Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 3:3
Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
3. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths ] The thought of man’s power over brute creatures and natural forces, and of his impotence in the greater work of self-government, present a singular parallelism to that of the well-known chorus in the Antigone of Sophocles. (332 350):
Many the forms of life
Full marvellous in might,
But man supreme stands out
Most marvellous of all.
He with the wintry gales,
O’er the foam-crested sea,
’
Mid wild waves surging round,
Tracketh his way across.
He fastens firm the yoke
On horse with shaggy mane,
Or bull that walks untamed upon the hills.
So in another passage of the same drama:
“And I have known the steeds of fiery mood
With a small curb subdued.” ( Antig. 475.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths … – The meaning of this simple illustration is, that as we control a horse by the bit – though the bit is a small thing – so the body is controlled by the tongue. He who has a proper control over his tongue can govern his whole body, as he who holds a bridle governs and turns about the horse.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jam 3:3-4
We put bits in the horses mouths
Similitudes
1.
It is good to illustrate Divine things by similitudes taken from earthly.
(1) Our knowledge is by sense; by things known we the better apprehend those that are unknown: and by an earthly matter, with which we are acquainted, we conceive of the worth of that which is heavenly and spiritual.
(2) In a similitude the thing is doubly represented, and with a sweet variety; though we know the man, we delight to view the picture.
2. Nature, art, and religion show that the smallest things, wisely ordered, may be of great use. Neglect not small things; we are often snared by saying, Is it not a little one? (Gen 19:20). And we lose much advantage by despising the day of small things (Zec 4:10).
3. Gods wisdom is much seen by endowing man with an ability of contrivance and rare invention. You must wait upon the Lord for skill and for success; He teacheth to tame the horse, to steer the ship.
4. From the first similitude you may observe that men, for their natural fierceness and wantonness, are like wild beasts (Psa 32:19; Psa 49:12; Deu 32:15). (T. Manton.)
Turned about with a very small helm
Christian ability
1. 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 cannot govern a bad passion or grudge by choking it down, or master a wild ambition by willing it away, or stop the trains of bad thoughts by a direct fight with them, which fight would only keep them still in mind as before–all that we can do in such matters, in the way of self-regulation, is to steer simply the mind off from its grudges, ambitions, bad thoughts, by getting it occupied with good and pure objects that work a diversion.
2. All human doings as regards the souls regeneration, or the beginning of a new life, amount to nothing more than the right use of a power that steers it into the sphere of Gods operation. And the reason why so many fail is that they undertake to do the work themselves, wearing away spasmodically to lift themselves over the unknown crises by main strength–as if seizing the ship by its mast, or the main hulk of its body, they weregoing 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 from God by a total trust in Him, they are to have it in Gods working. Let the wind blow where it listeth God will take care of that–they have only just to put themselves to it, and the impossible is done.
3. Christ, as the Son of man, is that small helm put in the hand, so to speak, of our affections to bring us into Gods most interior beauty and perfection, and puts us in the power of His infinite unseen character, thus to be moulded by it and fashioned to conformity with it. And so we have nothing to do but to keep His company and watch for Him in faithful adhesion to His person, in order to be kept in the very element of Gods character, and have the consciousness of God, as a state of continual progressive and immovably steadfast experience. The moral power of God and Gods glory is mirrored directly into us, to become a Divine glory in us. Beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. This it is, working in our sin, that clears it all away–the power of God unto salvation. (H. Bushnell, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths] In order to show the necessity of regulating the tongue, to which St. James was led by his exhortation to them who wished to thrust themselves into the teacher’s office, supposing, because they had the gift of a ready flow of speech, that therefore they might commence teachers of Divine things; he proceeds to show that the tongue must be bridled as the horse, and governed as the ships; because, though it is small, it is capable of ruling the whole man; and of irritating and offending others.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He illustrates the former proposition, that he that can rule his tongue may rule his whole body, by two similitudes: the first, of an unruly horse, which yet, as wanton as he is, being curbed in with a bit, may be easily managed; intimating, that even so, if a mans tongue be well governed, the rest of the man will be under command.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. BeholdThe best authoritiesread, “but if,” that is, Now whensoever (in thecase) of horses (such is the emphatic position of “horses”in the Greek) we put the bits (so literally, “thecustomary bits”) into their mouths that they may obey us, weturn about also their whole body. This is to illustrate howman turns about his whole body with the little tongue. “Thesame applies to the pen, which is the substitute for the tongue amongthe absent” [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths,…. By this, and the following simile, the apostle not only expresses the smallness of that member of the body, which is like the bit in the horse’s mouth, and the helm of a ship, but the good use of it, and the great influence it has over the whole body. Horses are without understanding, and need direction in what path to go, and are strong, and would be truly and ungovernable unless bits and bridles were put into their mouths:
that they may obey us; and go in the way we would have them:
and we turn about the whole body of the horse, this way, and that way, as is thought best, by the help of the bit and bridle; and of such use is the tongue to the natural body, that being bridled itself, bridles, directs, and governs the whole body; and its influence on bodies, and societies of men, and Christians, is like that of the bit in the horse’s mouth; who, like horses, would be unruly and ungovernable, were it not for the force of language, the power of words, and strength of argument.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If we put ( ). Condition of the first class assumed as true.
The horses’ bridles ( ). H (genitive plural of , horse, old word, in N.T. only here except in the Apocalypse), put first because the first of the several illustrations of the power and the peril of the tongue. This is the only N.T. example of , old word for bridle (from to slacken, let down), except Re 14:20.
That they may obey us ( ). Present middle infinitive of with as a purpose clause with the dative after and the accusative of general reference.
We turn about (). Present active indicative of , late compound to change the direction (, ), to guide, in N.T. only here and verse 4. The body of the horse follows his mouth, guided by the bridle.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Behold. Following the old reading, ide. All the best texts read eij de, now if. So Rev.
Bits [] . Only here and Rev 14:20. It may be rendered either bit, as A. V., or bridle, as Rev., but bridle is preferable because it corresponds with the verb to bridle (ver. 2) which is compounded with this noun.
Horses. The position in the sentence is emphatic.
We turn about [] . Used by James only.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) James presents a hypothetical illustration that one should behold the horse’s bits that are put into his mouth (Gr. chalinous) (mouth chains) in order to persuade them to us, to move in the direction we desire and the whole body of them we turn or control with the bits.
2) Men are thus compared with the donkeys in their stubborn, obstinate nature – a nature that needs to be subdued and (Gr. metagomen) controlled or guided with the Word and Spirit of God as surely as the horse must be controlled or guided by the mouth-chains or bit and bridle, Isa 1:5; Psa 32:9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3 We put bits in the horses’ mouths. By these two comparisons he proves that a great part of true perfection is in the tongue, and that it exercises dominion, as he has just said, over the whole life. He compares the tongue, first, to a bridle, and then to a helm of a ship. Though a horse be a ferocious animal, yet he is turned about at the will of its rider, because he is bridled; no less can the tongue serve to govern man. So also with regard to the helm of a ship, which guides a large vessel and surmounts the impetuosity of winds. Though the tongue be a small member, yet it avails much in regulating the life of man.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
A BIG THING IN A LITTLE PACKAGE
Text 3:35a
Jas. 3:3.
Now if we put the horses bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.
Jas. 3:4.
Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth.
Jas. 3:5 a.
So the tongue also is a little member and boasteth great things.
Queries
192.
The application of the illustration in Jas. 3:3 is not stated. What is the application?
193.
How can the horses bridle be compared to human speech?
194.
Why the also of Jas. 3:4?
195.
Was the illustration of a very large ship applicable to the average person at the time this was written?
196.
How do the rough winds lend force to the illustration?
197.
What verb of Jas. 3:4 is identical to Jas. 3:3?
198.
What is the meaning of impulse?
199.
How can the ships rudder be compared to human speech?
200.
What is the import of the word so?
201.
What great things are here accomplished by the tongue?
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 3:3.
A small bridle in a horses mouth has such great power over the horse that with it we can turn his whole body.
Jas. 3:4.
Note how the same thing also applies to the steering of large ocean vessels. It is a very small rudder that turns the huge ship around, even in the face of strong winds.
Jas. 3:5 a.
In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can accomplish very great things all out of proportion to its size.
B.*Jas. 3:3.
We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth.
Jas. 3:4.
And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the wind is strong.
Jas. 3:5 a.
So also the tongue is a small thing, but what terrible results it can cause.
Summary
Our tongue comes in a little package but it can do big things.
Comment
James evidently had the horse illustration in mind when he used the term bridge in Jas. 3:2. Little girls, in particular, seem to like horses. Perhaps there are psychological reasons. The horses body is very muscular and magnificent in comparison to the little girls frail body. Yet all this power and magnificence can be controlled by a little girl with reins in her hands.
Such a simple illustration makes the point quite clear. When we have controlled the direction of the horses mouth, we have controlled the direction of his entire body. There is no need to make the application to the tongue and our own bodies, for any creature who could speak could also understand the meaning.
Our action, however, is often as though we did not understand. We so glibly and carelessly use the tongue, as if it were of no consequence whatsoever. It seems such an inconsequential matter to boost our own size in our minds by cutting our fellow man down to size with our tongues. Little do we seem to realize that when our tongue takes a base and destructive direction, that our soul is taking the same direction. We act as if we had no knowledgethinking that our tongue can be filthy and full of corruption yet ourselves remain pure and angelic. Do we really get the point of James illustration? When you find the direction in which a mans tongue is pointing, you have found the direction in which the man himself points!
Behold, that is, take note of this second illustration that the point will be well-driven home. Behold the same thought is avidly and clearly demonstrated by a fresh illustration. Behold the furniture of the same room in the house, but through a different window. On land and sea we have the same truth illustrated. No man can plead ignorance. No man can rightly claim the teaching is too complex nor the doctrine too philosophical. We stand naked and ashamed in the clear light of our own understanding. But this is not a sight we can glimpse and immediately flee. The Holy Spirit will not allow us. The simplicity of the truth dramatizes its importance. Even as the demons believe and shudder, we are forced to understand and tremble.
The great ship of the sea that holds so many people is not a strange thing to Biblical times. Jonah himself was with a large number of sailors on an ocean-going vessel in a storm. Likewise Paul was caught in a storm in the midst of the Mediterranean Sea. There were 276 persons on this boat. (Act. 27:37). So James speaks of a great ship turned about by a very small rudder, much like a paddle that protruded from a porthole from the rear of the vessel. Some of the larger boats had twin rudders that were coupled together, and two men could turn the large vessel about. How many tons, or hundreds of tons, could be turned with a twenty-five pound rudder? The illustration now begins to overwhelm us as we apply it to the power of the tongue!
Note also that the large ship is turned about at the impulse of the steersman. The rudder is not a wild thing of its own, thrashing about helter skelter and sending the boat every which way. There is a steersman who directs the boat according to his desire, his inclination, or impulse. So the tongue says James! The whole object of this discourse would be pointless if man were unable to do anything about his own tongue. These things ought not so to be says James.
Can we imagine one day standing before Jehovah in the judgment and saying Lord, please excuse me for I couldnt help it. I was thinking noble and clean thoughts while my tongue lashed forth within my mouth forming its filthy and trashy discourses. I listened in horror as I heard my tongue destroy the reputation and undermine the work of the very men I loved. I close my mouth with all my power, but the powerful tongue cries forth knocking teeth on its way to spill venom all about me.
No, when James is speaking of the tongue and all its power, he is also speaking of the desire of the steersman who directs it. I cant blame the rudder, for Im on the other end!
The little member of the body . . . the tongue, weighs far less than a pound! Yet its power is so great that it not only turns about my whole body, but it can turn about the bodies of countless others. Families have been broken by a single tongue. Churches have been split and died because of the venom of a single tongue. Rehoboams loose tongue split a kingdom and started a war!
Jotham told of the bramble (in his fable) who with its tongue boasted great things, promising to devour those who refused to take refuge under its shade. The bramble boasted great things, but it was an idle boast. The tongue can also boast of its power, but rest assured it is not an idle boast! Lest we would think it is really not so bad, the Holy Spirit leads us to consider the terrible destructive forces that can be unleashed. Even as the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, much more so can the tongue unleash a world of iniquity. Though it comes in a little package, it works a very big thing!
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(3) Behold.A more clumsy reading is insisted upon here: but if, instead of behold. The supporters of such curious corrections argue that the least likely is the most so; and thus every slip of a copyist, either in grammar or spelling, becomes more sacred in their eyes than is the Received text with believers in verbal inspiration.
Three comparisons of the tongue are now introduced; the bit (Jas. 3:3), the rudder (Jas. 3:4), and a fire (Jas. 3:6): the two former to show what mastery may be gained by self-discipline, the latter to warn us of a danger which may quickly spread beyond our power to quell.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Behold Of all these instruments of good or evil St. James considers the tongue as the most efficient and often over-efficient. He sets this in the strongest light by putting, by striking images, the vivid contrast between its small magnitude and its great power. Two of these images (Jas 3:3-4) are now presented to the talkative synagogue. By the bridleth of the last verse is expressed the control of the will over the tongue; but here the bits represent the tongue itself, wherewith we control every thing else.
Whole body As a horseman with bits turns the whole horse, so a speaker with a persuasive tongue will turn a whole man, nay, a whole body of men. The tongue of the eloquent orator turns whole assemblies, and controls the destinies of States. And so the tongue of the wily errorist may turn a whole Church, may introduce a strange doctrine, or establish a new sect. And so the unrestrained tongues of a synagogue may raise a great buzz, and produce disorder and every evil work. Hence the importance of Church unity under the control of apostolic teaching.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ Now if we put the horses’ bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.’
The thought of bridling the body now brings to his mind an illustration, and that is that the purpose of a bridle is in order to control the horse. The whole reason for putting a bridle (i.e. the bit) into their mouths is to make them obedient. And with that bridle the experienced rider can turn the horse in whichever direction he wants it to go. And that is what the good Teacher can do, always steer himself in the right direction and keep himself under control (as a result of God at work within him). A controlled tongue will mean a controlled person.
The tongue can be a beneficial bridle or a harmful one, and the Teacher has to ensure that he makes it beneficial. The idea comes from Psa 32:9, ‘a horse or mule without understanding –must be curbed with a bit and bridle, or else it will not keep with you’. Compare also Psa 39:1, ‘I will guard my ways that I might not sin with my tongue, I will bridle my mouth so long as the wicked are in my presence.’
The word for ‘turn about’ both here and in Jas 3:4 is a strong one. The bridle and the rudder are, as it were, seen to take the horses and ship and treat them as prisoners being transported. The word is used for the “transferring” or “transporting” of prisoners, or a major ‘turning about’ in government. It is also used of turning men to having a better mind.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jas 3:3 . But if we put bridles in the mouths of horses, we turn also their whole body. The clause . . . forms the apodosis to the protasis beginning with (Pott, Wiesinger, Brckner, Lange, Bouman). Many expositors incorrectly attach this clause to the protasis, whereby Theile regards Jas 3:5 as the apodosis belonging to it, whilst others supply a thought as the apodosis; according to de Wette, this thought is, that “the tongue is not so easily tamed as a horse,” which is wholly unsuitable. [170]
The particle is not, with Theile, to be explained as closely connecting this verse to the following, [171] for here and in Jas 3:4 nothing else than a contrast to Jas 3:2 is to be expressed; it is rather used here even as in chap. Jas 2:15 , simply distinguishing the case adduced for comparison from that for the sake of which it is introduced (Wiesinger). By standing first, the view is at once directed to the object by which the sentiment expressed is to be illustrated (comp. Jas 3:4 ). The genitive depends not on (Theile, Lange, and others), but on (Oecumenius, Hornejus, Pott, Gebser; Bouman wavers), for on this word the emphasis rests. points back to , Jas 3:2 , by which apparently this image was suggested to James.
On the phrase: , comp. in Aelian: .
The words are for the purpose of accentuating the governing of the horse by the bridle put into its mouth. The apodosis . . . corresponds to , Jas 3:2 .
] in the N. T. only here and in Jas 3:4 , is = circumagere. The tertium comparationis lies in ; for, as Bengel correctly remarks: in ore lingua est, and , is identical with the bridling of the tongue in the mouth.
[170] Bede supplies: quanto amplius decet, ut nobis ipsis frenum continentiae in ora mittamus; Lorinus: si hoc in equis contingit, simile quid oportet circa linguam procurari; Hottinger: eodem modo qui linguam coercere potest, toti corpori facile moderabitur.
[171] Theile says: Ita a difficultate linguam moderandi transitus fit ad necessitatem: in memoriam vocatur, exigua saepe esse, quibus ingentia moveantur non solum in bonam (vv. 3, 4), sed maxime etiam in malam partem.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Jas 3:3-4 . Two comparisons by which the thought . . . is illustrated and confirmed. It is incorrect when it is assumed that “James, with Jas 3:3-4 , will primarily explain and establish by examples the importance, maintained in Jas 3:2 , of power over a little thing, as the tongue, for the government of the whole” (Wiesinger), and that the tertium comparationis is “a little thing does much” (Gunkel); for neither in Jas 3:2 is the smallness of the tongue mentioned, nor in Jas 3:3 is the smallness of the bridle brought forward. The examples adduced, which are closely attached to the preceding, are rather designed to prove how by the mastery of the tongue that of the whole body is possible; it is, James will say, even as one rules the horse by the guidance of the bridle, and the ship by the guidance of the helm. Only in the second image does the smallness of that by which the steersman rules the great ship appear to James as something important, so that he dwells upon this point in what follows (so also Lange).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
Ver. 3. That they may obey us ] Horses, asses, camels, elephants, God in great wisdom, for the use of man, hath made without galls, that they might with the more ease be made tame and serviceable.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3 6 .] The importance and depravity of the tongue, so small a member, is illustrated by comparisons : 1. with the small instrument, the horse-bit , ver. Jas 3:2 . with the small instrument, the ship-rudder , ver. Jas 4:3 . with a small fire burning a great forest , Jas 3:5-6 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
3 .] This mention of , and the situation of the tongue where the also is placed, introduce this similitude: which circumstances will also account for standing first and emphatic, and being ideas already given by the context. But (transitional) if (as we do: = in our vernacular, ‘ when ,’ ‘ as often as ’) of horses (this would not be English, but indicates the emphatic place of . The gen. depends on , not on ) we put (so , lian V. H. ix. 16) bits ( , which are in common use: the bits, of which every one knows) into the mouths, in order to their obeying us (thus shewing, by the expression of this purpose, that we recognize the principle of turning the whole body by the tongue), (now comes the apodosis after the : see below) we turn about also (in turning the bit one way or the other) their whole body (cf. Soph. Antig. 473, ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 3:3 . : this is the best attested reading, but see Mayor’s admirable note in favour of the reading . : “The genitive is here put in an emphatic place to mark the comparison. It belongs both to and to , probably more to the former as distinguishing it from the human bridle, so we have , Rev 14:20 , , Zec 14:20 . Cf. Psa 32:9 ” (Mayor). Knowling draws attention to Philo who “speaks of the easy way in which the horse, the most spirited of animals, is led when bridled, De Mundi Opif. , p. 19E”. : Cf. what was said in the preceding verse.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Behold. App-133.; but the texts read ei (App-118. a) de, “But if”.
bits. Greek. chalinos. Here and Rev 14:20.
that = to the end that (App-104.), but the texts read eis (vi).
obey. App-150.
turn about. Greek. metago. Only here and Jam 3:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3-6.] The importance and depravity of the tongue, so small a member, is illustrated by comparisons: 1. with the small instrument, the horse-bit, ver. Jam 3:2. with the small instrument, the ship-rudder, ver. Jam 4:3. with a small fire burning a great forest, Jam 3:5-6.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Jam 3:3. ) I have thus edited on the best authority:[30] , Erasmus. There are very few MSS. remaining of which we can with confidence determine that they read . The interjection, , is from an active verb; follows the Middle Voice. If there is any difference, gives the idea of reflection; is more impassioned. Therefore James in this first passage uses ; afterwards, he often uses , as he advances in strength. And one writer at least, in another place, uses both and , and that too in the short compass of a conversation; Joh 12:15; Joh 12:19; Joh 16:29; Joh 16:32.[31] Not to enlarge further upon a matter of slight importance, I am satisfied with the reasons already alleged for the preference given by me to .- , of the horses) This is emphatically put at the beginning of the sentence.-, mouths) This is an appropriate word; for the tongue is in the mouth.-) we turn about.[32]
[30] is the reading of AB Vulg. Memph. So Lachm. and Tisch. In this case the Apodosis to is virtually given in ver. 5, Seeing that we put bits, etc.; so also the tongue, etc. C reads . Rec. Text , without very old authority. Later Syr. and Theb. have ecce. Syr. has ecce enim.-E.
[31] . This is a middle reading; from which some few have made , and many, long since (and perhaps also Song of Solomon 2, which Mill refers to on ver. 4, and Baumgarten with him), , or , with the difference only of one or two letters; and this difference is less apparent in the Greek MSS. than in the Arabic and Coptic. In the Latin it is si autem.
[32] ) Baumgarten says, Omittit Hunt. 2, nec est in Barb. 2, etc. But the 1st Edition of Mill, Omittit Hunt. 1, nee est in B. 2 (id est in Bas. 2), etc. No injury is done to this celebrted man, but it is right that others should know that he has not gained an accurate knowledge of the Manuscripts.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Jam 1:26, 2Ki 19:28, Psa 32:9, Psa 39:1, Isa 37:29
Reciprocal: Num 12:3 – above Job 41:13 – double
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jas 3:3. The great influence of apparently small things is the idea James is illustrating in this and the next verse. In size and weight a bridle bit is very small, yet with it we control the direction of the entire animal.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 3:3. St. James introduces two illustrations to prove the truth of his remark, that if a man is able to command his tongue, he is able also to command his whole conduct. The first illustration, that of the bit in the horses mouths, was naturally suggested by what he had just said about bridling the whole body.
Behold. The best manuscripts read, But if: as if St. James had said, But if you doubt the truth of my assertion, consider how the horse is bridled.
we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. As the horses are governed by bits in their mouths, so axe we governed by the tongue in our mouths. The chief point of comparison here is that of governing.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As we rule the whole body of a horse by a bridle in its mouth, so by bridling our tongues, we shall rule and govern all the actions of our lives.
Note, that as hot and hard mouthed horses, so the tongue of man is apt to run out, unless well bridled; nor is any bridle strong enough to hold it in, but the bridle of grace; nay, not that at all times. The grace of God is both spur and bridle to the tongue of man: Grace, like a spur, provokes to speak for God, and for the good of others; and grace, like a bridle, stops us from speaking what may grieve the Spirit of God, and justly offends others. None rule their tongues well without grace, and every one that has grace doth not rule them well; it is a great part of perfection not to offend in word.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Jas 3:3-5. Behold, &c. As if the apostle had said, Think not the tongue a weak member because it is small; we put bits in the horses mouths that they may obey us May go as we direct them; and, strong, and sometimes furious as they are; we turn about their whole body Influence as we please all their motions. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great So large and heavy, and are driven frequently by fierce winds which seem to be irresistible, yet are they turned about To the right or left; with a very small helm Which, to a person unacquainted with nautical affairs, would appear to be weak and insignificant; whithersoever the governor , the force of the director, or steersman; willeth That is, according to the will of the person who sits at the helm; who was not necessarily either the ship- master or the pilot, but a person appointed to that office. So the tongue is a little, and apparently insignificant member, and yet boasteth great things Hath great influence: also, to show by another comparison the operation of the tongue, behold how great a matter How great a quantity of wood and other materials; a little fire kindleth Into a terrible flame.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
ARGUMENT 9
THE TONGUE AND TWO FOUNTAINS
3-8. The tongue is the exponent of the soul and, consequently, by far the most important of all our members. Your soul passes out from the end of your tongue, and comes back the same way. It is here said of the tongue that it has hell fire in it. This hell fire is the inbred sin in the heart which flashes out through the tongue. No one is able to tame the tongue: an incorrigible evil, full of deadly poison. That is true, but, thank God, He can, and does, tame it. He puts the sanctification bridle on it, thus not only keeping it out of all mischief, but thoroughly harnessing it up to do His blessed and holy will.
9. With it bless we the Lord even the Father, and with it we scold people who have been made after the image of God.
10. James very affectionately salutes these people, who with the same tongue bless and scold, My brethren, these things ought not so to be, revealing plainly that he is addressing Christians.
11. Whether does the fountain send forth the sweet and the bitter.
12. My brethren,… the bitter fountain can not send forth sweet water. These Scriptures clearly and unequivocally set forth the undeniable fact that the unsanctified Christian actually has the two fountains, i.e., the bitter and the sweet, in his heart, both of which flow out ever and anon through his tongue. Consequently, the unsanctified is a very ambiguous character. Today his tongue sends forth the honey and tomorrow the gall. The idea of blasphemy you have in your English entirely disappears from this passage in the Greek. There is but one possible conclusion, deducible from this entire argument, i.e., sinners have but one fountain in the heart: that is corrupt and bitter. The sanctified has but one, which is clean and sweet. Meanwhile the unsanctified Christian has two fountains in his heart, the sweet and the bitter, both of which flow out through the tongue, sometimes the one, sometimes the other. Gods plan is to take the bitter fountain utterly out of the heart. In that case the sweet fountain fills the whole heart. Hence the tongue of the wholly sanctified discharges the sweet water only.
13. This verse follows a logical sequence from the preceding.
14. Here we are warned to adhere pertinaciously to the truth in our testimony.
15. This wisdom cometh not from above, but is earthly, intellectual and devilish. Here we are warned against carnal wisdom, in contradistinction to the spiritual and heavenly.
16. So long as this carnal wisdom abides in the heart there is an irrepressible conflict with the spiritual.
17. The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easily persuaded, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. This is a beautiful description of the nature, created in the heart by the Holy Ghost in regeneration. Purity and depravity are not combined in the heart, but mixed, like wheat and cockle in the stack, until a powerful steam thresher effects the separation. So the grace of God is pure in the regenerate, though mixed with depravity till the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire effects the final separation, consuming the latter. The grace of God in the heart solves the problem of universal peace. A true experience of salvation makes a perfect gentleman, who is so easily persuaded in the way of right that a child can lead him by a hair, while earth and hell can not force him in the way of wrong. O, how opportune is this heavenly wisdom. Full of mercy and good works, in a world full of suffering and inundated with calamity! This heavenly wisdom is the divine nature having the very purity of God, hence free from partiality and hypocrisy. Grace is perfectly transparent, abounding in universal love.
18. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace to them that make peace. This whole world is involved in implacable hostility and an exterminating war against the Father of the universe. Eternal ruin must supervene in every case where perfect reconciliation is not effected. Hence every true Christian is significantly and pre-eminently a peace maker.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
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.
Two illustrations to show the power of the tongue. The bit in the horses mouth. Similar to mom taking the child’s ear between her finger and thumb. With such a little member the whole body is controlled.
The ship also by the rudder is controlled. The word helm today is the wheel with which the ship is steered, but the Greek term used relates to the rudder or possibly the oar that actually steers the ship in the water.
I was on an aircraft carrier when it was in a dry dock for maintenance. The props on the ship were huge. There were four of them. The hole in the center where the props attached to the shaft were at least big enough to accommodate a man laying spread eagle, and probably room to spare. These props were large but the rudder was not as big and only one in number. It does not take a lot to turn a ship, nor does it take much to turn the human – a tongue will do a great job of it.
The smallness of the tongue has a drastic result when used. There are other illustrations that give us the thought here. The key to a car is a small member, but key to the running of the car if you don’t mind the pun. A small cutting word can control a relationship or a church.
In many churches you have to weigh every word that you use because if you cross someone it will become a divisive war. I suspect that this is partly due to the stress blown society that we live in but is also indicative of our skin deep love for one another.
The key to the tongue is Rom 6:12-13 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3:3 {4} Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
(4) He shows by two comparisons, the one taken from the bridles of horses, the other from the rudder of ships, how great matters may be brought to pass by the good control of the tongue.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Examples of the danger 3:3-6
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
It is the same with horses as it is with humans. If we can control the tongue, we can bring the whole animal under control.
"Nothing seems to trip a believer more than a dangling tongue." [Note: Blue, p. 827.]