become in the mouth of gifted Abelard. His eloquence was wonderful; he dazzled his contemporaries, says Fulco, ‘by the brilliancy of his genius, the sweetness of his eloquence; the ready flow of his language, and the subtlety of his knowledge’. People came to him from all quarters; from Rome, in spite of mountains and robbers; from England, in spite of the sea; from Flanders and Germany; from Normandy, and the remote districts of France; from Angers and Poitiers; from Navarre by the Pyrenees, and from Spain, besides the students of Paris itself; and among those who sought his instructions now or afterwards, were the great luminaries of the schools in the next generation…. It was too much for a weak head and heart, weak in spite of intellectual power; for vanity will possess the head, and worldliness the heart, of the man, however gifted, whose wisdom is not an effluence of the Eternal Light.
Newman, University Sketches (ch. XVI.).
Jas 3:6
In the eighth pit of punishment, within the Eighth Circle of the Inferno, Dante describes the doom of evil counsellors in imagery drawn from this verse. Each is swathed in a fiery tongue, which burns them with agonising fury just as their tongues on earth set on fire the world.
Jas 3:6
Knowledge, the discipline by which it is gained, and the tasks which it forms, have a natural tendency to refine the mind, and to give it an indisposition, simply natural, yet real, nay, more than this, a disgust and abhorrence, towards excesses and enormities of evil… a simple hatred of that miserable tone of conversation which, obtaining as it does in the world, is a constant fuel of evil, heaped up round about the soul.
Newman, The Idea of a University, p. 187.
The chief end I purpose to myself in all my labours is to vex the world rather than to divert it.
Swift (in a letter to Pope).
‘All sins,’ said St. Francis de Sales, ‘come under the head of thought, word, and deed; and faults in word are the most common and often the most dangerous for several reasons. First, because sins of thought only injure oneself, and give no scandal or bad example to others; God alone sees and is displeased with them, and moreover a loving repentance and ready turning to Him blots them out; whereas sins of the tongue go further, the evil word once uttered can only be recalled by a humble retractation, and even thus a brother’s heart may have been poisoned by it. Again, notorious acts of sin are liable to public punishment; but evil speaking, unless it is exceptionally gross and slanderous, is subject to no check. Thirdly, sins of the tongue are specially dangerous because people do so little in the way of restitution or reparation for them.’
Jas 3:7
Our learned Dr. Hakewill, in his Apology of God’s Power and Providence, quotes Pliny to report that one of the emperors had particular fish ponds, and, in them, several fish that appeared and came when they were called by their particular names. And St. James tells us, that all things in the sea have been tamed by mankind. And Pliny tells us, that Antonia, the wife of Drusus, had a lamprey at whose gills she hung jewels or ear-rings.
Izaak Walton, The Complete Angler (The Fourth Day).
Reference. III. 7-12. R. W. Dale, The Epistle of James, p. 96.
Jas 3:8
Our intercourse with others renders itself mainly into government of the tongue. I do not know which of these two things is the most astonishing, the unexpected importance of the place assigned to this duty in Holy Scripture, or the utter unconcern which even good men often feel about it. For the most part we have gone far along our road in devotion and done ourselves many an irreparable mischief, before we bestow half the carefulness on the government of our tongue, which it not only deserves but imperiously requires.
F. W. Faber, Growth in Holiness, pp. 91, 92.
A very great part of the mischiefs that vex the world arise from words. People soon forget the meaning, but the impression and the passion remain.
Burke.
‘Most people,’ says Plutarch ( Life of Timoleon , XXXII.), ‘seem to feel hard words more than hard deeds, and are more upset by insults than by actual injuries. What we do to an enemy in war is done from necessity, but the evil we say of him seems to arise from an excess of spite.’
In a letter to his son Philip, Sir Henry Sidney warns him that ‘a wound given by a word is oftentimes harder to be cured than that which is given with the sword. Be rather a hearer and bearer away of other men’s talk than a beginner and procurer of speech…. Think upon every word before you utter it, and remember how nature hath ramparted up, as it were, the tongue with teeth, lips, yea, and hair without the lips, and all betokening reins or bridles for the loose use of that member.’
The Ruin of a Masterpiece ( a Temperance Sermon )
Jas 3:9
St. James is speaking here in his searching, practical way about the use of the tongue and the sins of the tongue. He reminds us that it is possible for the same tongue to speak or sing the praises of God, and to say bitter or cruel things against men. The wrongness of saying these things about men, he says, lies in this: that man is so sacred, and has so much in his nature of affinity to God, that to curse man is to curse a being made after the similitude of God. To speak harsh and bitter and loveless things about man is thus an offence against what is great and holy in the estimation of his Maker.
I. St. James reminds us that bad words against men words that can hurt and injure and assault men are bad because man is so great, because his nature is so sacred. Does not that work out all round the circle of our duty to human nature and to ourselves? This drink curse what does it invade? What does it deteriorate? What does it drag down lower than the dust? What does it ruin and wreck? Not the beasts that perish, but men that are after the similitude of God. The injury is an injury upon what its Author designed to be a masterpiece of His perfect and Divine skill. The nature of the most miserable victim of drink was made after the similitude of God. The greater the thing wrecked, the more awful, the more pathetic, the more deplorable, the more tremendous is the wreck. If a cottage falls down by the sinking of a coal-pit under it, it is a great pity; but suppose the earth should heave and Westminster Abbey go down; that would be terrific, and the greatness of the Temple alone could measure the boundless greatness of the evil of the ruin. Man was designed by the Architect of all to be the shadow and the image of His own nature, with a will which is the true centre of causation, the shadow of the will of God, with a reason which can respond to the thought of the Divine mind, with a love which makes him most akin to the Divine nature. That is a temple, and shall that temple be wrecked and ruined, infinitely debased and bemired by a vice which plants itself on the border-line between the body and the spirit, between the physical and the psychical, and lays its horrible hands upon both, wrecking the physique and making the spiritual nature worse than ruined an antagonism to its Lord? It is this greatness and significance of man that makes the greatness of his fall and the greatness of his sin and the greatness of the peril to his soul, and the greatness of the call for all who would be on the side of good against evil, right against wrong, heaven against hell.
II. Have none of you appeals very near at hand? Such is the curse of drink in England that there are not many homes which have not some one or other of their kinship more or less a victim to this abominable peril and curse and temptation. I believe I must be speaking to hundreds in this congregation who, if it were the right thing to do, could say, Yes, I have a relative; I have a friend who has fallen or is falling a victim to it perhaps one with a fine intellect, a delicate imagination, and noble powers for usefulness; perhaps, on the other hand, one who began life all unsuspecting and unwarned, and now finds the temptation has coiled like a serpent round the life, stifling every hope of better things. Be it so or be it not so with any one of you, you know the public facts. You know what is meant all over this city by the countless centres of temptation that flare their light across the street, that invite the tired and the disgusted and the down-trodden within their doors, and send them out again a step lower down the slope that leads to the final wreck. And these are the men and the women who were made after the similitude of God!
III. There is one last thought The greatness of man made the greatness of his fall, and the greatness of his fall called down the greatness of His Redeemer and his Redeemer’s work. It was because God had made us to be so like Himself, and man made such a ruin of the work, that the Eternal Son of the Father for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. His delights were with the sons of men; His mighty compassions overflowed upon the sons of men as they had made themselves, whom God had made to be so great. Behold the greatness of Christ, and the greatness of His claim that we should take our place upon His side. But forget not that this all-mighty Christ, the Lord, is in the field against the evil.
Bishop Handley Moule, Christian World Pulpit, vol. LXXVI. p. 361.
Jas 3:9
In Rob Roy (pt. i. ch. XIII.) Andrew Fairservice remarks: ‘I have heard wives flyte in England and Scotland it’s nae marvel to hear them flyte ony gate but sic ill-scrapit tongues as thae Hieland carlines’ and sic grewsome wishes, that men should be slaughtered like sheep and that they may lapper their hands to the elbows in their heart’s blude sic awsome language as that I never heard oot o’ a human thrapple; and, unless the deil wad rise among them to gie them a lesson, I thinkna that this talent at cursing could be amended.’
We are told that, at the breaking up of the Council of Trent, the legate pronounced the words ‘Anathema to all heretics,’ and then the whole assembly rose, and the hall re-echoed from every lip, ‘Anathema! Anathema!’ It was well suggested by an American bishop of our own day, that if the Angel of Peace could have appeared at that moment, and whispered in the ears of the infuriated Romanists the Scriptural warning, ‘Bless and curse not,’ there might have been a flush of shame on every cheek.
F. W. Robertson, Essays and Addresses, p. 248.
Reference. III. 9. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 140.
Jas 3:10
I have several times seen the stiletto and the rosary come out of the same pocket.
Coleridge.
Ruskin, in the fiftieth number of Fora Clavigera, quotes the following from a correspondent’s letter: ‘Could you but hear the blasphemous and filthy language our rosy village bairns use as soon as they are out of the parson’s earshot, even when leaving the Sabbath School!… I know that the children are well taught six days a week, yet there is little fruit of good behaviour among them, and an indecency of speech which is amazing in rural children. On Christmas morn a party of these children, boys and girls, singing carols, encountered my young daughter going alone to the church service. The opportunity was tempting, and as if moved by one vile spirit, they screamed at her a blast of the most obscene and profane epithets that vicious malice could devise. She knew none of them; had never harmed them in her life. She came home with her kind, tender heart all aghast ‘Why do they hate me so?’ she asked. Yet a short time after the same children came into the yard, and began with the full shrill powers of their young lungs:
Why do I love Jesus!
the refrain
Because He died for me,
with especial gusto.’
A grandson of the late Rev. Dr. Primrose (of Wakefield, vicar), wrote me a little note from his country living this morning, and the kind fellow had the precaution to write ‘No thorn’ upon the envelope, so that ere I broke the seal, my mind might be relieved of any anxiety lest the letter should contain one of those lurking stabs which are so painful to the present gentle writer.
Thackeray, Roundabout Papers.
The printed word is a tongue a tongue that reaches very far; and for this reason all that is said of the tongue relates also to the printed word: ‘Therewith bless we God, and therewith curse we men, made after the likeness of God?’
Tolstoi (to Peter Verigin).
Thomas Boston remarks that he was ‘particularly surprised with “one thing at Ettrick,” viz., the prevalency of the sin of profane swearing; and was amazed to find blessing and cursing proceeding out of the same mouth; praying persons, and praying in their families too, horrid swearers at times; so that by the month of November I behoved to set myself to preach directly against that sin.’
References. III. 10. J. M. Neale, Readings for the Aged (3rd Series), p. 1; ibid. Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 11.
Jas 3:13
Erskine of Linlathen, in 1832, wrote to M. Gaussen: ‘My dear Brother, although I have had much enjoyment in meeting you once more in this world, yet I have also suffered much, chiefly because I am sensible that in witnessing for God’s truth to you, I often sinned against the law of love and meekness and patience’. This apology was drawn out by the writer’s memory of many keen theological discussions between himself and his friend during the latter’s visit to Scotland.
Jas 3:14
‘I remember Miss Bronte once telling me,’ writes Mrs. Gaskell, ‘that it was a saying round about Haworth, “Keep a stone in thy pocket seven year; turn it and keep it seven year longer, that it may be ever ready to thine hand when thine enemy draws near”.’
By religion we live in God: all these quarrels lead to nothing but life with men or with cassocks.
Amiel.
‘Talking of Goldsmith, Johnson said, he was very envious. I defended him,’ says Boswell,’ by observing that he owned it frankly upon all occasions. Johnson: “Sir, you are enforcing the charge. He had so much envy that he could not conceal it. He was so full of it that he overflowed. He talked of it, to be sure, often enough. Now, sir, what a man avows, he is not ashamed to think; though many a man thinks what he is ashamed to avow. We are all envious naturally; but by checking envy, we get the better of it!”‘
Reference. III. 13-18. R. W. Dale, The Epistle of James, p. 107.
Jas 3:15
‘Sterne,’ wrote Dr. William Robertson, of Irvine, ‘Sterne is a blackguard, morally speaking; a pleasant enough sort of person in other respects. His Sentimental Journey must, with all its wickedness, have impressed me much, for although I have not read it, I am sure for a good many years its successive stages and incidents are about as familiar as those of our own tour along the Rhine. That monk, that imaginary prisoner, that dead ass, that melancholy girl, Marie, I think, that grace before meat, I am sure I shall never forget them in the world. I wish I may be able to forget them in the next, for there’s a dash of the “earthly, sensual, and devilish” in them, that makes them unsuitable companions for a better world.’ Reference. III. 15. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 43.
Jas 3:16
One thing is certain in our Northern land,
Allow that birth or valour, wealth or art,
Give each precedence to their possessor,
Envy, that follows on such eminence,
As came the lyme-hound on the roebuck’s track,
Shall pull them down, each one.
Sir David Lyndsay.
Speaking of Oxford in the eighteenth century, Mr. Cotter Morison ( Gibbon, p. 6) observes: ‘The strange thing is that, with all their neglect of learning and morality, the colleges were not the resort of jovial if unseemly boon companionship; they were collections of quarrelsome and spiteful litigants, who spent their time in angry law-suits. The indecent contentions between Bentley and the Fellows of Trinity were no isolated scandal.’
‘In former days,’ wrote Vinet during the religious squabbles at Basle, ‘God seemed to be an intimate personal friend. Today, controversial theology has come to separate us from Him.’
He is a wonderful man that can thread a needle when he is at cudgels in a crowd; and yet this is as easy as to find Truth in the hurry of disputation.
Joseph Glanvill.
The people of Alexandria, a various mixture of nations, united the vanity and inconsistency of the Greeks with the superstition and obstinacy of the Egyptians. The most trifling occasion, a transient scarcity of flesh or lentils, the neglect of an accustomed salutation, a mistake of precedency in the public baths, or even a religious dispute, were at any time sufficient to kindle a sedition among that vast multitude, whose resentment was furious and implacable.
Gibbon, Decline and Fall (ch. x.).
Mr. Badman’s envy was so rank and strong, that if it at any time turned its head against a man, it would hardly ever be pulled in again. He would watch over that man to do him mischief, as the cat watches over the mouse to destroy it; yea, he would wait seven years, but he would have an opportunity to hurt him, and when he had it, he would make him feel the weight of his envy.
Bunyan.
To hate indistinctly is soothing, and suffices for some time; but in the end there must be an object Hate without object is like shooting without a mark. What makes the sport interesting is a heart to pierce. There must be a man, a woman some one to ruin.
Victor Hugo.
References. III. 16. W. R. Inge, All Saints’ Sermons, p. 40. F. B. Cowl, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 190.
Jas 3:17
In describing the anointing (5:14) of the Regent, Mary of Guise, Mr. Andrew Lang ( History of Scotland, II. 67) remarks that ‘the Apostle least loved of Knox, St James, was her warrant The same author writes: “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy”. Little, indeed, of this wisdom prevailed in either party at this period. In the Regent at her death we see this spirit, and almost in her alone. “She embraced, and with a smiling countenance kissed the nobles, one by one, and to those of inferior rank who stood by she gave her hand to kiss, as a token of her kindness and dying charity.”‘
In a letter from Cambridge written during 1885, Dr. Mandell Creighton points out to a younger friend: ‘We should all of us try to feel something of the Divine love towards man, in spite of his weaknesses. “Men my brothers” should be a thought constantly before us. I freely admit that what is called “society” is a sore trial to one’s charity. The failings of the natural man are not so revolting as the meannesses of the cultivated and pretentious world. The empty head and the cold heart are unpleasant to see; yet most heads are not entirely empty, and most hearts are not entirely cold. There is often a great deal of mute misery concealed under an affectation of frivolity. One can try to understand and help all sorts of people, and no one is quite hopeless. All answer in some degree to a call to them to bring out the best that is in them.’
‘What we need at present for our Church’s well-being,’ wrote Newman in his Prophetical Office, ‘is not invention, nor originality, nor sagacity, nor even learning in our divines, at least in the first place, though all gifts of God are in a measure needed, and never can be unseasonable, when used religiously, but we need peculiarly a sound judgment, patient thought, discrimination, a comprehensive mind, an abstinence from all private fancies and caprices and personal tastes, in a word, Divine wisdom.’ Newman recurs to this text in his University Sketches (ch. XV.): ‘The Church does not think much of any “wisdom” that is not desursum , that is, revealed; nor unless, as the Apostle proceeds, it is “primum quidem pudica , deinde pacifica “. These may be called the three vital principles of the Christian student, faith, chastity, love; because their contraries, viz., unbelief or heresy, impurity, and enmity are just the three great sins against God, ourselves, and our neighbours, which are the death of the soul.’
In his first speech to the Little Parliament of 1653, Cromwell declares: ‘It’s better to pray for you than to counsel you in that matter, that you may exercise the judgment of mercy and truth! It’s better, I say, to pray for you than to counsel you; to ask wisdom from heaven for you; which I am confident many thousands of saints do this day and have done and will do, through the permission of God and His assistance. I say it’s better to pray than advise: yet truly I think of another Scripture which is very useful, though it seems to be for a common application to every man as a Christian wherein he is counselled to ask wisdom; and he is told what that is. That’s “from above,” we are told; it’s “pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruit”; it’s “without partiality and without hypocrisy”. Truly my thoughts run much on this place, that to the execution of judgment (the judgment of truth, for that’s the judgment) you must have wisdom “from above”; and that’s “pure”. That will teach you to exercise the judgment of truth; it’s “without partiality”. Purity, impartiality, sincerity; these are the effects of “wisdom,” and these will help you to execute the judgment of truth.’
Jas 3:17
Compare the maxim which Newman used almost as a proverb: ‘Holiness rather than peace’.
In Wesley’s Journal for Friday, 31st January, 1766, it is noted: ‘Mr. Whitefield called upon me. He breathes nothing but peace and love. Bigotry cannot stand before him, but hides its head wherever he comes.’
‘I rejoice that I have avoided controversies,’ wrote Darwin in his autobiography, ‘and this I owe to Lyell, who many years ago, in reference to my geological works, strongly advised me never to get entangled in a controversy, as it rarely did any good and caused a miserable loss of time and temper.’
‘True wisdom is not only “pacifica,” it is “pudica”; chaste as well as peaceable. Alas for Abelard! a second disgrace, deeper than ambition, is his portion now…. A more subtle snare was laid for him than beset the heroic champion or the all-accomplished monarch of Israel; for sensuality came upon him under the guise of intellect, and it was the high mental endowments of Eloisa, who became his pupil, speaking in her eyes and thrilling on her tongue, which were the intoxication and the delirium of Abelard’.
Newman, University Sketches (ch. XVI).
Jas 3:17
I have known, and still know, many Dissenters, who profess to have a zeal for Christianity; and I dare say they have. But I have known very few Dissenters indeed, whose hatred to the Church of England was not a much more active principle of action with them than their love for Christianity. The Wesleyans in uncorrupted parts of the country are nearly the only exceptions. There never was an age since the days of the Apostles in which the Catholic spirit of religion was so dead, and put aside for the love of sects and parties, as at present.
Coleridge, Table Talk (28th December, 1831).
Jas 3:17
Why is the Giver of the Divine the permitter of those tremendous passions, which are not without their glory, but which wreck so many human lives? Perhaps the reason may be found in the sacredness of pity. Evil and agony are the manure from which spring some of the whitest lilies that have ever bloomed beneath that enigmatic blue which roofs the terror and the triumph of the world. And while human beings know how to pity, human beings will always believe in a merciful God.
Robert Hichens, in The Gall of the Blood.
Nothing gives me so much the idea of God on earth as intelligence and kindness. I dearly love, above all things, to meet these two things united, and to enjoy them intimately.
From Eugnie de Gurin’s Journal.
Reference. III. 17. C. Gutch, Sermons, p. 66.
Jas 3:18
‘Also the good Bishop labours night and day to preserve peace,’ says the Prior in the sixteenth chapter of Quentin Durward, ‘as well becometh a servant of the altar; for it is written in Holy Scripture, Beati pacifici. But ‘ here the good Prior stopped, with a deep sigh.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
IV
TEACHERS AND TONGUES
Jas 3:1-18
All of Jas 3 is concerning teachers. It starts out this way: “Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.” That is, don’t be in a rush to crowd into the teacher’s office, since the teacher is held to a more stringent account than the pupil. Dr. Broadus used to say that the ministry had a great attraction for weak minds. And it is certain that a great many weak minds do turn to the ministry. James merely wishes that the entering into the ministry should be a very careful, prayerful, thoughtful step. This chapter is one of the most important parts of the book of James, and ‘indeed the Bible, and its value is simply incalculable to young preachers. By their profession they become teachers of the word of God; hence, no other chapter ought to be more important to them in their official character than this chapter. He then says, “If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.” He is saying that the most difficult perfection to attain is perfection in talking; that it is harder to do right in talking than in anything else in the world. He uses three illustrations:
1. A bridle is put into a horse’s mouth a very little thing yet with that bridle one can guide that horse wherever he wants him to go.
2. He uses the helm of a big ship. The helmsman with that little instrument makes that ship go in the direction that he wants it to go.
3. “Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!” As it is expressed in the margin, “Behold, how great a forest of trees is consumed by a little fire!” Some one scampered along and carelessly left a fire. A spark blew out and caught the leaves and burned up a hundred million feet of wood timber. In the northern states and Canada, every year we have the most appalling accounts of forest fires, and very richly the saying of James expresses the thought, “Behold, how great a forest a little fire will burn down!” J. R. Graves, in one of his flights of eloquence, describes a man walking down the street lighting a cigar and throwing the match down; the match set fire to a shaving which curled over on some other shavings, and they caught fire and burned, and set fire to a great pile of lumber; and that lumber to a house and that house to a block and that block to a city, and a conflagration came that painted hell on the sky and left a hundred thousand people without homes.
James says of teachers that when they rush into the teacher’s office, they must remember the power of the tongue for good or evil, and that it must be controlled, as the horse must have the bridle, and the great ship the helm; and as the thoughtlessly kindled spark may destroy a world, so must they set a watch for the fire of their lips. In one of my opening addresses before the Seminary, I took as my theme, “Tongues of Fire and Rivers of Water.”
But we come now to a part of James that is set over against Pentecost. Pentecost shows how the Holy Spirit sets on fire the tongues of preachers to preach the salvation of men. Here James brings out the devil’s tongues of fire set on fire with tongues of demons. What a theme for a sermon Pentecost tongues and the devil’s tongues! The tongue is a little member, it is a restless member, it is an unruly member, it is full of poison. It is set on fire of hell, and it sets on fire the whole course of nature, when it is kindled, just as the Holy Spirit fills the hearts of good men and gives them tongues of fire to proclaim the word of life in love and meekness, so the devil may kindle the tongues with a fire of hell, and use them as a means of universal ruin. Somebody, someday, will win immortal fame in contrasting the devil’s tongues of fire and the Spirit’s tongues of fire, in a sermon.
I recapitulate: The first admonition to the preachers: “Be not in haste to enter into the teacher’s office.” How well our Lord speaks to this point: “Be ye not called Rabbi; for one is your teacher and ye are all brethren. And call no man father on the earth; for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters (magister, from which we get the word “master”) for one is your master, even the Christ.”
It was the characteristic fault of a Jew both at home and abroad to covet the honor of the teacher’s office more than the efficiency in the service of a teacher. Vanity and conceit would lead men to thrust themselves forward where angels dared not tread. Whoever is inspired to enter the teacher’s office from a spirit of vanity rather than the spirit of hard work is utterly unworthy of the position.
Paul, in Rom 2:17 , says, “But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth; thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples? thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law, dishonorest thou God?” The thought of Paul is that the life of the teacher must harmonize with what he teaches. Read Cowper on this.
Again, we are told by Paul (1Co 14:29 ) that the teaching gift must be exercised, even when possessed, with due discretion, looking always to order and never to confusion. His picture of the Corinthian church shows that there were many teachers in that congregation. He says, “What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” He rebukes this church because of the disorderly method of teaching. Instead of convicting sinners, they produced an impression upon the mind of the ignorant man and of the skeptical man that they were crazy.
Again, Paul says that one who seeks the office of a bishop must be apt to teach. He must have the capacity to attract and hold the attention, to instruct the mind, to awaken the conscience, to lead the convicted sinner to Christ, to expound the word of God, rightly dividing that word. Unfortunately, the candidates for the teacher’s office are not all apt to teach. The caution to these would-be teachers is on the line that vanity should not be the cause of one entering the work of a teacher, seeing that he should not covet the honor more than the work itself, and that his life and his gifts must be exercised to the upbuilding of the church, and not confusion, and that unless he be apt to teach, he should not seek the position of a teacher. There are men with natural aptitude for teaching that are very ignorant. There are men full of information and a wide range of knowledge that cannot teach at all. They cannot impart what they know. They never wake up a soul, they never stir an audience, as Demosthenes did his audiences. When he got through, the crowd would be wild, and would say, “Let us fight Philip!”
His second admonition enjoins that the teacher must bridle his tongue. He gives two reasons for this governing of the tongue. He who can govern his tongue is a perfect man. I repeat that the word “perfect” is never used in the New Testament in the sense of sinlessness, but ‘in the sense of maturity; and James certainly does not mean sinlessness, because he preceded his statement with the saying that we all stumble; that we all sin some. What he means by a “perfect” man is one who is mature; he who has bridled his tongue we call a mature man, just as a grown person is called an adult. His two reasons for bridling the tongue arise from its relative power for either good or evil. He uses the illustration to which attention has already been called. We put a bridle on a horse so as to turn his body wherever we may desire; so a bridle should be put on our own mouths. And as a helmsman steers a mighty ship in the storm through the use of the helm, so the one who would be a teacher must be able in every storm of life to have power of rightly directing his course, whatever be the direction of the wind or the force of the waves. He is led to say in illustration of the power of the tongue, “How great a forest a little fire destroyeth!”
His illustration is familiar in the classics. A writer has well said, “A little torch can burn the summit of Ida.” Homer says, “A spark scarce seen fires a boundless forest.” Vergil tells us of a careless shepherd who “wraps the forest in a robe of flame” by his carelessness at his campfire. Edgar Allan Poe tells of one who in a dream was caught up and carried away by an angel until he saw a volcanic island without soil or fountains or vegetation, hideous with ashes, its lava and its scars. “What is this?” he said to the angel. The angel replied, “This is an evil word that you spoke in yonder world that went on acting and reacting until it struck the shores of eternity, and God crystallized it into this horrible volcanic island.” The angel then carried the dreamer away to behold another island covered with verdure; the grass carpeted it, the flowers beautified it and filled it with perfume. Luscious fruits bung from the boughs of many trees. Birds were singing in the groves. Fountains were playing and sending forth living waters. It looked like a paradise of God. Said the dreamer to the angel, “What is this?” “This,” said he, “is a good word you spoke in yonder world. It went on acting and reacting until, striking the shores of eternity, it was crystallized into this island of the blessed.”
Another reason assigned for the teacher’s keeping his tongue consists in the fact that through the devil’s gift men receive tongues of fire. As James expresses it, “Set on fire of Gehenna.” We have seen the Spirit’s display of power on the day of Pentecost, and these tongues are employed in speaking of the wonderful works of God in leading men to salvation. He declares that this tongue, set on fire of hell, is restless, duplex, body-defiling, and that it sets on fire the whole wheel of nature. Man’s control is vividly set forth by James. Everything that swims, that walks, that crawls, that flies, bath been tamed. The elephant has been trapped and trained and employed in man’s service. The huge python has been brought from his home in the forest to become a show, and women take these hideous monsters and coil them around their bodies with impunity. The tiger’s cub has been bound with a chain, and the lion has been caged and forced to be harmless and dumb in the presence of the trainer. It is a fearful commentary on the untamable nature of the tongue that it is more untamable than any wild animal of the jungle, or bird of the air, or serpent of the rock, or fish of the sea. When set on fire of hell, this tongue is said to be full of deadly poison. Indeed, it is declared to be a world of iniquity; that is, there is no evil ever known to man that has not in some instance been brought about through evil speaking.
Solomon declares that in the lips of the worthless man is a scorching fire. David, in denouncing the evil counselor who sought his overthrow, says, “His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.” Again he prays, “Deliver me, great Jehovah, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, thou deceitful tongue, sharp arrows of the mighty coals of juniper?”
The tongues of the devil in malice curse men, made in the image of God. It becomes duplex, that is, it uses words to conceal ideas. This tongue, set on fire by the fires of hell, whispers away the good name of the innocent. It is given to backbiting, while friendly to the face; it slanders when the man’s back is turned. As the prophet says that the wicked in their talking eat up the sins of God’s people, the tongue set on fire of the devil is always murmuring, always scolding and is always foul.
In an early day in the history of the Waco Association, Dr. Riddle and myself were visiting all the churches, and one night we were bound to camp, and while looking at the stars the conversation turned upon the conversation of preachers, and I proposed that we enter into a solemn covenant, never while we lived would we tell a questionable anecdote. In the course of time we got about one hundred preachers into that covenant. And when Dr. Riddle was dying he called his wife to him and said, “Wife, we have been together a long time and now I am leaving you. Now, when I am dead, don’t you be one of those complaining women.” Tears have come into her eyes, at least a dozen times since the dying admonition of her husband, as she has explained to me why she is not a murmurer or a complainer.
The third admonition is that the teacher must seek true wisdom. And as the Spirit’s tongues of fire had their opposite, the devil’s tongues of fire, so the true wisdom has its opposite, the devil’s wisdom. The contrast between the two kinds of wisdom is very sharp. One is from above and the other is earthly. One is full of mercy and good works without variance, without hypocrisy; the other sensual, carnal, devilish. The fruits are also contrasted. Peace is the fruit of one and strife of the other. This contrast between the two ought to be read whenever there is friction, evil speaking, and strife.
When I was a young man I became impressed by the vast amount of trouble that comes from talking the wrong kind of talk, and I caught myself in talking the wrong thing, so when I read that chapter I determined to see if I could find a way by which I could keep from evil speech, and, particularly, from anger. Naturally, I am impulsive, quick to take offense, quick to strike, and quick to say, and seeing that fault ‘in myself I determined to learn a way by which when I was angry I could be silent; that I wouldn’t say anything. Well, it was the hardest thing to do that I ever tried. To be angry and not say anything! But I certainly accomplished it. I heard my daughter when she was twenty-one years old, say, “Papa, I have never heard you speak an angry word.” That is the best way that I know to cure anger, that is, don’t say anything. If a man just won’t say anything he is safe, but he cannot when his mind is on fire with anger keep from doing wrong if he just lets his tongue be tied in the middle and wag at both ends.
Now, dear reader, try it. It will be a big job. When you have worked hard and are tired it is so easy to be petulant; it is easy to growl and whine, and it is so easy to become a man with a grievance. The world gets tired very soon of the man who has a grievance. Just carry your sorrow in your own heart.
There are great things in this for preachers. A man might steal from a man, might burn his house, but, if he burns a house, that burns out after a while, but if he says something, that goes on in every direction. I have known some lives blasted by gossip and slander just as a mighty forest fire blasts the vast trees.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of Jas 3 ?
2. What is the first admonition concerning the teacher’s office?
3. What Dr. Broadus’ saying on this point?
4. What the special value of this chapter to preachers?
5. What is the most difficult perfection to attain?
6. What three illustrations used by James on this point?
7. What theme for a sermon suggested?
8. What the teaching of our Lord on the point of rushing into the teacher’s office?
9. What the characteristic fault of the Jew?
10. What does Paul say about the teacher and his teaching?
11. What Paul’s rebuke to the Corinthians on this line?
12. What qualification does Paul show that one must have who seeks the office of a bishop?
13. What his second admonition, and the application to teachers?
14. What the first reason why a teacher should guard his tongue?
15. Give classic illustrations of James’s use of fire.
16. What is Poe’s illustration of the power of a spoken word?
17. What is the second reason of James why the teacher should keep his tongue?
18. What is Solomon’s testimony on this point?
19. What is David’s?
20. What are some of the things the devil’s tongue can do?
21. What was the Carroll-Riddle covenant?
22. What is the teacher’s need of true wisdom?
23. Contrast the two kinds of wisdom, as to origin, elements, and fruits.
24. What is the beat way to cure anger?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Ver. 1. Be not many masters ] Masters of opinions, that boldly obtrude upon others their own placits, and will not have them disputed or debated. Such are the Sorbonists, who rejoice to be called Magistri nostri Parisienses, our Masters of Paris. Bacon, the Carmelite, was called Doctor resolutissimus, because he would endure no guessing or maybes. (Praefat. in 1 Sent.) The pope’s parasites persuade the people, that what interpretation soever he gives of Scripture, be it right or wrong, it is without further trial to be received as the very word of God. Est ipsissimum Dei verbum. (Hosius.)
Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation ] sc. If either we become heresiarchs and sect masters, Rev 19:20 , or supercilious censurers of others, Mat 7:1 ; Rom 2:1 .
a A leader or founder of a heresy. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 12 .] The danger , as connected with the upholding of faith without works, of eagerness to teach : and, by occasion, the manifold and irrepressible sins of the tongue . Then follows, b. 13 18 .] an exhortation, to prove a man’s wisdom by mildness, not by a contentious spirit .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1 .] The more the idea prevailed, that faith, without corresponding obedience, was all that is needful, the more men would eagerly press forward to teach: as indeed the Church has found in all ages when such an opinion has become prevalent: for then teachers and preachers of their own appointing have rapidly multiplied. Be not (‘ become not :’ let not that state of things prevail among you in which you become) many teachers ( belongs not to the predicate, as Schueckenb. al., so that should = multiplicari : nor does it mean “nimii in docendo,” as Baumgarten: nor = , as Grotius: but is to be taken with , and in its proper meaning. And is not, as E.V., “masters,” which conveys a wrong idea: but teachers , persons imparting knowledge in the congregation. This in the primitive times might be done by all in turn, as we know from 1Co 14:26-33 ; and St. James exhorts against the too eager and too general assumption of this privilege), my brethren, knowing (as ye do: or, as ye ought to do: it is a good remark of Huther’s, that , being closely joined to the imperative, is itself hortatory: ‘knowing, as ye might know’) that we (i. e. as many of us as are teachers) shall receive greater condemnation (than others who are not teachers: , in the phrase , according to N. T. usage, is not a ‘vox media,’ but signifies condemnation only: see besides reff. 1Ti 5:12 . This being so, it has surprised some Commentators, that the Apostle includes himself with those whom he is dissuading: and Grot., al. would understand as meaning “responsibility:” but the solution is easy, viz. that he includes himself out of humility, and obviously on the assumption that the office of teacher is not faithfully performed. The sense might be thus filled up, as, indeed, it is virtually filled up in Jas 3:2 ; ‘be not many teachers, for in such office there is great danger of failing, and if we teachers fail, our condemnation will be greater’).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 3:1-18 form a self-contained section; the subject dealt with is the bridling of the tongue, see above Jas 1:19 ; Jas 1:26-27 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Jas 3:1 . : the Peshit reads: “Let there not be many teachers among you”; both the Greek version, which implies that the “teachers” belonged to the congregation of the faithful, as well as the Syriac, which implies that “teachers” from outside were welcomed, cf. Pseud-Clem., De Virginitate , i. 11 quod dicit Scriptura, “Ne multi inter vos sint doctores, fratres, neque omnes sitis prophetae ” (Resch., op. cit. , p. 186), bear witness to what we know from other sources to have been the actual facts of the case. It is the greatest mistake to suppose that here is equivalent to Rabbis in the technical sense. In the Jewish “Houses of Learning” ( i.e. , the Synagogues, for these were not exclusively places of worship) whether in Palestine or in the Dispersion (but more so in the latter), there was very little restriction in the matter of teachers; almost anyone would be listened to who desired to be heard. We have an example of this in the case of our Lord Himself, who found no difficulty in entering into Synagogues and teaching (Mat 12:9 ff; Mat 13:54 ; Mar 1:39 ; Luk 6:14 ff., etc., etc.), although His presence there must have been very distasteful to the Jewish authorities, and although on some occasions the ordinary hearers altogether dissented from what He taught ( e.g. , Joh 6:59-66 ); the same is true of St. Peter, St. John, and above all of St. Paul. In the case of St. Paul (or his disciples) we have an extremely interesting instance (preserved in the Babylonian Talmud, Meg. , 26 a ) of an attempt, a successful attempt, made on one occasion to stop his teaching; it is said that the Synagogue of the Alexandrians (mentioned in Act 6:9 ), which was called “the Synagogue of those of Tarsus,” i.e. , the followers of St. Paul, was bought up by a Tannaite (“teacher”) and used for private purposes (see Bergmann, Jdische Apologetik im neutestamentl. Zeitalter , p. 9). Like the Athenians (Act 17:21 ), many inquiring Jews were always ready to hear some new thing, and welcomed into their houses of learning teachers of all kinds ( cf. Act 15:24 ; 1Ti 1:6-7 ). The following would not have been said unless there had been great danger of Jews being influenced by the doctrines condemned: “All Israelites have their part in the world to come, but the following (Israelites) have no part therein, he who denies that the Resurrection is a doctrine the foundation of which is in the Bible, he who denies the divine origin of the Torah , and (he who is) an Epicurean” ( Sanh. , xi. 1; quoted by Bergmann, op. cit. , p. 9). The custom of Jews, and especially of Hellenistic Jews, of permitting teachers of various kinds to enter their Synagogues and expound their views, was not likely to have been abrogated when they became Christians, which was in itself a sign of greater liberal-mindedness. The , therefore, in the verse before us, must, it is held, be interpreted in the sense of what has been said. The whole passage is exceedingly interesting as throwing detailed light upon the methods of controversy in these Diaspora Synagogues; feeling seems to have run high, as was natural, mutual abuse was evidently poured forth without stint, judging from the stern words of rebuke which the writer has to use (Jas 3:6 ). On the in the early Church see Harnack, Expansion i. pp. 416 461. : Cf. Pirqe Aboth , i. 18. “Whoso multiplies words occasions sin”; Jas 1:12 . “Abtalion said, Ye wise, be guarded in your words; perchance ye may incur the debt of exile, and be exiled to the place of evil waters; and the disciples that come after you may drink and die, and the Name of Heaven be profaned”; Taylor comments thus on these words: “Scholars must take heed to their doctrine, lest they pass over into the realm of heresy, and inoculate their disciples with deadly error. The penalty of untruth is untruth, to imbibe which is death”. : the writer does not often associate himself with his hearers as he does here; the first person plural is only rarely found in the Epistle ( cf. in the next verse).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
James Chapter 3
We are here directed to a weighty matter in the believer’s practical life, already but briefly noticed in Jas 1:19 , Jas 1:26 , now treated in full. It is opened with remarkable exhortation about “teachers,” as it unequivocally ought to be. The connection with speaking confirms the required meaning, independent of philology though this of course admits of nothing else It would seem however that, in stages of our tongue now obsolete, “master” had not only the general sense of “superior” which is here quite out of place, but the special force of “teacher.” So it was used in the English versions of the Gospels as the counterpart of the Hebrew “Rabbi.” And so it is rendered here by Wiclif and a Wiclifite (Oxford, iv. 599), Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva, Rheims, as well as the A.V. It was as natural for Jews to claim external honour in that position, as it became Christian teachers to follow their Master in the lowly love which led Him to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Nor did our Lord leave this to spiritual inference from such words as these; He enjoined it explicitly on the most honoured of His disciples. “Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you; but whosoever would become great among you shall be your servant (or, minister), and whosoever would be first among you shall be your bondman” (Mat 20:25-27 ).
“Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive greater judgment” (Jas 3:1 ).
No Epistle in the N.T. is less ecclesiastical than this; no one has less before it the gifts of the Lord for the perfecting of the saints. The task which the inspiring Spirit enabled the writer to perform was to warn against empty profession and to insist on holy practice in speech, walk, and affections, conformable with the new life begotten by the word of truth. This makes it all the more striking, that he, like the great apostle of the circumcision, should in this hortatory preface use language which implies that liberty of ministry among the confessors of Christ, which fell to the greater apostle of the uncircumcision to develop with certainty, precision, and fulness. The Acts of the Apostles historically presents the unspeakably momentous fact which accounts for and explains that liberty.
Again the Epistles make plain that it was also a question of responsibility to the Lord Who gave to His own bondmen His goods, to each according to his several ability; as He will, when He comes, reckon with them on the use they made of His trust; and woe shall be to the wicked and slothful servant who traded not with the talent given, because he was afraid and distrusted the grace of the Master.
Here the openness of the church in apostolic times to receive instruction from all competent to impart it is beyond controversy. As gifted men were by that privilege bound to give it out, so were the saints bound to profit thereby. Thus we are taught in the capital seat of this fundamental truth for the assembly, 1 Cor. 12 – 14. There Paul lays down, in that great epistle of ecclesiastical order, the correction of their abuses about women’s place, the Lord’s Supper, and the assembly also. “If any one seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” Human societies naturally fall into the inventions of men; not so those that believe God has revealed His mind for the church as authoritatively as for every other thing on which He has spoken.
If the Holy Spirit abide no longer with and in us, we are left orphans indeed. But it is not so. The Father, who in answer to the Son’s request sent another Paraclete or Advocate, gave Him to abide with us forever. So abides the one body like the one Spirit. In 1Co 12 we have this power shown in His varied activity in the members, as His presence is their uniting energy. Not of course that all is given which once abounded as signs of Christ’s victory. Tongues and interpretations, powers and gifts of healings, did follow those that believed, as the Lord promised. But He never intimated that these were to continue “till the end of the age,” or in any equivalent phrase elsewhere. But the gifts needful to complete what the apostles and prophets began. as the foundation, are guaranteed in Eph 4:12 . In 1Co 13 divine love is notably introduced, as requisite for the right exercise of this new relationship, and having its blessed scope there pre-eminently. And 1Co 14 closes the teaching by the authority of the Lord in His word, directing and controlling the action of gifts in the assembly; so that an unbeliever might report that God was indeed among those gathered, and the believers be responsible that all should be done to edification, comelily and in order. Nor is there any other order for the church as such sanctioned of God. Can the church change it or correct Him?
But 1Pe 4:10 , 1Pe 4:11 also furnishes a word of great price. “Each according as he received a gift, ministering the same one to another as good stewards of God’s manifold grace: if any one speaketh, as God’s oracles; if any one ministereth, as of strength which God supplieth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the might unto the ages of ages. Amen.” Here is the same liberty and the same responsibility as elsewhere. Each gifted one is bound to act as a good steward of God’s various free-gift. But the speaker is to speak as God’s mouthpiece, as God gives then and there; and service of another kind is to be full of strength which He supplies, that (not man but) God be glorified through Christ Jesus Only the power of the Spirit could make either good. No creature ability could avail. It is alone through Christ to His glory.
Our text adds another and characteristic lesson. Though the door be open, the solemn caution is heard: “Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive greater judgment.” Conscience is appealed to here, as faith by Peter. Let there be no haste, no levity, no self-confidence, no vanity in seizing the opportunity; but there lay danger, the capability of ready abuse. The guard however is no official restraint, as in Christendom generally, to shut out liberty, but the counsel in this case unmeaning, against many teachers, knowing as we do that we shall incur greater judgment Our Lord, denouncing every idle word and the account thereof to be rendered in the day of judgment, said “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned;” so His servant here reminds us, that by thus speaking responsibility is increased. God is not mocked and remembers words lightly said, which might be urged on others, with little or no thought of our need. “Thou then that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?” In every way judgment becomes heavier if teaching flow not from love and in the fear of God. But the inspired writer never thinks of closing the open door as a divine remedy.
From the over-eagerness to teach, gift or no gift, we come in the next verse to a far wider range of caution, which is illustrated in the usual practical way, but with singular aptitude and force.
“For in many things [or, often] we all offend. If any one offendeth not in word, he [is] a perfect man able to bridle the whole body also” (ver. 2).
Thus the Spirit of God turns from the vain readiness to teach in public to the irrepressibility of speech in general. “For in many things we all offend.” The word translated “offend” passes from physical stumbling to moral failure, as in Jas 2:10 , the transition already being marked in Rom 11:11 . Compare also 2Pe 1:10 with the double occurrence in our verse.
Without doubt each saint is responsible in all humility as regards himself, to speak for the Lord where His glory and will, grace and truth, are plainly revealed. Alas, how much is said that has no higher source than self, however veiled it may be! But self when opposed is apt to break out into strife and party-work, with all their deadly accompaniments and results. Nor are any souls more deceived than those who accredit themselves with the best motives, and fear not to assail with odious imputations those who reprove them. It is clear that James knew this deplorable evil but too well, as indeed the other inspired writers; nor did anyone perhaps suffer from bitter experience of the evil so much as the apostle Paul. It could not be otherwise, when we read of the state of the Galatians on the one hand and of the Corinthians on the other, and of his own responsibility to pronounce on such early departure from both divine truth and the ways of the Lord. For they are ordinarily associated with a self-exalting and rebellious spirit.
But these servants of the Lord did not refrain from the most trenchant denunciation of both errors and moral condition, any more than He Himself when here in perfect love, and because it was perfect. Who but He called Peter “Satan”? For he was an offence to Christ, because in the most amiable way he was minding the things of men, not those of God. How often too He had to mark and rebuke the rivalry of men, whom grace alone caused to differ from others, craving after their own honour, where He pointed the way to shame and suffering now (Himself alone entering its unfathomable depths), but to heavenly glory with Him shortly! Even after He rose, what could He say to the sorrow-stricken doubters, but “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all the prophets spoke?”
Not less cuttingly does Paul remonstrate with the Corinthians as carnal and walking as men, to whom he gave milk, not meat as being not yet able to bear it. These were the men ready to sit in judgment on the apostle’s authority and practice! Were not the signs of an apostle wrought out among them in all patience? The humbling thing to his heart was that he should have one word to say about it to saints so deeply indebted to him. But he does not fail to speak with severity, whatever the anguish it might be to himself. How little they knew what it cost him, when they winced under the reproof! How far from feeling the love according to God that lay beneath the truth, which did not flatter them but laid bare their lofty thoughts and low ways!
Just so the apostle reproaches other children of his in the faith, “O senseless Galatians, who bewitched you? . . . I am afraid of you, lest indeed I laboured in vain as to you …. of whom I again travail in birth, until Christ be formed in you …. The persuasion is not of him that calleth you.”
Let us not forget what spirit it was that resisted of old such faithful men as Moses and Aaron, or taxed them with taking too much on them, “seeing all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Jehovah among them.” It was their own self-sufficiency that left out His will and word in their eagerness to lift themselves up. And such gain-saying is not obsolete. It is the spirit of the age increasingly, and displays itself religiously yet more than in the profane world.
Yet even the most spiritual have to watch habitually and to judge self in this respect at least as much as in any other. “For in many things we all offend. If any one offendeth not in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.” It is trying to hear men talk of matters which they are incompetent to judge. And it is easy enough to overshoot the mark of a true and deserved horror of what no godly mind should tolerate; and all the more because true discernment is rare. Christ is the pattern. A perfect man is he who offends not in word, able to bridle the whole body also. May our word as the rule be always with grace, seasoned with salt. May we also, if by God called to the duty, be brave to overthrow reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and to lead every thought into the obedience of Christ.
The figure of “bridling” in verse 2 suggests the illustration in verse 3, which again is strengthened once more in the verse that follows In the received text we appear to have an error exceedingly frequent among the copyists, who are apt to confound and where it does not affect the sense, and where here it does. Probably in the beginning of verse 4 led to the idea of commencing verse 3 with ; but it ought rather to have induced hesitation, for why then vary the adverb? It would seem that was thus mistaken, and the more because the apodosis might easily be overlooked by being made part of the conditional protasis.
“Now if we put the horses’ bridles (or, bits) in their mouths, that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are turned about by a very small rudder, where the impulse of the helmsman may purpose” (vers. 3, 4).
The instances chosen energetically tell for the purpose in hand, being homely and familiar. It would be a palpable mistake to doubt the power of a given object, because its size is diminutive. Such are the bits we insert into the horses’ mouths. Impetuous the animal may be; but thereby as the rule it is reduced to obedience. Nor is it only the mouth or head that is governed, but “we turn about the whole body also.” Thus is complete contrast secured.
It is true that we ought not to be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings must be bit and bridle for restraint, or they will not come near unto thee (Psa 32 ). But this is restraint, and our shame where it is needed, as in the case supposed; for it is our joy, when walking in the spirit of obedience, to know God’s guidance in the way we should go, counselled with His eye upon us. But if it be needed, He knows and fails not to restrain and to chastise.
In another form is pointed out a like principle on the sea, as we have had on the land, and in an inanimate object of immensely greater proportions. Let the ship be of ever so vast bulk and driven sometimes by a wind however rough, yet is it turned about by a very small rudder, whither the steersman’s impulse may direct. The steering, if it could be questioned, is made evident in the sequel.
We may notice by the way how little avails either a powerful mind or ponderous learning for the just interpretation of scripture, when such a commentator as Grotius could understand “the body” in these verses as said of the church. No inspired writer but the apostle Paul ever employs that figure. James means simply the outer man. He is still dealing with the extreme liability to fail with the tongue. If one does not fail in word, this is a perfect man; for he had owned that we all do fail. This he follows up by two illustrations, which show the influence of a small thing in controlling a great even in the most difficult circumstances, to impress the importance and the duty of governing our speech. Blessed indeed is it, when the tongue, under the guidance of God, testifies to the whole body under His control! He who more than any other urges works, in evidence of reality in those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus, warns us of licence in our words, so influential for evil if not for good; and all the more seriously as indicative of the inner man and involving the outer.
Many there are in all ages disposed to take account of nothing but deeds. Freedom in speech seems a necessary prerogative of a man, and its excess of all things most venial. Far different was our Lord’s estimate of words (Mat 12 ), which yet more than deeds express the feelings and bent of the inner man And similar is the language of His servant here, couched in terse, severe, highly figurative, but all the more unsparing, terms. “So also the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. See how large a wood how little a fire kindleth! And the tongue is fire, the world of iniquity; the tongue cometh to be in our members that which defileth the whole body, and setteth in a blaze the course [lit. wheel] of nature, and is set in a blaze by gehenna” (vers. 5, 6).
That the tongue should be physically diminutive only gives the more vividness to its capacity for mischief beyond reckoning or measure. Who can conceive the destructive effects of an evil word? Yet the tongue, little as it is, boasts habitually and also great things and is so much the more readily enticed to persevere and grow bolder, if sin is limited to deeds of the body. It may be observed that the word (here, as generally, translated “wood” or “forest”) is often in philosophical writings used to express “matter,” and by historians or others, like “materia” in Latin authors, the stuff or material of anything, timber, etc. The A.V. had ground for its rendering, even if the preponderance lean to that view which is presented here.
How energetic is the opening of ver. 6! “The tongue is fire.” It is not only that a mighty conflagration ensues from an apparently trivial spark; but the tongue itself is “fire” morally. However free from open acts of unrighteousness he may be who gives it loose rein without God before his eyes, it is, without going farther, “a world of iniquity.” He Whose ears are open to the cry of the righteous does not fail to mark unbridled licence of speech, which shrinks not from any imputation, however unjust, that ill-will can dictate.
The best witnesses, both MSS. and Vv., omit the “so” which smooths the way for the second time “the tongue” is introduced. It is most forcible as it stands simply. “The tongue cometh to be in our members that which defileth the whole body,” and this is a sense which, prevailing in the best authors so that no detailed justification is necessary, seems to suit the clause, better than the bare “is” of the A.V. or “is constituted” as it frequently means. Here it is liable to give the erroneous notion of being divinely arranged to so evil an end; which is a thought impossible to a good conscience and wholly opposed to the truth. It is through the fall, and the self-will or lawlessness which characterises sin, that the tongue comes thus to be such a burning power of evil in the members. It is the defiler of the whole body, for there is no limit to its unrighteousness; “the world of iniquity,” deeming itself to have immunity as long as it only injures in word.
But the latter clauses both enlarge the sphere of the evil, and deepen our sense of its source to the highest degree. For we are next told that “it setteth in a blaze the course of nature, and is set on a blaze by hell.” The wheel or course of nature extends far beyond the whole body; and such is the inflammatory range for the malignant tongue. What then must be the spring? It is, as we lastly hear, “set on a blaze by hell.” The evil one is a murderer as well as a liar; and unceasing antagonism to Christ in both respects is its flagrant proof.
Another consideration is now urged, and not a little humiliating to set souls on their guard in the allowance of the tongue, and to hinder surprise at the extravagance of its outbreaks.
“For every nature of both wild beasts and birds, of both things that creep and things in the sea, is tamed and hath been tamed by the nature of man; but the tongue is none of men able to tame: an unsettled evil, full of deadly poison” (vers. 7, 8).
Here the inspired writer alleges an indisputable fact. What savage brute has not yielded to the dominion of man? What has not been subdued and become his pet or playmate? What bird of the air fierce or timorous has not bowed to his superiority and obeyed his will? Serpents even, however wily, powerful, or venomous, have been often taught harmless familiarity; while creatures of the sea have made friends and rendered homage or service to him.
But where is the man that has truly tamed either his own tongue or another’s? Here one can appeal to universal observation, though not less forcibly and painfully to personal experience. It may and ought to be a heart-breaking confession; but is it not most true? Who does not know how rapid and ready is the tongue to break bounds; how slow to seek or keep the peace? How vehement its invective, how irritating its insinuations, how bitter and unmeasured its revilings! Is any one too obscure or feeble to escape its assault? Is any so venerable or exalted as to overawe its audacity? What piety or godliness can suffice to shame its insolence, or to silence its malice?
It is indeed, as it is here called, “an unsettled” or unstable “evil, full of deadly poison.” Nor is the poison ever more attractive and dangerous than when administered in a gilded pill. Good words and fair speeches to make the worse appear the better reason is a favourite device of the enemy, and peculiarly fitted to deceive the hearts of the guileless.
Does this seem a too highly coloured picture of the tongue? It is from One Who knew what is in man, and needed none therefore to bear witness of him. And He Whom James served in this Epistle as in his life-ministry knew what it was to have a human heart and tongue, both bearing good and sweet fruits continually to His God and Father. It is to Him that the believer looks and on Whose grace he counts. For underneath the gloomy description of a still gloomier reality, there is a streak of light divine. Is it written that absolutely none is able to tame the tongue? By no means. None “of men” can tame it. Ah! we can thank God. He is our desire, our expectation, and our strength. It were a wholly unchristian thought to subjugate our own tongue. It is our confidence to look up to God for that which is altogether beyond our capacity. And He works His wonders in every thing through Christ our Lord. If all the rude men of Nazareth bore Him witness and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of His lips, does not our God and Father use these to humble and to transform and to invigorate, so that the tongue, that once was our shame, should be by His grace truly our “glory,” according to the Hebrew phrase? Christ indeed was here perfect. “Never man spoke like this man,” said the officials who were no friends, to their superiors who were His foes. But we are His; and as He is our life, may we learn of Him in this respect as in every other.
From this point our Epistle takes up the ground of manifest and gross inconsistency. None but the most heedless can regard lightly a fault so self-condemnatory; nor can God either originate or sanction so plain a disorder and misuse of that excellent possession, the speech, conferred on man by His Creator. Least excusable is the inconsistency in such as own their relationship with God and the Lord.
“Therewith we bless the Lord and [the] Father, and therewith we curse men that are made according to God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth cometh blessing and cursing. Not so, my brethren, ought these things to be” (vers. 9, 10).
There is the article, and but one, to “Lord and Father.” Grammatically therefore the phrase admits of meaning “Him Who is Lord and Father,” no less than “the Lord and (the) Father” brought together under that link of objects united here expressly though in themselves distinct. This they could not be fittingly unless there were a common nature and glory. So we may see in such a phrase as “the kingdom of Christ and God.” Far be it from the heart or mouth to question in the least that Christ is God, which is declared comparatively so often. But ask for instance if we must, whether Eph 5:5 means this, though the single article brackets together both terms. So we may see in “the apostles and prophets” of Eph 2:20 , combined for the foundation, but given separately in Eph 4:11 .
The idiom is common enough even with proper names, as when the man in Act 3:11 held fast “Peter and John” thus united, though in vers. 1 and 3 both names are presented historically without the article to either. Such is the reading of ample and good authority. But the Sinai, the Vatican, and the Alexandrine with half-a-dozen cursives insert the article before John, which if right would individualise, instead of combining in a special way, the two apostles. In Act 4:13 , Act 4:19 , there can hardly be a doubt that they are thus joined together. Both cases occur with Paul and Barnabas in Act 13:14 .Act 15 is instructive from varieties of form, each employed with exquisite propriety. Ver. 2 presents Paul and Barnabas, first severed, and then without emphasis as simple fact, as also in ver. 12. But in ver. 22 they are expressly combined in unity as in 25 (the order changed), as in ver. 35 the fact is merely stated historically.
There seems no sufficient ground then for doubting that “the Lord” in the usual acceptation of the term is here combined with “the Father” as objects united in our praise. That it is unusual, all admit; but so it is in many a phrase of holy writ, that our narrowness of thought may be corrected and enlarged out of the fulness of divine truth. On the other hand no one should stumble at predicating “Lord” of the Father, if such were the aim of the inspiring Spirit here. For though the crucified Jesus was made by God both Lord and Christ (Act 2:36 ), and He is in distinctive office one sole Lord, as the Father is simply in His nature one sole God (1Co 8:6 ), it does not follow that “Lord” may not be applied to the other Persons in the Godhead. Thus in 2Co 3 it is predicated of the Spirit in the last clause of the last verse; as it is of God rather than of Christ (Who is distinguished as His Anointed) in Rev 11:15 . It was the rarity of the combination, however taken, which no doubt led to substituting “God” (as in the common text, following the more modern MSS.) for “the Lord.” But if we accept the ancient reading, our language, we must bear in mind, does not, like the Greek, admit but one article.
The grand principle is plain beyond all question, that no inconsistency can be more gross than to employ the tongue, now in blessing the Supreme, now in cursing men that are made according to God’s likeness. We are objects of His loving counsels, begotten of Him by the word of truth, and should be the last to curse any, as being blessed ourselves of mere mercy. It is not that fallen men have any intrinsic moral worth, as we above all should know from our own humbling experience. So we at least should never forget how they were brought into being as in God’s likeness. How unbecoming in man, how shameless in us who bless the Lord and the Father, to curse men so made! Time was, beyond doubt, when we lived in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another; but the kindness and love of God our Saviour broke down our pride and purified our souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, and gave us a heart touched with divine grace toward all mankind. Instead then of cursing others, we want them to obey the truth, share the blessing, and join us in blessing Him Who is the source and giver of it all.
The incongruity is heightened by the figure of the next verse (10), “Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing;” and by the quiet but pungent appeal, “Not so, my brethren, ought these things to be.” The consistency of the Christian in its perfection is ever and only in Christ; and He is the sole and constant standard for us. What love in Him even for the vilest and bitterest of His foes! Called to inherit a blessing, may we not render evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing, knowing that we are thereunto called. This is surely, dear brethren, what it ought to be.
Now we have, following, fresh illustrations to impress on the readers the incongruity and the enormity of injurious speech, all the worse for utterances of piety and propriety interchanged with it, and beyond just question condemnatory of it, as indicating the lack of the fear of God and of regard for man. The inspired writer’s sense of its evil kindles into glowingly indignant questions, to which expostulation he himself supplies the answer in a few pregnant words.
“Doth the fountain out of the same opening pour forth the sweet and the bitter? Can my brethren, a figtree produce olives, or a vine figs? Neither [can] salt water produce sweet” (vers. 11, 12).
Here as elsewhere, the homeliness of the examples lends the more force to the reproof. To take the first instance; who ever heard of the fountain from the same slit emitting sweet water and bitter? Nature itself rebukes so shameless a mixture, and issues so contradictory, in those who praise the Lord and the Father; The great apostle of the Gentiles drew weapons from the same armoury in 1Co 11:14 , 1Co 11:16 for divine order, and in 2Th 3:10 also; as he did repeatedly to his confidential fellow-labourer Timothy in his First Epistle (1Ti 2:12-15 ; 1Ti 4:3-5 ; 1Ti 6:6-8 ). But nowhere have we more telling thrusts of this kind than in the Epistle before us; where the impossible in nature is made to expose and castigate the ethically inconsistent, especially aggravated as it was by the profession of relationship to God and by the claim to enjoyment of His favour. Is the new nature to be disgraced by that which the old universal nature repudiates even though fallen?
In the second the demand is still more peremptory. It is not, Does, but “Can a figtree produce olives, or a vine figs?” And we have the repetition of “my brethren” in this second case, though so soon after its dignified affectionate introduction just before in verse 10, in order to send the appeal home to their bosoms. One of the learned men who, setting up to interpret the words, set at nought its spirit, dares to compare the figure with our Lord’s in Mat 7:16-20 in order to disparage His servant here. But it is only another sample of ill-willed ignorance which so constantly appears where erudition is not subservient to faith; that is where man assumes to judge God, instead of seeking to profit by His word. For the Lord was there laying down the error of expecting good fruit from a bad tree; whereas His servant in order to rebuke the glaring inconsistency of calling on the Lord of glory and indulging evil speech confronts it with the natural impossibility of a tree producing any but its own proper fruit. Both are plainly true, and each exquisitely adapted to its purpose. Unbelief blindly errs, but only betrays its sinful presumption to those that know God and bow to His word.
It is possible that the first word of the last clause (, neither) may have through hasty misapprehension given rise to the added (“so”) of the Text Rec. Then came an effort to make the phrase more pointed by reading (no fountain). The Sinaitic Uncial has . But even Tischendorf, and Westcott and Hort decline to follow; for they with Alford, Lachmann, Tregelles, and Wordsworth read the text which yields the translation given above. There is, it would seem, a certain strangeness in reading rather than . But this appears to be explicable by the writer’s carrying on in his mind the preceding clause. The insertion of the conjunction (, “and”) in the last clause is opposed to the weightiest of the ancient witnesses, both MSS. and Vv. and loses the point of the true text, which varies the figure by a negation which is indisputable.
From the preceding illustrations, so pungent and powerful, against the inconsistency and unnaturalness of unloving and unworthy language in lips which were avowedly consecrated to the glory of Jesus according to the character of a new nature, the Epistle turns to and raises the question of the wisdom and understanding which becomes His followers.
“Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show out of his good conduct his works in meekness of wisdom” (ver. 13).
It is the opening of a new paragraph which continues to the end of this chapter, and passes indeed into the following one by way of contrast. The appeal here is searching. For assuredly those who set up so zealously to teach others did not doubt their own wisdom and understanding. Yet are they not rare and precious qualities?
1Co 12 speaks of the “word of wisdom” and the “word of knowledge” as given through the Spirit, and presents them in the front place when he particularises the forms which “the manifestation of the Spirit” takes, as given to each for the common profit. On the other hand he puts in the last place “kinds of tongues” and “interpretation of tongues,” of which the light-minded and unspiritual Corinthians had shown themselves vain and had made a disorderly use. He is far from denying the divine source and character of either; on the contrary he declares that “all these things” (after giving a considerable list of powers then in action) “worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each in particular as He will (or, pleaseth).” For He is sovereign as a divine Person. But they had not all the same spiritual value. Some gifts edified the assembly by revealing God’s mind and counsels; others nourished and directed the new life of individuals in His will; some strengthened for service, others issued in praise and thanksgiving. Again, some were for a sign to the unbelievers, while others were directed distinctly to the believers. And as prophesying had this latter character peculiarly, so tongues and the former had a lower place, though to outward appearance far the more extraordinary of the two. But here we may notice, as in 1Co 12:28 too, the apostle’s uniform guard against an estimate altogether human and erroneous. Why not desire earnestly the greater but less showy gifts? “Brethren, be not children in mind, but in malice be babes, but in mind be of full age” (1Co 14:20 ).
In our Epistle however there is no development of that which is so prominent in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, but a moral dealing with the danger there and then prevalent among those addressed. The aim is to correct the haste and the character of speech generally, and the readiness to teach in particular. From the beginning, not only of the Christian confession, but of Israel’s history, we may observe what importance was given to wisdom and understanding. Weigh such plain instances as Deu 1:13 , Deu 1:15 , and Deu 4:5 , Deu 4:6 . “Take you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” “So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.” “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Indeed the spirit of it runs through that remarkable book, as obedient heed to the word of God forms it. What else can be the condition of blessing for all in relationship with God, be it for earth or for heaven?
Here a similar object appears in the enquiry, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” and in the counsel that follows, “Let him show out of his good course of conduct (that becomes such a man, in deed and in truth) his works (not self-complacently or ostentatiously, but) in meekness of wisdom.” What more holy, sober, or pertinent? What more sad than when wisdom seems assuming or harsh? It is abiding in Christ that produces fruit acceptable to our God and Father. But we need His words too, and prayer.
Having exhorted him who was reported wise and understanding to show in the reality of comely works, not mere words, his good conduct or practical life in meekness of wisdom, not in superstitious criticism or self-conceit, the Epistle turns to warn of the dark side.
“But if ye have bitter emulation and faction in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth” (ver. 14).
Such is man: self is his idol, self-will his way. The profession of Christ in no way eradicates it, but makes it all the more sad and inconsistent, in Jew even more than Greek. As we see in 1Co 1:3 , so we read here. “Bitter emulation” in the disciple of the crucified Lord of glory! Alas! it was no hypothetical case, but a fact. “But if ye have”; and this not in the hasty speech, but “in your heart.” So early and everywhere did the Christian confessors slip away from the reason of their being, and rival the failure of Israel. So quickly did they forget that Christianity, while emphatically “faith” (Gal 3:25 ), in contrast with the law (the previous tutor), depends on life from God, or a divine nature partaken of, as we have noticed in this Epistle and may in every other. Now what room is there in that new life for “bitter emulation”? Christ condemns it, root and fruit. In Him was none of it, but meekness of wisdom, and zeal for God. First and last the zeal of His Father’s house ate Him up. When or where else do we hear of His taking disciplinary work in hand, expelling outrageous offenders, and pouring contempt on their profane trade? Though the Holy and the High, when does He contend for His own glory, when and where does He resent the slight and scorn of guilty man?
If Christ be, as indeed He is, the Christian’s life, what is it for him to have “bitter emulation” in his heart? Is it not the indulgence in an evil work of the old man, and the dishonour of the Master by the servant? This was bad, but “faction” is worse; because it is not only the individual gratifying the vanity of an evil nature, but its spread to others too ready to exalt self and depreciate such as ought to be loved and honoured. For is it not to this we are called here below? “Let nothing be (said the great apostle) according to faction or vain-glory, but in lowly-mindedness each esteeming one another more excellent than themselves” (Phi 2:3 ). We are entitled to regard them as saints beloved of God; though by grace the same, we cannot but feel our own unworthiness. What do we know of them as we know of ourselves? On every ground bitter emulation and faction be far from our heart. So pleads meekness of wisdom, that we may show out of our good conduct the works that now become that excellent Name by which we are called.
But if we have in our heart these unclean things, bitter emulation and faction, “do not boast and lie against the truth.” Love, we know, is not emulous, nor does it rejoice at iniquity, but rejoices with the truth. But the vaunting, which accompanies emulation and faction, is against the truth; for the truth wholly exposes and condemns it as of the carnal mind which is enmity against God. He was the truth, Who was meek and lowly in heart, and bids us take His yoke upon us and learn of Him, and we shall find rest to our souls. For His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
If we cherish these evils so contradictory of Christ, while called by His name, what is it but “lying against the truth”? So trenchantly does the Epistle denounce what the enemy ever seeks to introduce under cover of zeal for the truth.
Wisdom, like faith, shows its character by the spirit and conduct that accompanies and reflects it. Every good gift and every perfect giving cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, Who of His own will begot us by the word of truth. What is the source and character of any wisdom, however pretentious, that coalesces with bitter emulation and faction? Is it not a lie against the truth? Does it flow from anything higher than hearts governed by self-will, instead of being purified by faith?
“This wisdom is not descending from above, but earthly, natural, demoniacal. For where envying and faction [are], there disorder [is] and every bad deed” (vers. 15, 16).
To describe it thus was to brand it as thoroughly evil and of the enemy. The tone of James differs from that of John and Jude, of Paul and of Peter; but all agree in testifying that Christ alone is, and shows us, the wisdom acceptable in God’s eyes and suitable for His children. Man’s wisdom is in truth his folly, for it is in disobedience of His word, and seeks independence of His will. The Lord of glory was the obedient man and gave the pattern of One on earth Who did not merely live through or by the Father but on account or by reason of Him. So perfectly was He the servant (and this is the perfection of man Godward) that He had no other motive in His living; and He lays this down for him that feeds on Himself – even he shall leave on account of Me (Joh 6:57 ). He is the Bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world; but more than this, He gives His flesh for the life of the world. Less than this would not suffice to meet its ruin and accomplish the blessing God had in His heart for the believer. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is indispensable, if we are to have life in ourselves, as was His purpose of grace about us. He that thus eats and drinks has the communion of His death, and has life eternal, with the assurance of being raised by Him at the last day, yea more – of abiding in Him, and of His abiding in him, this day.
No other wisdom therefore suits the believer. The wisdom of the first man, and of the world, has no link with heaven. It is at best earthly, and either seeks glory from men or yet more proudly tramples on other men as unworthy of a thought. The sage thinks he is the king, and will have not fellows but slaves, in the fulness of his self-complacency and disdain. The most offensive condition to his mind is to be a servant, to be God’s bondman This is love’s place, and Christ took end filled it unfailingly; and by His redemption we can follow in His path, having Him as our life, which He truly is, and are free to cultivate this wisdom coming down from above. For we too can love one another, because love is of God; and as every one that loves has been begotten of God, and knows God, so he that does not love never learnt God, because God is love.
Further too, it is not only “earthly” wisdom, but “natural.” It has no true sense of God’s mind any more than of His love. As the apostle tells us in 1Co 2 , a natural or soulish man receives not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot gain knowledge of them, because they are spiritually discerned; whereas the spiritual man discerns them all, while himself is discerned by none.
Another word completes the sad picture of wisdom outside Christ; it is “demoniacal.” It is quite enough to render it accurately; for though demons may be distinguished from their prince, yet they are the emissaries of Satan and the instruments of his malicious power. How little do men believe that the wisdom of self, so coveted of mankind, is “demoniacal”! How little do the children of God seek that which is of Christ, the best proof that it is of God’s Spirit! For He is here to glorify Christ; and this He does by receiving of Christ’s, and announcing it to us.
But are not God’s children exposed in their weakness to danger and evil? They are not in the flesh, but the flesh is in them; they are in the world with all its snares; they are the object of the evil one’s incessant and subtle seductions. But greater is He that is in them than he that is in the world. Have they not Christ? And Christ is God’s wisdom no less than His power. Far from them to boast of wisdom or aught else in themselves. Indeed God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame the sages. And of Him are they in Christ Jesus, “Who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
Yet God does not fail to set even the weakest on their guard against the assumption of a wisdom that is not of Him. Its moral character betrays its evil source, when smooth language and fair speaking might easily ensnare the unwary. The least intelligent of saints who keeps the Lord Jesus before him can discern “envying and faction”; and these allowed bring in speedily “confusion and every bad work.” By their fruits therefore the earthly wise become manifest ere long to those who are neither intelligent nor spiritual enough to discern otherwise. They are thus warned and kept by divine grace.
In the next verse we have the qualities of divine wisdom drawn out for our cheer and profit; as in Jas 1:5 we were exhorted to ask it of God that gives to all liberally and without a reproach, though indeed even His own deserve blame.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, uncontentious, impartial (or, unfeigned)” (ver. 17): few words but sound and deep, pregnant and penetrating, inspired of God as they really are.
Now that grace has given us Christ, that we are begotten of God and have His Spirit, how suitable to look unto the same source for wisdom that springs not up from the earth or from man! But we are encouraged already, by the goodness proved when we deserved judgment and everlasting shame, to ask for all we need in our new responsibility because of our new relationship. Earthly as we once were, our hearts rose not then above it; alas we were prone to sink below it through the wiles of the enemy. Now that we are “heavenly” as the apostle Paul intimates (1Co 15:48 ) we constantly want a wisdom that is from above. Nor is there any other good gift from the Father of lights of deeper moment for His children. Will He not give it liberally to all that wait on Him in faith, and refuse all doubt? The love He has shown us, and the assuring word He has written for us, rebuke every such questioning. If we have not, it is because we ask not. If we ask and receive not, it is because we ask amiss, that we may spend it on our pleasures. How could God consistently impart heavenly wisdom to those who mind earthly things? He gives in honour of Christ for His own glory.
What then is the Spirit’s delineation of this wisdom? It is “first pure.” How worthy of God and of the Lord Jesus by Whom we know what He is! Let God’s child advance as he may, he cannot claim this. How much there is always to mortify in our members on the earth! Assuredly “whosoever is born of God doth not practise sin, for his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin (, the course and character of our fallen nature), because he is born of God” (1Jn 3:9 ). Hatred of sin and living to God characterise all His family. But it is only when Christ shall be manifested, that we shall be seen to be like Him. We shall see Him as He is; then and thus shall we be conformed to His image. We shall bear the image of the earthly; not till then shall we bear that of the Heavenly. But everyone that has this hope founded on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure. We, though bathed all over, need the habitual washing of the word to wash our feet. We have to purify ourselves, because we contract defilement, and are not pure as He was and is.
The wisdom from above savours of Him to meet our wants. It is first pure, “then peaceable,” an order much to be borne in mind. Even saints are apt to make peaceableness their prime object. But this would compromise the character and glory of God, Who will have the exclusion of all that defiles. Sanctified to Jesus’ obedience and the sprinkling of His blood, we are bound to see first that His will be our aim and purpose of heart, however important it is also and next to promote peace. Such certainly is the spirit and working of the wisdom from above. So in the Gospels we see invariably in the words and ways of the Lord; and not otherwise do we read the Holy Spirit’s teaching in the Epistles.
Again, it is “gentle,” and “easy to be entreated.” What a contrast with human wisdom, so apt to be stern and proud, so impatient of question or difference! Where was its perfection ever seen, ever maintained without a flaw, but in our Lord Jesus? Therefore could He say, even at the close, “I am among you as he that serveth.” So He called on the greatest of His followers to be as the younger, and the leader to be as the servant. Heavenly wisdom feeds and fosters this gracious lowliness and waiting on others.
Next, it is said to be “full of mercy and of good fruits,” a precious help in the midst of faulty souls, and their evil ways. For of all men those who feel and act with divine compassion toward wrong-doers require themselves to walk in communion with Him Who is good to the ungrateful and the evil. There must be no real ground for insinuating that they are soft toward other offenders, because they would smooth over their own inconsistencies.
Lastly, it is “uncontentious, impartial” (or, it may be, “unfeigned”): eminently called for in their place. For if children of God, are we not to walk as children of light, not only personally but in our bearing toward others and our converse with them? How is not the light dimmed by yielding to contention and indulgence in party work! How contrary to Christ when we give occasion to any just charge of insincerity or hypocrisy in our spirit! Heavenly wisdom eschews all such tendencies, earthly wisdom lives in and avails itself of such ways. The spirit of strife is apt to draw even an upright soul into feelings and conduct altogether unworthy of the new life and relationship.
The beautiful description of the heavenly wisdom which the Epistle commends to the saints closes with its result in peace along the way,
“And righteousness’ fruit in peace is being sown for those that make peace” (ver. 18).
In the practical walk of the believer the fruit of righteousness is the prime requisite, but “in peace”; as we have seen the wisdom from above is “first pure, then peaceable.” In the natural man, as in the world, self-will reigns, the enemy of all righteousness, in an overbearing spirit, the seed of an ever-growing harvest of contention, as the beginning of the next chapter clearly indicates.
Even in the Lord Jesus we find the same order, as in Heb 7:2 , “first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace.” Such is the application of Melchizedek, king-priest of Salem. It is indeed a type more than fulfilled in the order of Christ’s priesthood even now, about to be fulfilled by-and-by in its exercise, when the battle is won over the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies at the end of the age.
When we look at redemption, if grace reigns as it does, it is through righteousness unto life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord. Only then, through Him dead and risen, could we, justified by faith, have peace with God. Therefore are the saints everywhere called on, walking righteously, to be in peace (if possible, as much as hangs on them) with all men. Nor do the Epistles to the Corinthians differ from that to the Romans: God hath called us in peace, says the First; rejoice, be adjusted, be encouraged, be of one mind, be in peace; and the God of love and peace would be with them. Such is the exhortation and promise in the Second. So to the Galatians the apostle writes for as many as walk according to the rule of the new creation, peace be on them and mercy; as to the Ephesians, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, he would have their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. What a place peace has in the Philippian Epistle every reader ought to see; nor is it less deep in that to the Colossians where he would have Christ’s peace rule in their hearts; as he prays for the Thessalonians in the First that the God of peace would sanctify them wholly, and in the Second that the Lord of peace Himself would give them peace continually in every way. And the Epistle to the Hebrews exhorts to pursue peace with all, and holiness, giving this however the primary and peremptory place in accordance with the doctrine elsewhere.
But the fruit of righteousness in peace, though acceptable to God, a blessing in itself, and a comfort to fellow-believers, is far from welcome to men in general, who know not God and do not obey the gospel but unrighteousness, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating each other. It is sown, as we are here told, “for those that make peace.” The will of man, any more than the wrath of man, works not God’s righteousness. Discord and every evil issue are the sad effect. “Blessed,” says the Lord, “are the peace-makers; for they shall be called God’s sons.” But in that wondrous outpouring of blessing from His lips on the mount (Mat 5 ), we may notice that the four descriptions of the blessed are of the righteous class (vers. 3-6), before the three of the gracious sort (vers. 7-9); with a blessing super-numerary on the persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and another yet richer on those persecuted for His own sake. Righteousness necessarily precedes. For it is vain to think or speak of walking in grace, where we fail in consistency with our relationship. The fruit of righteousness in peace is being sown for those that make peace. Such are evidently walking in a spirit which grace produces; but the fruit of righteousness in peace is sown for them. Some contend strongly that we should understand “by” rather than “for.” Grammatically the clause is susceptible of either sense; but the former seems hardly so suitable to the bearing of the context. Let the Christian reader judge for himself.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
James
A WATCH ON THE DOOR OF THE LIPS
‘THERE is a recurrence to earlier teaching in Jam 1:19 ; Jam 1:26 , which latter verse suggests the figure of the bridle. James has drunk deep into Old Testament teaching as to the solemn worth of speech, and into Christ’s declaration that by their words men will be justified or condemned.
No doubt, Eastern peoples are looser tongued than we Westerns are; but modern life, with its great development of cities and its swarm of newspapers and the like, has heightened the power of spoken and printed words, and made James’s exhortations even more necessary. His teaching here gathers round several images- the bridle, the fire, the untamed creature, the double fountain. We deal with these in order.
I. No doubt, in the infant Church, with its flexible organisation, there were often scenes very strange to our eyes, such as Paul hints at in 1Co 14:26-33 , where many voices of would-be teachers contended for a hearing.
James would check that unwholesome eagerness by the thought that teachers who do not practice what they preach will receive a heavier judgment than those who did not set up to be instructors. He humbly classes himself with the teachers. The ‘for’ of verse 2 introduces a reason for the advice in verse 1 – since it is hard to avoid falls, and harder in respect to speech than action, it is a dangerous ambition to be a teacher.
That thought leads on to the series of considerations as to the government of the tongue. He who can completely keep it under command is a ‘perfect’ man, because the difficulty of doing so is so great that the attainment of it is a test of perfection. James is like the Hebrew prophets, in that he does not so much argue as illustrate. His natural speech is imagery, and here he pours out a stream of it. The horse’s bridle and the ship’s rudder may be taken together as both illustrating the two points that the tongue guides the body, and that it is intended that the man should guide the tongue. These two ideas are fused together here. The bridle is put into the mouth, and what acts on the mouth influences the direction of the horse’s course. The rudder is but a little bit of wood, hut its motion turns the great ship, even when driven by wild winds. ‘So the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things,’ which boasting is not false, for the whole point of the passage is that that little member has large power.
Is it true, as James says, that it governs our actions as the bridle does the horse, Or the rudder the ship? No doubt, many sins go straight from the inner chambers of the heart’s desires out into the world of action without.going round by the way of speech; but still, if we think of the immense power of our own words and of others in setting our activities in motion, of the dreadful harvest of sin which has of ten sprung from one tempting word, of the ineffaceable traces of pollution which some vile book leaves in memory and heart, of the good and evil which have been wrought by spoken or printed words, and that never more truly than to-day, when a flood of talk all but drowns the world, we shall not think James exaggerating in the awful weight he gives to speech as the mother of action.
His other point is that this guiding power needs guidance. A firm yet gentle hand touches the rein, and the sensitive mouth yields to the light pressure. The steerman’s hand pushes or draws the tiller an inch from or towards him, and the huge vessel yaws accordingly. Speech is often loose. Most men set less careful watch on the door of their lips than of their actions; but it would be wiser to watch the inner gate, which leads from thought to speech, than the outer one, which leads from speech to act. Idle words, rash words, unconsidered words, free-flowing words, make up much of our conversation. ‘His tongue ran away with him’ is too often true. It is hard but possible, and it is needful, to guide the helm, to keep a tight hand on the reins.
II. The next figure is that of the fire, suggested by the illustration of the small spark which sets a great forest ablaze.
Drop a match or a spark from a locomotive or a pipe in the prairie grass, and we know what comes. The illustration was begun to carry on the contrast between the small member and its great results; but James catches fire, and goes off after the new suggestion, ‘The tongue is a fire.’
Our space forbids discussing the interpretation of the difficult verse 6, but the general bearing of it is clean It reiterates under a fresh figure the thought of the preceding verses as to the power of the tongue to set the whole body in motion. Only the imagery is more lurid, and suggests more fatal issues from an unhallowed tongue’s influence. It ‘defileth the whole body.’ Foul speech, heard in schools or places of business, read in filthy books, heard in theatres, has polluted many a young life, and kindled fires which have destroyed a man, body and soul. Speech is like the axle which, when it gets heated, sets the wheel on fire. And what comes of the train then? And what set the axle ablaze? The sulphurous flames from the pit of Gehenna. No man who knows life, especially among young boys and young men, will think that James has lost the government of his tongue in speaking thus.
III. Next comes the figure of the untamable wild beast.
e need not pin James down to literal accuracy any more than to scientific classification in his zoology. His general statement is true enough for his purpose, for man has long ago tamed, and still continues to use as tamed, a crowd of animals of most diverse sorts, fierce and meek, noxious and harmless.
But, says James, in apparent contradiction to himself, there is one creature that resists all such efforts. Then what .is the sense of your solemn exhortations, James, if ‘the tongue can no man tame’? In that case he who is able to bridle it must be more than a perfect man. Yes, James believed that, though he says little about it. He would have us put emphasis on ‘no man.’ Man’s impossibilities are Christ’s actualities. So we have here to fall back on James’s earlier word, If any of you lack,… let him ask of God,… and it shall be given him.’ The position of ‘man’ in the Greek is emphatic, and suggests that the thought of divine help is present to the Apostle. He adds a characterisation of the tongue, which fits in with his image of an untamable brute: ‘It is a restless evil,’ like some caged but unsubdued wild animal, ever pacing uneasily up and down its den; ‘full of deadly poison,’ like some captured rattlesnake. The venom spurted out by a calumnious tongue is more deadly than any snake poison. Blasphemous words, or obscene words, shot into the blood by one swift dart of the fangs, may corrupt its whole current, and there is no Pasteur to expel the virus.
IV. The last image, that of the fountain, is adduced to illustrate the strange inconsistencies of men, as manifested in their speech.
Words of prayer and words of cursing come from the same lips. No doubt these hot tempered, and sometimes ferociously religious, Jewish Christians, to whom James speaks, had some among them whose portraits James is drawing here. ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth!’ is a strange sequel to ‘Blessed be he, the God of our fathers.’ But the combination has often been heard since. To Deums and anathemas have succeeded one another m strange union, and religious controversy has not always been conducted with perfect regard to James’s precepts.
Of course when the Apostle gibbets the grotesque inconsistency of such a union, he is not to be taken as allowing cursing, if it only keeps clear of ‘blessing God.’ Since the latter is the primary duty of all, and the highest exercise of the great gift of speech, anything inconsistent with it is absolutely forbidden, and to show the inconsistency is to condemn the act.
Further, the assertion that ‘salt water cannot yield sweet’ implies that the ‘cursing’ destroys the reality of the verbal ‘blessing God.’ If a man says both, the imprecation is his genuine voice, and the other is mere wind.
The fountain is deeper than the tongue. From the heart are the issues of life. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and clear, pure waters will not well out thence unless the heart has been cleansed by Christ entering into it. Only when that tree of life is cast into the waters are they made sweet. When Christ governs us, we can govern our hearts and our lips, and through these our whole bodies and all their activities.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jas 3:1-5 a
1Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. 2For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. 3Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. 4Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 5So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
Jas 3:1 “many of you” This shows the tendency of a large section of the church to want to speak during the group meetings (cf. 1Co 14:26-40). The worship service of the early church was dynamic and unstructured.
“become” This is a present middle (deponent) imperative with a negative particle which means to stop an act already in process. This section of James begins with the responsibility of Christian leaders but easily transitions into the responsibility of every Christian in relation to speech.
“teachers” This seems to reflect either (1) the early church’s worship where anyone could speak or (2) the place of honor of the rabbi in Jewish society. Teaching is listed as a spiritual gift in 1Co 12:28; 1Co 14:26. It is also listed as a function of pastors (cf. 1Ti 3:1-2; Eph 4:11). In Act 13:1 it is connected to prophets. But here it is viewed as an option for all believers.
It is my theological opinion that all believers participate in the gifts at some practical level. Surely we would not accept a Christian saying
1. I do not have the gift of prayer so I do not pray
2. I do not have the gift of giving so I do not give
3. I do not have the gift of evangelism so I do not witness.
We would say these activities are for all believers. God gifts some for effective service in these areas, but all believers have responsibilities in these areas.
“my brethren” See notes at Jas 1:2; Jas 1:9.
“as such we” James includes himself in this group. Paul calls himself a preacher, apostle, and teacher (cf. 2Ti 1:11). All Christians have at least one spiritual gift (cf. 1 Corinthians 12), but some have several.
“we will incur a stricter judgment” Knowledge and leadership bring greater responsibility (cf. Luk 12:48; 1Co 3:10-15). I believe the New Testament does teach degrees of blessings and punishment.
SPECIAL TOPIC: DEGREES OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT
Jas 3:2
NASB”we all stumble in many ways”
NKJV”we all stumble in many things”
NRSV”all of us make many mistakes”
TEV”all of us often make mistakes”
NJB”we all trip up in many ways”
This is a present active indicative indicating continual, habitual action. “Stumble” is used in the sense of “sin.” The Bible teaches that all people are sinners (cf. Gen 6:5; Gen 6:11-13; Gen 8:21; 1Ki 8:46; 2Ch 6:36; Job 4:17; Job 9:2; Job 15:14-16; Job 25:4; Psa 14:1-3; Psa 53:1-4; Psa 130:3; Psa 143:2; Pro 20:9; Ecc 7:20; Rom 3:10-20; Rom 3:23; Gal 3:22; 1Jn 1:8-10). This may reflect the non-canonical Jewish wisdom book of Ecclesiasticus (cf. Sir 5:13-14; Sir 14:1; Sir 19:16; Sir 22:27; Sir 28:13-26). There are several allusions in the book of James to this inter-biblical wisdom book, written about 180 B.C. In a sense James is NT Wisdom Literature.
“If” This is a first class conditional sentence; all humans stumble.
“what he says” James is concerned in Jas 2:14-26 about faith without works. This section shows that one’s speech, in a sense, reveals true spiritual character. The Bible stresses the importance of our speech (see Contextual Insights, D). We are known and judged by our words because our words reveal our character.
“he is a perfect man” “Perfect” means “fully equipped,” “full-grown,” “complete,” or “mature,” not sinless (cf. Romans 7). James uses this term often (cf. Jas 1:4; Jas 1:17; Jas 1:25; Jas 2:22; Jas 3:2) because of his emphasis on the functioning faith, this impossibility of separating (i.e., Gnosticism) faith from faithfulness!
“able to bridle the whole body as well” The control of the tongue is a sign of Christlike maturity and self-control (cf. Jas 1:26; Gal 5:22-23).
Jas 3:3 “if” This is a first class conditional sentence; horses have been domesticated.
Jas 3:3-5 Here are examples of how a small thing can affect a large thing: bridle/horse, rudder/ship, and spark/fire. Horses and ships are used often in the Koine papyri from Egypt as metaphors for control.
Jas 3:4 “ship. . .great” The Greco-Roman world had large ships. Paul had been aboard a grain ship which carried 276 passengers plus cargo. Josephus records that he was on a ship with 600 passengers. He describes its dimensions as 180′ by 65′ by 44′.
Jas 3:5 “boasts of great things” Here James is alluding either to the power of human speech or the idea of “pride.”
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
masters = teachers. App-98. Jam 3:4.
knowing. App-132.
condemnation. App-177.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1-12.] The danger, as connected with the upholding of faith without works, of eagerness to teach: and, by occasion, the manifold and irrepressible sins of the tongue. Then follows, b. 13-18.] an exhortation, to prove a mans wisdom by mildness, not by a contentious spirit.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Let’s turn to James chapter three. James first of all warns against a desire to teach the Word of God that would stem or emanate just from your own desire to be in front of people or whatever.
My brethren, [he said,] be not many masters [or teachers] ( Jas 3:1 ),
The idea of master there is a teacher,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation ( Jas 3:1 ).
Teaching the Word of God is an awesome responsibility, because when I stand here to teach God’s Word, than I am responsible to be teaching the Word of God correctly. For if I do not teach the Word of God correctly, then those people that I may be leading astray, will be people for whom I will have to bear a responsibility. It is a heavy obligation to be a teacher of God’s Word.
Now, you can teach any other subject, doesn’t matter if you are teaching something that will latter on be proved to be wrong, but if you are teaching the Word of God the consequences of the false teaching are so vast that as the teacher you will be held responsible. So don’t be many masters knowing that we will receive the greater condemnation. That is why I seek to be so careful in teaching the Word of God to keep, as much as possible, my own opinion out of it and speculation out of it completely.
A lot of times people want you to speculate on a subject and to me that is extremely dangerous. There is a danger always in approaching the scriptures with a certain mind set. “I have a particular doctrine that I have embraced, I adhere to, and though there are scriptures that would seemingly contradict the position that I believe in. I then feel the necessity of somehow explaining away those scriptures. That is dangerous. I don’t think that we should meddle or tamper with the Word of God. I think that we should keep it just as pure as possible as we seek to teach the Word. And so James warns that if we take upon ourselves that position of teacher just know that along with that position goes that awesome responsibility and that one day we will have to give an account before God of how straight forward we were in handling His Word.
Now the Bible warns of those who handle the Word of God deceitfully, and I have met so many people who handled the Word of God deceitfully.
Now James is gonna talk to us about something of which we all have a problem now or then, and that’s our tongue.
For in many things, [he said,] we offend all. And if any man offends not in word, the same is a perfect man, and is able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horse’s mouth, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body with that bit. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor desires. Even so the tongue is a little member, but it boasts great things. Behold, how great a matter just a little fire can kindle! ( Jas 3:2-5 ).
So in talking about the tongue, it’s a very small part of our anatomy. But yet what trouble it can get us into. What fires it can spark. The tongue is something that has a capacity for great blessings or for great evil. We can use our tongues to bless people, to build them up, to encourage them, or we can use our tongues to destroy them. And he likens the tongue though it is such a small part of the body and yet able to do such great damage move so many things like the bridle in a horse’s mouth, small but yet you can move that big horse around with just a little bridle in its mouth. The rudder on a ship, a small part of the ship, but yet it turns the ship. A huge ship turned by such a small rudder, so our tongues can really control in a sense our whole lives. An especially if we don’t seek to control the tongue.
The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, it is capable of defiling the whole body, it sets on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire of Gehenna. [Now,] every kind of beasts, and bird, and serpent, and things of sea, is tame, and has been tamed by man ( Jas 3:6-7 ).
It is interesting how that man has been able to tame all kinds of creatures. We can tame lions, we’ve seen the lion tamers and we’ve watched them in the circus. Birds can be trained to talk, and to say phrases. Even serpents can be trained and you see the… in India the guy with his flute and the Boa constrictor you know doing its thing. And of course you can go down to Sea World or over to Marineland and see how they have trained the fish. Man has learned how to train and to bring into control all these of these wild things in nature. One thing man hasn’t been able to tame is his own tongue,
but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, and fully of deadly poison ( Jas 3:8 ).
Jesus, one day, said something that is worth considering at this point. He said, “It’s not really that which goes into a man that defiles a man, but that which comes out of a man that defiles him. For out of the mouth comes blasphemies and evil speaking.” And then He said it is “out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” ( Mat 15:11 , Mat 15:18-19 ). That doesn’t speak too good for our hearts does it? The mouth is the voice piece of the heart of man. The man revels what’s inside of him by his tongue. And sometimes that frightens me.
With the tongue we bless God, even the Father ( Jas 3:9 );
and isn’t that the highest capacity of my tongue is when I use it to praise the Lord. We were singing tonight the praises unto God and that is the highest capacity for which I can use my tongue is use it to declare praises unto God. With our tongue we bless God even the Father,
but with the same tongue we curse men, who are made after the similitude or the likeness of God. Out of same mouth there proceeds blessings and cursings. Now this ought not to be. [James said there is an inconsistency here.] Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can a fig tree bear olive berries? can a vine bear figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh ( Jas 3:9-12 ).
And so there is a paradox in our tongue it’s different from anything else. From the same mouth, there can come glorious praises unto God and horrible curses unto men. The tongue, God help us that we might be so yielded to the Spirit that He would do for us what we can’t do for ourselves and that is bring our tongue under control.
I’ve said so many things that I wish I had not of said; said in a moment of anger. How I wished I could have taken them back. And there are a lot of things that I wish I had said that I didn’t a word of encouragement, a word of forgiveness, a word of comfort. You know we sometimes just don’t want to give that person that consolation of saying, “Well that’s all right, I understand.” If I only had said it though, I could have saved them so much mental anguish and turmoil. I could have let them know that it really didn’t matter.
Now he goes on to another subject and that is of true wisdom.
Who is a wise man endued with knowledge among you? let him demonstrate it by his manner of life, by his works, with the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying or strife in your hearts, that’s not wise, don’t glory in it, and lie not against the truth. [That is a lie against the truth, the bitterness and striving and envyness within your heart.] For this kind of wisdom descends not from above. It’s not Godly wisdom, it’s earthly, it’s sensual, it’s devilish. For where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then it is peaceable, it is gentle, it is easy to be intreated, it is full of mercy and good fruit, it’s without partiality, and without hypocrisy ( Jas 3:13-17 ).
Oh, what a difference. That wisdom that is earthly, sensual, devilish, envying, striving, bitterness.
Now, what marks your life? What kind of wisdom comes forth from you? He says that you should show forth the wisdom by your manner of living. Demonstrate the wisdom. In reality our manner of life does demonstrate the source of our wisdom. And if I am constantly in strife, constantly in turmoil, constantly stirred up, constantly, you know, bad mouthing this person, that person, this thing, that thing, then that wisdom that I have is not of God. For the wisdom that comes from God has such marvelous characteristics, it’s pure, it’s peaceable it’s gentle, easily intreated.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, of them that makes peace ( Jas 3:18 ).
So this is just good practical advice for getting along with people. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jam 3:1. , not many) A rightly governed tongue is rarely found. Jam 3:2, all. There ought therefore to be few teachers. Comp. Rom 15:18. In accordance with this principle also, he who acts as teacher ought not to be too much given to speaking.-, be) of your own accord.- , greater condemnation) on account of more numerous offences. Comp. Wis 6:5. [For we shall have to render an account of all our words.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Jas 3:1
SECTION 6
Jas 3:1-12
RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHERS
Jas 3:1
1 Be not many of you teachers,— The verb “be not,” (me… ginesthe), a present middle imperative, with the negative, signifies “stop becoming many teachers …. ” This prohibition is to be closely construed with the theme which characterizes the Epistle through most of chapters 2 and 3. Words are worthless without acts; faith apart [rom works is dead: blessings are to be bestowed upon those who hear and do, and not upon those who hear and do not. Even those whose work it is to use words are ever to remember that a weighty responsibility attaches thereto, and they are not to rush into the teaching office without proper preparation and a due regard for the importance of the work in which they are to engage.
It would appear that there was a disposition on the part of many of the early converts to the word to desire the attention and influence which attended its teaching: and these, without sufficient preparation were disposed to attempt that which they were not qualified to do. The influence which teachers exercise upon their pupils is often immeasurable; and, the impressions which they make on the impressionable minds of their students, either for good or ill, are far-reaching in nature. It is, therefore, vitally important for those who thus do to be duly conscious of the importance of the work to which they aspire, and to make the requisite preparation thereto. Inasmuch as all faithful disciples of the Lord are, as far as they are able, to teach his word whenever and wherever opportunity offers, it was not James’ design to discourage any one who has the capacity to teach, then or now; it is the obligation of us all to utilize our talents in this, and in all other areas, of the work of the church, to the extent of our ability; but, we must take care that we are able properly to instruct and edify. In the days of spiritual gifts. some were disposed to rise in the assembly and to attempt to speak, whether they were qualified or not ( 1Co 14:1-33), and this created confusion and discord. If we keep in mind that ] a mes does not condemn teachers who are able to teach, and is warning those whose sole motive is the desire for notoriety, we have his meaning exactly. This disposition to desire the place of a teacher, and the acclaim which attended such seems to have been exceedingly widespread in the early church. Paul, in his first Epistle to Timothy, wrote: “But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned : from which things some having swerved have turned aside unto vain talking; desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof they confidently affirm.” The ambition to teach is a worthy one, and should be encouraged, provided the person so aspiring is willing to make the necessary preparation to accomplish the desired end. A failure so to do subjects one to the displeasure of the Lord. The Hebrew writer had especially severe words of censure for those who neglected such preparation: “For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principle of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. For everyone that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.” (Heb 5:12-14.)
Not all disciples can be public teachers of the word ( 1Co 12:28 ff; 1Co 14:26), and not all should aspire to be. “If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?” (1Co 12:17.) There are other duties and activities in the church which are equally vital ; and, those without special ability in one field may possess unusual talents in some other. What is condemned here is selfappointed teachers motivated by desires not worthy of those who teach and preach the word of God. ] esus positively forbade any unseemly seeking for prominence in teaching (Mat 23:8-10) ; and some wise man in Israel penned the maxim: “Love the work but strive not after the honor of a teacher.” A “teacher,” (didaslzalos), is an instructor in righteousness, and his work is vital to New Testament Christianity. Teaching is, indeed, basic to its existence; and, it flourishes only where it is assiduously taught. The early church depended on its teachers for edification, and these men are prominently mentioned through the sacred writings. (Act 13:1; 1Co 12:28.) The faithful teachers of the apostolic age were highly regarded and specially honored for their works’ sake; and, James (by the use of the plural pronoun “we,”) in the clause following, included himself in the number. It is the work of teachers to edify. 1Co 14:26.) It follows, therefore, that unless those who affect to teach are able to edify (instruct, build up, strengthen), their effort is unsuccessful. There are special qualifications which ought to characterize all members of the body of Christ, and which mtt.rt be possessed by all who would teach effectively. Paul wrote Timothy, “Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching. . . . Be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy progress may be manifest unto all. Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee. And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” ( 1Ti 4:13-16; 2Ti 2:2.) The minimum qualifications, as indicated here, are, (1) faithfulness; (2) ability to teach others. Where either is lacking the results will be far short of what is desirable. However, faithful one may be, without the ability to instruct, it is impossible to edify; and though great ability to teach is possessed, unfaithfulness on the part of the teacher nullifies much of the good which otherwise may be done. Our Lord was preeminently a teacher (Master, in the Authorized Version), and the verb “teach” is used in connection with his work many times. As a matter of fact, Jesus is never called a “preacher” in the books of the gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), and only eleven times is it said that he “preached” (kerusso) his message. Only five times, and these in Luke, is he said to have “evangelized” (euangelizoniai) or announced good tidings. It is thus apparent that neither Jes us, nor the above mentioned writers, regarded his work as chiefly preaching, but rather as teaching men. Forty-five times in the books of the gospel he is called a teacher; six times he refers to himself in this fashion; twenty-three times his disciples, and those friendly to his cause so style him, and twelve times his enemies, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and others, call him a teacher.
my brethren,—This phrase recurs with great regularity in the Epistle of James. (Jas 1:2; Jas 1:19; Jas 1:21; Jas 2:1; Jas 2:14; Jas 3:1; Jas 3:10; Jas 5:7; Jas 5:12; Jas 5:19.) It denotes (a) the close relationship of fraternalism which obtains between the disciples; (b) the brotherly love which should ever characterize them; and (c) the common level all enjoy in Christ. It was James’ purpose throughout the Epistle to condemn the disposition which some among his readers regularly exhibited of assigning to some people places of preference, and to treat others (because they were lacking in the worldly attainments possessed by those honored) with contempt. There is no caste system in Christ. Inasmuch as we are all brethren, it behooves us to conduct ourselves as brethren should, and to eschew all bitterness and envy, and “to love one another from the heart fervently.” (1Pe 1:22.) Accidental accomplishments, such as wealth, social position, and fame, count for nothing in Christ. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Co 4:18.)
knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.—This is the reason why one should not rashly assume the work of a teacher. He is to know that his judgment will be heavier if he fails in the proper discharge thereof. “Heavier judgment, (meizon krima) is, literally, greater judgment (condemnation). The word translated judgment here, almost always mean condemnation. The word thus translated (krima), is from krino, to separate, distinguish. Thus, at the great judgment day, the Lord will separate those who have been teachers of his word, from those who have not, and will then pass on them by far stricter standards than those applicable to non-teachers. The consequences involved in teaching that which is false are fatal; and those who have not properly prepared themselves for such work, and who thus mislead those whom they affect to teach, must answer under “a heavier judgment,” than those not thus engaged. “But whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of oc~sions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!” (Mat 18:6-7.) The lesson for us is that leadership involves responsibility; and the greater the area of leadership the greater the responsibility. Teachers must, therefore, answer for a great deal more than those engaged in other Christian work. But, if the responsibility is greater, and the judgment heavier for those who misuse or do not properly use the occasion, the reward is greater for those who do properly teach and edify others. Paul described tht: Philippians as his “brethren beloved and longed for,” his “joy and crown” (Php 4:1). And John said, “Greater joy have J not than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.” (3Jn 1:4.) Daniel said that they “that are wise shall shine as the hrightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Dan 12:3.)
Teachers, preachers, elders, all who have the obligation to instruct others, should take these matters carefully to heart, and to be mindful always of the weighty responsibility which is theirs in this respect. All of us, whatever our lot in life, should be desirous of becoming more proficient in the word of truth, and we should labor diligently to this end. A well-stocked library of good religious books and periodicals, regular periods of study, and Joye ior truth, are prime requisites to this end. We must answer, in the judgment, not only for what we know. but for what we could have found out by reasonable effort; and it will not suffice for us, of this day, to plead ignorance of God’s will and way, when the means by which we may become efficient teachers are readily at hand.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The writer now proceeded to show the effect of faith on speech. Beginning with the warning against every man setting up to teach, he proceeded to deal with the power of speech. He likened the tongue to the bit in the mouth of a horse, and to the helm of a ship. Surely a contrast between the tongue set on fire by hell and the tongue of fire is suggested. Speech ever waits for inspiration, and such inspiration comes from the depths of evil or from the Spirit of the living God. Follows a contrast between the wisdom which is described as being “earthly,
animal, devilish,” and the true wisdom in which the deepest fact is purity. The resulting purity is the character described as “peaceable,” that is, desiring peace; “gentle,” that is, forbearing; “easy to be entreated,” that is, amenable to reason; “full of mercy,” that is, capable of forgiving; and “full of good fruits,” that is, actually engaged in kindness; “without variance,” that is, consistent in the sense of being even and regular in tone and temper; “without hypocrisy,” that is, without deceit or acting a part. Evil wisdom produces tempest and conflict, strife and malice. The wisdom from above has the manifestations of calm and certainty, of quietness and love.
The closing words, “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace,” suggest the propagative power of peace. All this teaching shows the effect of faith on that natural character from which speech springs, and therefore it reveals the effect of faith on speech itself.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
II. ON THE TEACHERS CALLING (3:1-18)
CHAPTER 3
Ch. 3 relates to the Teacher and Wise Man. That the two are treated as substantially identical is significant. It is interesting to compare the directions for leaders of the Christian community given in the Pastoral Epistles or in the Didache.
The main thought in vv. 1-12 is the greater responsibility of teachers and the extremely dangerous character of the instrument which they have to use. In vv. 9-12 the noble possibilities of the tongue are presented as a motive for checking its lower propensities. This passage naturally connects itself with 1:19 f. 26, 2:12.
In vv. 13-18 the discussion springs from the same abhorrence of sham which gives rise to so much of ch. 1 (vv. 6-8, 22-27), and controls the thought throughout ch. 2.
1-3. Against overeagerness to be teachers; in view of the great responsibility involved, and of the difficulty of controlling the tongue.
1. , Do not many of you become teachers. is to be regarded either as subject or as in apposition with the proper subject (in that case ); is predicate; cf. Heb 7:23.
] L by a not unusual corruption reads . This does not point to a reading , and has no relation to the mistranslation of m nolite multiloqui esse (cf. Mat 6:7).
means rabbi (cf. Mat 23:8, Luk 2:46, Joh 1:38, Joh 1:20:16, Joh 1:3:10; see references in Lex.. s. vv. and ), and the teachers here referred to, if in Jewish Christian churches, would naturally have occupied a place not unlike that of rabbis in the synagogues. This would apply both to the dignity of the position and to a part of the duties of the rabbis. Among Christians the term was used both for a teacher resident in a church (Act 13:1, Antioch) and for a travelling missionary (Didache 11:1 f. 13:2, 15:2). Nothing in the text indicates whether Jamess reference was limited to one or the other of these classes. The position of teacher was the function of a specially gifted person, not a standing office, and it was plainly possible for a man who believed himself competent for the work to put himself forward and take up the activities of a teacher. James is himself a teacher (, v. 1), and points out the moral dangers of the teachers life, with special insistence on the liability to opinionated disputatiousness (vv. 13-18). A good concrete impression of the nature of the meetings at which they spoke may be gathered from 1Co_14. The Epistle of James itself will give an idea of one of the types of early Christian teaching. Teachers were important from the earliest times (Act 13:1, 1Co 12:28, Eph 4:11) and were found in the Christian churches of many lands. The references of this epistle would seem applicable in any part of the world and during any part of the period which is open for the date of the epistle.
An interesting expansion of this exhortation of James found in the first pseudo-clementine Epistle to Virgins, i, 11, is probably from Palestine or Syria in the third century, and vividly illustrates the same situation even at that late time (text in Funk, Patres apostolici, vol. ii; Eng. transl. in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Buffalo, 1886, vol. viii).
On teachers in the early church, see articles in DD.BB., and especially Harnack, Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums, 21906, pp. 279-308; Eng. transl. 21908, i, pp. 333-366, where a great amount of interesting material is collected and discussed.
, introducing a new section, cf. 1:2, 19, 2:1, 14, 5:7, 12.
, for you know, presenting a motive.
, greater condemnation; cf. Mar 12:40 (Luk 20:47) , Rom 13:2. The teachers condemnation (or, as we should say, his responsibility) is greater than that of others because having, or professing to have, clear and full knowledge of duty, he is the more bound to obey it, cf. Luk 12:47 f.
, i. e. at the last day. Notice that James includes himself as a .
The Vulgate (sumitis) and the Bohairic version have altered this to the second person.
To this warning no good earlier or Jewish parallel has been produced. The sayings about the dangers of speech apply, indeed, to the teacher, but they are in most cases of an entirely general cast.
2-12. The Hellenistic associations of the following passage, vv. 2-12, are shown in the references in the notes. The more striking parallels have been effectively put together by J. Geffcken, Kynika und Verwandtes, 1909, pp. 45-53. Geffcken thinks that James here betrays dependence on a written tract on calumny, or some such subject, which he has adapted and expanded. This is not impossible, but the infelicities in the sequence of Jamess thought in the passage, on which Geffckens theory rests, are not quite sufficient to prove anything more than dependence on ideas which had been worked out for a different purpose by others, and were familiar commonplaces of popular moral preaching.
2. . This gives the reason () for the warning of v. 1. All men stumble, and of all faults those of the tongue are the hardest to avoid. Hence the profession of teacher is the most difficult mode of life conceivable.
On the universality of sin, cf. Rom 3:9-18, 1Jn 1:8, Ecc 7:20, Ecclus. 19:16, 2 Ezr 8:35, and the similar observations of Greek and Latin writers collected by Wetstein, Schneckenburger, and Mayor, e. g. Seneca, De clem. i, 6 peccavimus omnes, alii graviora alii leviora.
The besetting danger of sins of speech and of the misuse of the tongue was clearly seen and often mentioned by ancient moralists. Noteworthy O. T. passages (among many others) are Pro 15:1-4, Pro 15:7, Pro 15:23, Pro 15:26, Pro 15:28, Ecclus. 5:11-6:1, 22:27, 28:13-26.
, see note on 2:11.
, cf. 1:23.
, cf. 1:4 and note. Used of moral perfection, blameless, cf. Mat 5:48, Mat 19:21, Col 1:28, Col 4:12, Wisd. 9:6, Gen 6:9, Ecclus. 44:17. The same Hebrew word , used in the same sense, is translated in Gen 6:9 by , in Gen 17:1 by .
. Expands the idea of .
, hold in check, cf. 1:26 and note.
, i. e. the whole man. The contrast of the tongue and the body, as of a part and the whole, has led here to a mode of expression which seems to imply that sin does not exist apart from the body. But the writer shows himself to be fully aware that sin resides in the inner man, although on the whole its more conspicuous manifestations are prominently connected with the body. The body is thought of as providing the man with his organs of expression and action. It is a natural and popular, not a philosophical or theological, mode of expression. Cf. v. 6 , 4:1, Rom 8:13.
3. It is with men as with horses: control their mouth and you are master of all their action.
, behold, introduces an illustration, cf. vv. 4, 5, 5:4, 7.
On , , see Moultons Winer, pp. 318 f. note 5; J. H. Moulton, Prolegomena, p. 11, note.
] CR minnplus 40 sah syrhcl arm.
] minnut vid pauo.
] * syrpesh.
] BAKL minn25 ff vg boh (if).
Of these readings (cf. 3:4, 5, 5:4, 7) and the addition of may be at once rejected as emendations; the latter, however, is significant because it implies that was understood as equivalent to . As between and , the external evidence is strong for the latter, although P when it departs from KL is an excellent witness. But in this instance the variant reading is likely to be due to a misspelling and not to deliberate emendation, whereas the excellence of Bs text depends solely on its freedom from emendation, not in any accuracy of spelling. In such a case intrinsic evidence from the sense is the only guide; and this speaks strongly for , which is therefore to be accepted.
. Depends on , but is put first because it contains the new and emphatic idea.
is used of the bridle proper (or reins), of the bit, and, as perhaps here, of the whole bridle, including both. The figurative use of bridle in English does not extend in the same degree to bit, and hence bridle (A.V., R.V.) is preferable as the English translation here.
, put, cf. Philo, De agric. 21 ; Xen. De re equestr. vi, 7; ix, 9; Ael. V. h. ix, 16 .
If is read (with WH.), has to be taken as introducing the apodosis, as often in Hebrew.
, guide, direct (E.V. turn about).
Cf. Philo, De opif. mundi, (29) 88 (the charioteers) ; Aristippus in Stobus, Anthol. (ed. Hense), iii, ch. 17, 17 , .
The comparison turns on the importance which the tongue has because control over the whole creature can be exercised through it, as through the horses mouth. The smallness of the member hardly comes into consideration here.
4-12. The dangers of the tongue
4-6. The tongue, though small, is as powerful as a little rudder on a great ship, and as dangerous as a little fire in a great forest.
4. , ships also, like horses. The article is generic. The parallel of ship and horse is emphasised by the repetition of , a repetition characteristic of Jam 1:13 f. 2:14, 16, 2:21, 25.
, harsh, stiff; hence here of winds, strong; the adjective heightens the contrast with the little rudder.
For the phrase, cf. Dio. Chrys. De regno. iii, p. 44 , Pro 27:16 (where the difference from the Hebrew is instructive), and other references in Wetstein, Mayor, and Schneckenburger.
, impulse, desire. Used in N. T. only here and Act 14:5, and not in this sense in O. T., but common in classical Greek writers. See Trench, lxxxvii, and see L. and S. for full references, e. g. Xen. Anab. iii, 2:9 ; Plato, Phil. 35 D, where is parallel to ..
Others take this of the pressure of the steersman on the helm, but without any sufficient reason.
, the one who directs it. Cf. Philo, De conf. ling. 23 ; also Pro 20:24, Ecclus. 37:15.
The twin figures of the control of horse and of ship are frequently found together in later Greek writers, as the following passages show. In some of the instances the point of the comparison is the smallness of the instrument which controls so great a body. James is evidently acquainted with the forms of current Greek popular thought.
In the following the figures of ship and horse are characteristically combined:
Plutarch, De aud. poetis, 12, p. 33 F , , .
Plutarch, De genio Socratis, 20, p. 588 E.
Aristippus, in Stobus, Anthol. iii (ed. Hense), 17, 17 (quoted supra).
Philo, De opificio mundi, 29 , , .
Philo, Leg. alleg. iii, 79; De agricult. 15; De confus. ling. 23; In Flacc. 5.
For the figure of the ships rudder, cf. Lucretius, De rer. nat. iv, 863-868
quippe etenim ventus subtili corpore tenuis
trudit agens magnam magno molimine navem,
et manus una regit quanto vis impete euntem
atque gubernaclum contorquet quolibet unum,
multaque, per trocleas et tympana, pondere magno
commovet atque levi sustollit machina nisu.
The often-quoted passage from Ps.-Aristotle, Mechanica, 5, is not apt. since there the rudder is mentioned not as a literary figure, but as one example of the principle of the lever.
For the figure of the horse, cf. Sophocles, Antig. 477 f.
.
5. is equivalent to , be haughty, which has here been separated into its component parts in order to make a good parallel to . The phrase is here used in the sense not of an empty boast, but of a justified, though haughty, sense of importance; cf. Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, p. 94.
The usual associations, however, of are bad, as here. A boasting compatible with proper humility would probably be expressed by . Cf. Zep 3:11, Eze 16:50, Eccles. 48:18, 2 Macc. 15:32, 4 Macc. 2:15.
Perhaps the alliteration , , is intentional, cf. v. 7.
] BAC*P ff vg boh.
] C2KL minn. This seems to be emendation to a more familiar word.
5b-6. The tongue is as dangerous as a fire. Cf. Ecclus. 28:12, 22.
, how small.
] BA2CP vg.
] A*C2KL minnomn vid ff m syrutr boh sah. Emendation.
, how much. For the double question, cf. Mar 15:24, Luk 19:15, and see Winer, 66. 5. 3.
. The abundant references in ancient literature to forest fires, sometimes with direct reference to the smallness of the spark which leads to vast destruction, and the repeated use of this comparison in ethical discussions make it likely that here means forest rather than fuel.
In Homer, Il. ii, 455
the comparison is to describe the glitter of the armour of a great host; in the similar verse Il. xi, 155, it is the rout of a fleeing army.
Pindar, Pyth. iii, 36-37
.
Euripides, Ino, fragm. 411
.
Ps.-Phocylides, Poema admonitorium, 144
.
Philo, De decal. 32, M. p. 208 [] .
The above quotations refer to a forest fire. The following are significant in using with similar purpose the figure of a great conflagration in a city or in general.
Philo, De migr. Abr. 12, M. p. 455 , , .
Seneca, Controversiarum excerpta, v, 5, nesciebas quanta sit potentia ignium .
Diogenes of Oinoanda (Epicurean philosopher, second century after Christ), fragm. xxxviii, 3 (ed. William, Leipzig, 1907, p. 46) , .
Among Hebrew writers, Isa 9:18, Isa 10:18, Psa 83:14 use the figure of a forest fire; and Ecclus. 11:32 uses the figure of the small spark which kindles a heap of many coals. The tongue is compared with a fire in Psa 120:3 f., and in Midrash, Leviticus rabba, 16: R. Eleasar in the name of R. Jose b. Zimra: What fires it [the tongue] kindles! (see Schttgen, Horae hebraicae, pp. 1021 f.). But the specific parallels make it seem plain that this comparison is drawn from a standing simile of current Greek popular philosophy.
6. sc. . This applies the comparison made in the preceding sentence.
2o] P minnpler syrhcl c. * prefix ; L min prefix . Conformation to v. 5.
. As the text stands, no satisfactory interpretation is possible for this phrase in this context.
For the expression taken by itself the iniquitous world is the most probable sense. is then genitive of quality, cf. 1:23, 25, 2:12, Luk 16:8, Luk 16:9, Luk 16:18:6, Enoch 48:7, this world of iniquity.
On , cf. Jam 1:27, Jam 2:5, Jam 4:4, and see note on 1:27.
Other meanings have been suggested; on the history of the exegesis, see Huthers and Mayors notes. Thus Vg translates the whole of evil, universitas iniquitatis. But the sense the whole for is attested only Pro 17:6 ; and, moreover, the meaning does not suit our passage well.
Another interpretation is the ornament of iniquity. This is capable in itself of an intelligible sense, as referring to the use of rhetorical arts by designing speakers (Wetstein: malas actiones et suadet et excusat), but that seems foreign to the circle of thought in which the writer is here moving. This sense was, however, a favourite one with Greek interpreters. From Isidore of Pelusium, Epist. iv, 10, who gives it as one possible meaning, it is taken into Cramers Catena, p. 21, and it is also found in cumenius, on vv. 2-4, and in Matthis scholia ( .)
As the text stands, cannot easily be connected with what precedes, whether as appositive of or as a second predicate, parallel to and after understood, for neither of these constructions yields a recognisable sense. If connected with what follows, a colon being put after instead of a comma, we get the best sense of which the passage seems capable, viz.: The tongue stands as (i. e. represents) the unrighteous world among our members; it defiles the whole body, itself having direct connection with hell (so E.V.). is then taken as predicate after . So the free Latin version in the Speculum: ita et lingua ignis est: et mundus iniquitatis per linguam constat in membris nostris quae maculat totam corpus.
Even this interpretation, however, is awkward and unsatisfactory, and it is probable that the text is corrupt. The context calls for some word in place of which should yield the meaning productive of, or the tool of, or representative of wickedness. The phrase would then aptly explain in what way the tongue is in fact a fire.
The Peshitto inserts after and thus makes of an independent sentence parallel to ; the wicked world is a forest. This is a possible conjecture; it seems to rest on no Greek evidence. A simpler and better conjecture, often made, is to exclude from the text altogether as a gloss.
Spitta, following others, conjectures that is all a gloss. He holds that the words were written as the title of 3:1-4:12 (which form the Euthalian chapter), and then wrongly introduced from the margin into the text, while, as a result of this interpolation the words were also added. These are appropriate to the idea of (cf. 1:27), but not to that of a fire; and are not very naturally suggested by the idea of the tongue, breaking the forcible simplicity of the original context which Spitta thus reconstructs. Exegesis by leaving out hard phrases is an intoxicating experience.
, presents itself; see on 4:4.
, which defileth, staineth; justifying the preceding statement. The tongue defiles the body by lending itself to be the organ of so many sins.
Cf. 1:27 , Test. XII Patr. Aser 2:7 [ ] .
] boh read (by emendation) .
, cf. v. 3, which is here in mind.
, setting on fire, kindling; cf. v. 5 .This returns to the figure of fire and completes the interrupted application of that comparison.
and are each used a very few times in the Bible, and are not common ( being mainly poetical) in secular Greek.
, the wheel of nature.
] minn vg syrpesh add ; probably emendation.
The grammarians distinguish between , course, and , wheel, but in view of the derived senses of the latter word the distinction is unimportant.
is here to be taken (cf. 1:23 and note) as substantially equivalent to , creation. As a spark can set a great forest fire, so the tongue kindles the whole world into flame. The description of nature as a wheel is made comprehensible by some of the parallels given below under 2 (a). Here it is used to suggest the continuousness, and so the far-reaching vastness, of the damage done, but the whole phrase is native to other contexts, and the writers idea is not to be too precisely defined. Of course, what is actually enkindled by the tongue is mankind and human society, in which the evil results of wrong speech are manifest and universal; the actual phrase is more inclusive, but in such a rhetorical expression the exaggeration is pardonable.
For full accounts of the various commentators guesses at the exact meaning, see Heisen, Novae hypotheses, pp. 819-880 (with great collections of illustrative material, mostly not apt); D. J. Pott, Novum Test. grce, editio Koppiana, Gttingen, 1810, vol. ix, pp. 317-329; Huther, ad loc. Much material is given in Mayor3, ad loc. pp. 114-116; Windisch, ad loc.; and Hort, St. James, pp. 72-74, 106 f. The only critical discussion of the evidence is that of Hort, whose own interpretation, however, is impossible to accept, being based on Eze 1:15-21.
The translations are as follows:
syr the successions of our generations, which run like wheels.
boh the wheel of the birth.
ff rotam nativitatis.
vg rotam nativitatis nostrae.
m rotam geniturae.
Cf. Priscillian, ed. Schepss, p. 26 (deus) sciens demutationem firmamenti et distruens rotam geniturae reparatione baptismatis diem nostrae nativitatis evicit. The phrase rota geniturae is here used in the sense of astrological fatalism, and is equivalent to . The relation of m to Priscillians text of James makes it probable that in this version of James rota geniturae was intended to have that sense, and hence geniturae substituted for an earlier nativitatis.
The interest of the phrase lies not so much in the determination of its exact meaning as in the fact that it cannot be accounted for from Jewish modes of expression and implies contact with (though not understanding of) Greek thought. It does not, however, betray knowledge of any particular system of thought (Orphic or other), or any closer contact with Hellenism on the part of the writer of the epistle than can be inferred from other ideas and expressions which he uses. This is true in spite of the occurrence in Greek writers of the exact phrase and its equivalent .
The two characteristics of the wheel which mainly attracted the attention of the ancients were (1) its constant change of position and (2) its circular figure and motion. In tracing the meanings it should be noticed that wheel () and circle () are frequently used with little or no distinction.
1. That any revolving motion is full of change caused the wheel to be a symbol of the changeableness of human fortune, now up, now down. Thus was a proverb (Leutsch and Schneidewin, Corpus parmiographorum, ii, Gttingen, 1851, p. 87, with many references, cf. also ii, p. 223 (Macarius Chrysoc. cent. viii, 58); and from Ciceros time the wheel became a regular attribute of Fortune.
So Anacreon, iv, 7 .
Orac. sibyll. ii, 87 (Ps.-Phocyl. 27) .
Herodotus, i, 207 .
For other illustrations, see Gatakers notes on Marcus Aurelius, ix, 28; Mayor3, pp. 116-118; Hort, St. James, p. 107. But nothing in James (not even 1:10, 4:14) indicates that the writer had in mind here this aspect of the wheel of nature.
2. Another aspect of the turning of a wheel is that it goes round and round on its own axis, making no real progress and finding no given termination of its motion; or, to state the same thing from a different point of view, that its figure is circular, and so continuous, returning on itself, without beginning and without end. Hence arose various derived senses for both wheel and circle. Thus the rhetoricians and grammarians speak of the circle of the period, much as we might say the rounded period, and of the closed circle of an argument; a verse beginning and ending with the same word was called a circle, and so was a continuous series of myths (especially the epic cycle).*
For instance, Ocellus Lucanus (neo-pythagorean), Libellus de universi natura, i, 15 (Mullach, Fragmenta philosophorum grcorum, i, p. 394), . .
In physiology the continual cycle of breathing in and out is described by Plato (Tim. 79 B) as (cf. also Galen, De placitis Hippocratis et Platonis, p. 711). More important to be considered here are the following uses:
(a) In general, wheel and circle are used of the round of human life, the cycle of successive generations which endlessly are born and disappear; and the same mode of thought was applied to the whole universe, all parts of which are subject to endless succession of formation and decay.
Thus Euripides, Ino, fragm. 415, fragm. 419, ed. Nauck (in Plutarch, Consol. ad Apollonium, 6, p. 104 B):
,
,
.
A good statement of the same idea (but without the word ) is that of Plutarch (Consol. ad Apollonium, 10, p. 106 E) in a neighbouring context to that in which he cites the above fragment (p. 104 B). He refers to the doctrines of Heraclitus, and compares the progress of the generations-our grandparents, our parents, ourselves-to the continuous flow of a river ( ), while in the opposite direction flows the corresponding river of death ( ). But here the contrast of and shows that has its proper sense of coming into being, not the meaning which we have to assume for it in James.
Simplicius (c. 500 a.d.) Comm. in Epicteti enchiridion, ed. Didot, ch. 8, p. 42, uses the phrase the endless circle of becoming ( , , ), and similarly, ed. Didot, ch. 27, p. 76 (quoted by Hort, St. James, p. 73).*
These passages well illustrate that conception of the circle itself which is probably the basis of Jamess use of , but in them means not nature, in the sense of , but becoming, origination, as the context shows. Thus the close similarity of expression to that of James turns out to be mainly accidental, and the passages are not directly available for the interpretation of the phrase in the epistle.
In accordance with this general method of thought Isidore of Pelusium ( c. 440), Ep. ii, 158, interprets the phrase in James (which he misquotes ) to mean time and says , . His general interpretation is on the right track, but the phrase in the epistle does not mean time.
(b) In connection with the Orphic and Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls to new bodies after death, the term wheel, or circle, was naturally used to describe the unending round of death and rebirth. Metempsychosis, which in its primitive Thracian form had been a means of gaining after death a full life, such as was inconceivable apart from a body, became for Greek religious thought a form of purifying punishment, from whose dismal cycle salvation could come only from the god and to those alone who had pursued the ascetic practises of the Orphic life. To cease from the Wheel and breathe again from ill ( , Orph. fragm. 226, Proclus, In Plat. Tim. comm. v, p. 330 B) was the goal of the religious life of the Orphic initiate, and in the ritual a wheel seems to have played a part. The first article in the creed or confession of the Orphic soul is , I have flown out of the sorrowful weary wheel. *
This Orphic round of birth, death, reincarnation, over and over again repeated, is described as the wheel of fate and birth ( ) and the circle of birth ( ). The phrase compulsory circle ( ) is also found in a statement of the kindred transmigration doctrine attributed to Pythagoras. But the phrases, although almost identical with that of Jam 3:6, do not throw any light upon it. To think of the tongue as enflaming the wheel of metempsychosis is nonsense; and, on the other side, nothing could be more opposed to Jamess robust doctrine of moral responsibility than the idea of a fatalistic circle.
It is therefore impossible to draw the inference that the author of the epistle had direct contact with Orphic mysteries and ideas. The resemblance of language may well be a mere accident, and even if we suppose that he had picked up and misused a chance phrase, that would be fully accounted for by acquaintance with Cynic popular preachers, or Stoic-cynic writers of diatribes, who must have given currency to such catch-words incidentally to their satirical attacks on the ideas which the phrases conveyed.||
(c) Similar expressions are used of fatalistic necessity. So Philo, De somn. ii, 6, p. 664, . In the magic literature are found such expressions as ; see O. Gruppe, Griech. Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte, 1906, p. 1086, note 1.
In this connection it may be observed that in later philosophical use means necessity (for instances, see Clementine Recognitions, viii, 2, 4, 6, 7, etc.). But this whole field of fatalistic thought is diametrically opposed to everything that James held dear.
. Gehenna, a term elsewhere used in the N. T. only in the Synoptic Gospels, here means the place of punishment of the wicked. It was naturally associated with fire, cf. Mat 5:22, Mat 18:9, Mar 9:45, and see HDB, Gehenna. Observe the sudden intrusion of a purely Jewish idea into a notably Greek context.
7-12. The tongue is untamable; its use in blessing God gives no security against its abuse later for cursing men; this is wrong and contrary to nature.
7. , explains how the extreme statement of v. 6 is justified. The dreadful character of the tongue comes from its untamableness.
, beasts and birds, reptiles and fishes. Cf. Deu 4:17, Deu 4:18, 1Ki 4:33, Act 10:12, Act 11:6, which all, like the present passage, have more or less direct reference to Gen 1:20, Gen 1:24, Gen 1:26.
, i. e. fishes. This word is not found elsewhere in the Bible, but is common in secular Greek, both poetry and late prose.
, is from time to time, and has actually been, tamed. Cf. Schmid, Atticismus, ii, p. 276.
. The dative is used in the sense of in subjection to. The term itself means human kind (cf. L. and S. s. v. and references in Wetstein), and is used here instead of the more natural in order to make a little play with .
The control of animals by man was a familiar Hebrew observation, cf. Gen 1:28, Gen 9:2, Psa 8:6-8, Ecclus. 17:4; it was also a common subject of Greek and Roman comment and moralising, see references in Mayor.
8. . Notice the alliteration with , cf. v. 5, and 4 Macc. 15:31, where is repeated six times.
. Belongs with ; alludes to .
This is not meant to be, as Augustine (De nat. et grat. ch. 15) and others since have thought, in contrast with the divine power which can do all things, but is a popular way of saying that complete control of the tongue is not to be expected; cf. v. 2 .
The Pelagian interpretation, which took this as a question, in order to avoid a proof-text for universal sinfulness, is unacceptable because opposed to the context.
, a restless, forthputting, evil; best taken (because of ) as nominative absolute; cf. Mar 12:38. is the opposite of ; see on 1:8, and cf. 3:16 . Cf. Hermas, Mand. ii, 3 , .
] CKL minnpler m syrutr Cyr read ; more commonplace, hence probably an emendation.
, deadly poison, probably with allusion to the poison of the serpents tongue. Cf. Psa 140:3, quoted in Rom 3:13. Cf. Lucian, Fugit. 19 . The figure of poison was a common one among the Greeks, used for various hateful things (references in Mayor).
9. Continues thought of v. 8. Even good use of the tongue now gives no security against misuse later.
, by it, cf. Rom 15:6. This might be the Hebraistic instrumental (see Blass, 41. 1, J. H. Moulton, Prolegomena, pp. 11 f., 61 f., 104), but is more probably an extension of Hellenistic usage for which good parallels are found only in very late, Byzantine, writers (see Stephanus, Thesaurus, ed. Hase and Dindorf, s. v., coll. 963 f.).
This twofold use of the tongue is frequently mentioned. Philo, De decal. xix, p. 196 , , .
Plutarch, De garrulitate, 8, p. 506 C , , , , , . Substantially the same story is told in Levit. rabba, 33 pr. on Pro 18:21 (Schttgen, Horae heb. i, p. 1024) of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel, who sent his servant to market to buy first good and then bad food, and found himself both times supplied with tongues. See other references in Mayor and Windisch, and cf. the passages in which occurs, Pro 11:13, Ecclus. 5:9, 14, 6:1, 28:13, Orac. Sib. iii, 37.
. Doubtless with reference both to the Jewish custom of adding Blessed be He, whenever the name of God was mentioned (cf. Rom 1:25, Rom 1:9:5, 2Co 11:31), and to other liturgical ascriptions of praise. For the latter, cf. 2Co 1:3, Eph 1:3, 1Pe 1:3, Psa 145:21, and the Shemone Esre (Schrer, GJV, 27, Anhang).
. Both words refer to God. See on 2:1; cf. 1:27. The expression has no complete parallel; cf. 1Ch 29:10, Isa 63:16, Mat 11:25, Ecclus. 23:1, 4.
, cf. Job 31:30, Psa 10:7, Psa 62:4, Psa 109:28, Luk 6:28, Rom 12:14.
Test. XII Patr. Benj. 6 .
. Cf. Gen 1:26, Gen 9:6, Ecclus. 17:3, Wisd. 2:23. Cf. Bereshith r. 24 (Wetstein), quoted by Hort.
10. . Used only here in N. T.
11-12. The contrary example of springs and trees. What takes place with the tongue would be impossible in nature. For the same thought, cf. Enoch 2-5:4.
11. . has the article as the representative of its class; see Winer, 18. 1.
, gush. Send forth (E.V.) is an exact, but prosaic, rendering of this mainly poetical word, which is not used elsewhere in O. T. or N. T. It means teem, be full to bursting, and is ordinarily used intransitively, with dative or genitive, of the swelling buds of plants and so, figuratively, of various kinds of fulness. Here the context shows that the thought is of the gushing forth of the water.
.
Cognate accusatives, as in Justin Martyr, Dial. 114 . Mayor gives many other references, in some of which, as here, the cognate accusative occurs. means fresh, (cf. v. 12 ), brackish. Cf. Exo 15:23-25 (, ), Jer 23:15.
This occurrence is prophesied as a portent in 4 Ezr 5:9 in dulcibus aquis salsae invenientur. Only in the times of the End, in the days of the sinners, when all nature reverses its order and shows itself ripe for destruction, does such a phenomenon appear (Spitta, p. 104).
12. . Here inserted to add emphasis, not, as more often, to mark a transition; Son 1:16; Son 2:5.
, , .
The fig, the olive, and the vine are the three characteristic natural products of warm countries about the Mediterranean. For the figure, cf. Mat 7:16, Mat 7:12:33; Plutarch, De tranquill. anim. p. 472 F ; similarly, Seneca, Ep. 8725, De ira ii, 106; Epict. Diss. 2, 2018.
seems to be an error for , but the constant interchange of these words in the Mss. by textual corruption makes it hard to be sure that good ancient writing did not exercise more freedom in the use of them than the grammarians would sanction; see Radermacher, Neutestamentliche Grammatik, p. 172.
, sc. , salt water; i. e. a salt spring. There were salt springs or brine-pits on the shore of the Dead Sea, and the hot springs of Tiberias are described as bitter and salt; see Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1856, ii, p. 384.
, sc. (as is shown by the parallel first half of the verse).
No application of these illustrations is made, and James turns abruptly to another aspect of the matter. The passage well illustrates his vividness and fertility of illustration, as well as his method of popular suggestiveness, rather than systematic development of the thought.
] BAC minn.
[ minn] ] C2 minn ff vg syrpesh boh Cyr.
] KLP () minnpler syrhcl c.* (syrhel txt ).
13-18. The true Wise Mans wisdom must be meek and peaceable; such wisdom alone comes from above, and only peaceable righteousness receives the divine reward.
13. The Wise Man must by a good life illustrate the meekness which belongs to true wisdom.
. For similar rhetorical questions, see Psa 33:12, Psa 107:43, Isa 50:10, Ecclus. 6:34, etc. These short interrogative sentences (frequent in Paul) are characteristic of the diatribe; Bultmann, pp. 14 ff.
It is not necessary here, although it would be possible, to take in the sense of . See Buttmann, 139 (Thayers translation, p. 252); Blass, 50. 5; J. H. Moulton, Prolegomena, p. 93; Winer, 25. 1.
. The technical term for the Teacher (cf. v. 1); in Jewish usage one who has a knowledge of practical moral wisdom, resting on a knowledge of God. The words of James relate to the ideal to be maintained by a professional Wise Man and Teacher, not merely to the private wisdom of the layman.
, understanding, with a certain tone of superiority, like our expert. Cf. Ecclus. prol., Dan 1:4 .
and are used as synonyms in Deu 1:13, Deu 1:15, Deu 1:4:6, Dan 5:12, cf. Philo, De prm. et pnis, 14 .
, let him by his good life show that his works have been done in the meekness appropriate to wisdom.
The relation of the parts of the sentence must be interpreted by the aid of 2:18, . The wise Man is here called on to prove not (as many commentators suppose) his wisdom (which would require ), but his meekness. For Jewish examples of the tendency of learned discussion to excite passion, see J. Friedmann, Der gesellschaftliche Verkehr und die Umgangsformeln in talmudischer Zeit, 1914, pp. 58 f.
It is better to take in this way than as if it were used in deprecation of the possible ostentation implied in (Let him point to his good works, but let him do so with due meekness such as befits wisdom). This would have to be indicated more clearly, as by inserting before .
The reason for rejecting the (at first sight simpler) interpretation, Let him prove his wisdom by his good life (Clem. Rom. 38:2 ), which many commentators have adopted, has been indicated above. It does not do justice to the text of v. 13 and does not give to meekness the emphasis that is needed in order to prepare for v. 14.
, cf. 1:21 (of the hearer, as here of the teacher).
Meekness is the opposite of arrogance and of the qualities referred to in v. 14; see Trench, Synonyms, lxii. Pirke Aboth, iv, 11, He that is arrogant in decision is foolish, wicked, and puffed up in spirit, is a maxim which refers to this besetting danger of rabbis; see Taylors Sayings of the Fathers2, p. 69, notes 13 and 14, with quotation from R. Jonah, and cf. Pirke Aboth, iv, 12, 14.
14. And if your heart enkindle with fierce, obstinate, and divisive zeal for your own views, do not let such passion come to expression.
, and, in continuation of v. 13, not in contrast.
WH.s period before is too strong a punctuation; a colon is sufficient.
, harsh zeal. Because of this meaning for is better than the meaning jealousy (in the ordinary sense of personal jealousy), and corresponds well to the general thought. The idea is of a fierce desire to promote ones own opinion to the exclusion of those of others.
This sense of fanatical zeal (as distinguished from emulation and jealousy) is not wholly foreign to Greek usage, but has been made specially common by the influence of the LXX, where stands in all cases for , jealous devotion to a cause, fanatical ardour, as does in nearly all cases for the verb .
It is the virtue of the religious zealot, cf. 1Ki 19:10, 1Ki 19:14, Ecclus. 48:2 (Elijah), 1 Macc. 2:54, 58, 4 Macc. 18:12 (Phinehas), Php 3:6 (Paul), Gal 1:14, Act 21:20. But it also becomes the vice of the fanatic; and hence its special danger for the religious teacher.
In secular use generally means heat, as expressed in emulation, rivalry-whether good or bad; see below, note on 4:2. The Biblical sense brings it near to the Hellenic , which, starting from another side (haste, exertion), acquired a wide range of meanings including zeal and rivalry.
See Trench, Synonyms, xxvi, Lightfoot on Clem. Rom_3. Note the connection of and in v. 16, and cf. Clem. Rom 3:2.
, selfish ambition. The word denotes the inclination to use unworthy and divisive means for promoting ones own views or interests, cf. Rom 2:8, 2Co 12:20, Gal 5:20 (and Lightfoots note), and references in Mayor, together with Horts valuable note, ad loc. pp. 81-83; really means the vice of a leader of a party created for his own pride: it is partly ambition, partly rivalry (Hort).
has a certain emphasis, in contrast with . The meaning is: If you have these qualities in your heart, do not let them come to expression.
(sc. ) . Do not boast and be arrogant, and thus prove false to the Truth. That would be the natural fruit of the spirit of and in the heart; and it must be suppressed. (cf. note on 2:13) seems here to relate to the browbeating on the part of the Wise Man who haughtily forces his own views on others.
Others connect directly with , see Winer, 54. 5, note (Thayers transl. p. 470, note 3). The sense then would be: Do not boast over, and lie against, the truth. But the idea of boasting over (or against) the truth is out of place in the context, and is itself unnatural. is a construction which nowhere occurs.
. And thus play false against the truth, i. e. by your conduct () prove false to, and belie, the truth which you as a Wise Man profess to have and utter.
Cf. 4 Macc. 5:34 , , 13:18; see L. and S. s. v. for examples of with accusative, meaning prove false to an oath, a treaty, a marriage, an alliance, a threat, a promise.
See also Zahn, GnK, i, p. 792, note, and J. Weiss, Der erste Korintherbrief, p. 354, note, for examples of , speak falsely to the injury of someone.
. Cf. 1:18 , 5:19 . This means the Christian truth which the Wise Man knows-truth of both practical morals and religion. See the fuller discussion in the note on 5:19. The conduct here censured is contrary to and forbidden by this truth; hence, if the Wise Man is guilty of that conduct, he is false to the truth of which he is the representative.
If the phrase stood alone, a simpler interpretation would perhaps be do not lie, violating the truth (cf. Ecclus. 4:25 , Test. XII Patr. Gad 5:1 ), but that would be alien to the context here, and it is in itself not wholly acceptable since it makes a mere redundancy.
] syrpesh read [c + ] . Doubtless an emendation due to the apparent incompleteness of alone.
15. , that wisdom, i. e. the professed wisdom which is accompanied by , , , and lacks .
, i. e. divine, from God, cf. 1:5, 17; cf. Philo, De prof. 30 , De congr. erud. grat. 7, De prm. et pn. 8; Hermas, Mand. ix, 11, xi, 5; and Schttgen, Horae hebraicae, ad loc., for many rabbinical instances of what was plainly a common Jewish expression. The phrase is contrasted with the following three adjectives.
For the divine origin of true wisdom, cf. e.g. Pro 2:6, Pro 8:22-31, Wisd. 7:25, 9:4, 9 f., Ecclus. 1:1-4, 24:3ff., Enoch 42, Philo, as above, 1Co 1:19-6.
, earthly, cf. Php 3:19, Col 3:2, 1Co 15:47, Joh 3:31, Joh 8:23.
seems to mean here derived from the frail and finite world of human life and affairs. Cf. Philos contrast of and , Leg. all. i, 12, and the far-reaching dualism on which it rests.
, natural (Latin animalis, E.V. sensual), i. e. pertaining to the natural life () which men and animals alike have; 1Co 2:14, 1Co 15:44-46, Jud 1:19.
Cf. Rev 8:9 ( of animals). See Philo, Leg. all. ii, 7 and 13, Quis rer. div. her. 11, and E. Hatch, Essays, p. 124, cf. pp. 115-120.
The word was intelligible and familiar in this sense to Pauls readers, and does not imply later gnostic usage; see J. Weiss, Der erste Korintherbrief, 1910, pp. 69 f., 371-373; R. Reitzenstein, Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen, 1910, pp. 42-47, 109, 112, 151 f.
The curious resemblance to the gnostic designation of the two lower grades of men as and is probably not significant. Yet see Pfleiderer, Urchristentum2, ii, p. 546. Useful references will be found in Mayor.
, resembling, or pertaining to (proceeding from), an evil spirit, cf. 2:19, 1Ti 4:1. This word has been pointed out elsewhere only Sym., Psa 91:6, and Schol. on Aristophanes, Ran. 293, .
These three words, earthly, sensual, devilish, describe the so-called wisdom, which is not of divine origin, in an advancing series-as pertaining to the earth, not to the world above; to mere nature, not to the Spirit; and to the hostile spirits of evil, instead of to God. Hermas, Mand. ix, 2, xi, 8, show a variety of resemblances to this passage of James, but there is no evidence of literary dependence.
The church speedily and permanently used this conception of Satanic origin to account for the gnostic wisdom; cf. e. g. Justin, Apol. i, 58. In James, however, it is not the substance, but the temper, of the wisdom that makes it false. James is not attacking systems of false teaching. See Weinel, Wirkungen des Geistes und der Geiste, pp. 13 f., 16-18, 20 ff.
16. . Introduces proof that v. 15 is true. For such a temper, even on the part of one who claims to be a Wise Man, leads to every evil.
. For this rhetorical turn, cf. 1Co 3:3 and Epict. Diss. iii, 22:61 (Mayor).
, disorder, disturbance, trouble. Cf. 1:8, 3:8 .
The word seems to have something of the bad associations of our word anarchy, and has to bear much weight in this sentence. Cf. Pro 26:28, 1Co 14:33, 2Co 12:20 , , ; and the similar list of evils, Gal 5:20, which has , , ; Luk 21:9, Clem. Rom 1:3. See Hatch, Essays, p. 4: The political circumstances of Greece and the East after the death of Alexander had developed the idea of political instability, and with it the word , Polyb. 1. 70. 1.
, vile, see Trench, Synonyms, lxxxiv. is found only ten times in the LXX, five instances being in Proverbs, the others in Job, Ecclesiasticus, and 4 Maccabees.
17. Cf. Wisd. 7:22-25.
, first pure, i. e. undefiled, free from any faults such as the and above mentioned. Nothing which shows itself as half-good, half-bad, can be accounted wisdom, Wisd. 7:25.
See Trench, lxxxviii and references in Lex.. s. v. . Cf. Php 4:8, 1Pe 3:2. In the LXX is found eleven times, of which four instances are in Proverbs and four in 4 Maccabees. See Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, p. 5.
introduces the following adjectives, which, thus grouped, stand over against , the quality from which they all proceed.
, peaceable, cf. Mat 5:9.
, reasonable, considerate, moderate, gentle (E.V.). See Trench, Synonyms, xliii: We have no words in English which are full equivalents of the Greek. See Light-foot on Php 4:5, and Mayors note, p. 131.
This is a distinctively Greek virtue; the word and its derivatives are found but a few times in LXX, e. g. Psa 86:5, Psa 86:2 Macc. 9:27. In the N. T. 2Co 10:1, Php 4:5, 1Ti 3:3, Tit 3:2, 1Pe 2:18, Act 24:4.
, obedient, ready to obey; here perhaps willing to yield, the opposite of obstinate (Philo, De fortitud. 3).
Only here in the N. T. In O. T. only 4 Maccabees, and in strict sense of obedient.
, cf. Rom 1:29, Rom 1:15:14, 2Pe 2:14. The word is not common in LXX.
, mercy, a compassion which leads to practical help, not the mere emotion of pity, cf. 2:13. See Trench, Synonyms, xlvii; and Lex.. s. v. .
, i. e. good works, cf. Mat 21:43, Gal 5:22, Eph 5:9, Php 1:11.
, undivided, i. e. unwavering, whole-hearted, with reference to the evil situation described in vv. 9-10.
Cf. 1:6 , 2:4 . Only here in N. T.; in O. T. cf. Pro 25:1 (), and there the sense is doubtful. See Ign. Trall. 1:1 , Rom. inscr., Philad. inscr., Magn. 15; Clem. Alex. Pd. ii, 3, p. 190 .
The Latin translations (Vg. non judicans; Cod. Corb. sine dijudicatione) seem to have missed the meaning of this word, as have many interpreters. Thus Luther translates unparteiisch; so A.V., R.V. mg. without partiality.
, without hypocrisy.
In O. T. only Wisd. 5:18, 18:16; in N. T. Rom 12:9, 2Co 6:6, 1Ti 1:5, 2Ti 1:5, 1Pe 1:22, in sense of sincere. Elsewhere only as adverb (), e. g. 2 Clem. Rom 12:3.
These characteristics of true wisdom are selected in pointed opposition to the self-assertive, quarrelsome spirit characteristic of the other sort. Apart from the fundamental they fall into three groups:
, ,
, .
18. , the fruit of righteousness, i. e. the reward which righteous conduct brings, cf. Heb 12:11 , Php 1:11 .
That the expression fruit of righteousness has the sense product of righteousness is shown by those O. T. passages which seem to have given it its currency, and in which it is used with a variety of applications. Cf. Pro 3:9(LXX), 11:30 , i. e. righteousness brings long life, 13:2 (LXX), Amo 6:12. In all these cases indicates the source of the fruit. Similarly Isa 32:17: And the work of righteousness ( ) shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and confidence forever. For the figure of sowing, cf. Pro 11:21 (LXX), , Hos 10:12, Job 4:8, Test. XII Patr. Levi, 13:6, etc.
, sown in peace, and in peace only; i. e. a righteousness capable of gaining its due reward must be peaceable; cf. 1:20. The sower is, of course, the righteous man.
For the slightly inaccurate expression sow the fruit, or crop (instead of the seed), cf. Apoc. Bar. 32:1, Sow the fruits of the law, Plutarch, De vitando re alieno, 4 , Antiphanes, Fab. inc. iv, 4 .
.
To do peace (cf. Eph 2:15, Col 1:20 ; Mat 5:9 ) means not merely to conciliate opponents, but to act peaceably. It is the complete opposite of and .
The interpretation of v. 18 here given may be paraphrased, with a change of figure, thus: The foundation which righteousness lays for eternal life can be laid only in peace and by those who practise peace. This is equivalent to saying that righteousness includes peaceableness.
Another common interpretation takes as meaning the fruit which consists in righteousness. The source will then be the true wisdom, of which righteousness is the product. The evidence for this would be Heb 12:11, where righteousness seems to be itself the fruit, and the parallelism of Jam 3:16, where the product of and is said to be and . Php 1:11, to which appeal is often made, is ambiguous, and cannot be taken as meaning that righteousness is the fruit except by giving to its peculiar Pauline sense.
But the O. T. passages referred to above create a strong presumption against this interpretation; the simple meaning of the phrase speaks against it; and, further, righteousness is more naturally thought of (apart from Pauline theology) as the condition of receiving divine reward, not as the reward itself. The general drift of the verse would be the same under either interpretation.
Lex. J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 1886.
Mayor J. B. Mayor, The Epistle of St. James, 1892, 21897, 31910.
Winer G. B. Winer, A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament, Thayers translation, 21873.
J. H. Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek. Vol I. Prolegomena, 1906, 31908.
L. and S. H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 71883.
Vg Vulgate.
Heisen H. Heisen, Novae hypotheses interpretandae epistolae Jacobi, Bremen, 1739.
Pott D. J. Pott, in Novum Testamentum Grce, editio Koppiana, Gttingen, 31816.
* See Stephanus, Thesaurus, or Liddell and Scott, s. v. .
Of a different order is the mechanical conception of the revolving universe, used with great ingenuity by Plato, e. g. Polit. 12-14, pp. 269-271; Leg. 10, 8, p. 898.
* See also, for similar phrases, the index to Proclus Diadochus, In Platonis Timum comm. ed. Diehl, 1906, s. v. .
This has gone into Cramers Catena, pp. 20 f.
See E. Rohde, Psyche3, 1903, ii, pp. 121-131, 133-136, 165, note 2, 217-219 f.; Jane E. Harrison, Prolegomena (as cited below); Lobeck, Aglaophamus, 1829, ii, pp. 795-806.
* The verse is from the Compagno tablet, Kaibel, Inscr. Ital. et Sicil. 641, p. 158. See Jane E. Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, Cambridge, 1903, pp. 586, 589-594, 668-671; and note the similar use of in other verses of the same inscription.
Simplicius, In Arist. de clo comm. ii, p. 168 b (ed. Heiberg, p. 377).
Proclus, In Plat. Tim. comm. v, p. 330 A; cf. also Orphica, fragmm. 222, 223, 225, ed. Abel, 1885, pp. 244-246.
Diogenes Laert. viii, 14, Vita Pythag. [Pythagoras] .
||
See A. Dieterich, Nekyia, Leipzig, 1893, p. 141.
In any case a mere accidental coincidence seems to be involved in the fact that Simpliciuss wheel of fate and birth is an allegorical interpretation of Ixions wheel, and that Ixions wheel was sometimes represented as fiery. As a rationalising interpretation of Jamess language, parallel to this, may be mentioned the idea of a wheel catching fire from a hot box at the axle, which is seriously offered by many commentaries!
HDB J. Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible, 1898-1902.
Blass F. Blass, Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Griechisch, 21902.
Schrer, E. Schrer, Geschichte des jdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, 41901-1909.
Bultmann R. Bultmann, Der Stil der Paulinischen Predigt und die kynisch-stoische Diatribe (Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments, xiii), 1910.
Buttmann A. Buttmann, A Grammar of the New Testament Greek, Thayers translation, 1876.
Trench, R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, 121894.
GnK Geschichte des Neutestamentlichen Kanons, 1888-1892.
Hatch, Edwin Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek, 1889.
Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament
Bridle the Tongue
Jam 3:1-12
It is much easier to teach people what they should be and do than to obey our own precepts. Even the best of us stumble in many respects; but our most frequent failures are in speech. If we could control our tongues, we should be masters of the whole inner economy of our natures. The refusal to express a thought will kill the thought. Let Christ bridle your mouth, and He will be able to turn about your whole body. Let Him have His hand on the tiller of your tongue, and He will guide your life as He desires.
A single spark may burn down a city. The upsetting of an oil lamp in a stable led to the burning of Chicago. Lighted at the flames of hell, the tongue can pass their, vitriol on to earth. Man cannot tame the tongue, but Christ can. He goes straight for the heart, for, as He said long ago, the seat of the mischief is there. See Mar 7:14-15; Psa 51:10.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter Three – A Controlling And Energizing Faith
The faith of which James writes is a vital force that enables a man to live triumphantly, even to controlling that unruly member, the tongue, by means of which God is so often dishonored and our fellow-men injured. An unbridled tongue is at the bottom of much strife, both in the world and in the Church. Those who profess faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who was sinless in word as in all else, may well ponder the serious admonitions of this Tongue chapter.
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (Jam 3:1-5).
In place of masters in ver. 1 (Jam 3:1) we might better read teachers. To be recognized as an instructor of other people is to be in a place of great responsibility. If the teaching given out be faulty or misleading, none but God Himself can estimate the harm that may accrue to those who receive it. It is a serious thing indeed to attempt to influence men either for good or for evil. He to whom such a ministry is committed needs to be much before God as to how he fulfils it. Far greater condemnation than that to which his listeners are exposed will be his portion if he fails to teach the truth as God has revealed it in His Word. No man should therefore presume to take the place of a teacher who has not been called by the Lord to this work and gifted by the Holy Spirit in order that he may minister to edification. It is the risen Christ who has given gifts to His Church, among which are pastors and teachers (Eph 4:11). It is noticeable that the two are intimately connected. Every true pastor should be able to teach the Word in clearness and power; and every God-endowed teacher should have a pastors heart; otherwise there is the danger of becoming heady and high-minded, and devoting himself simply to imparting information instead of bringing the truth to bear upon the hearts and consciences of his hearers.
Admittedly, there is no perfection even among the choicest of Gods children. In many things we all stumble. If one could be found who was never guilty of a slip of the tongue, who never uttered a faulty expression, nor gave vent to an idle or vain word, he would be a thoroughly mature, well-balanced man-perfect as to his behavior and able to hold in restraint every unholy propensity, for there is no part of the body so difficult to control as the tongue.
Horses are held in with bit and bridle (Psa 32:9) and so rendered subservient to man whose strength does not compare with theirs. Great ships are controlled and directed in whatever direction the helmsman wishes, by a very small and apparently insignificant rudder. So the tongue, seemingly so weak in itself, has power to make or break ones life and testimony. Nor can any man control it in his own strength. How many a one has determined never again to utter a hasty or unkind word, only to find that in a moment of thoughtlessness his best resolution has been broken by the activity of this unruly member, the tongue, whose power for good or evil is so great.
It is a singular fact that the expressive illustration used in the last part of the fifth verse is often so misquoted as to miss the sense of it entirely. People say, Behold, how great a fire a little matter kindleth! But that is a complete perversion of the proverb-for a proverb it is. Behold, says James, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! Quoted correctly, we grasp the meaning and visualize the picture at once. A tiny spark may start a conflagration that results in stupendous loss. (An unwise or unkind word may be the beginning of trouble which will go on for years and be the means of unceasing strife and division.)
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeded blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be (Jam 3:6-10).
This little member, the tongue, is likened to a fire which, though small in the beginning, proves devastatingly ruinous as its results spread far and wide. A word has tremendous power for good or ill.
All species and varieties of birds and beasts, even slimy serpents and creatures of the sea, have been tamed by patient handling and attention. But no man can tame his own tongue. It is an irrepressible rebel, an insubject and wicked malefactor, capable of stirring men to every kind of iniquity, and full of deadly poison. We speak of a scandal-monger as having a serpent tongue, and the simile is in full accordance with the damage such an evil speaker inflicts. The amazing thing is that even after one has been brought to know the Lord, he still finds he has trouble with his tongue. This is because of the fact that the believer has two natures: the old, corrupt nature inherited from the first Adam, the head of the old creation; and the new and holy nature received from the Last Adam, the Head of the new creation. Such is the power of the old nature that unless there is constant watchfulness and unceasing identification by faith with Christ in His death to sin, it will manifest itself through the tongue long after other evil propensities have been brought into subjection through the power of the cross as applied to the flesh.
Who has not been shocked at times to hear the best of men and those esteemed as the holiest of saints give vent to expressions regarding fellow-workmen that indicated an unsubdued nature after years of Christian experience? With the same tongue we bless God the Father and curse, or injure, men who are made in the image of God. Thus out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. Surely, such things ought not so to be! When they take place it evidences a lack of communion with God and shows that the heart is, for the moment at least, unsubdued by divine grace.
In nature we never find such an anomaly. No fountain sends forth pure and brackish water from the same vent. Trees bear according to their kind,, for they have but one nature. Fig-trees do not produce olives, nor do grape-vines bear figs. If some have fancied they have seen evidence that James reasoning in (Jam 3:12) is faulty, and have thought they did find both fresh and salt water proceeding from the same fountain, it was because two different underground streams came to the surface very close together, but each opening poured forth only one kind of water. With the tongue it is, alas, otherwise! The same man speaks well of God and ill of man, and often fails to recognize the incongruity of such behavior.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth (Jam 3:13-14).
A wise man is a man of faith, a man subject to and taught of God. Such an one will manifest his true spiritual state by good behavior. His speech will be with meekness of wisdom. This will be when faith is in the ascendency and the old, corrupt nature is kept in the place of death by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. Where it is otherwise one may well be ashamed before God and man. If bitter envying and strife are ruling in the heart it indicates an unsubdued will and life out of harmony with God. For this there is no reasonable excuse, for abundant provision has been made in order that one may be freed from such bondage.
God waits to bestow all needed wisdom to enable us to rise triumphantly above the evil tendencies of our natural hearts. We shall always fail if we seek to be guided by our own minds or by the wisdom of the flesh.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace (Jam 3:15-18).
The two wisdoms stand out in vivid contrast; that which is of the earth and that which cornea from heaven. The former is of this world and is according to nature-that sinful nature which is in all men since the fall. It is Satanic in origin because the fruit of disobedience to God at the beginning. It produces envy and strife, lack of restful-ness, and every other unholy work.
In contrast to this we are exhorted to seek the wisdom that comes from heaven, which is found in all its fulness in Christ who is Himself the Wisdom of God, and who is made unto us who believe wisdom, even sanctification and redemption. This wisdom controlling the heart and mind of the man of faith will keep the tongue from evil and the lips from speaking guile. It is first pure; there is no uncleanness in it. Then peaceable, never stirring up to unholy strife; gentle or courteous, never biting nor sarcastic; easy to be entreated, not harsh and implacable; full of mercy, ever ready to manifest pity and compassion and to extend forgiveness to the repentant offender; full, too, of good works, for a tongue controlled by divine grace can be a mighty instrument for good; without partiality, or rather, not given to wrangling or quarreling over places of preferment, or envious because others have received recognition denied to us; and, above all, or in addition to all, without hypocrisy or dissimulation, absolutely honest, and uttering words which can be depended upon as spoken in truth and soberness.
He who possesses this wisdom is enabled so to control his tongue that he sows not the thistle-seed of dissension but that good seed which produces righteousness. He sows in peace, because he is a man of peace-a true child of God, a peacemaker, according to the words of our Lord in Mat 5:9.
When the tongue is surrendered to Christ and dominated by the Spirit it becomes one of our most useful members; when it falls under the control of the enemy it works untold grief and damage.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Jam 3:17
I. Revealed truth-the wisdom that is from above-is “first pure, then peaceable.” These two constitute a pair; they are connected by a link of peculiar significance and power. God preserves His own purity, and yet lifts the lost into His bosom; the guilty get a tree pardon, and yet the motives which bind them to obedience, instead of being relaxed, are indefinitely strengthened. Revelation is first pure and then peaceable; the Revealer is a just God and Saviour.
II. Revealed truth is gentle and easy to be entreated. This is not the view which springs in nature and prevails in the world. The wisdom that bids an anxious inquirer turn from the Son of God, our Saviour, and pour his confession into a more tender heart, is earthly, sensual, devilish.
III. Revealed truth is full of mercy and good fruits. So far from being in all cases united, these two, in their full dimensions, meet only in the Gospel.
IV. Revealed truth is without partiality and without hypocrisy. It is (1) offered alike to all, and (2) truly offered to each.
W. Arnot, Roots and Fruits, p. 141.
Consider the “wisdom that is from above” in its secondary and subjective aspect, as a lesson printed on the life of believing men by the type of revealed truth, as the image left on human hearts by the seal which came from heaven and pressed them.
I. The new creature, the work of the Spirit in believers, is first pure, then peaceable-(1) in relation to God; (2) in relation to ourselves; (3) in relation to the world around.
II. The new creature is gentle and easy to be entreated. Receiving out of His fulness grace for grace, Christians obtain, among other things, some of the gentleness of Christ. Those who possess any of it long for more. They speak of virtue being its own reward, and this is eminently true of gentleness.
III. The new creature is full of mercy and good fruits. It is a principle of the Gospel that he who gets mercy shows mercy. When a man is full of mercy in this sinning, suffering world, a stream of benevolence will be found flowing in his track all through the wilderness. If the reservoir within his heart be kept constantly charged by union with the upper spring, there need be neither ebbing nor intermission of the current all his days, for opening opportunities everywhere abound.
IV. The new creature is “without partiality and without hypocrisy.” (1) Without partiality. It is not the impartiality of indifference, but the impartiality of love. Some people practically discover that to be impartial is an easy attainment. They contrive to care equally for all by caring nothing for any. This is the equality of the grave. Our text describes the impartiality, not of withholding, but of giving. No partiality for persons, peoples, sins. (2) Without hypocrisy. (a) In our intercourse with God; (b) in our intercourse with men. In Christians a likeness to Christ’s sincerity has been begun; it is their business to hold fast and press on; it is His prerogative to make the likeness perfect in His own time and by His own power.
W. Arnot, Roots and Fruits, p. 155.
References: Jam 3:17.-Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, Church of England Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 35. Jam 4:1-3.-Homilist, 4th series, vol. i., p. 86. Jam 4:1-14.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 340. Jam 4:2, Jam 4:3.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1682. Jam 4:4-12.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 451. Jam 4:5.-Ibid., vol. iv., p. 332. Jam 4:7.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1276. Jam 4:7-10.-Ibid., vol. xxiv., No. 1408; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 82.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
III. THE EVILS OF THE TONGUE CORRECTED
CHAPTER 3
1. The tongue and its work (Jam 3:1-12)
2. The wisdom which is earthly and the wisdom that is from above (Jam 3:13-18)
Jam 3:1-12
The practical character of this Epistle is still more evidenced by the contents of this chapter. The tongue is the member of the human body which is made prominent. The human tongue is a great and wonderful gift of the Creator; with which no other earthly creature is endowed. It is written: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. It therefore reveals the real condition of the heart and by what it is governed.
The opening verse exhorts to caution as to teaching: My brethren, be not many teachers, knowing that we shall receive a greater judgment. Here another Jewish characteristic is mentioned. They are naturally forward and love to be heard, taking leadership. It seems as if many wanted to be teachers and exercise public ministry. Perhaps this may refer to the speaking in tongues also, and the abuse of it as mentioned in 1Co 14:20-33. In the first chapter the exhortation was given slow to speak; here it is applied to teaching. The exhortation is interesting in its bearing. First, is the warning not to assume leadership in teaching for self-display; even teaching as given to the members of the body of Christ must be carefully exercised, for it carries with it great responsibility, for one may preach to others and be himself disapproved (1Co 9:27). If one is a teacher he must also practice what he teaches, otherwise he shall receive a greater judgment, not as to salvation, but as to disapproval before the award seat of Christ.
in the second place, the exhortation shows that ministry among these Jewish Christians was in perfect liberty; they did not possess among themselves a special class in whom public teaching was vested. The next verse broadens and refers to speaking in general. The perfect man is he who does not offend in a word and therefore is able to govern the whole body. This introduces the tongue and its twofold possibility. Behold we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature when it is set on fire by Gehenna. Horses, with their powerful bodies, are governed, led about and directed by the bit in their mouths; great ships which are driven about by gales and hurricanes, are steered by a small rudder, and so the human tongue is a little member which controls the whole man. It is like a tiny spark, yet that spark can set everything on fire and produce a disastrous conflagration. Behold how much wood is kindled by how small a fire–this is the correct rendering of the text. The tongue of the natural man, unrestrained by anything, is a fire. It defiles the whole body. Our Lord speaks of this. That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man (Mar 7:20-23).
The tongue is the medium to reveal all these evils of the heart, and by its use for evil becomes the seducer of others. It can set everything on fire, if it is set on fire by Gehenna, (translated, hell); when it is under the control of the author of sin.
For every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, and therewith curse we men, made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth the fountain send forth out of the same opening sweet and bitter? Can a fig-tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? Neither can salt water yield sweet.
James vehemently attacks this evil, yet in the spirit of love, as seen by the repeated address, My brethren. Sins of the tongue are especially prominent among Jews; evil speaking, backbiting and lying, so frequently mentioned in their own Scriptures. He speaks of the power man has to tame every kind of beasts and birds, even the creeping things, as serpents and things in the sea; but man, the conqueror of the brute creation, is helpless when it comes to the taming of the tongue; the tongue can no man tame. David knew of this, for he wrote: I said, I will take heed of my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me (Psa 39:1). All resolutions man makes to keep his tongue in subjection are unsuccessful. But if man has a new nature with the Holy Spirit dwelling there, the tongue can be governed and its evils overcome. Yet what sin is more frequently found among Gods people than the sins of the tongue? It needs a constant watching and words must be weighed. Idle words, words which are not according to truth, or which reflect upon the character of another child of God, insinuating evil, magnifying faults, or words which belittle, words of envy and strife are the sins of the tongue prevalent among Gods people. How well then to consider constantly the exhortation of the first chapter of this Epistle: Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath (Jam 1:19). The tongue is a restless evil; it is unceasingly at it and carries in its sinful use deadly poison.
Blessing and curse may be expressed by the tongue. While on the one hand, the tongue is an instrument of evil and for evil, the tongue of the believer, on the other hand, should be an instrument of righteousness and for the glory of God. What greater occupation on earth is possible than true worship in Spirit and truth! Through the tongue we can praise and exalt the Lord, bear testimony to that worthy Name, tell others of Him and become channels for eternal blessing. But how quickly, if uncontrolled, it may be used in the service of sin. Peter uttered with his tongue his great, God-given confession, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. But a short time after, that same tongue became the mouthpiece of Satan, when he rebuked the Lord for saying that He would go to Jerusalem to suffer and to die. What an inconsistency the tongue of man reveals! No such thing is found in nature anywhere. A tree does not produce two kinds of fruit; a fig tree bears no Olives; a vine does not produce figs; nor does the same fountain gush forth salt water and sweet water.
Jam 3:13-18
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him shew out of a good behavior his works in meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your heart, boast not and lie not against the truth. This is not the wisdom which cometh down from above, but it is earthly, sensual, demoniacal. For where envying and strife is, there is disorder and every evil thing. This exhortation, also, is suited to the Jewish believers to whom it was originally addressed. They are noted still for their jealousies, their strife and self-exaltation, these fruits of the fallen nature of man, the works of the flesh; they are, of course, also found among Gentile believers. Envyings, the sectarian spirit, the party spirit, producing bitterness and contentions, these things are not the manifestations of the wisdom which is from above, the fruit of the new nature and of the Spirit, but it is the earthly wisdom, springing from the natural man, behind which stands the author of sin.
But the wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without contention, without hypocrisy; and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. This is the other side, the manifestation of the wisdom from above, the true fruits of the new nature and of the Spirit of God. It is first pure and then peaceable. It is pure, because it comes from God and leads to God. That which is from God cannot tolerate evil; it repudiates it. It aims at the glory of God and maintains His holy character. As a result it is peaceable, it seeks the fruits of peace among men, through the exercise of that love which the Holy Spirit describes in 1Co 13:1-13. It is gentle: Let your gentleness be known to all men (Php 4:5); it is easy to be entreated, ready to yield. It knows nothing of stubbornness, prejudice and opinionativeness, the sources of so much strife and contention among believers. When a man is conscious that his wisdom is of a superior kind, one can understand his unwillingness to have his mind or will disputed; but the truth is, that there is nothing which so marks the superiority of grace and truth and wisdom, that God gives, as patience, and the absence of anxiety to push what one knows is right and true. It is an inherent and sure sign of weakness somewhere, when a man is ever urgent in pressing the value of his own words and opinions, or caviling habitually at others. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, and produces peace.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
masters
teachers, knowing that we shall have the more severe judgment. Cf. Mar 12:40.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
be: Mal 2:12, Mat 9:11, Mat 10:24, Mat 23:8-10, Mat 23:14, Joh 3:10, Act 13:1, Rom 2:20, Rom 2:21, 1Co 12:28, Eph 4:11, 1Ti 2:7, 2Ti 1:11,*Gr: 1Pe 5:3
knowing: Lev 10:3, Eze 3:17, Eze 3:18, Eze 33:7-9, Luk 6:37, Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48, Luk 16:2, Act 20:26, Act 20:27, 1Co 4:2-5, 2Co 5:10, Heb 13:17
condemnation: or, judgment, Mat 7:1, Mat 7:2, Mat 23:14, 1Co 11:29-32,*Gr.
Reciprocal: Isa 6:5 – a man Jer 17:16 – I have Mat 25:19 – reckoneth Luk 20:47 – the same Rom 13:2 – receive 1Co 3:10 – But let every 1Ti 5:12 – damnation Jam 1:19 – slow to speak Jam 3:13 – is a Jam 5:12 – lest 1Pe 3:10 – refrain 1Pe 4:11 – any
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
WITH CHAPTER 3 a fresh series of exhortations commences. James turns from the subject of the works of faith to exhort his brethren against the very common failing of wishing to be a master of others when one has in no sense learned to be master of oneself. The word translated masters really signifies teachers, and if we glance at Rom 2:17-21 we shall see that the Jew especially fancied himself in this direction, and when converted the same tendency would doubtless remain in him. He would still be very inclined to pose as a teacher, and correspondingly have a disinclination to be taught and to receive with meekness the engrafted word.
Other Scriptures make it abundantly clear that God is pleased to raise up teachers in the church, amongst other gifts, and all such gifts are to be received with thankfulness. The verses before us do not-in the least militate against that, but they do warn us against the desire so natural to the flesh to be continually instructing and legislating for other people. The fact that those who teach will receive greater judgment, as compared with those who are taught, may well make us pause.
James is here only enforcing that which the Lord Jesus Himself taught in Mat 23:14, when addressing scribes and Pharisees, who were the self-constituted religious teachers of that day. It is evidently a fact, in the light of these words, that there are differing degrees of severity in the Divine judgment, and that those who have more light and intelligence will have more expected of them and be judged by higher standards. It is also evident that we shall be judged according to the place that we take, whether we have been called into it by God or not. In the light of that let none of us rush into the position of being a master or teacher. On the other hand if God has really called any man to be a teacher, or to take up any other service, woe betide him if he shirks the responsibility and ties up his pound m a napkin.
The plain truth is that in many things we offend all, i.e., we all often offend. Moreover our most frequent offences are those connected with our speech, and to offend against God in our words is especially serious if we be teachers, since it is by words that we teach. This is illustrated by the case of Moses. He was a teacher divinely raised up and equipped, and hence his words were to be the words of God. When he offended in word he had to meet severer judgment than would have been meted out to an ordinary Israelite sinning just as he did.
How terribly common are sins of speech! Indeed we all do often offend, and in respect of our words very offer,. So much so, that if a man does not offend in word he may be spoken of as a perfect man-the finished article, so to speak. Further, he will be a man able to control himself in all things. As we think of ourselves or as we look at others we may well ask where this completely controlled and perfect man is to be found? Where indeed?
We do not know him. But it should teach us to be slow in taking the place of a master, for it is eminently right that he who aspires to be master of others should first be master of himself.
The Apostle is going to speak to us very plainly about our tongues, and he uses two very expressive figures of speech: first the bridle or bit used for the direction of the horse; second the rudder which is used for the steering of a ship.
The bit is a very small article when the large bulk of a horse is considered, yet by this simple contrivance a man gains complete control and, when once the animal is broken in and docile, it suffices to turn about its whole body.
Ships are large and driven by fierce winds, or, in our days, by the fierce force of steam or motor driven propellers, yet are they turned about by means of a very small rudder as compared with the bulk of the ship.
Even so the tongue is a little member. Yet it is an instrument of very great things either for good or evil. If mens tongues are used for the proclamation of the Glad Tidings, why then their very feet upon the mountains are beautiful! Alas, as the tongue is ordinarily used among men it is rightly declared by James to be a fire, a world of iniquity. Small as it is, it boasts great things. It may be like a little spark of fire, but how many a ruinous conflagration has been started by a little spark!
The Apostle had first alluded to the danger of the tongue in Jam 1:26. In Jam 2:1-26 he contrasts the works of faith with the mere use of the tongue in saying that one has faith. In the chapter before us he uses the very strongest language as to it in verses Jam 3:6; Jam 3:8. Yet who, that knows the fearful havoc that the tongue has caused, will say that his language is too strong? What mischief has been caused amongst Christian people by the rash and foolish and wicked use of the tongue. When we read, so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, the context indicates that James was referring to the human body, yet it would be equally true if we read it as referring to the church which is the body of Christ and of which we are all members. More defilement has been brought into the church of God by it than by anything else.
Then again there is not only the direct mischief of the tongue, but think of the indirect mischief! The whole course of nature may be set on fire by it.
Every instinct and faculty of man may be roused. The deepest and basest passions stirred into action. And when the tongue is thus used we may be quite sure that the tongue itself was originally set on fire of hell. It has been enslaved by the devil to be used for his ends. It was he who struck the spark which by means of the tongue has fired the whole train of evil.
Another feature that marks the tongue is brought before us in verses Jam 3:7-8, and that is its unruly character. Man can tame all kinds of creatures but he cannot tame his own tongue. The reason for this is fairly evident. Speech is the great avenue by which the heart of man expresses itself, and hence the only way to really tame the tongue is to tame the heart. But this is a thing impossible to man. The grace and power of God are needed for it. In itself the tongue only gives expression to the deadly poison which lurks in the human heart.
In verse Jam 3:9 and onwards a still further feature is mentioned. There is a strange inconsistency about the tongue when it is a question of the people of God. Unconverted people do not bless God, even the Father. They do not really know God at all, and much less do they know Him as Father. Christians know Him and bless Him in this way, and yet there are times when utterances of a very contrary sort come out of their lips. Sometimes they even go so far as cursing men who are made in the likeness of God; so that out of the same mouth goes forth both blessing and cursing. No wonder that James so emphatically says, My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Nature teaches us this. Fountains of sweet fresh water can be found, and also fountains of water that is salt or bitter. But never a fountain that produces both out of the same opening. Fruit trees of various kinds may be found each producing its proper fruit. But never a tree violating the fundamental laws of nature by bearing fruit not of its own kind. Why then do we behold this strange phenomenon in Christian people?
The answer of course is twofold. First, they to begin with were sinful creatures, possessing an evil nature, just as the rest. Second, they have now been born again, and consequently they now possess a new nature, without the old nature having been eradicated from them. Consequently within them there are, if we may so speak, two fountains: the one capable only of producing evil, the other capable only of producing good. Hence this strange mixture which the Apostle so strongly condemns.
Someone may feel inclined to remark that, if the case of a believer is thus, he hardly ought to be so strongly condemned if his tongue acts as an opening from whence may flow the bitter waters of the old nature. Ah, but any who think this are forgetting that the flesh, our old nature, has been judged and condemned at the cross. Sin in the flesh, as Rom 8:3 puts it, has been condemned, and the believer, knowing this, is responsible to treat it as a judged and condemned thing, which consequently is not allowed to act. The believer therefore IS to be reprimanded if his tongue acts as an outlet for the evil of the flesh.
The Apostle James does not unfold to us the truth concerning the cross of Christ. This ministry was committed not to him but to the Apostle Paul. He does however say things that are in full agreement with what the Epistle to the Romans unfolds. The wise man is to display his wisdom in meekness which shall control both his works and manner of life. If the contrary is manifested-bitter envying and strife, out of which spring all the evils connected with the tongue-such an one is in the position of boasting and lying against the truth.
What is this truth, against which we all far too often are found lying? Every outbreaking of the flesh, whether by the tongue, or whether in some other way, is a practical denial of the fact that sin in the flesh was condemned in the cross of Christ. Which is truth?-the cross of Christ, or my bitter strife and fiery tongue? They cannot possibly both be truth. The cross of Christ is TRUTH, and my evil is a lie against the truth.
It is also a lie against the truth that we are born of God, and that He now recognizes us as identified with that new nature which is ours as born of Him and not with the old nature which we derived from Adam by natural descent.
In verse Jam 3:15 the two wisdoms are plainly distinguished. If we wish to find the two natures plainly distinguished we must thoughtfully read Rom 7:1-25. The two natures lie at the root respectively of the two wisdoms. The wisdom which is of God brings into display the characteristics of the new nature, and like the nature which it displays it is from above. The other wisdom brings into display the characteristics of the old nature, and like the nature which it displays it is from the earth; it is sensual or natural, it is even devilish, for alas! poor human nature has fallen under the power of the devil, and has taken on characteristics which belong to him.
Its character is summed up in verse 16. At the root of it lies envy or emulation. This was the original sin of the devil. By aspiring to exalt himself, as envying that which was above him, he fell. When this is found there is bound to be strife, and strife in its turn results in confusion and every kind of evil work. Many of these evil things, perhaps all of them, would be counted as wisdom by fallen men. It looks wise enough to the average man to scheme and fight for oneself-to be always out for number one as it is called.
How great the contrast in the wisdom from above, as detailed in verse Jam 3:17 ! Its features may not be of the kind which make for a great success in this world, but they are delightful to God, and to the renewed heart; and he who manifests them may count upon having God upon his side. Notice that purity comes first upon the list, before peace even. If we reflect we shall at once realize that this must be so, since all is of God. He never compromises with evil, and hence there can be no peace except in purity. Again and again this was the burden of the prophets. See for instance, Isa 48:22; Isa 57:21; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11 ; Eze 13:10, Eze 13:16.
Peace and gentleness, yieldingness and mercy should indeed mark us but always as the handmaidens of purity and never as compromising with evil.
There is however another side to the question even in this matter. Though the wisdom from above is first of all pure, and only then is peaceable and gentle, it always proceeds upon the lines of making peace. It is never marked by the pugnacious spirit. The last verse of our chapter makes this very plain. Those who are making peace are faithfully sowing that which will make for a harvest of the fruit of righteousness. Peace and righteousness are not disconnected, and much less antagonistic, in Christianity. Rather they go hand in hand.
Ancient prophecy declared that, The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever (Isa 32:17). This will be fulfilled in the day of Christs kingdom, yet the Gospel today brings us peace on exactly the same principle. Rom 3:1-31 peaks of righteousness manifested, and established in the death of Christ. Rom 4:1-25 speaks of righteousness imputed, or reckoned, to the believer. Rom 5:1-21 consequently opens with, Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This being so, peace-making is on the part of the Christian simply practical righteousness which will produce the fruit of righteousness in due season. Purity must be first always, but even purity must be pursued in a spirit not of pugnacity but of peace-making.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Jas 3:1. Masters is from DIDASKALOS, and it is the same word rendered “teachers” in Heb 5:12. In that place Paul says the brethren ought to be teachers, using the word in a good sense, while James says for the brethren not to have many of them. We must therefore consider the connection in which it is used in order to get the meaning in any given case. In our verse it is plain that James is writing of men who put themselves up as teachers who do not properly control their tongues. Such people are to be condemned all the more because they do harm by their words.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 3:1. My brethren, be not many masters. Either be not many of you masters; or rather, be not a multitude of masterseach one striving to be a master. Masters here used not in the sense of rulers, but of teachers. Hence the sense is: Do not rashly enter upon the office of a teacher. The meaning is not to be limited, as is done by Calvin, to the office of a reprovermasters of morals; but is to be understood generally. Such an assumption of the office and authority of teachers was very prevalent among the Jews. The Pharisees loved to be called of all men Rabbi, Rabbi (Mat 23:7). St. Paul, adverting to the Jews, says that they were confident of their ability to be guides to the blind, and teachers of the foolish (Rom 2:19-20); and he finds fault with them for desiring to be teachers of the law, whilst at the same time they understood neither what they said, nor whereof they affirmed (1Ti 1:7). And this craving to be teachers would be naturally carried by the converted Jews into the Christian church. The opportunity of exercising the office of teachers was greater in these days of early Christianity than in ours, as it would seem that teaching was not then restricted to a particular class, but was exercised by believers generally. The exhortation is not without its use in the present day. Many, especially in a season of religious excitement, assume the office of teacher, without any qualification of knowledge or experience, and thus expose themselves to the reproof of St. James.
knowing, as ye well do, being well aware.
that wewe who are the teachers. St. James includes himself out of humility, and in order the better to propitiate his readers.
shall receive the greater condemnation. The meaning being that as the responsibility of teachers is great, they shall be the more strictly dealt with by God. Knowing that we shall undergo a stricter judgment than others in a private station.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Division 4. (Jam 3:1-18; Jam 4:1-17.)
The walk through the world.
The whole epistle of James, as we have seen, is of that character which we call “practical.” We may expect, however, that in a fourth division practice will come in some special way before us. We have it, therefore, in what follows now. He has just shown us that faith is the first necessity for it, and that it is from faith that everything that is right in this way springs. Now he comes simply to look at the practice in itself, the walk through the world, the world having that character which we know so well, and which is God’s ordained testing for the Christian. This is the good of it, the testing by it; and the apostle brings before us, in the first place, that which, where it is found in full reality, shows indeed the perfect man.
1. But notice, then, that this perfect man is manifested as such by being able to govern himself, and that he is recognized as having in him that which in itself is perfectly untamable by any power merely of man. It is remarkably and beautifully brought out by the prophet Isaiah, as to the perfect Servant of whom he speaks in his fifty-third chapter, that under the greatest stress of trial that could possibly be conceived, a trial which went on to the awful death which the Lord suffered, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth” -He was perfect master of Himself under all circumstances. And again, as the prophet bears witness, while on the one hand “He had done no violence,” on the other “neither was there any deceit in His mouth.” Violence comes from the abuse of power; deceit is the resource of weakness. In the Lord there could be neither. The perfect trial was but perfect manifestation of supreme excellence. His was unique obedience to the will of God, while accompanied at the same time with perfection of another kind, which made Him able to realize all the weakness of which He was the subject, He to whom sin was suffering only, and the sorest possible suffering, even to the bearing of its heavy burden upon the tree.
The apostle is speaking, then, of the government of the tongue; and he begins with that in which the line has carefully to be drawn between good and evil. “My brethren,” he says, “be not many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater judgment; for in many things we all offend.” Yet there is nothing clearer in Scripture than that, whatever one receives in the way of truth from God, he is responsible to minister it in whatever way lies open to him, for the help of others. The mere fact of the possession of that which is infinite riches to the soul that possesses it makes it a responsibility, which love at once must recognize, to minister it to others. Thus, in a sense, all may be teachers, while, of course, not in the sense in which the apostle is speaking here. There is the special gift of a teacher; and, inasmuch as it is special, it is not for every one to assume that he has it. It is the assumption of such a place as this, of which the apostle is speaking. As already said, there is need of careful discrimination, and that we should not turn his words into discouragement with regard to that in which our responsibility is so strongly emphasized. Priscilla was a woman; and, says the apostle, “I suffer not a woman to teach;” yet Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos and instruct him in the word of God more perfectly. Was she right? It is surely very clear that she was, and that Paul always recognizes her in an unmistakable way as eminent among women. Let us understand clearly that that which love moves us to, it gives at the same time authority for doing. It needs no authority but that which lies in its own compelling power. Love is the humblest thing that can be. It seeketh not its own; its delight is to pour itself out, to abnegate itself; and therefore, of necessity, it would at once guard one from any self-assumption. We may any of us teach that which we know, without the least pretension to be, as it were, by profession teachers; just as we may and must evangelize, -that is, carry the gospel to those who have it not, -without in the least assuming by this to be, in the proper sense, evangelists. Here love will be found that which gives wisdom for every condition. True love is not blind and foolish, but deep-sighted. Love guides and governs in all that it incites us to. If we assume the responsibility of the teacher’s place, then, as the apostle says here, we shall receive a “greater judgment;” and who can question it? A greater responsibility means a greater judgment; that is to say, God will require from us in proportion to the place we have. Is He not right? and can we expect anything else? And this is a warning, therefore, as to assumption. It is not meant, in the least, to be a hindrance to anything that love may impel to. But indeed, as the apostle says, “in many things we all offend,”* and in word how easy it is to offend! In this case, if it be a questionof putting forth that which purports to be interpretation or application of the word of God, how necessary to realize the responsibility in handling that which, as the word of God, comes authoritatively to the souls of men! Here too, if we did not know God’s grace, with the greatest gift we should be tongue-tied. It was he that did not trust this grace in his master who went and hid his lord’s money -was unable, therefore, to use it for the very purpose for which it was entrusted to him. We are as responsible to use as we are responsible not to abuse. We cannot escape from responsibility on either hand. How blessed to know, in the consciousness that still “in many things we all offend,” a grace upon which we can cast ourselves and go forward, if only there be with us the governing sense of whom we serve, and the serious desire to serve Him in it!
{*”In many things we all offend” is hardly to be taken as a statement of the actual life of the believer. On the contrary, the apostle in this very connection is warning against yielding to this tendency. It would seem to be a general statement of the proneness of all to offend, just as the tongue is prone to be unruly. But grace enables us to live without offence not in the way of sinless perfection in ourselves, but rather as glorifying God’s power to keep down the innate tendencies of the flesh. -S.R.}
But the apostle goes on more fully into this question of the tongue. “If any offend not in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle also the whole body.” And yet how easily we let our tongues run on! In fact, the place that the apostle gives the tongue is that which governs the whole body. The bit in the horse’s mouth is a small thing in itself, and yet the whole body is turned by it. The ships, in the midst of violent winds that act upon them, yet are turned about by a very small rudder, according to the direction that the helmsman gives. So, we may think little of the tongue, although it is the very thing by which we boast so much, but, verily, “How much wood can be kindled by how small a fire!” And here he breaks out into a description of it which is startling in its vehemence. “The tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell.” Of course, he is speaking of it as unrestrained by the fear of God, or unguided by the power of the Spirit. How much might we speak of the wonderful power of the tongue on the other side! What a ministry of comfort and blessing is in it! But the best gifts are in their perversion just as fruitful for evil as they are good when used aright. The sweetest ties, the most precious relationships that God has instituted amongst men, are just in the same proportion fruitful for evil in their perversion. Nevertheless there is, no doubt, a special need for such a warning as this with regard to the tongue. How apt we are to be careless about it! How apt we are to release it somewhat from the control that we ought to exercise over it! How soon, if it escapes from such control, it does the damage which we know a little fire may! How much further evil may a little evil in it -mere unguarded words, as we say -excite in others! It is an untamable evil, says the apostle; that is, of course, naturally. We have always to govern it, saints as we may be. The liberty which is truly ours does not extend, as we know, to a liberty with regard to that body which is still unredeemed, which is dead because of sin; and among Christians, where is there, in fact, any source of evil, and so readily allowed to manifest itself, as the tongue? “It is a restless evil,” says the apostle, always seeking expression, yet “full of death-bringing poison.” “We bless the Lord on the one hand, and curse men on the other; men whom God has made in His own likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. How thorough an inconsistency, as the apostle urges! In nature you do not find such things. The fountain does not send forth sweet and bitter water out of the same opening; nor a fig tree yield olives; nor a vine, figs; nor can that which is salt produce sweet water. Nature itself in this way rebukes one who was meant to be the lord of nature, as the image of Him who is the Governor over all. He has, alas, yielded himself to the government of another, and thus he has lost the power of government, largely, over nature, but above all over himself. The child of God away from God displays in full reality the power of the fall, and, as the apostle urges here, the tongue is an eminent example of this.
2. Out of the heart the mouth speaketh. We have begun with the utterance of the mouth. Now we go on to that which is more in the heart itself. “Whoso is wise and intelligent among you, let him show out of good behavior his works in meekness of wisdom; but if ye have bitter emulation and strife in your hearts, boast not, and lie not against the truth.”* This is the spirit of the world, and the corruption that is in the world is through lust. It is the fruit of a heart unsatisfied with God, with that which alone can satisfy, and as a consequence there is of necessity a restless seeking of what will do this. The world cannot furnish it, and hence it goes on, only with more and more urgency and bitterness all the time. This is not a wisdom which cometh down from above. It is “earthly, sensual, demoniacal.” It is first “earthly.” It brings in no motive that is not of earth. The word for “sensual” is one that we have had before as “natural.” It is “psychic,” soul-led; “sensual” is probably here the best translation we can give to it. The soul is that which, as we have seen, divorced from the spirit, is only bestial. In it are found the instincts and appetites that have to do with the maintenance of life, and nothing more. With the presence of the spirit man has that which penetrates this soul-life, and makes it capable of higher things; but there is nothing of that here. The spirit has not its supreme place, the man is soul-led, soul-governed. This is the kind of wisdom here, which, however, has another and deeper significance still. It is not only “earthly, sensual,” but “demoniacal;” Satan being the prince of the world, a more disastrous influence is over man than could be found even in his mere fallen nature. There is a “spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience,” the communication of a wisdom in some sense higher than their own, but at the same time only more evil. This, then, alas, is the spirit of the world. Man is not his own master, even while he vainly talks of liberty and means most earnestly to do his own will and nothing else. But these wills among men are various, and in strife with one another. Thus emulation and strife are the necessary accompaniments of all wisdom which comes not from above. There is disorder and every evil thing.
{*We seem to have here the two kinds of outflow from the heart, like the two kinds of fruit from the same tree -a thing impossible in nature, but too frequently found in man. There is either the good works of meekness and wisdom, or the envy and strife which boast, but really give the lie to God’s truth. This seems to be the force of this last clause: strife and envy lead to boasting and a denial of the truth. Hence the believer is warned. -S.R.
On the other hand, the wisdom that is from above is first pure. There is in it singleness and simplicity of heart. There is no double-mindedness or duplicity. It is without mixture, refusing the alliance with evil. The apostle emphasizes that this wisdom is, first of all, pure. It is from Him who is light, in whose presence everything is seen for what it is, and evil has necessarily its rightfully abhorrent aspect. Thus the wisdom from above is “first pure, then peaceable.” There is no lukewarmness, no indifference to evil: there is no peace that can be made with it; but where purity is maintained, its natural character can show itself even towards the failing and the froward. It is “gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without contention,” (where there is not truth and right to contend for there is no spirit of it,) “without hypocrisy;” and the fruit of righteousness is found in the peace which is thus maintained: “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” Thus it springs from righteousness and returns to righteousness again. “The effect of righteousness is peace,” but the effect of such peace is again righteousness.
The apostle pursues the earthly wisdom of which he has been speaking to its results. “Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your pleasures” (the gratification of your lusts), “which war in your members? Ye lust, and have not.” There is, in fact, no power that can satisfy this. It is condemned, by its very nature, to dissatisfaction. “Ye kill, and are envious, and cannot obtain.” We see that we are being shown the natural tendencies of things as they work out in the world around. James is speaking, as one may say, in the synagogue, in a mixed congregation, in which more than the saints are before him. Ye fight and war. Ye have not, because ye ask not.” It is indeed impossible for prayer to live in such an atmosphere, as we see at once; and yet even here the subtlety of the human heart can come in, as it has devised among the heathen false gods who are but the images of lust themselves, and who can therefore be appealed to in behalf of these. Alas, Christians ‘too may ask and receive not, because they ask amiss, to consume it in their pleasures. We know perfectly well, alas, that self-indulgence can be found in those who are Christians also, and we may seek even from God Himself that which, after all, as He sees it, is merely something that may minister to this spirit.
The apostle flames out here as contemplating, evidently, those who are pledged to God, but who are not abiding in the satisfaction yielded by that which is their own. “Adulteresses: know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” He is contemplating those espoused to Christ, and yet giving themselves to another; and, alas, how easy it is to forget that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Does not that seem often a little strong, perhaps? There it must remain as the immutable Word of inspiration, and let us face it fully. The world and God are on opposite sides, and can never be brought together. We may choose with which we will be; with both we cannot really be. “Whosoever, therefore, is minded to be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.” How well would it be if we let such strong yet wholesome admonition search us to the very bottom! How well the question comes just here, “Think ye that the Scripture speaketh in vain?” How often it seems in vain even for the children of God themselves! But “the Spirit, then, who has taken His abode in us, does He desire enviously?” This certainly seems to be the force of what is here, and it must therefore be a question, not an affirmation, as the common version makes it. “The Spirit who hath taken His abode in us” cannot mean the mere human spirit, and therefore envious desire can only be intended to be put in contrast with that which is His mind, a contradiction to Himself, which is emphasized by giving it the form of a question, as we must. We know, surely, that the Spirit of God that dwelleth in us can have nothing to do with the envious desires of the heart which go out after the world for satisfaction. Nay, “He giveth more grace.” What do we need, but to realize what this grace of God is, and what it has made our own, to have every unsatisfied lust stilled; and instead of grasping for ourselves, we acquire the lowliness that waits upon God, and to which He can minister. “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.”
3. He leads us now more into the sanctuary, to estimate things in the presence of God. Where God is, He must rule; and if we will be the arbiters of our own portion, we must, of necessity, be away from God. “Be subject, therefore, to God; resist the devil,” -for he is always near if God be far away, -“and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” A place before Him, even a place in Christ, is one thing; the desire for what that place implies is another. Thus, it can be said to those who in one sense are nigh, “Draw nigh to God;” and there is still this condition to be fulfilled in order that He may draw nigh to us. We are “no more strangers and foreigners.” He expects from us the affections of children, of those that desire intimacy; but this can only be ours in a way conformable to His own nature. Thus, the word follows, “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” The pleasures that men seek away from God need to be turned -as they will surely yet turn -into affliction for them. Let the soul anticipate this, and instead of rejoicing in such a condition, “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let the laughter be turned to mourning, and the joy to heaviness.” No way for us but to anticipate the judgment of Him who judges not harshly, but according to truth. Let us humble, in His presence, the pride of heart which would dictate to Him, and account our own wills better than His will for us. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He shall exalt you. If we exalt ourselves, He will surely abase us. He that humbleth himself shall as surely find exaltation, but it will be in His own manner.
But if we speak of judgment, and rightly exercise it with regard to ourselves, we have to remember here also that it is not for us to judge our brother. To judge evil is right, of course, and necessary; to judge of that which we have to do is our responsibility always, and therefore of all with which we associate ourselves; but, after all, there must always be with this the reserve, as to those whose ways may be involved in this, that there is One alone who knows the heart, and can give perfect judgment. We are to beware therefore of taking the place of the judge instead of that of obedience simply, which is our own. To act as in the judgment-seat is really, says the apostle, to judge the very law itself; it is to take it away from Him to whom only the law gives it. One only is the Lawgiver and Judge, who can carry out every decision, “who is able to save and to destroy.” What right have we to anticipate His judgment?*
{*This seems to be the meaning of this somewhat obscure passage. The Lawgiver is the only judge. To anticipate His judgment is really to sit in judgment upon the law for not having provided for immediate penalty. For me to judge before the time is to condemn the law as being dilatory. -S.R.}
There is another form of this forgetfulness of God to which the apostle turns -a very common one. “Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain; ye who know not what will be on the morrow.” It is not, as we see directly, that he means to forbid all exercise of thought as to the morrow, but only the spirit of those who plan without God, who forget the uncertainty of everything here: “For what is your life? it is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” It is the spirit of self-confidence he is condemning, which boasts of what it can do without God: “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, and we shall live, we will also do this or that; but now ye glory in your vauntings. All such glorying is evil.”
He adds a word now which should forever settle the question of sinless perfection for a Christian: “To him who knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”* This is much more, of course, than the prohibition of positive evil. There is a negative evil which we have carefully to keep before us. The responsibility of knowing what it is good to do is one that, while we may in a general way allow it, yet deserves far deeper consideration than we often would even desire to give it. How solemn it is to think of all the good that we might do, and yet have not done! How slow we are to recognize that this, too, is sin! We are so apt to claim for ourselves a kind of freedom here which is not Scriptural freedom; and there is no doubt, also, that we may abuse a text like this to legality, if there be legality in our hearts. We are to be drawn, not driven. Yet the neglect of that which is in our hand to do, -which we, perhaps, do not realize our capacity for, and that only through a spirit of self-indulgence or a timidity which is not far removed from this, -such neglect, how hard it is to free ourselves of it, and how much do we miss in this way of that which would be fruitful in blessing for ourselves as well as for others! for, indeed, we can never sow fruit of this kind without reaping what we have sown; and the good that we can do to others, even if it requires the most thorough self-sacrifice, yet will be found in the end to have yielded more than it cost, and to have wrought in the interests of him who has not considered even or sought this.
{*This clause is introduced by “therefore,” which connects it with what has preceded. Just the force of this connection is not at once seen. Some have connected it with what immediately precedes -the shortness of life. In view of that, neglect is a sin. Others, probably, are nearer the truth who regard it as a summing up in view of the principles which have been dwelt upon. The apostle has shown the right and wrong manner of life. If there is a disregard of his word, for those who now know how to do good, it is sin. -S.R.}
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
CONTROL OF THE TONGUE
The third chapter contains instruction or admonition concerning the control of the tongue (Jam 3:1-18). Just as the instruction in the other instances grew out of something written in the first chapter, so also here. He had exhorted them to be swift to hear and slow to speak; following that he had showed them how to hear in the sense that they must be doers of what they hear; and now he would show them how to be slow of speech in the sense that they should set a watch before their mouths and keep the door of their lips.
Masters in Jam 3:1 is really teachers. This shows the direction of their temptation to talk too much. They affected teaching, after the manner of those rebuked by Paul in his letters to Timothy and Titus. There was danger in their doing this, as Jam 3:1 indicates. A heavier responsibility rested upon teachers than upon the taught, and there was the likelihood of stumbling in that capacity (Jam 3:2).
Note how he speaks first, of the power of the tongue (Jam 3:3-5). What three illustrations does he employ? Secondly, he speaks of the evil of the tongue (Jam 3:6). How is it described? What does it do? Whence the source of its iniquity? Thirdly, he speaks of its uncontrollableness (Jam 3:7-8). With how many wild, and subtle, and strong things, does he compare it in this regard?
After speaking the tongue in general terms, how does he apply the subject to the present condition of things (Jam 3:9-10)? By the use of what similes does he seek to better it (Jam 3:11-12)? What is the relation between wisdom and speech (Jam 3:13)? What does the strife of tongues indicate as to the condition of the heart (Jam 3:14)? What is the source of such strife (Jam 3:15)? Its product (Jam 3:16)? How does true wisdom compare with it as to its source, character, and effects (Jam 3:17-18) ?
The questions in the text of this lesson render unnecessary any at the end.
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
For the clearer understanding of these words, let us consider, 1. What the apostle does not forbid, namely, private and brotherly admonition, which proceeds from Christian love one towards another, much less does he condemn public and authorized reproof: God has made it the duty of all to admonish and reprove each other charitably; he has made it the duty of others to admonish and censure evil-doers, authoritatively; this, therefore, is not forbidden.
Observe, 2. What it is that is here forbidden, namely, such a reproving of others as is supercilious and masterly, managed with sharpness and severity, rashly and rigidly. As if the apostle had said, “Be not magisterial and censorious towards your brethren, as if every one of you had many masters in them.” Censuring of others is an arrogation of mastership over others, and the assuming of a power over them which God never gave us, it is a bold usurpation of God’s authority; we may admonish, reprove, and warn; but it must not be in a lordly manner, in a masterly way, which is reviling rather than reproving; we must be covered with a cloak of love, there may be, and oft-times is, a great deal of malice in reporting truth.
Observe next, the remedy prescribed against censuring others, namely, the considering ourselves that we shall thereby receive the greater damnation; sharp reprovers in judging others, pronounce a doom upon themselves; such as reprove either out of office, or out of charity, ought to look to themselves, lest in reproving others they condemn themselves.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
“Let Not Many of You Become Teachers”
The desire to teach is a good desire that should not be discouraged ( Mat 28:18-20 ; 2Ti 2:2 ). Instead, we should discourage a seeking after personal glory. We should also beware of failing to be adequately prepared to teach ( Heb 5:12-14 ; 1Ti 4:12-16 ). God has stricter standards for those who teach because their words can cause others to believe a false gospel ( Gal 1:6-9 ; Rom 16:17-18 ). Bad teaching can also lead others into the practice of error ( Gal 2:11-13 ). Such would surely bring down a heavy judgment upon us ( Mat 18:6-7 ).
Woods does well to remind us that there is a great joy for those who properly teach. To the Philippians Paul said, “Therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved” ( Php 4:1 ; compare 2Co 1:14 ; 1Th 2:18-20 ). John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” ( 3Jn 1:4 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Jas 3:1-2. Be not many masters , teachers. Let none of you rashly, and without proper qualifications, undertake the office of teachers of others; an office into which many are ready to intrude themselves, without being called of God to it. The great desire which the Jewish Christians, to whom this letter was written, had to become teachers in the church after their conversion, and to inculcate the obligation of the law of Moses, is noticed by St. Paul, 1Ti 1:7. Desiring to be teachers of the law, &c. These teachers of the law in the Christian Church were the great corrupters of the gospel. Knowing that If we err, we shall receive the greater condemnation On account of our taking upon us an office for which we are not qualified, and in the exercise of which more is required of us, in many respects, than of others in a more private station of life. St. James here, as in several of the following verses, by a common figure of speech, joins himself with the persons to whom he wrote, to mitigate the harshness of his reproof: we shall receive we offend we put bits we curse, none of which particulars, as common sense shows, are to be interpreted either of him or of the other apostles. For in many things we offend all Through natural infirmity and strong temptation, we are all liable to fall. The original expression, , is literally, we all stumble. It is a metaphor taken from persons who, walking on slippery or rough ground, slide or stumble without falling; as appears from Rom 11:11, , have they stumbled so as to fall? Therefore, as in Scripture, walking denotes the course of a mans conduct, stumbling, in this passage, signifies those lesser failings in duty, to which common Christians are liable. If any man offend Stumble; not in word Keep his tongue under constant government, so that no corrupt discourse proceeds out of his mouth, at any time or on any occasion, but only that which is either about necessary business as far as is necessary, or good to the use of edifying, (see note on Eph 4:29,) the same is a perfect man Eminently good; one who has attained to a high degree of wisdom and grace, and able also to bridle the whole body To keep all his senses, appetites, and passions under due regulation. The tongue is an index of the heart, and he who does not transgress the law of truth, or love, or purity, or humility, or meekness, or patience, or seriousness, with his tongue, will, with the same grace, so rule all his dispositions and actions, as to manifest that he has in him the mind that was in Christ, and walks as Christ walked.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
James Chapter 3
In chapter 3 the apostle recurs to the tongue, the most ready index to the heart, the proof whether the new man is inaction, whether nature and self-will are under restraint. But there is hardly anything here which needs remark, although much that demands the hearing ear. Where there is the divine life, knowledge does not display itself in mere words, but in the walk and by works in which the meekness of true wisdom will be seen. Bitterness and contention are not the fruits of a wisdom that comes from above, but are earthly, of the nature of a man, and of the enemy.
The wisdom that comes from above, having its place in the life, in the heart, has three characteristics. First of all, the character of purity, for the heart is in communion with God-has intercourse with Him (therefore there must needs be this purity). Next, it is peaceable, gentle, ready to yield to the will of another. Then, full of good works, acting by a principle which, as its origin and motives are from above, does good without partiality; that is to say, its action is not guided by the circumstances which influence the flesh and the passions of men. For the same reason it is sincere and unfeigned. Purity, absence of will and self, activity in good, such are the characteristics of heavenly wisdom.
These directions to bridle the tongue, as the first movement and expression of the will of the natural man, extend to believers. There are not to be )as to the inward disposition of the man) many teachers. We all fail; and to teach others and fail ourselves only increases our condemnation. For vanity can easily be fed in teaching others; and that is a very different thing from having the life quickened by the power of truth. The Holy Ghost bestows His gifts as He pleases. The apostle speaks here of the propensity in any one to teach, not of the gift he may have received for teaching.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
ARGUMENT 8
TEACHERS AND PREACHERS
1. Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive the greater responsibility. The Bible contemplates many preachers, but few teachers. In the apostolic age all the disciples preached the Word. Act 8:4. When our Savior wanted preachers He called unlearned and ignorant men. When He wanted a teacher, He called Saul of Tarsus, a double graduate, having graduated in the Greek schools of Tarsus and the Hebrew colleges at Jerusalem, thus standing at the top of the worlds learning.
Jesus needed such men to expound the Scriptures. The holiness movement has suffered immensely from incompetent teachers. To preach simply means to proclaim the Word, corroborated by our experience. While a collegiate education is in no way essential to the preaching of the Gospel, if not baptized by the Holy Ghost and fire, it will be a serious temptation, very liable to side-track you as it has millions, and get you into preaching that which is not gospel, and destitute of saving power. The trend of the churches to leave the Bible and run into human learning, is the mammoth heresy of the modern pulpit, fast secularizing and infidelizing their congregations. God wants to give all of His people full salvation, and the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10), sending them forth as in the Apostolic age, preaching the Word. He is now raising up a grand army of lay men and women, baptizing them with fire, and sending them to the ends of the earth,
to preach the gospel to every creature before the great and dreadful day of the Lord cometh. Act 2:20.
This is a very signal mercy, in view of that human learning which is fast crowding the Gospel out of the popular pulpits, and thus turning the people over to the world and Satan. Let this grand army of the blood- washed and fire-baptized laity content themselves simply to proclaim the Word of the Lord and tell their experiences and never attempt to explore the profoundities of exegesis, lest they propagate all sorts of error, as has been done much to the detriment of the cause. God needs a few well educated, fire-baptized and Spirit-illuminated teachers to expound the Scriptures. He will raise them up and send them forth.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Jas 3:1. Be not many masters: , teachers. In some assemblies they might all prophesy one by one, but no man should be too forward; he will never shine as a teacher, unless he be a teacher. Paul gives the same caution against premature teachers, in 1Ti 1:7.
Jas 3:17. The wisdom that is from above is first pure. It converses with glory, it hates sin, and shuns its first approach. Then peaceable, doing nothing to vex or grieve another. Gentle, full of equanimity. Calm and temperate, easy to be entreated. Such is the state of mind where truth and love, and all the graces reign. This wisdom is without partiality. Levi knew not his father or his mother, when the glory of God was concerned. It is noble and divine in conduct, scorning all hypocrisy, to cover evil with a spotless garb.
REFLECTIONS.
Slander is here the most prominent feature; and of all sins there is none more base and odious. He who speaks against you is either your enemy, or your friend, or an indifferent person. If he be your enemy, it is either hatred or envy that prompts him to a crime which has ever been regarded as mean and despicable. If he be your friend, how perfidious must it be thus to violate the obligations of amity. If an indifferent person, why does he traduce you? He has not offended you, nor have you offended him.
Slander attacks the honour of others; and of what arms does it avail itself? A sort of arms which have ever been deemed reproachful; these are, the weapons of the tongue. What time does he choose to give the blow? That when one is the least prepared for defence, or when the person traduced is absent. Slander, that it may eat with more effect, commits three other faults. Of some occurrences it affects to speak in secret. It endeavours to palliate and please. It covers itself with a thousand pretexts, which have the semblance of equity.
There is no sin more odious to God and man: to God, who is love and charity; to man, whom it assails with so much licentiousness. Hence the scriptures represent such a man as formidable and dangerous, on account of the numerous mischiefs he everywhere occasions. But, do you say, we are diverted with hearing him. I grant it; but at the same time that you are pleased and diverted, you despise and hate him. For though you take pleasure in hearing when others are concerned, you fear for yourselves, well judging that you will not be better treated when occasion offers.
There is no sin which more seriously involves the conscience, or imposes upon it more rigorous obligations. It is a sin against justice. All injustice to our neighbour involves consequences dangerous to salvation; and of all kinds of injustice, there is none which affects more closely and awfully before God.
The required reparation of honour is extremely delicate and important. You must repair the honour you have snatched from your brother, and no power can dispense with the duty. You must repair it as far as possible, because it is dear and precious. You must repair it even at the expense of your own character; and we well know how difficult it is to consent to this kind of humiliation.
The required obligation admits of less excuse, and has fewer claims to the palliation of self-love. When we speak of the restitution of goods, fraudulently obtained, we may sometimes dispense with the duty on the ground of absolute impossibility. But when honour is concerned, what can we say? To detail pretexts would be to excuse the crime.
The obligation also extends to a multitude of consequences, which should make every conscience tremble. Slander, besides the wound of honour, is productive of numerous wrongs. That young person, for example, has no more hope of establishment in the world, after your defamation. All his fortune is lost by a single slander, and which you have propagated. See then what you have to repair.
Is it not hitherto a matter of surprise, that a sin which involves so many consequences should be so little regarded? And is it not more surprising still, that it should be committed by persons who make a profession of severe morality, and who largely insist on the restitution of honour as an essential point? Let us learn then to be silent when the reputation of our neighbour is concerned; and let us learn to speak when it is our interest to restore him to the honour we have taken away. In this manner the good Bourdaloue reasoned, from whose sermon I have translated this admirable piece.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jas 3:1-12. Do not crowd into the ranks of the teachers, my brothers. You know that we teachers shall be judged more severely than other men; and there are many things in which all of us stumble. This leads to the discussion of the snare of speech, into which those who talk much are peculiarly liable to fall. The words rendered now if (Jas 3:3) should be taken as one word meaning see, and the conjunction for inserted. Now with horses, for example, it is in their mouths, look you, that we put the bit when we want them to obey us. In Jas 3:4 the word impulse may be the pressure of the steersmans hand on the tiller. To the small bridle and the small rudder the tongue is compared as an insignificant part of mans equipment, but one that can boast of great power. See what a spark it takes to kindle what a mass of wood! And the tongue is fire: the world of wrong is represented among our members by the tongue, which defiles the whole body, kindles the wheel of life, and is itself kindled from Gehenna. In many primitive rituals a wooden wheel is rapidly rotated on a wooden axle to produce fire. The image here is that of a flame spreading from the centre down all the radiating spokes. It is the wheelwe should probably say sphereof birth (mg.), like the face of birth in Jas 1:23, the whole round of changing earthly circumstance. To tame the tongue is beyond the power of manthe word is emphatic: it is a restless plague, it is charged with deadly poison. We use it for pious ejaculations (without which correct Jews would not name God) and for curses on Gods image around us. But just as bitter water, like that of the Dead Sea, would spoil the sweetness of any water in which it mingled, so the curses embitter all blessing: to curse God would be more honest, and quite as acceptable to Him! For the first figure we should not have expected two different good fruits (contrast Mat 7:16). James is, however, using a common proverb.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Here we begin a fourth division of the book, which continues to the end of Ch.4; in which our walk is tested by the circumstances of the world. Certainly in the previous chapters there is emphasis also on practical life; but there connected with its proper motive of faith in the living God. Now we no longer see faith mentioned, but evident outward conduct.
Not all are teachers in the sense of having that special gift; and it is a dangerous thing for one to assume himself a teacher who is not he is exposed to the greater judgment. Of course, older women are told to be “teachers of good things” (Tit 2:13); and any believer can teach in measure that which he has truly learned; but this gives no-one the right to assume that he has the gift of teaching. It is only right that a teacher should (here on earth) be subjected to serious judgment as to his teaching, and as to whether his practice is consistent with his teaching.
“For in many things we all offend.” It is not that this is necessary, but it takes godly self-judgment and wisdom to teach properly without offense, for it is a natural tendency to offend, specially so in our words. one who in this way does not offend is “perfect” in the sense of mature, and able to control his entire body. This ought to be true of a teacher, and indeed of every experienced believer, but generally it is not true without some painful experience.
Two striking illustrations are given us of the control of the tongue. A bit put in a horse’s mouth is remarkable for its ability to control so large and strong an animal. At least by this means its driver is able to secure its obedience. So also we should be able to control ourselves in our bridling so small a thing as our tongue. Ships also, of tremendous size, are easily turned by the manipulation of a very small rudder, the helmsman able to turn the wheel with only a finger. Driven though they may be with fierce winds, yet there is amazing control exerted over them by almost effortless control of the wheel.
But if the horse driver or the helmsman give up control, and leave the horse or the ship to its own devices, then tragedy is practically certain. Just so, the tongue, if not controlled by its owner, can do terrible damage rather than exert a great influence for good. Allow it to act merely according to man’s natural tendency, and it will boast great things. It is not restrained, and becomes as a small fire rapidly spreading in every direction.
The tongue is certainly a proof of the incurable evil of the heart of man. It need not be so virulent, but even the most honorable believer has reason to retract, or at least regret, things he has allowed to slip out of his mouth. Verse 6 shows what the tongue is if allowed to act without restraint, — a fire, a world of iniquity, defiling the whole body, fanning into a devouring flame the evil of man’s nature. The expression “and it is set on fire of hell” is solemnly arresting. Except for this one instance, the word “Gehenna” (the Greek word for “hell”) was used by the Lord alone when He was on earth. It refers to the eternal torment of the lake of fire. How solemn a warning of the dreadful torment that can be caused by a careless tongue!
A believer, by the power of the Spirit of God, may “bridle” his tongue, that is, put it under restraint; and this is surely a serious responsibility; but let no-one persuade himself that he has tamed his tongue; or he will almost certainly have painful occasion to find in experience that it is still “an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Therefore it needs constant guarding and restraining.
How little we stop to think that with the same tongue we may heartily bless God, yet speak badly of men, whom God has created in his own likeness. The inconsistency of this should be a shame to us; yet who is not at some time guilty of it? Let us take to heart the exhortation that these things ought not to be, and seek grace to unsparingly judge any “speaking unadvisedly with our lips.” For this very thing Moses was deprived of entering, into the land. (Num 20:12; Psa 106:32-33)
In verses 11 and 12 James appeals to creation itself to show its consistency in contrast to the unbecoming treachery of the tongue. A fountain always produces the same type of water; and the fig tree produces only figs, the vine also according to its character. In all of this, let us note that James speaks only of what is outwardly manifest. Elsewhere we are told the reason that both good and evil proceed from the same person. The “Spirit of God, given to every believer, produces only good; yet the flesh, derived from Adam, produces evil. But we have no excuse for allowing the flesh to act, for the Spirit is infinitely superior to the flesh: we need only to bow to the Lord’s authority, and to “walk in the Spirit,” and the power of the Spirit will be operative in us. James does not speak of this, but places responsibility rightly on our own shoulders. Therefore, though the tongue cannot be tamed, yet we are called upon to govern it.
This leads to the consideration of wisdom, for the use of the tongue is one of the first marks of wisdom or folly. Is one wise and intelligent? Let him show it in his conversation, which involves more than his words, but his entire manner of life, for “him works” are added here. Compare David, who “behaved himself wisely in all his ways.” 1Sa 18:1-30 :l4. This is not said of Solomon, though he possessed such wisdom. But the expression “with meekness of wisdom” is most striking, for it is a common thing that man’s knowledge tends to puff up his pride. But true wisdom produces meekness, which Involves in up a self-judgment that seeks no self-exaltation, but recognizes God’s rights as supreme over ourselves.
But however great one’s knowledge, if there is bitter envying and strife in the heart, this kind of wisdom is not from above. For true. wisdom would lead us to unsparingly judge such motives. Notice too that envy and strife lead to boasting and lying against the truth. For these things stem from one’s pride, and the truth speaks decidedly against self-exaltation: therefore if I justify my pride, I lie against the truth.
Yet man’s wisdom is always permeated by his pride. Such wisdom is earthly in contrast to heavenly sensual (or “soulish”) in contrast to spiritual; devilish in contract to Christ-like. Being earthly, it is merely transient being sensual, it is largely energized by mere human desire and feelings being devilish, it is deceptive with deadly danger.
Envy involves both personal selfishness and ill-feeling toward another. Strife therefore accompanies it. This in turn overthrows all proper equilibrium: disorder prevails, and leaves the door open for “every evil work.” It is by this means that Satanic activity thrives.
Precious is the contrast in verses 17 and 18. Here is wisdom readily available for every child of God, wisdom as seen in Him who came down from Heaven, the beloved Son of God. And no doubt in verse 17 are the seven pillars of wisdom, those only mentioned in Pro 9:1. It is first pure, that is, totally free from all contamination, no admixture of impurity. Then peaceable, having the calm sweetness of concord that banishes contention. “Gentle:” the grace of lowly consideration of the feelings and needs of others. “Easy to be entreated” indicates the humility that yields, rather than the stubbornness of self-assurance: that is, it will yield personal rights: it would certainly not give up the truth of God.
Completing the seven pillars of wisdom in this verses “full of mercy” is the hearty, compassionate care of those in need: “and good fruits” are those virtues spontaneously active, with no forcing. “Without partiality” is giving no preference to one above another, no favoring relatives or special friends. And finally, “without hypocrisy” involves the simple honesty of not attempting to give wrong or dubious impressions.
For the fruit of righteousness can only come from proper sowing Fruit is not forced or sudden. A character that truly seeks peace will have its good fruits in righteousness. On the other hand, mere insistence on righteousness will never accomplish righteousness. How good therefore to seek those things that make for peace, which can certainly be done without compromising righteousness. This is wisdom from above.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 1
Masters; teachers. The meaning is, Be not too ready to assume the office of religious teachers.–Knowing that we shall receive, &c.; that is, if unworthy. The meaning is, that a great responsibility is incurred by every one who attempts to guide and instruct others.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
4 The Evils Of The Flesh
(James 3, James 4)
In James 2 the apostle has given us different tests whereby we can prove the reality of those who profess the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. In James 3 and James 4 we are warned against seven different forms of evil which are characteristic of the profession and into which, but for grace, any believer can fall:
1. the unbridled tongue (Jam 3:1-12);
2. envy and strife (Jam 3:13-18);
3. unbridled lust (Jam 4:1-3);
4. friendship of the world (Jam 4:4);
5. the pride of the flesh (Jam 4:5-10);
6. speaking evil of one another (Jam 4:11; Jam 4:12);
7. self-will and self-confidence (Jam 4:13-17).
1. The unbridled tongue (Jam 3:1-12)
(V. 1). The apostle prefaces his warnings against the unbridled use of the tongue by exhorting us not to be many teachers. The apostle is not speaking of the right use of the gift of teaching (Rom 12:7), but of the propensity of the flesh to delight in teaching others, and in its eagerness to take part in ministry. This tendency may exist in all, whether gifted or otherwise. Even where the gift of teaching exists, the flesh, if allowed, can easily misuse the gift to feed its own vanity. Apart, however, from the possession of gift, we are all in danger of attempting to teach others what is right, while forgetting that we ourselves may fail in the very things against which we warn others. One has said, It is far easier to teach others than to govern ourselves, and again, Humility in the heart makes a man slow to speak. To teach others and fail ourselves only increases our condemnation.
(V. 2). Let us then remember that in correcting others we may be offenders ourselves, for we all often offend, even if at times we do so unconsciously. In no way is it so easy to offend as in words. The man who can bridle his tongue will be a full-grown Christian, a perfect man, able to control every other member of his body.
(Vv. 3-5). This leads the apostle to warn us against the unbridled use of the tongue. The bit in the mouth of the horse is a small thing, but by it we can compel the horse to obey. The rudder is a small thing, but with it great ships can be controlled in spite of fierce winds. Even so the tongue is a little member which, if a man can, like a helmsman, control, he can govern the whole body. If not bridled, the tongue can become the means of expressing the vanity of our hearts by condemning others and exalting our-selves, for it can boast great things. It can thus become the source of great mischief for, though a little member, it resembles a little fire which may destroy a forest.
The hand and the foot can become instruments for carrying out the will of the flesh; but no member of the body so readily and easily expresses our will, exposes our weakness and reveals the true state of our heart as the tongue. It is easily inflamed by malice in the heart, and inflames others, doing endless mischief by one idle and malicious word.
(V. 6). The apostle describes the tongue as a fire which not only kindles trouble but keeps the trouble in existence. It is capable of instigating every form of unrighteousness, thus becoming a world of iniquity. By its evil suggestions it can lead to every member of the body being defiled and stir into activity the whole course of fallen nature. The evil spirits of hell find in the tongue a ready instrument for their fell work, so that it can be said that it is set on fire of hell.
(Vv. 7, 8). The tongue is untameable by nature. Every kind of creature has been tamed by mankind, but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Not only does it defile the body, but it can poison the mind. It has been truly said, Many according to the flesh would avoid giving a blow, who cannot restrain a passionate or hard word against a neighbour. How easy it is by a thoughtless or an unkind word to poison the mind of brethren against a brother.
(Vv. 9-12). Moreover, the tongue can be thoroughly inconsistent, for, while capable of blessing God, it can also curse man made in the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth blessing and cursing can proceed. This is contrary to nature, for no fountain can send forth sweet and bitter water, nor does a fig tree bear olives, nor a vine figs. By the ordinance of God the nature of a thing induces products according to its nature. Christians, as born of God and morally partakers of the divine nature, are in speech and acts to be consistent with God’s ways.
The apostle is not speaking of the tongue when used by grace and restrained by the Spirit, but of the tongue used under the influence of the flesh and energised by the devil. Nothing but the power of the Spirit filling the heart with the grace of Christ can restrain the tongue. When the heart is enjoying the grace and love of Christ, the tongue will speak in grace out of the abundance of the heart.
2. Envy and strife (Jam 3:13-18)
The apostle, having in trenchant terms exposed the evil of an unbridled tongue, now warns against envy and strife. In this connection he draws a striking contrast between the wise man and those who entertain envy and strife in the heart.
(V. 13). The wise man, with understanding of the mind of God, will show that he is such, not by boastful words, nor necessarily by any words, but by good conduct and works carried out in meekness, which is the outcome of true wisdom. Too often the flesh seeks to display itself in boastful words and ostentatious works. Such is not his way.
(Vv. 14, 15). In contrast with the wise man, there are those who allow bitter envy and strife in their hearts. The evil, as ever, commences in the heart; and envy in the heart leads to boasting, and boasting to lying against the truth. How often the envious man will seek to hide his jealousy by protesting that he has no rancour in his heart, but is only resisting evil and standing for the truth. If, under the pretence of exposing some evil and telling a brother the plain truth for his good, we deliberately say things that are offensive, we may be perfectly sure that malice in the heart is behind our offensive words. How often have the most malicious words been excused by quoting the scripture, Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. How few would be able to quote the words that immediately precede, and that would warn us that we should not use this scripture lightly, for they ask the question, Who is able to stand before envy? (Pro 27:4-6).
How easy to deceive ourselves in the effort to excuse ourselves. How easy to indulge our malice under the plea that we are acting in faithfulness. Malice is a weed very common in our hearts; yet how rarely will anyone confess to entertaining a malicious feeling in the heart, or uttering a malicious word with the lips.
Bitter envying and strife are not the outcome of the wisdom from above. They are earthly qualities, not heavenly; they express the feelings of the old man, not the new; they are of the devil, and not of God.
Moreover, we do well to remember that envy is always the confession of inferiority. To envy a man with a big income is to admit that one’s own is smaller. In the same way, to be jealous of a man with gift is to confess that one’s own is an inferior gift.
(V. 16). If envy and strife in the heart lead to boastful and lying words in the endeavour to excuse and cover the envy, the boastful and hypocritical words will produce scenes of disorder and confusion, which open the door to every evil work. Here, then, in plain and searching words we have laid bare the root cause of every scene of disorder that occurs amongst the people of God. Bitter envy and strife in the heart, finding expression in boastful and deceitful words, lead to disorder and every evil thing (N.Tn.).
Ah me! what hearts have been broken;
What rivers of blood have been stirred
By a word in malice spoken –
By only one bitter word!
(Vv. 17, 18). In striking contrast with the activities of the old man marked by envy and strife, the apostle sets before us in the closing verses a beautiful picture of the new man marked by the wisdom that is from above. We know that Christ is above, seated in the glory, and of God He is made unto us wisdom. Christ is the Head of the Body, and all the wisdom of the Head is at our disposal. It has been truly said that, He is just as pleased to be Head to the simplest believer as to the apostle Paul. He was Head and wisdom to the apostle, but He is ready to be Head and wisdom to the most unintelligent Christian. How true are these words, for the very passage that tells us that God hath chosen the foolish things of the world immediately adds, of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom (1Co 1:27; 1Co 1:30). Alas! our own fancied wisdom often hinders us from benefiting by the wisdom from above – the wisdom of our Head. Good for us to own our foolishness and cast ourselves upon the wisdom that is in Christ our Head, to find that, however unintelligent naturally, we shall have wisdom given for every detail of our life and service.
If marked by wisdom from above, we shall bear the beautiful character of Christ. The wisdom from above first is pure, then peaceful, gentle, yielding, full of mercy and good fruits, unquestioning, unfeigned (N.Tn.). What is this but a lovely description of Christ as He passed through this world?
The wisdom of the Head first deals with our hearts. It will lead us to judge the secret evil, so that we may be pure in heart. Then, in our intercourse with others, it will teach us to be peaceable. It will restrain our tongues and the natural love of contention, thus leading us to seek peace. Seeking peace we shall express ourselves with gentleness rather than in the violent manner of the flesh. Instead of the aggressiveness of the flesh that ever seeks to assert itself, we shall yield to others with readiness to hear what they may have to say. Moreover, the wisdom from above is ready to show mercy rather than hasty to condemn. It is unquestioning and unfeigned. It does not seek to make a pretension of great wisdom by raising endless questions. It is marked by simplicity and sincerity. The wisdom from above thus produces the fruit of righteousness, sown in a spirit of peace by those who seek to make peace. The wisdom from the Head will never produce a scene of disorder and strife. The one marked by this wisdom will make peace, and, in the peaceful condition that is made, will reap the fruits of righteousness.
What ice-bound griefs have been broken;
What rivers of love have been stirred
By a word in wisdom spoken –
By only a gentle word!
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
Mr. D’s Notes on James
Jam 3:1-5
I would like to let Gill introduce this section for us. “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 ….”
In the New Testament church the gathering time was patterned on the services of the synagogue. They would have a discussion or sharing of thoughts on the Lord and His Word.
Today the Plymouth Brethren follow this format as do some independent Bible people. They gather and share one with another as the Spirit leads them. Some share a passage of the word, some share a hymn, some a thought and usually someone has a more lengthy admonition for the group.
Act 13:15-16 pictures some of this concept and in 1Co 14:26-36, though most agree the sign gifts have passed away, that the text pictures this type of freedom in the service.
We spoke in a church in Denver, CO years ago that sat in a square. The children were seated in front of the parents throughout the service. The Lord’s Table was set in the middle and was the focus of the entire service. The children were allowed only Bible story books for something to do, no toys, no candy, no pop, no goodies – and they were quiet little worshipers – they knew they were there to consider God.
The question arises, should we be doing worship and/or Sunday school in this manner today. Some suggest that discussion in the Sunday school fulfills this idea. I would disagree, because discussion is led by the teacher, not the Spirit of God.
The next problem is this. If we had this type of service, would you have enough time in the word during the week to have something to share on Sunday morning?
If all of us were in the Word enough; If all of us would share when led of the Spirit; If all of us were Christian enough to accept admonition from others; Then would we have any need for a full time paid pastor? Yes, there is the gift of pastor-teacher, however this would work out as the shepherd/teacher the gift is referring to. A teaching time is quite appropriate for the assembly, and might well fit perfectly within the time I have just suggested.
We have the clear thought that there should not be many masters in the church. This concept of worship eliminates the many masters and makes us all subservient to THE MASTER. Well, He is the head of the church you know.
This brings forth the thought of being up-front and spiritual in our speaking with others. There was a man called Latimer that was called to preach before King Henry VIII. Historians record for us some conversations that he had with himself. He first discussed the one he was about to speak before. The man that could put him in jail if he spoke out of line, the man that could have his head in a basket, the man that controlled his very existence – how should he preach in such a situation. Then he changed his perspective slightly and determined that since he really was speaking before the King of Kings, and Lord of Lord’s and since the King would stand before this Christ – well he said this to himself “Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be faithful to thy Master and declare all God’s Word.”
If we all had this mind-set, we could meet in a common assembly and admonish one another without the usual commotion, hurt feelings, and anger.
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
“Knowing” is a perfect tense, something that continues into the future to a sure end. You know this is true, you will know this is true tomorrow and you will know it is true when it occurs. You won’t second guess this one, you know it as if it is fact and done.
Know that the master or teacher will be judged differently than others, and the indication is that it will be a harsher judgment.
“Master” is the normal word for teacher. The teacher is one that knows things that others do not, someone that can impart and share that knowledge with others in an effective way. The term master probably comes from the Old Testament and early New Testament thought of a teacher. A teacher in this time was someone that was very respected and honored.
To show this I would call upon Joseph Caro (1488-1575) a Jewish writer once mentioned some of the actions a young man should take when in the presence of a teacher.
He held that the student was to honor his teacher above his parents. He likened anyone striving or complaining with/to his teacher to striving or complaining with/to the Lord. A scholar was not allowed to answer a point of law if his teacher was present. To do so without permission was open to punishment. The student was never, even after death, to call his teacher by his first name. The student was never allowed to sit in the teachers seat. When a teacher died the student was to tear his coat as if his father had died. Basically the teacher in many ways was to be held as superior to one’s own father. The teacher however was also to honor the scholar as the scholar was to honor the teacher.
You can see that the student of old respected his teacher. Even in my own school days the teacher was held with respect. Today, on the other hand, the teacher in the public classroom is often just another piece of trash to be kicked aside, and I might add that this concept is often transferred to the Sunday school and church situation.
Some today talk back and argue with teachers openly in class. They don’t have enough respect to disagree in private.
I have had, more than once, women begin to argue and cause disruption in classes that I was teaching. This isn’t just a man/woman in the church issue; it is a respect of another believer issue as well as the man/woman in the church issue.
Not only are they throwing the thought of Scripture aside of a woman questioning and learning at home from her husband but they are just throwing out basic respect and action for their own prideful feelings.
Today, we have little respect for teachers, or pastors for that matter, and often the only respect we have is for ourselves, and that is the bigger mistake. Part of the bigger problem is that people have the concept that their opinion is correct and all others are incorrect. The opinion does not need to be backed by fact or even some indication from truth; it only needs to be held to be “true.”
Due to this mind-set, you can argue no matter what is said or held by another person and know that you are “correct.”
Note should be taken that James considered himself a teacher. He includes himself in the judgment by using the term “we.” Thus we know something more about the man that authored the book.
James speaks to a problem that is going on – many masters. He admonishes, don’t do it. The reason? The master will be held to a higher standard when they are judged. The term condemnation is “judgments” in the American Standard Version.
Luk 12:48 speaks to this principle. “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
The term translated “masters” is the word for teachers. It is translated that way in Act 13:1 as well as elsewhere.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3:1 My {1} brethren, be not many masters, {2} knowing that we {a} shall receive the greater condemnation.
{1} The sixth part or place: Let no man usurp (as most men ambitiously do) authority to judge and censure others harshly.
(2) A reason: Because they provoke God’s anger against themselves, who do so eagerly and harshly condemn others, being themselves guilty and faulty.
(a) Unless we cease from this imperious and proud finding of fault with others.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
A. Controlling the Tongue 3:1-12
It is particularly the misuse of the tongue in Christian worship that James addressed (cf. 1Co 12:3; 1Co 14:27-39). From the subject of idle faith, James proceeded to discuss idle speech.
". . . in his usual ’rondo’ manner [James] returns to the theme of speech (Jas 1:19; Jas 1:26) and warns his true Christians of the dangers of the tongue . . ." [Note: Adamson, p. 138.]
"It [this chapter] is also connected with that overvaluation of theory as compared with practice which formed the subject of the last chapter." [Note: Mayor, p. 107.]
"Those in his line of sight are evidently leaders who are summoned to control and guide the course of the church’s life and destiny. Hence the twin imagery of the horse’s bit (Jas 3:3) and the ship’s rudder (Jas 3:4)." [Note: Martin, p. 104.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. The negative warning 3:1
As in the previous two chapters, James introduced a new subject with a command (cf. Jas 1:2; Jas 2:1).
Every Christian is responsible to teach others what God has revealed in His Word (Mat 28:19; Heb 5:12). However, James was evidently speaking of becoming teachers as the rabbis in his day were, namely, "professional" teachers. He may have been cautioning those who were considering teaching in the church and suggesting that some who were ministering in this capacity unworthily should step down. [Note: Ibid., p. 107.]
"Teachers are necessary, but incompetent and unworthy ones do much harm." [Note: Robertson, 6:39.]
The Jews regarded teachers (rabbis) with great awe and gave them much honor in James’ day (cf. Mat 23:8). The synagogue service allowed opportunity for men in the congregation to rise and address the rest of the assembly (cf. Act 13:15). The Christians carried this opportunity over into the meetings of the early church (cf. 1Co 14:26-33). Consequently there were many in James’ audience who, though not qualified with ability, aspired to teach others publicly for the sake of prestige or some other motive. James warned that God will judge a teacher more strictly than a non-teacher because he presumably knows the truth and claims to live by it.
"This is not an attack upon the office of the teacher or the teaching function, for James at once identifies himself as a teacher. Rather, he is seeking to restrain the rush to teach on the part of those not qualified." [Note: Hiebert, James, p. 185.]
"Any teacher runs the risk of becoming ’Sir Oracle.’ No profession is more liable to beget spiritual and intellectual pride." [Note: Barclay, The Letters . . ., p. 94. His allusion is to William Shakespear’s The Merchant of Venice, Acts 1, Scene 1, Line 93: "I am Sir Oracle, and when I ope my lips let no dog bark!"]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 14
HEAVY RESPONSIBILITIES OF TEACHERS-THE POWERS AND PROPENSITIES OF THE TONGUE-THE SELF-DEFILEMENT OF THE RECKLESS TALKER.
Jam 3:1-8
FROM the “idle faith” St. James goes on to speak of the “idle word.” The change from the subject of faith and works to that of the temptations and sins of speech is not so abrupt and arbitrary as at first sight appears. The need of warning his readers against sins of the tongue has been in his mind from the first. Twice in the first chapter it comes to the surface. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (Jam 1:19), as if being slow to hear and swift to speak were much the same as being swift to wrath. And again, “If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his heart, this mans religion is vain” (Jam 1:26). And now the subject of barren faith causes him to return to the warning once more. For it is precisely those who neglect good works that are given to talk much about the excellence of their faith, and are always ready to instruct and lecture others. That controversies about faith and works suggested to him this section about offences of the tongue, is a gratuitous hypothesis. St. James shows no knowledge of any such controversies. As already pointed out, the purpose of the preceding section {Jam 2:14-26} is not controversial or doctrinal, but purely practical, like the rest of the Epistle. The paragraph before us is of the same character; it is against those who substitute words for works.
St. James is entirely of Carlyles opinion that in the majority of cases, if “speech is silvern, silence is golden”; but be does not write twenty volumes to prove the truth of this doctrine. “In noble uprightness, he values only the strict practice of concrete duties, and hates talk” (Reuss); and while quite admitting that teachers are necessary, and that some are called to undertake this office, he tells all those who desire to undertake it that what they have to bear in mind is its perils and responsibilities. And it is obvious that true teachers must always be a minority. There is something seriously wrong when the majority in the community, or even a large number, are pressing forward to teach the rest.
“Be not many teachers, my brethren”; or, if we are to do full justice to the compact fullness of the original, “Do not many of you become teachers.” St. James is not protesting against a usurpation of the ministerial office; to suppose this is to give far too specific a meaning to his simple language. The context points to no such sin as that of Korah and his company, but simply to the folly of incurring needless danger and temptation. In the Jewish synagogues any one who was disposed to do so might come forward to teach, and St. James writes at a time when the same freedom prevailed in the Christian congregations. “Each had a psalm, had a teaching, had a revelation, had a tongue, had an interpretation All could prophesy one by one, that all might learn and all be comforted”. {1Co 14:26; 1Co 14:31} But in both cases the freedom led to serious disorders. The desire to be called of men “Rabbi, Rabbi,” told among Jews and Christians alike, and many were eager to expound who had still the very elements of true religion to learn. It is against this general desire to be prominent as instructors both in private and in public that St. James is here warning his readers. The Christian Church already has its ministers distinct from the laity, to whom the laity are to apply for spiritual help; {Jam 5:14} but it is not an invasion of their office by the laity to which St. James refers, when he says, “Do not many of you become teachers.” These Jewish Christians of the Dispersion are like those at Rome to whom St. Paul writes; each of them was confident that his knowledge of God and the Law made him competent to become “a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the Law the form of knowledge and of the truth”. {Rom 2:17 ff.} But in teaching others they forgot to teach themselves; they failed to see that to preach the law without being a doer of the law was to cause Gods name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles; and that to possess faith and do nothing but talk was but to increase their own condemnation; for it was to place themselves among those who are condemned by Christ because “they say and do not”. {Mat 23:3} The phrase “to receive judgment” ( ) is in form a neutral one: the judgment may conceivably be a favorable one, but in usage it implies that the judgment is adverse. {Mar 12:40; Luk 20:47; Rom 13:2} Even without the verb “receive” this word “judgment” in the New Testament generally has the meaning of a condemnatory sentence. {Rom 2:2-3; Rom 3:8; Rom 5:16; 1Co 11:29; Gal 5:10; 1Ti 3:6; 1Ti 5:12; 1Pe 4:17; 2Pe 2:3; Jud 1:4; Rev 17:1; Rev 18:20} And there is no reason to doubt that such is the meaning here; the context requires it. The fact that St. James with affectionate humility and persuasiveness includes himself in the judgment-“we shall receive”-by no means proves that the word is here used in a neutral sense. In this he is like St. John, who breaks the logical flow of a sentence in a similar manner, rather than seem not to include himself: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate”; {1Jn 2:1} he is as much in need of the Advocate as others. So also here, St. James, as being a teacher, shares in the heavier condemnation of teachers. It was the conviction that the word is not neutral, but condemnatory, which produced the rendering in the Vulgate, “knowing that ye receive greater condemnation” (scientes quoniam maius judicium sumitis), it being thought that St. James ought not to be included in such a judgment.
But this is to miss the point of the passage. St. James says that “in many things we stumble-every one of us.” He uses the strong form of the adjective ( for ), and places it last with great emphasis. Every one of us sins, and therefore there is condemnation in store for every one of us. But those of us who are teachers will receive a heavier sentence than those of us who are not such; for our obligations to live up to the law which we know, and profess, and urge upon others, are far greater. Heaviest of all will be the condemnation of those who, without being called or qualified, through fanaticism, or an itch for notoriety, or a craze for controversy, or a love of fault-finding, push themselves forward to dispense instruction and censure. They are among the fools who “rush in where angels fear to tread,” and thereby incur responsibilities which they need not, and ought not, to have incurred, because they do not possess the qualifications for meeting them and discharging them. The argument is simple and plain: “Some of us must teach. All of us frequently fall. Teachers who fall are more severely judged than others. Therefore do not many of you become teachers.”
In what sphere is it that we most frequently fall? Precisely in that sphere in which the activity of teachers specially lies-in speech. “If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man.” St. James is not thinking merely of the teacher who never makes a mistake, but of the man who never sins with the tongue. There is an obvious, but by no means exclusive, reference to teachers, and that is all. To every one of us, whatever our sphere in life, the saying comes home that one who offends not in word is in deed a perfect man. By “perfect” () he means one who has attained full spiritual and moral development, who is “perfect and entire, lacking in nothing”. {Jam 1:4} He is no longer a babe, but an adult; no longer a learner, but an adept. He is a full and complete man, with perfect command of all the faculties of soul and body. He has the full use of them, and complete control over them. The man who can bridle the most rebellious part of his nature, and keep it in faultless subjection, can bridle also the whole. This use of “perfect,” as opposed to what is immature and incomplete, is the commonest use of the word in the New Testament. But sometimes it is a religious or philosophical term, borrowed from heathen mysteries or heathen philosophy. In such cases it signifies the initiated, as distinct from novices. Such a metaphor was very applicable to the Gospel, and St. Paul sometimes employs it; {1Co 2:6; Col 1:28} but it may be doubted whether any such thought is in St. Jamess mind here, although such a metaphor would have suited the subject. He who never stumbles in word can be no novice, but must be fully initiated in Christian discipline. But the simpler interpretation is better. He who can school the tongue can school the hands and the feet, the heart and the brain, in fact, “the whole body,” the whole of his nature, and is therefore a perfect man.
In his characteristic manner, St. James turns to natural objects for illustrations to enforce his point. “Now if we put the horses bridles into their mouths, that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body.” The changes made here by the Revisers are changes caused by a very necessary correction of the Greek text ( ) instead of Me, which St. James nowhere else uses, or , which here has very little evidence in its favor; for the text has been corrupted in order to simplify a rather difficult and doubtful construction. The uncorrupted text may be taken in two ways. Either, “But if we put the horses bridles into their mouths, that they may obey us, and so turn about their whole body” (much more ought we to do so to ourselves); this obvious conclusion being not stated, but left for us to supply at the end of an unfinished sentence. Or, as the Revisers take it, which is simpler, and leaves nothing to be understood. A man who can govern his tongue can govern his whole nature, just as a bridle controls, not merely the horses mouth, but the whole animal. This first metaphor is suggested by the writers own language. He has just spoken of the perfect man bridling his whole body, as before he spoke of the impossibility of true religion in one who does not bridle his tongue; {Jam 1:26} and this naturally suggests the illustration of the horses.
The argument is a fortiori from the horse to the man, and still more from the ship to the man, so that the whole forms a climax, the point throughout being the same, viz., the smallness of the part to be controlled in order to have control over the whole. And in order to bring out the fact that the ships are a stronger illustration than the horses, we should translate, “Behold, even the ships, though they are so great,” etc., rather than “Behold, the ships also, though they are so great.” First the statement of the case (Jam 3:2), then the illustration from the horses (Jam 3:3), then “even the ships” (Jam 3:4), and finally the application, “so the tongue also” (Jam 3:5). Thus all runs smoothly. If, as is certainly the case, we are able to govern irrational creatures with a small bit, how much more ourselves through the tongue; for just as he who has lost his hold of the reins has lost control over the horse, so he who has lost his hold on his tongue has lost control over himself. The case of the ship is still stronger. It is not only devoid of reason, but devoid of life. It cannot be taught obedience. It offers a dead resistance, which is all the greater because of its much greater size, and because it is driven by rough winds, yet its whole mass can be turned about by whoever has control of the little rudder, to lose command of which is to lose command of all. How much more, therefore, may we keep command over ourselves by having command over our tongues! There is nothing more in the metaphor than this. We may, if we please, go on with Bede, and turn the whole into a parable, and make the sea mean human life, and the winds mean temptations, and so on; but we must beware of supposing that anything of that kind was in the mind of St. James, or belongs to the explanation of the passage. Such symbolism is read into the text, not extracted from it. It is legitimate as a means of edifying, but it is not interpretation.
The expression “rough winds” ( ) is peculiar, “rough” meaning hard or harsh, especially to the touch, and hence of what is intractable or disagreeable in other ways. {1Sa 25:3; Joh 6:60; Act 26:14; Jud 1:15} Perhaps in only one other passage in Greek literature, previous to this Epistle, is it used as an epithet of wind, viz., in Pro 27:16, a passage in which the Septuagint differs widely from the Hebrew and from our versions. St. James, who seems to have been specially fond of the sapiential books of Scripture, may have derived this expression from the Proverbs.
“So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things.” The tongue, like the bit, and the rudder, is only a very small part of the whole, and yet, like them, it can do great things. St. James says, “boasteth great things,” rather than “doeth great things,” not in order to insinuate that the tongue boasts of what it cannot or does not do, which would spoil the argument, but in order to prepare the way for the change in the point of the argument. Hitherto the point has been the immense influence which the small organ of speech has over our whole being, and the consequent need of controlling it when we want to control ourselves. We must take care to begin the control in the right place. This point being established, the argument takes a somewhat different turn, and the necessity of curbing the tongue is shown, not-from its great power, but from its inherent malignity. It can be made to discharge good offices, but its natural bent is towards evil. If left unchecked, it is certain to do incalculable mischief. The expression “boasteth great things” marks the transition from the one point to the other, and in a measure combines them both. There are great things done; that shows the tongues power. And it boasts about them; that shows its bad character.
This second point, like the first, is enforced by two illustrations taken from the world of nature. The first was illustrated by the power of bits and rudders; the second is illustrated by the capacity for mischief in fire and in venomous beasts. “Behold, what a fire kindles what a wood!” is the literal rendering of the Greek, where “what a fire” evidently means “how small a fire,” while “what a wood” means “how large a wood.” The travelers camp-fire is enough to set a whole forest in flames, and the camp-fire was kindled by a few sparks. “Fire,” it is sometimes truly said, “it is a good servant, but a bad master,” and precisely the same may with equal truth be said of the tongue. So long as it is kept under control it does excellent service; but directly it can run on unchecked, and lead instead of obeying, it begins to do untold mischief. We sometimes speak of men whose “pens run away with them”; but a far commoner case is that of persons whose tongues run away with them, whose untamed and unbridled tongues say things which are neither seriously thought nor (even at the moment) seriously meant. The habit of saying “great things” and using strong language is a condition of constant peril, which will inevitably lead the speaker into evil. It is a reckless handling of highly dangerous material. It is playing with fire.
Yes, “the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body.” The right punctuation of this sentence cannot be determined with certainty, and other possible arrangements will be found in the margin of the Revised Version; but on the whole this seems to be the best. The one thing that is certain is that the “so” of the Authorized version-“so is the tongue among our members” – is not genuine; if it were, it would settle the construction and the punctuation in favor of what is at least the second-best arrangement: “The tongue is a fire, that world of iniquity: the tongue is among our members that which defileth the whole body.” The meaning of “the world of iniquity” has been a good deal discussed, but is not really doubtful. The ordinary colloquial signification is the right one. The tongue is a boundless store of mischief, an inexhaustible source of evil, a universe of iniquity; universitas iniquitatis, as the Vulgate renders it. It contains within itself the elements of all unrighteousness; it is charged with endless possibilities of sin. This use of “world” () seems not to occur in classical Greek; but it is found in the Septuagint of the Proverbs, and again in a passage where the Greek differs widely from the Hebrew (see above). What is still more remarkable, it occurs immediately after the mention of sins of speech: “An evil man listeneth to the tongue of the wicked; but a righteous man giveth no heed to false lips. The faithful man has the whole world of wealth; but the faithless not even a penny”. {Pro 17:4}
“Is the tongue.” The word for “is” must be observed (not , nor , but ). Its literal meaning is “constitutes itself,” and it occurs again in Jam 4:4, where the Revisers rightly translate it “maketh himself:Whosoever would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.” The tongue was not created by God to be a permanent source of all kinds of evil; like the rest of creation, it was made “very good,” “the best member that we have.” It is by its own undisciplined and lawless career that it makes itself “the world of iniquity,” that it constitutes itself among our members as “that which defileth our whole body.” This helps to explain what St. James means by “unspotted” () or “undefiled”. {Jam 1:27} He who does not bridle his tongue is not really religious. Pure religion consists in keeping in check that “which defileth ( ) our whole body.” And the tongue defiles us in three ways; -by suggesting sin to ourselves and others; by committing sin, as in all cases of lying and blasphemy; and by excusing or defending sin. It is a palmary instance of the principle that the best when perverted becomes the worst-corruptio optimi tit pessima.
It “setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell.” We must be content to leave the precise meaning of the words rendered “the wheel of nature” ( ) undetermined. The general meaning is evident enough, but we cannot be sure what image St. James had in his mind when he wrote the words. The one substantive is obviously a metaphor, and the other is vague in meaning (as the latter occurs Jam 1:23, the two passages should be compared in expounding); but what the exact idea to be conveyed by the combination is, remains a matter for conjecture. And the conjectures are numerous, of which one must suffice. The tongue is a center from which mischief radiates; that is the main thought. A wheel that has caught fire at the axle is at last wholly consumed, as the fire spreads through the spokes to the circumference. So also in society. Passions kindled by unscrupulous language spread through various channels and classes, till the whole cycle of human life is in flames. Reckless language first of all “defiles the whole” nature of the man who employs it, and then works destruction far and wide through the vast machinery of society. And to this there are no limits; so long as there is material, the fire will continue to burn.
How did the fire begin? How does the tongue, which was created for far other purposes, acquire this deadly propensity? St. James leaves us in no doubt upon that point. It is an inspiration of the evil one. The enemy, who steals away the good seed, and sows weeds among the wheat, turns the immense powers of the tongue to destruction. The old serpent imbues it with his own poison. He imparts to it his own diabolical agency. He is perpetually setting it on fire (present participle) from hell.
The second metaphor by which the malignant propensity of the tongue is illustrated is plain enough. It is an untamable, venomous beast. It combines the ferocity of the tiger and the mockery of the ape with the subtlety and venom of the serpent. It can be checked, can be disciplined, can be taught to do good and useful things; but it can never be tamed, and must never be trusted. If care and watchfulness are laid aside, its evil nature will burst out again, and the results will be calamitous.
There are many other passages in Scripture which contain warnings about sins of the tongue: see especially Pro 16:27-28; Ecc 5:13-14, and Ecc 28:9-23, from which St. James may have drawn some of his thoughts. But what is peculiar to his statement of the matter is this, that the reckless tongue defiles the whole nature of the man who owns it. Other writers tell us of the mischief which the foul-mouthed man does to others, and of the punishment which will one day fall upon himself. St. James does not lose sight of that side of the matter, but the special point of his stern warning is the insisting upon the fact that unbridled speech is a pollution to the man that employs it. Every faculty of mind or body with which he has been endowed is contaminated by the subtle poison which is allowed to proceed from his lips. It is a special application of the principle laid down by Christ, which was at first a perplexity even to the Twelve, “The things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man”. {Mar 7:15; Mar 7:20; Mar 7:23} The emphasis with which Christ taught this ought to be noticed. On purpose to insist upon it, “He called to Him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear ye all of you, and understand: there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.” And He repeats this principle a second and a third time to His disciples privately. Are ye so without understanding also?
“That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the manAll these things proceed from within, and defile the man.” If even an unspoken thought can defile, when it has not yet proceeded farther than the heart, much greater will be the pollution if the evil thing is allowed to come to the birth by passing the barrier of the lips. This flow of evil from us means nothing less than this, that we have made ourselves a channel through which infernal agencies pass into the world. Is it possible for such a channel to escape defilement?