In this chapter, St. James cautions his readers not to be too forward in assuming the office of teachers, but to exercise a wise restraint upon their zeal, knowing that such an office would confer on them a heavy responsibility. This caution leads him to advert to the importance of the government of... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:1. MY BRETHREN, BE NOT MANY MASTERS. Either ‘be not many of you masters;' or rather, ‘be not a multitude of masters' each 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... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:2. FOR: the reason assigned for the second clause of the last verse. IN MANY THINGS: to be taken generally ‘in many particulars:' not to be restricted to the offences of the tongue; the restriction follows in the latter part of the verse. WE OFFEND: literally, ‘we trip or stumble.' Human... [ Continue Reading ]
James 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 bridlin... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:4. BEHOLD ALSO THE SHIPS, WHICH, THOUGH THEY BE SO GREAT. The ships of the ancients were often very large, as may be seen in the case of the ship which conveyed Paul to Malta, which contained two hundred and seventy-six persons (Acts 27:37); but the comparison is even more forcible in our da... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:5. EVEN SO. Now follows the application of the two illustrations. If we rule our tongues, we govern the whole man; for the tongue is to the man what the bit is to the horse, or the helm to the ship. THE TONGUE IS A LITTLE MEMBER: the reference being to the smallness of the helm. The tongue... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:6. AND THE TONGUE IS A FIRE possesses the destructive power of fire. a world of iniquity. These words have been differently translated. Some render them as follows: ‘The tongue is a fire, the world of iniquity the forest;' but this is an unwarrantable insertion of the words ‘the forest.' Oth... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:7. FOR EVERY KIND: literally, every nature or disposition. OF BEASTS, AND OF BIRDS, AND OF SERPENTS, AND OF THINGS IN THE SEA: the inferior creation arranged under its usual fourfold classification beasts of the earth, fowls of heaven, creeping things, and fish of the sea. IS TAMED bette... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:8. BUT, expressive of contrast, THE TONGUE, generally considered whether our own tongue or the tongue of others CAN NO MAN TAME or subdue. The tongue is more unconquerable than the wildest animal. No man can master his own tongue, or subdue that of the slanderer or the liar; we require the... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:9. THEREWITH: literally, ‘in it,' ‘acting in the sphere of the tongue;' hence, instrumentally, ‘by it.' BLESS WE GOD, EVEN THE FATHER. The best manuscripts read, ‘bless we the Lord and Father,' an unusual combination; both terms apply to God the Father. To praise God is the proper use of t... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:10. OUT OF THE SAME MOUTH PROCEEDETH BLESSING AND CURSING. MY BRETHREN, THESE THINGS OUGHT NOT SO TO BE. There is here a moral incongruity. ‘The annals of Christendom,' observes Dean Plumptre, ‘show that the necessity for the warning has not passed away. Councils formulating the faith, and u... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:11. Now follow, after the apostle's method, two illustrations of this incongruity, taken from the natural world. DOTH A FOUNTAIN SEND FORTH AT THE SAME PLACE: literally, ‘at the same hole or fissure' from the same spring. SWEET WATER AND BITTER: literally, ‘the sweet and the bitter.'... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:12. CAN THE FIG TREE, MY BRETHREN, BEAR OLIVE BERRIES? EITHER A VINE, FIGS? that is, no tree can bring forth fruits inconsistent with its nature. The illustration here is not, that we must not expect bad fruits from a good tree, or conversely, good fruits from a bad tree, according to our Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:13. With this verse a new section of the Epistle apparently begins, and yet in strict connection with what precedes. The connection appears to be as follows: The want of command over our tongues argues a defect in wisdom and knowledge; so that if you do not govern your tongues, your boast of... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:14. BUT IF YE HAVE BITTER ENVYING zeal or emulation in a bad sense, as is evident from the epithet ‘bitter,' AND STRIFE, or rather factiousness, contention, party-strife; the reference being specially to religious controversies. IN YOUR HEARTS, GLORY NOT, boast not, AND LIE NOT, by a fal... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:15. THIS WISDOM, that which gives rise to this false zeal and party-strife, DESCENDETH NOT FROM ABOVE, BUT IS EARTHLY, in contrast to ‘descendeth from above' belongs to the earth. There are no heavenly aspirations about it; it overlooks or forgets the unseen world; it is limited to the affai... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:16. FOR, the reason assigned for the above description of earthly wisdom, WHERE ENVYING AND STRIFE IS; where zeal (in a bad sense) and party-strife are, THERE IS CONFUSION AND EVERY EVIL WORK all kinds of wickedness. Certainly the reference is primarily to religious controversy; but the supp... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:17. BUT. Now follows a description of the heavenly wisdom in contrast to the earthly. The heavenly wisdom is described by seven qualities which, as has been well said, are ‘nothing but the seven colours of the one ray of light of heavenly truth which has appeared and been revealed in Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
James 3:18. AND THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. This does not mean ‘the reward of righteousness,' nor ‘the fruit which springs from righteousness,' but ‘the fruit which consists in righteousness.' So in the Epistle to the Hebrews we read, that chastisement yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness ... [ Continue Reading ]