King James Version
James 3
18 verses with commentary
Taming the Tongue
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. condemnation: or, judgment
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<strong>My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.</strong> James warns: be not many teachers (<em>didaskaloi</em>, διδάσκαλοι), knowing we shall receive greater judgment (<em>krima meizon</em>, κρίμα μεῖζον). Teaching carries weight because words shape souls. The warning underscores accountability for speech.<br><br>Reformed churches value teaching o...
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(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” (Matthew 15:14). No man had a right to exercise the sacred functions of the appointed masters in Israel (see Note on John 3:10), and none might take the honour of the priesth...
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**24. he--**emphatic; Greek, "Himself." So in Psa 110:4, "Thou art a priest"; singular, not priests, "many."
**continueth--**Greek, simple verb, not the compound as in He 7:23. "Remaineth," namely, in life.
**unchangeable--**Greek, "hath His priesthood unchangeable"; not passing from one to another, intransmissible. Therefore no earthly so-called apostolic succession of priests are His viceger...
Read full commentary →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.
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<strong>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.</strong> We all stumble (<em>ptaio</em>, πταίω) in many ways. If someone does not stumble in word, he is perfect (<em>teleios</em>, τέλειος), able to bridle the whole body. Speech control indicates mature self-mastery because the tongue directs life.<br><br>Re...
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(2) **For in many things we offend all.**—Better thus, *For in many things we all offend:* not, what might be inferred, “we are an offence to all,” as Matthew 24:9; 1Corinthians 4:13, *et al.* Humble, indeed, was the holy mind of James, but this confession of error uplifts him in all right appreciation, and in no way casts him down. The very human weakness of Peter, and Paul, and James, endears th...
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**25. Wherefore--**Greek, "Whence"; inasmuch as "He remaineth for ever."
**also--**as a natural consequence flowing from the last, at the same time a new and higher thing [Alford].
**save--**His very name Jesus (He 7:22) meaning Saviour.
**to the uttermost--**altogether, perfectly, so that nothing should be wanting afterwards for ever [Tittmann]. It means "in any wise," "utterly," in Lu 13:1...
Read full commentary →Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
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<strong>Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.</strong> Bits (<em>chalinous</em>, χαλινούς) in horses' mouths turn their entire bodies. James uses this imagery to show the tongue's disproportionate influence. Small instruments steer massive creatures.<br><br>The metaphor affirms that disciplined speech can direct life toward righteousn...
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(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 bi...
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**26. such--**as is above described. The oldest manuscripts read, "also." "For to US (as sinners; emphatical) there was also becoming (besides the other excellencies of our High Priest) such an High Priest."
**holy--**"pious" (a distinct Greek word from that for holy, which latter implies consecration) towards God; perfectly answering God's will in reverent piety (Psa 16:10).
**harmless--**lit...
Read full commentary →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 .
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<strong>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.</strong> Great ships, driven by fierce winds, are turned by a very small rudder (<em>pedalion</em>, πηδάλιον) wherever the pilot wills. External pressures (winds) do not determine direction; the rudder does. So the tongu...
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(4) **The governor**—*i.e.*, the “helmsman,” from the Latin *gubernator.* The Venerable Bede, our earliest English translator, refers the ships here to an image of ourselves, and the winds to the impulses of our own minds, by which we are driven hither and thither.
St. James, remembering the storms of the Galilean lake, could well rejoice in a simile like this, although he himself may only have kn...
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**27. daily--**"day by day." The priests daily offered sacrifices (He 9:6; 10:11; Ex 29:38-42). The high priests took part in these daily-offered sacrifices only on festival days; but as they represented the whole priesthood, the daily offerings are here attributed to them; their exclusive function was to offer the atonement "once every year" (He 9:7), and "year by year continually" (He 10:1). The...
Read full commentary →Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! a matter: or, wood
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<strong>Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!</strong> The tongue, though small, boasts great things and can set a forest ablaze. James warns of its destructive potential. Words ignite conflicts, slander, and doctrinal splits.<br><br>Reformed communities have seen revivals and divisions sparked by tongues. James calls f...
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(5) **Even so . . .**—*Thus*, like the tiny rudder of the mighty ship, whereon its course most critically depends—*the tongue is a little member;* for it “vaunts great words which bring about great acts of mischief.” The verb translated *boasteth* is peculiar to this place, but occurs so often in the works of Philo that we may be almost certain St. James had read them. And many other verses of our...
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**28. For--**reason for the difference stated in He 7:27, between His one sacrifice and their oft repeated sacrifices, namely, because of His entire freedom from the sinful infirmity to which they are subject. He needed not, as they, to offer For His own sin; and being now exempt from death and "perfected for evermore," He needs not to REPEAT His sacrifice.
**the word--**"the word" confirmed by ...
Read full commentary →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. course: Gr. wheel
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<strong>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.</strong> The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, staining the whole body, setting on fire the course of nature, and itself set on fire by hell (<em>Gehenna</em>, γέεννα). James vividly portrays speech...
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(6) **And the tongue is a fire**.—Better thus, *The tongue*—*that world of iniquity—is a fire, *to burn and destroy the fairest works of peace. *The tongue is in our members that which defileth the whole body, and setteth the world aflame, and is set on fire itself of Gehenna. “*The course of Nature” is literally the “wheel,” the “orb of creation.” The Jewish word for the place of torment, the acc...
Read full commentary →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 : kind: Gr. nature mankind: Gr. nature of man
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<strong>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:</strong> Every species (<em>physis</em>, φύσις) of beasts, birds, serpents, and sea creatures has been tamed (<em>damazetai</em>, δαμάζεται), yet the tongue resists domination. Humans subdue creation but not their speech—a sobering paradox.<br><br>Reformed anthropolo...
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(7) **For every kind of beasts . . .**—Compare the margin, and read more exactly, thus: *Every nature of beasts and birds, and creeping things, and things of the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed, by the nature of man.* All kinds have been mastered by mankind, as promised at creation (Genesis 1:26-28). There lives no creature which may not be won by kindness and gratitude; and—
“He prayeth best w...
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CHAPTER 8 He 8:1-13. Christ, the High Priest in the True Sanctuary, Superseding the Levitical Priesthood; the New Renders Obsolete the Old Covenant.
**1. the sum--**rather, "the principal point"; for the participle is present, not past, which would be required if the meaning were "the sum." "The chief point in (or, 'in the case'; so the Greek, He 9:10, 15, 17) the things which we are speaking," l...
Read full commentary →But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
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<strong>But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.</strong> No man can tame (<em>damasai</em>, δαμάσαι) the tongue; it is a restless evil (<em>akatalēton</em>, ἀκατάλητον) full of deadly poison. Human effort alone fails; the tongue's volatility and toxicity mirror the serpent's venom.<br><br>Reformed soteriology points to the need for new hearts. The gospel, not m...
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(8) **But the tongue can no man tame; it** **is an unruly **(or, *restless*) **evil, full of deadly poison.**—Mortiferous, bringer of death, like a poisoned dart or arrow; and therefore most suggestive of envenomed flights at the fame of others. St. James does not mean that no one can tame his own tongue, for so he would hardly be responsible for its vagaries; and lower down it is written expressl...
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**2. minister--**The Greek term implies priestly ministry in the temple.
**the sanctuary--**Greek, "the holy places"; the Holy of Holies. Here the heavenly sanctuary is meant.
**the true--**the archetypal and antitypical, as contrasted with the typical and symbolical (He 9:24). Greek "alethinos" (used here) is opposed to that which does not fulfil its idea, as for instance, a type; "alethes," ...
Read full commentary →Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
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<strong>Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.</strong> With the tongue we bless (<em>eulogoumen</em>, εὐλογοῦμεν) our Lord and Father and curse (<em>katarōmetha</em>, καταρώμεθα) people made in God's likeness (<em>homoiōsin</em>, ὁμοίωσιν). Such inconsistency violates the imago Dei and true worship.<br><br>Reformed theology...
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(9) **Therewith bless we God, even the Father.**—A strange reading of this verse in the more ancient manuscripts makes it, *Therewith bless we the Lord and Father.* And it may serve to remind us of the oneness of our God, that thus He may be termed Lord and Saviour. His worship and praise are, as explained under James 3:6, the right use of the tongue; but, most inconsistently, *therewith curse we*...
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**3. For--**assigning his reason for calling him "minister of the sanctuary" (He 8:2).
**somewhat--**He does not offer again His once for all completed sacrifice. But as the high priest did not enter the Holy Place without blood, so Christ has entered the heavenly Holy Place with His own blood. That "blood of sprinkling" is in heaven. And is thence made effectual to sprinkle believers as the end...
Read full commentary →Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
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<strong>Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.</strong> Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing—these things ought not so to be. James appeals to moral necessity: gospel consistency forbids dual speech.<br><br>Reformed ethics emphasize integrity. The church's witness collapses when Sunday praise coexists with weekday slander. Ja...
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(10) **Ought not.**—The Greek equivalent for this is only found here in the New Testament, and seems strangely weak when we reflect on the usual vehemence of the writer. Was he sadly conscious of the failure beforehand of his protest? At least, there seems no trace of satire in the sorrowful cadence of his lines, “Out of the same mouth!”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. Implying that Christ's priestly office is exercised in heaven, not in earth; in the power of His resurrection life, not of His earthly life.
**For--**The oldest manuscripts read, "accordingly then."
**if, &c.--**"if He were on earth, He would not even (so the Greek) be a priest" (compare He 7:13, 14); therefore, certainly, He could not exercise the high priestly function in the earthly ...
Read full commentary →Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? place: or, hole
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<strong>Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?</strong> Does a fountain (<em>pēgē</em>, πηγή) send forth sweet and bitter water simultaneously? Nature teaches consistency; believers should likewise produce uniform speech flavored by grace.<br><br>Reformed spirituality looks to creation analogies to illustrate sanctification. A Spring's output reveals its source; tongu...
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(11) **Doth a** (or, *the*) **fountain send forth** (literally, *spurt*) **at the same place** (or, *hole, *see margin) **sweet water and bitter** (*i.e., fresh water and salt*)*?*—A vivid picture, probably, of the mineral springs abounding in the Jordan valley, near the Dead Sea; with which might be contrasted the clear and sparkling rivulets of the north, fed by the snows of Lebanon. Nature had ...
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**5. Who--**namely, the priests.
**serve unto the example--**not "after the example," as Bengel explains. But as in He 13:10, "serve the tabernacle," that is, do it service: so "serve (the tabernacle which is but) the outline and shadow." The Greek for "example" is here taken for the sketch, copy, or suggestive representation of the heavenly sanctuary, which is the antitypical reality and primar...
Read full commentary →Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
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<strong>Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.</strong> Can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine figs? Neither can saltwater produce fresh. Identity determines fruit. Likewise, redeemed tongues should bear godly speech, not contradictory fruit.<br><br>Reformed teaching on union with Christ emphasizes new identity...
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(12) **Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs?**—Read, *Can a fig-tree bear olives, or a vine, figs?* The inquiry sounds like a memory of our Lord’s, “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:16.)
**So can no fountain . . .**—This, the last clause of the sentence above in the Authorised version is very confused in the original, but seems to b...
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**6. now--**not time; but "as it is."
**more excellent ministry--**than any earthly ministry.
**by how much--**in proportion as.
**mediator--**coming between us and God, to carry into effect God's covenant with us. "The messenger (angel) of the covenant."
**which--**Greek, "one which" [Alford]: inasmuch as being one which.
**established--**Greek, "enacted as a law." So Ro 3:27, "law of f...
Read full commentary →Wisdom from Above
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
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<strong>Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.</strong> Who is wise (<em>sophos</em>, σοφός) and understanding? Let him show (<em>deixatō</em>, δειξάτω) his works in meekness (<em>prautēti</em>, πραΰτητι) of wisdom. True wisdom is demonstrated through humble conduct, not mere rhetoric.<br><br>Reformed spirit...
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(13) **Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge?**—Who is wise, *i.e., *in the wisdom of God, and learned in that of man? The latter state is of knowledge natural or acquired, the former is *Sophia, *the highest heavenly wisdom, “the breath of the power of God—the brightness of the everlasting light—more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars” (Wisdom Of Solomon 7:25-29). ...
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7. Same reasoning as in He 7:11.
**faultless--**perfect in all its parts, so as not to be found fault with as wanting anything which ought to be there: answering all the purposes of a law. The law in its morality was blameless (Greek, "amomos"); but in saving us it was defective, and so not faultless (Greek, "amemptos").
**should no place have been sought--**as it has to be now; and as it is s...
Read full commentary →But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
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<strong>But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.</strong> If you harbor bitter jealousy (<em>zēlon pikron</em>, ζῆλον πικρόν) and selfish ambition (<em>eritheian</em>, ἐριθείαν), do not boast or lie against the truth. Such inner attitudes contradict claims to wisdom.<br><br>Reformed examination calls believers to assess motives. James expos...
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(14) **But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts.**—Rather, it should be, *bitter zeal and party-spirit. “*Above all no zeal” was the worldly caution of an astute French prelate. But that against which the Apostle inveighed had caused Jerusalem to run with blood, and afterwards helped in her last hour to add horror upon shame. The Zealots were really assassins, pledged to any iniquit...
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**8. finding fault with them--**the people of the old covenant, who were not made "faultless" by it (He 8:7); and whose disregard of God's covenant made Him to "regard them not" (He 8:9). The law is not in itself blamed, but the people who had not observed it.
**he saith--**(Jr 31:31-34; compare Eze 11:19; 36:25-27). At Rama, the headquarters of Nebuzar-adan, whither the captives of Jerusalem ha...
Read full commentary →This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. sensual: or, natural
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<strong>This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.</strong> Such wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly (<em>epigeios</em>, ἐπίγειος), unspiritual (<em>psychikē</em>, ψυχική), demonic (<em>daimoniōdēs</em>, δαιμονιώδης). James categorizes pseudo-wisdom's origin: worldly, fleshly, devilish.<br><br>Reformed worldview differentiates wisdom from above (rooted ...
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(15) **This wisdom descendeth not from above . . . .**—Better thus, *This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, natural, devilish.* This—it were profanation to call it by the holy name of Σοφία (*Sophia*)*, *being in sharpest contrast to it, of the earth earthy; natural (as margin), or “psychical,” in the second sense of the tripartite division of man—body, *soul, *and spirit—e...
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**9. Not according to, &c.--**very different from, and far superior to, the old covenant, which only "worked wrath" (Ro 4:15) through man's "not regarding" it. The new covenant enables us to obey by the Spirit's inward impulse producing love because of the forgiveness of our sins.
**made with--**rather as Greek, "made to": the Israelites being only recipients, not coagents [Alford] with God....
Read full commentary →For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. confusion: Gr. tumult or unquietness
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<strong>For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.</strong> Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder (<em>akatastasia</em>, ἀκαταστασία) and every vile practice. Internal motives produce communal chaos. The church reflects its leaders' heart posture.<br><br>Reformed ecclesiology values order and peace; James reveals that carnal motives unravel both...
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(16) **For where envying and strife is, there is confusion.**—Where emulation, zeal, and rivalry exist, there also are sedition, anarchy, restless disturbance, and every villainous act. The whole state is evil, and utterly contrary to the rule of the Gospel—
“For words and names let angry zealots fight:
Whose life is in the wrong can ne’er be right.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. make with--**Greek, "make unto."
**Israel--**comprising the before disunited (He 8:8) ten tribes' kingdom, and that of Judah. They are united in the spiritual Israel, the elect Church, now: they shall be so in the literal restored kingdom of Israel to come.
**I will put--**literally, "(I) giving." This is the first of the "better promises" (He 8:6).
**mind--**their intelligent faculty....
Read full commentary →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. partiality: or, wrangling
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<strong>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.</strong> Wisdom from above is first pure (<em>hagnē</em>, ἁγνή), then peaceable (<em>eirēnikē</em>, εἰρηνική), gentle (<em>epieikēs</em>, ἐπιεικής), open to reason (<em>eupeithēs</em>, εὐπειθής), full of mercy and good ...
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(17) **But the wisdom that is from above . . .**—Whereas, in sweetest contrast to all this repulsive foulness and riot, the true *wisdom from above is first pure, *chaste as the Lamb of God, “the Word made flesh” (John 1:14), then *peaceful, gentle, and compliant*—easy to be won, *full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, *not double-minded (*non duplex*)*, nor hypocritical.* Compare with this bea...
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11. Second of the "better promises" (He 8:6).
**they shall not--**"they shall not have to teach" [Alford].
**his neighbour--**So Vulgate reads; but the oldest manuscripts have "his (fellow) citizen."
**brother--**a closer and more endearing relation than fellow citizen.
**from the least to the greatest--**Greek, "from the little one to the great one." Zec 12:8, "He that is feeble among the...
Read full commentary →And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
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<strong>And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.</strong> The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (<em>poiousin eirēnēn</em>, ποιοῦσιν εἰρήνην). Righteous outcomes grow in peaceful environments cultivated by peacemakers.<br><br>Reformed missiology emphasizes gospel peacemaking; justice flows from peace rooted in Christ's reconciliation. J...
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(18) **And the fruit of righteousness . . .**—Better thus slightly altered: *And fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace.* They “shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Their fruit is hidden in the precious seed, but “the times of refreshing shall come,” and the glorious plant bring forth her flower, and bear the golden fruit for the blessed ones to eat in the f...
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**12. For, &c.--**the third of "the better promises" (He 8:6). The forgiveness of sins is, and will be, the root of this new state of inward grace and knowledge of the Lord. Sin being abolished, sinners obtain grace.
**I will be merciful--**Greek, "propitious"; the Hebrew, "salach," is always used of God only in relation to men.
**and their iniquities--**not found in Vulgate, Syriac, Copti...
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