but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
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James 3:8-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also. Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.
Parallel Translations
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but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God.
Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
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But the tonge can no man tame. That is an vntuely evyll full of deedly poyson.
Therwith blesse we God the father and therwith cursse we me which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of one mouth proceadeth blessynge and cursynge. My brethren these thinges ought not so to be.
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But the tongue can no man tame. It is an vnruly euill, full of deadly poyson.
Therewith blesse we God euen the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of one mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing: my brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Cross-references (51)
- Romans 3:13 (v8) “Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.”
- Psalms 140:3 (v8) They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips.
- Romans 12:14 (v10) Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.
- 1 Peter 3:9 (v10) not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a…
- Psalms 55:21 (v8) His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
Show all 51 cross-references
- Psalms 50:16-20 (v10) But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips, since you hate…
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 (v10) for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the…
- James 3:6 (v8) And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course…
- Psalms 57:4 (v8) My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a…
- Psalms 64:3-4 (v8) who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words, to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly…
- 1 Timothy 5:13 (v10) Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which…
- Psalms 58:4 (v8) Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
- Psalms 59:7 (v8) Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?”
- Psalms 10:7 (v9) His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
- Genesis 1:26-27 (v9) God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky,…
- Ecclesiastes 10:11 (v8) If the snake bites before it is charmed, then is there no profit for the charmer’s tongue.
- Micah 3:11 (v10) Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh,…
- Deuteronomy 32:33 (v8) Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.
- Psalms 62:4 (v9) They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly.
- Isaiah 29:13 (v9) The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from…
- Genesis 9:6 (v9) Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
- Psalms 59:12 (v9) For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.
- Genesis 5:1 (v9) This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness.
- Genesis 20:9 (v10) Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and…
- 2 Samuel 19:21 (v9) But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Yahweh’s anointed?”
- Jeremiah 7:4-10 (v10) Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’ For if you thoroughly amend your ways…
- Acts 2:26 (v9) Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
- Judges 9:27 (v9) They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and…
- 2 Samuel 13:12 (v10) She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me! For no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Don’t you do this folly.
- 2 Samuel 16:5 (v9) When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out…
- 1 Chronicles 29:10 (v9) Therefore David blessed Yahweh before all the assembly; and David said, “You are blessed, Yahweh, the God of Israel our father, forever and…
- 1 Chronicles 29:20 (v9) Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Yahweh your God!” All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed down…
- Psalms 16:9 (v9) Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety.
- Psalms 30:12 (v9) to the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
- Psalms 34:1 (v9) I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
- Psalms 35:28 (v9) My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.
- Psalms 51:14 (v9) Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
- Psalms 57:8 (v9) Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn.
- Psalms 63:4 (v9) So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
- Psalms 71:24 (v9) My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long, for they are disappointed, and they are confounded, who want to harm me.
- Psalms 108:1 (v9) My heart is steadfast, God. I will sing and I will make music with my soul.
- Psalms 109:17-18 (v9) Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him. He clothed himself also with cursing as…
- Ecclesiastes 7:22 (v9) for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others.
- Matthew 5:44 (v9) But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and…
- Matthew 26:74 (v9) Then he began to curse and to swear, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately the rooster crowed.
- Romans 3:14 (v9) “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:7 (v9) For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.
- Revelation 12:9 (v8) The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown…
- Psalms 145:1 (v9) I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever.
- Psalms 145:21 (v9) My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
- Ephesians 1:3 (v9) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9 Therewith, or, by it, bless we God. It…
9 Therewith, or, by it, bless we God. It is a clear instance of its deadly poison, that it can thus through a monstrous levity transform itself; for when it pretends to bless God, it immediately curses him in his own image, even by cursing men. For since God ought to be blessed in all his works, he ought to be so especially as to men, in whom his image and glory peculiarly shine forth. It is then a hypocrisy not to be borne, when man employs the same tongue in blessing God and in cursing men. There can be then no calling on God, and his praises must necessarily cease, when evil-speaking prevails; for it is impious profanation of God’s name, which the tongue is virulent towards our brethren and pretends to praise him. That he may therefore rightly praise God, the view of evil speaking as to our neighbor must especially be corrected.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Amongst other faults of the tongue, the Apostle chiefly…
Amongst other faults of the tongue, the Apostle chiefly reproveth backbiting and speaking evil of our neighbors, even in them especially which otherwise will seem godly and religious.
He denieth by two reasons, that God can be praised by that man, that useth cursed speaking, or to backbite: first because man is the image of God, which whosoever reverenceth not doth not honor God himself.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it…
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Ver. 8. But the tongue, &c.] Where then are our justiciaries with their pretended perfection? David’s heart deceived him Psa 39:1; "I said, I will look to my ways, I will bridle my tongue." But presently after, he shows how soon he brake his word. "My heart was hot," &c., and "I spake with my tongue." Pambus, in the ecclesiastical history, could never take out that one lesson read him out of Psa 39:1. There is one Bennus celebrated in the same ecclesiastical history for this (but I can hardly believe it), that he was never seen of any man to be angry, never beard to swear, or lie, or utter a vain word. (Sozomen, vi. 28.)
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An unruly evil] There be but five virtues of the tongue reckoned by philosophers. But there are 24 different sins of the tongue, as Peraldus recounteth them. The Arabians have a proverb, Cave ne feriat lingua tua collum tuum; Take heed thy tongue cut not thy throat. An open mouth is often a purgatory to the master. {See Trapp on "Jas 3:6"}
Full of deadly poison] Such as poisoneth itself, and poisoneth at a distance, which no other poison doth. Some poisons are not poisonous to some creatures; storks feed upon serpents, ducks upon toads, &c. But the tongue is a universal poison, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–10 But the tongue; not only other men’s tonges, but…
But the tongue; not only other men’s tonges, but his own.
Can no man tame; no man of himself, and without the assistance of Divine grace, can bring his tongue into subjection, and keep it in order; nor can any man, by the assistance of any grace promised in this life, so keep it, as that it shall never at all offend.
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It is an unruly evil; or, which cannot be restrained, and kept within bounds: wild beasts are kept in by grates and bars, but this by no restraint.
Full of dead poison; the wickedness of the tongue is compared to poison, in respect of the mischief it doth to others. It seems to allude to those kinds of serpents which have poison under their tongues, Psa 140:3, with which they kill those they bite. The poison of the tongue is no less deadly, it murders men’s reputations by the slanders it utters, their souls by the lusts and passions it stirs up in them, and many times their bodies too by the contentions and quarrels it raiseth against men.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v9 Observe here, 1. Our apostle informs us what is…
Observe here, 1. Our apostle informs us what is the proper use of the tongue: namely, to bless and praise God; speech being the most excellent faculty, is to be consecrated to divine uses: it is both a good man’s work and his recreation to bless and praise God.
Observe, 2. The sinful use which some men put the tongue unto, and that is, to curse with it, to curse men that have the natural image of God upon them, yea, holy and good men, that have the divine image of God instamped upon them; this is the abuse of some men’s tongues, their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
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Observe, 3. The same tongue cannot, should not bless God and curse men; to pray and brawl with the same tongue, is shameful hypocrisy; to go from worshipping to railing and reviling, to speak to the God of heaven with a tongue set on fire of hell, is a monstrous impiety.
Observe, 4. How the apostle discovers the mighty absurdity of blessing and cursing with one and the same tongue, and of putting the best member to the worst use; the good aggravates the evil, and the evil disparageth, yea, disproveth the good; to suppose that the same tongue should acceptably bless God, and at the same time sinfully curse men, is as irrational and absurd as to imagine that the same fountain should send forth salt water and fresh, sweet water and bitter; and, as if a fig tree should bring forth olives, or a vine bear figs: our apostle argues and reasons from what is impossible in nature, to what is absurd in manners; contrary effects from the same cause is against the order of nature; in like manner grace is uniform, and always acts like itself; to bless and curse, to pray and revile, is wholly inconsistent with grace: nature abhors contradictions, and so does the grace of God: though a Christian has a double principle in him, the flesh and the spirit, yet he has not a double heart; his spirit is single and sincere in what he does, in all he does both for God and man.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–10 But the tongue can no man tame,.... Either his…
But the tongue can no man tame,.... Either his own, or others; not his own, for the man that has the greatest guard upon himself, his words and actions; yet, what through pride or passion, or one lust or another in his heart, at one time or another, bolts out vain, idle, angry, and sinful words: and he that does not may be set down for a perfect man indeed: nor can he tame or restrain the tongues of others from detraction, calumnies, backbitings, and whisperings; who say, their lips are their own, and who is Lord over us? no man can, by his own power and strength, tame or subdue his tongue, or restrain it from evils it is habituated to, be it lying, cursing, swearing, or what else: God, by his Spirit, power, and grace, can, and often does, change the note of the curser, swearer, liar, and blasphemer; but no man can do this, though he can tame beasts, birds, serpents, and fishes; which shows the tongue to be worse than anything to be found in the whole compass of nature:
it is an unruly evil: an evil it is, for it is a world of iniquity; and an unruly one, being more so than the horse and mule, which are without understanding, who are kept in and governed, and turned any way by the bit and bridle: but though in nature the tongue is fenced by a double fence of the lips and teeth, this is not sufficient to restrain it; it breaks all bounds, and is not to be kept in by nature, art, or argument: nothing but the grace of God can in any measure govern it, or lay an embargo on it:
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full of deadly poison, which, privately, secretly, and gradually, destroys the characters, credit, and reputation of men; and is of fatal consequence in families, neighbourhoods, churches, and states.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8–9 But no man can tame the tongue - Of…
But no man can tame the tongue - Of another; no, nor his own, without peculiar help from God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Verse 8. But the tongue wan no man tame]…
Verse 8. But the tongue wan no man tame] No cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able to silence it. Nothing but the grace of God, excision, or death, can bring it under subjection.
It is an unruly evil] ακατασχετον κακον. An evil that cannot be restrained; it cannot be brought under any kind of government; it breaks all bounds.
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Full of deadly poison.] He refers here to the tongues of serpents, supposed to be the means of conveying their poison into wounds made by their teeth. Throughout the whole of this poetic and highly declamatory description, St. James must have the tongue of the slanderer, calumniator, backbiter, whisperer, and tale-bearer, particularly in view. Vipers, basilisks; and rattlesnakes are not more dangerous to life, than these are to the peace and reputation of men.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v9 Jas 3:9-10. Therewith bless we God — That is,…
Jas 3:9-10. Therewith bless we God — That is, therewith mankind bless God; for the apostle, as appears from the next clause, did not speak of himself particularly, or of his fellow-apostles, or even of true private Christians, who certainly do not curse men. Perhaps in this last clause he glanced at the unconverted Jews, who often cursed the Christians bitterly in their synagogues. Made after the similitude of God — Which we have indeed now lost, but yet there remains from thence an indelible nobleness, which we ought to reverence, both in ourselves and others. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing — And the same tongue is often the instrument of expressing both; and “too frequently,” says Doddridge, “when the act of devotion is over, the act of slander, or outrage and insult, commences.” My brethren, these things ought not so to be — At least among those who profess Christianity; it is a shame that any such thing should be found in human nature; and it is a still greater shame that any thing of the kind should be practised by any that profess to be the disciples of Him who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–10 But the tongue can no man tame - This…
But the tongue can no man tame - This does not mean that it is never brought under control, but that it is impossible effectually and certainly to subdue it. It would be possible to subdue and domesticate any kind of beasts, but this could not be done with the tongue.
It is an unruly evil - An evil without restraint, to which no certain and effectual check can be applied. Of the truth of this no one can have any doubt, who looks at the condition of the world.
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Full of deadly poison - That is, it acts on the happiness of man, and on the peace of society, as poison does on the human frame. The allusion here seems to be to the bite of a venomous reptile. Compare Psa 140:3, “They have sharpened their tongues like serpent; adders” poison is under their lips.” Rom 3:13, “with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips.” Nothing would better describe the mischief that may be done by the tongue. There is no sting of a serpent that does so much evil in the world; there is no poison more deadly to the frame than the poison of the tongue is to the happiness of man. Who, for example, can stand before the power of the slanderer? What mischief can be done in society that can be compared with that which he may do?
- ’Tis slander;
Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath
Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie
All corners of the world: kings, queens, and states,
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters.
Shakespeare in Cymbellna.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8–9 But the tongue no man can tame, without the…
But the tongue no man can tame, without the special assistance of God. (Witham) --- Wherefore we are to understand, says St. Augustine, that as no one is able of himself to govern his tongue, we must fly to the Lord for his assistance. (St. Augustine, ser. 4. de verb.; Matthew vi. --- It is an unquiet evil,[5] which cannot be stopt [stopped]. It is full of deadly poison, which brings oftentimes death both to men’s bodies and souls. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Inquietum malum; so in divers Greek manuscripts, Greek: akatastaton, though in others, Greek: akatacheton, quod coerceri non potest.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–10 no man--literally, "no one of men": neither can a…
no man--literally, "no one of men": neither can a man control his neighbor's, nor even his own tongue. Hence the truth of Jam 3:2 appears.
unruly evil--The Greek, implies that it is at once restless and incapable of restraint. Nay, though nature has hedged it in with a double barrier of the lips and teeth, it bursts from its barriers to assail and ruin men [ESTIUS].
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deadly--literally, "death-bearing."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. Tongue can no man tame—Augustine says, that never,…
8. Tongue can no man tame—Augustine says, that never, but by the grace of God, has any tongue been tamed. It may be replied that worldly self-interest often tames the tongue as effectually as divine wisdom. As to that, however, it may be asked, To what does worldly prudence tame the tongue? And it may be answered, It tames the tongue to a subdued but still wild and depraved state. Nothing but the grace of God tames the tongue to that docility to which our apostle alludes, submission to the divine law, and the hearty utterance of a holy confession.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. but the tongue can no man tame] There…
8. but the tongue can no man tame] There is a special force in the Greek tense for “tame”, which expresses not habitual, but momentary action. St James had learnt, by what he saw around him, and yet more, it may be, by personal experience, that no powers of the “nature of man” were adequate for this purpose. He had learnt also, we must believe, that the things which are impossible with man are possible with God.
an unruly evil] Literally, uncontrollable. Many of the better MSS., however, give the adjective which is rendered “unstable” in ch. Jas_1:8, and which carries with it, together with that meaning, the idea of restlessness and turbulence. So in the Shepherd of Hermas (11.2) calumny is described as a “restless demon.”
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full of deadly poison] Literally, death-bringing. For the idea comp. “the poison of asps is under their lips,” Psa_140:3. The adjective is found in the LXX. version of Job_33:23, for “angels or messengers of death.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 (8) But the tongue can no man tame; it…
(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 expressly, “these things ought not so to be.” The hopeless savagery of the tongue, excelling the fury of wild beasts, must be that of the liar, the traducer, and blasphemer. (Comp. Psalms 140)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–9 It is an unruly evil; rather restless, reading ajkatastaton…
It is an unruly evil; rather restless, reading ajkatastaton (a, A, B) for ajkatasceton of Textus Receptus (C, K, L); Vulgate, inquietum malum. (cf. Jam_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" (Winer, p. 668). A restless evil! Full of deadly poison! Compare the abrupt nominative inrov); Php_3:19 with Bishop Light-feet"s note. Deadly (qanathfo) here only in the New Testament. In the LXX it is found Num_18:22; Job_33:23 RAPC 4Ma 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."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v9 Jam_3:9; Jam_3:12
Jam_3:9; Jam_3:12
Therewith bless we God
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The moral contradictions in the reckless talker
In these concluding sentences of the paragraph respecting sins of the tongue St.
James does two things--he shows the moral chaos to which the Christian who fails to control his tongue is reduced, and he thereby shows such a man how vain it is for him to hope that the worship which he offers to Almighty God can be pure and acceptable. He has made himself the channel of hellish influences. He cannot at pleasure make himself the channel of heavenly influences, or become the offerer of holy sacrifices. A man who curses his fellow-men, and then blesses God, is like one who professes the profoundest respect for his sovereign, while he insults the royal family, throws mud at the royal portraits, and ostentatiously disregards the royal wishes. It is further proof of the evil character of the tongue that it is capable of lending itself to such chaotic activity. Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, i.e., God in His might and in His love; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the likeness of God. The heathen fable tells us the apparent contradiction of being able to blow both hot and cold with the same breath; and the son of Sirach points out that if thou blow the spark, it shall burn; if thou Spit upon it, it shall be quenched; and both these come out of thy mouth (Sir_28:12). St. James, who may have had this passage in his mind, shows us that there is a real and a moral contradiction which goes far beyond either of these: Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. Well may he add, with affectionate earnestness, My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Assuredly they ought not; and yet how common the contradiction has been, and still is, among those who seem to be, and who think themselves to be, religious people! There is perhaps no particular in which persons professing to have a desire to serve God are more ready to invade His prerogatives than in venturing to denounce those who differ from themselves, and are supposed to be therefore under the ban of Heaven. There are many questions which have to be carefully considered and answered before a Christian mouth, which has been consecrated to the praise of our Lord and Father, ought to venture to utter denunciations against others who worship the same God and are also His offspring and His image. Is it quite certain that the supposed evil is something which God abhors; that those whom we would denounce are responsible for it; that denunciation of them will do any good; that this is the proper time for such denunciation; that we are the proper persons to utter it? The illustrations of the fountain and the fig-tree are among the touches which, if they do not indicate one who is familiar with Palestine, at any rate agree well with the fact that the writer of this Epistle was such. Springs tainted with salt or with sulphur are not rare, and it is stated that most of those on the eastern slope of the hill-country of Judaea are brackish. The fig-tree, the vine, and the olive were abundant throughout the whole country; and St. James, if he looked out of the window as he was writing, would be likely enough to see all three. It is not improbable that in one or more of the illustrations he is following some ancient saying or proverb. Thus, Arrian, the pupil of Epictetus, writing less than a century later, asks, How can a vine grow, not vinewise, but olivewise, or an olive, on the other hand, not olivewise, but vinewise? It is impossible, inconceivable. It is possible that our Lord Himself, when He used a similar illustration in connection with the worst of all sins of the tongue, was adapting a proverb already in use (Mat_12:33-36). And previously, in the Sermon on the Mount, where He is speaking of deeds rather than of Mat_7:16-18). Can it be the case that while physical contradictions are not permitted in the lower classes of unconscious objects, moral contradictions of a very monstrous kind are allowed in the highest of all earthly creatures? Just as the double-minded man is judged by his doubts, and not by his forms of prayer, so the double-tongued man is judged by his curses, and not by his forms of praise. In each case one or the other of the two contradictories is not real. If there is prayer, there are no doubts; and if there are doubts, there is no prayer--no prayer that will avail with God. So also in the other case: if God is sincerely and heartily blessed, there will be no cursing of His children; and if there is such cursing, God cannot acceptably be blessed; the very words of praise, coming from such lips, will be an offence to Him. But it may be urged, our Lord Himself has set us an example of strong denunciation in the woes which He pronounced upon the scribes and Pharisees; and again, St. Paul cursed Hymensaeus and Alexander (1Ti_1:20), the incestuous person at Corinth (1Co_5:5), and Elymas the sorcerer Act_13:10). Most true. But firstly, these curses were uttered by those who could not err in such things. Christ knew what was in man, and could read the hearts of all; and the fact that St. Pauls curses were supernaturally fulfilled proves that he was acting under Divine guidance in what he said. And secondly, these stern utterances had their source in love; not, as human curses commonly have, in hate. And let us remember the proportion which such things bear to the rest of Christs words and of St. Pauls words, so far as they have been preserved for us. All this applies with much force to those who believe themselves to be called upon to denounce and curse all such as seem to them to be enemies of God and His truth: but with how much more force to those who in moments of anger and irritation deal in execrations on their own account, and curse a fellow-Christian, not because he seems to them to have offended God, but because he has offended themselves! That such persons should suppose that their polluted mouths can offer acceptable praises to the Lord and Father, is indeed a moral contradiction of the most startling kind. The writer of this Epistle has been accused of exaggeration. It has been urged that in this strongly worded paragraph he himself is guilty of that unchastened language which he is so eager to condemn; that the case is over-stated, and that the highly-coloured picture is a caricature. Is there any thoughtful person of large experience that can honestly assent to this verdict? Who has not seen what mischief may be done by a single utterance of mockery, or enmity, or bravado; what confusion is wrought by exaggeration, innuendo, and falsehood; what suffering is inflicted by slanderous suggestions and statements; what careers of sin have been begun by impure stories and filthy jests? All these effects may follow, be it remembered, from a single utterance in each case, may spread to multitudes, may last for years. One reckless word may blight whole life. And there are persons who habitually pour forth such things, who never pass a day without uttering what is unkind, or false, or impure. (A. Plummer, D. D.)
The tongue--its blessing and cursing
I. THE INCONSISTENCY OF THE TONGUE.
1. Its blessing of God. This is the great end for which the human tongue exists--this the highest employment in which it can be engaged. We do this in various ways. We thus bless Him in our praises. These are sung either more privately in our own dwellings or more publicly in the sanctuary. He requires, above everything, the soul, but He will have the body also; the members and organs of the one, not less than the faculties and affections of the other. We thus bless God also in our prayers, whether these be secret, domestic, or public. In them adoring and thankful praises constitute no small or subordinate element. We extol the Lord for His infinite perfections, we give Him the glory due unto His great and holy name. We testify our obligations to Him for His mercies without number, and lay offerings of grateful homage on His altar.
2. Its cursing of men. Even the most orthodox and charitable Christians are not wholly exempt from this tendency. We are far too ready to pass sentence on our brethren, and in effect, if not in form, to curse such as do not happen to agree with us in some respects, and these, it may be, of quite secondary importance. Everything of this sort is of the nature of cursing--it partakes in one degree or another of that character. And mark the aggravating circumstance, that which involves the frightful inconsistency charged against the tongue--men, which are made after the similitude of God. We were at first created in His image, stamped with His moral lineaments in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. And in a sense too, as the, language here obviously implies, we still bear that likeness. Such cursing is in reality a cursing of God Himself whom we yet bless--a cursing of Him in man, who is not only His workmanship, but His reflection, His image--not merely a being formed by His hand, but formed after His likeness. We cannot keep the first table of the law, and at the same time set at nought the second. The strangely, outrageously inconsistent nature of the whole proceeding is still more forcibly exhibited by bringing the two contrary things together, placing them side by side, presenting them in sharpest contrast (Jam_3:10). There it is that the flagrant, shocking contradiction appears.
II. THE UNNATURALNESS OF THIS INCONSISTENCY (Jam_3:11-12). Doth a fountain send forth at the same place--the same hole, chink, or fissure, as in the rock whence it issues--sweet water and bitter? No--nothing of this kind is ever witnessed. The water which flows from the spring may have either, but it cannot have both of these qualities. It may indeed afterwards undergo a change, it may lose its original properties, and be turned into the opposite of what it was, by reason of the soil through which it runs, or the purposes to which it is applied. What was sweet may by certain mixtures become bitter. But at first, in its own nature, and apart from all foreign ingredients, it is wholly the one or the other. There is no inconsistency in the material region. He passes to a higher department, the vegetable kingdom, and shows that there too plants and trees bring forth a single kind of fruit, and that which is suited to the order, the species to which they belong. Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive-berries, either a vine figs? Of course it cannot. Any such thing would be a monstrosity. Titan, returning to the spring, not without reference to the internal, hidden source from which all our words proceed, be adds, So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. He wishes to fix attention on the inconsistency manifested in the use of the tongue, and lead them to the right explanation of its origin. This anomaly does seem to be exhibited in the moral world, if not in the material. But it is so more in appearance than in reality. That water is often the same which looks different. What to some tastes and tests is fresh, when thoroughly examined, is found to be salt as the ocean. Much that to our earthly senses is sweet, to the spiritually-discerning is bitter indeed. Thus the blessing of many is formal, if not even false, having nothing gracious in it, no love or homage of the heart, no element or quality fitted to render it acceptable to the great object of worship. In its origin and essence it is not opposed to, nor, indeed, different from the cursing of man, with which it is associated. The latter reveals the true nature of the common source, or there may be two fountains where only one is perceptible. The former supposition applies to nominal and hypocritical Christians--this latter to living, genuine believers. They have an old man and a new, corruption and grace both existing and working within them; and as the one or the other gains the ascendancy, and, for the time, governs the tongue, the stream of discourse that issues from it is wholesome or deleterious--fresh as that of the bubbling spring, or salt as that of the briny deep. (John Adam.)
The evil tongue
St. James uses three special arguments to restrain Christians from the unruly use of the tongue: the first is the inconsistency of the thing--that the heart touched by the Holy Spirit should do the works of the flesh--that the fountain which hath been purified should again flow with bitter waters and the servants of Christ should serve Belial We have promised to study the strains of angels, and become familiar with and adopt them as our own; so that instead of being now a Babel of confusion, the Church may utter but one language in the presence of the Lamb; and how very inconsistent that from such lips cursing should proceed--how very inconsistent if any of you who have been now repeating Davids psalms, the notes of heaven, should to-morrow be found uttering an oath, or even using a passionate expression. It is bad enough for one who only professes Christianity to use the language of the devil, but it is a greater inconsistency when out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing--when you, the same person, bless God, yet curse His image. Let the wicked do it; the heathen who is without God, and without Christ, if it must be. He that is unjust, &c. But a Christian man--a man who has been baptized into the Holy Trinity; a man who readsthe Bible, and comes into Gods house and worships there: a man who joins himself to the company of the saints, dead and living, and takes into his mouth the same words, the same prayers, the same Scripture passages with them;--nay, the man who perhaps approaches the awful mystery of the Body and Blood of His Lord;-that from such a mouth should proceed the gibes and imprecations of lost spirits, is it not shockingly inconsistent? Next, St. James reminds us of the consequences both to others and ourselves. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth, awed the tongue is a fire. How far may a single spark dropped among stubble reach! Bow does it steal along the floor, creep up the wall, envelop the roof, spread from house to house, and seize churches and noble buildings, till it wrap a whole city in conflagration! So does a single word dropped unadvisedly. If a soft answer turneth away wrath, on the other hand grievous words stir up anger. If you reply quietly to a provocation, or refuse to answer, the quarrel dies; but one word draws on another, and wrath kindleth wrath; and that is made eternal which might have been extinguished if only one had been a Christian. You see, then, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. Is it surprising if of every idle word we shall give an account at the judgment? But again, you say something injurious of your neighbour. There is a little truth in it, but much more falsehood. It has been added to, and enlarged, and swollen into a crime. But you repeat it. The story spreads. It is told everywhere, and though it wounds your neighbour to death, and from the calumny he loses all acquaintances and friends, yet you cannot recall it now. See how great a matter a little fire kindleth. Again, you utter impure words before a child, the child treasures them up all through his life; though he lives sixty or seventy years, unhappy being, his thoughts and language take their complexion from your words; but besides, to how many has lie communicated what he first heard from you! Mark again, how great a little fire kindleth. Surely the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, and setteth on fire the course of nature. To conclude: if we will not restrain our members by the aid of Gods Spirit, and especially that member which St. Peter calls an unruly evil, full of deadly poison; if we will, in the indulgence of a wilful spirit, scatter firebrands about, unkind, malicious, polluting, or injurious words, wide-spread as the evil may be, will it stop short with others? No, it will return upon ourselves; which setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. The fire which hath gone forth spreading and consuming, at the judgment hour is stopped in its course, and rolling back again is concentrated on the tongue which gave it existence. You who uttered the word, which has done such mischief to thousands, and ruined so many souls, now feel its burning effects in your own person. Ought not this to make you careful of your words, those winged words, which once launched forth take a flight you know not whither? (J. M. Chaunter, M. A.)
Made after the similitude of God
Man made after Gods image
This image of God consisteth in three things--
1. In His nature, which was intellectual. God gave him a rational soul, spiritual, simple, immortal, free in its choice; yea, in the body there were some rays and strictures of the Divine glory and majesty.
2. In those qualities of knowledge (Col_3:10); righteousness Ecc_7:29); and true holiness (Eph_4:24).
3. In his state, in a happy confluence of all inward and outward blessings, as the enjoyment of God, power over the creatures, &c. But now this image is in a great part defaced and lost, and can only be restored in Christ. Well, then, this was the g, eat privilege of our creation, to be made like God: the more we resemble Him the more happy. Oh! remember the height of your original. We press men to walk worthy of their extraction. Those potters that were of a servile spirit disgraced the kingly family and line of which they came (1Ch_4:22). Plutarch saith of Alexander, that he was wont to heighten his courage by remembering he came of the gods. Remember you were made after the image of God; do not deface it in yourselves, or render it liable to contempt, by giving others occasion to revile you. (T. Manton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v9 Chapter 15
Chapter 15
THE MORAL CONTRADICTIONS IN THE RECKLESS TALKER.
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Jam_3:9-12
IN these concluding sentences of the paragraph respecting sins of the tongue St. James does two things-he shows the moral chaos to which the Christian who fails to control his tongue is reduced, and he thereby shows such a man how vain it is for him to hope that the worship which he offers to Almighty God can be pure and acceptable. He has made himself the channel of hellish influences. He cannot at pleasure make himself the channel of heavenly influences, or become the offerer of holy sacrifices. The fires of Pentecost will not rest where the fires of Gehenna are working, nor can one who has become the minister of Satan at the same time be a minister to offer praise to God.
When those who would have excused themselves for their lack of good works pleaded the correctness of their faith, St. James told them that such faith was barren and dead, and incapable of saving them from condemnation. Similarly, the man who thinks himself to be religious, and does not bridle his tongue, was told that his religion is vain. {Jam_1:26} And in the passage before us St. James explains how that is. His religion or religious worship (θρησκεια) is a mockery and a contradiction. The offering is tainted; it comes from a polluted altar and a polluted priest. A man who curses his fellow-men and then blesses God, is like one who professes the profoundest respect for his sovereign, while he insults the royal family, throws mud at the royal portraits, and ostentatiously disregards the royal wishes. It is further proof of the evil character of the tongue that it is capable of lending itself to such chaotic activity. "Therewith bless we the Lord and Father," i.e., God in His might and in His love"; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the likeness of God." The heathen fable tells us the apparent contradiction of being able to blow both hot and cold with the same breath; and the son of Sirach points out that "if thou blow the spark, it shall burn; if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched; and both these come out of thy mouth" (Ecclus. 28:12). St. James, who may have had this passage in his mind, shows us that there is a real and a moral contradiction which goes far beyond either of these: "Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing." Well may he add, with affectionate earnestness, "My brethren, these things ought not so be."
Assuredly they ought not; and yet how common the contradiction has been, and still is, among those who seem to be, and who think themselves to be, religious people! There is perhaps no particular in which persons professing to have a desire to serve God are more ready to invade His prerogatives than in venturing to denounce those who differ from themselves, and are supposed to be, therefore, under the ban of Heaven. "They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God". {Rom_10:2-3} Hence they rashly and intemperately "curse whom the Lord hath not cursed, and defy whom the Lord hath not defied". {Num_23:8} There are still many who believe that not only in the psalms and hymns in which they bless the Lord, but also in the sermons and pamphlets in which they fulminate against their fellow-Christians, they are offering service to. {Joh_16:2} There are many questions which have to be carefully considered and answered before a Christian mouth, which has been consecrated to the praise of our Lord and Father, ought to venture to utter denunciations against others who worship the same God and are also His offspring and His image. Is it quite certain that the supposed evil is something which God abhors; that those whom we would denounce are responsible for it; that denunciation of them will do any good; that this is the proper time for such denunciation; that we are the proper persons to utter it? About every one of these questions the most fatal mistakes are constantly being made. The singing of Te Deums after massacres and dragonnades is perhaps no longer possible; but alternations between religious services and religious prosecutions, between writing pious books and publishing exasperating articles, are by no means extinct. For one case in which harm has been done because no one has come forward to denounce a wrongdoer, there are ten cases in which harm has been done because someone has been indiscreetly, or inopportunely, or uncharitably, or unjustly denounced. "Praise is not seasonable (ωραιος) in the mouth of a sinner" (Ecclus. 15:9); and whatever may have been the writers meaning in the difficult passage in which it occurs, we may give it a meaning that will bring it into harmony with what St. James says here. The praise of God is not seasonable in the mouth of one who is ever sinning in reviling Gods children.
The illustrations of the fountain and the fig-tree are among the touches which, if they do not indicate one who is familiar with Palestine, at any rate agree well with the fact that the writer of this Epistle was such. Springs tainted with salt or with sulphur are not rare, and it is stated that most of those on the eastern slope of the hill-country of Judea are brackish. The fig-tree, the vine, and the olive were abundant throughout the whole country; and St. James, if he looked out of the window as he was writing, would be likely enough to see all three. It is not improbable that in one or more of the illustrations he is following some ancient saying or proverb. Thus, Arrian, the pupil of Epictetus, writing less than a century later, asks, "How can a vine grow, not vinewise, but olivewise, or an olive, on the other hand, not olivewise, but vinewise? It is impossible, inconceivable." It is possible that our Lord Himself, when He used a similar illustration in connection with the worst of all sins of the tongue, was adapting a proverb already in use. In speaking of "the blasphemy against the Spirit," He says, "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things; and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment". {Mat_12:33-36} And previously, in the Sermon on the Mount, where He was speaking of deeds rather than of words, "By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit". {Mat_7:16-18}
Can it be the case that while physical contradictions are not permitted in the lower classes of unconscious objects, moral contradictions of a very monstrous kind are allowed in the highest of all earthly creatures? The "double-minded man," who prays and doubts, receives nothing from the Lord, because his petition is only in form a prayer; it lacks the essential characteristic of prayer, which is faith. But the double-tongued man, who blesses God and curses men, what does he receive? Just as the double-minded man is judged by his doubts, and not by his forms of prayer, so the double-tongued man is judged by his curses, and not by his forms of praise. In each case one or the other of the two contradictories is not real. If there is prayer, there are no doubts; and if there are doubts, there is no prayer-no prayer that will avail with God. So also in the other case: if God is sincerely and heartily blessed, there will be no cursing of His children; and if there is such cursing, God cannot acceptably be blessed; the very words of praise, coming from such lips, will be an offense to Him.
But it may be urged, our Lord Himself has set us an example of strong denunciation in the woes which He pronounced upon the scribes and Pharisees; and again, St. Paul cursed Hymenaeus and Alexander, {1Ti_1:20} the incestuous person at Corinth, {1Co_5:5} and Elymas the sorcerer. {Act_13:10} Most true. But firstly, these curses were uttered by those who could not err in such things. Christ "knew what was in man," and could read the hearts of all; and the fact that St. Pauls curses were supernaturally fulfilled proves that he was acting under Divine guidance in what he said. And secondly, these stern utterances had their source in love; not, as human curses commonly have, in hate. It was in order that those on whom they were pronounced might be warned, and schooled to better things, that they were uttered; and we know that in the case of the sinner at Corinth the severe remedy had this effect; the curse was really a blessing. When we have infallible guidance, and when we are able by supernatural results to prove that we possess it, it will be time enough to begin to deal in curses. And let us remember the proportion which such things bear to the rest of Christs words and of St. Pauls words, so far as they have been preserved for us. Christ wrought numberless miracles of mercy: besides those which are recorded in detail, we are frequently told that "He healed many that were sick with divers diseases, and cast out many devils"; {Mar_1:34} that "He had healed"; {Mar_3:10} that "wheresoever He entered, into villages or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the market-places, and besought Him that they might touch if it were but the border of His garment; and as many as touched Him were made whole"; {Mar_6:56} and so forth. {Joh_21:25} But he wrought only one miracle of judgment, and that was upon a tree, which could teach the necessary lesson without feeling the punishment. {Mar_11:12-23} All this applies with much force to those who believe themselves to be called upon to denounce and curse all such as seem to them to be enemies of God and His truth: but with how much more force to those who in moments of anger and irritation deal in execrations on their own account, and curse a fellow-Christian, not because he seems to them to have offended God, but because he has offended themselves! That such persons should suppose that their polluted mouths can offer acceptable praises to the Lord and Father, is indeed a moral contradiction of the most startling kind. And are such cases rare? Is it so uncommon a thing for a man to attend Church regularly, and join with apparent devotion in the services, and yet think little of the grievous words which he allows himself to utter when his temper is severely tried? How amazed and offended he would be if he were invited to eat at a table which had been used for some disgusting purpose, and had never since been cleansed! And yet he does not hesitate to "defile his whole body" with his unbridled tongue, and then offer praise to God from this polluted source!
Nor is this the only contradiction in which such a one is involved. How strange that the being who is lord and master of all the animal creation should be unable to govern himself! How strange that mans chief mark of superiority over the brutes should be the power of speech, and that he should use this power in such a way as to make it the instrument of his own degradation, until he becomes lower than the brutes! They, whether tamed or untamed, unconsciously declare the glory of God; while he with his noble powers of consciously and loyally praising Him, by his untamed tongue reviles those who are made after the image of God, and thus turns his own praises into blasphemies. Thus does mans rebellion reverse the order of nature and frustrate the will of God.
The writer of this Epistle has been accused of exaggeration. It has been urged that in this strongly worded paragraph he himself is guilty of that unchastened language which he is so eager to condemn; that the case is overstated, and that the highly-colored picture is a caricature. Is there any thoughtful person of large experience that can honestly assent to this verdict? Who has not seen what mischief may be done by a single utterance of mockery, or enmity, or bravado; what confusion is wrought by exaggeration, innuendo, and falsehood; what suffering is inflicted by slanderous suggestions and statements; what careers of sin have been begun by impure stories and filthy jests? All these effects may follow, be it remembered, from a single utterance in this case, may spread to multitudes, may last for years. One reckless word may blight a whole life. "Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have fallen by the tongue" (Ecclus. 28:18). And there are persons who habitually pour forth such things, who never pass a day without uttering what is unkind, or false, or impure. When we look around us and see the moral ruin which in every class of society can be traced to reckless language-lives embittered, and blighted, and brutalized by words spoken and heard-can we wonder at the severe words of St. James, whose experience was not very different from our own? Violent and uncharitable language had become one of the besetting sins of the Jews, and no doubt Jewish Christians were by no means free from it. "Curse the whisperer and the double-tongued," says the son of Sirach, "for such have destroyed many that were at peace" (Ecclus. 28:13). To which the Syriac Version adds a clause not given in the Greek, nor in our Bibles: "Also the third tongue, let it be cursed; for it has laid low many corpses." This expression, "third tongue," seems to have come into use among the Jews in the period between the Old and New Testament. It means a slanderous tongue, and it is called "third" because it is fatal to three sets of people-to the person who utters the slander, to those who listen to it, and to those about whom it is uttered. "A third tongue hath tossed many to and fro, and driven them from nation to nation; and strong cities hath it pulled down, and houses of great men hath it overthrown" (Ecclus. 28:14); where not only the Syriac, but the Greek, has the interesting expression "third tongue," a fact obscured in our version.
The "third tongue" is as common and as destructive now as when the son of Sirach denounced it, or St. James wrote against it with still greater authority; and we all of us can do a great deal to check the mischief, not merely by taking care that we keep our own tongues from originating evil, but by refusing to repeat, or if possible even to listen to, what the third tongue says. Our unwillingness to hear may be a discouragement to the speaker, and our refusal to repeat will at least lessen the evil of his tale. We shall have saved ourselves from becoming links in the chain of destruction.
There is one kind of sinful language to which the severe sayings of St. James specially apply, although the context seems to show that it was not specially in his mind-impure language. The foul tongue is indeed a "world of iniquity, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell." In no other case is the self-pollution of the speaker so manifest, or the injury to the listener so probable, so all but inevitable. Foul stories and impure jests and innuendoes, even more clearly than oaths and curses, befoul the souls of those who utter them, while they lead the hearers into sin. Such things rob all who are concerned in them, either as speakers or listeners, of two things which are the chief safeguards of virtue-the fear of God, and the fear of sin. They create an atmosphere in which men sin with a light heart, because the grossest sins are made to look not only attractive and easy, but amusing. What can be made to seem laughable is supposed to be not very serious. There is no more devilish act that a human being can perform than that of inducing others to believe that what is morally hideous and deadly is "pleasant to the eye and good for food." And this devils work is sometimes done merely to raise a laugh, merely for something to say. Does any one seriously maintain that the language of St. James is at all too strong for such these things as these? We hardly need his authority for the belief that a filthy tongue pollutes a mans whole being, and owes its inspiration to the Evil One.
It is of angry, ill-tempered, unkind words that we do not believe this so readily. Words that are not false or calumnious, not running out into blasphemies and curses, and certainly not tainted with anything like impurity, do not always strike us as being as harmful as they really are, not only to others, whom they irritate or sadden, but to ourselves, who allow our characters to be darkened by them. The captious word, that makes everything a subject for blame; the discontented word, that would show that the speaker is always being ill-treated; the biting word, that is meant to inflict pain; the sullen word, that throws a gloom over all who hear it; the provoking word, that seeks to stir up strife-of all these we are most of us apt to think too lightly, and need the stern warnings of St. James to remind us of their true nature and of their certain consequences. As regards others, such things wound tender hearts, add needlessly and enormously to the unhappiness of mankind, turn sweet affections sour, stifle good impulses, create and foster bad feelings, embitter in its smallest details the whole round of daily life. As regards ourselves, indulgence in such language weakens and warps our characters, blunts our sympathies, deadens our love for man, and therefore our love for God. "In particular it makes prayer either impossible or half useless. Whether we know it or not, the prayer that comes from a heart indulging in evil temper is hardly a prayer at all. We cannot really be face to face with God; we cannot really approach God as a Father; we cannot really feel like children kneeling at His feet; we cannot really be simply affectionate and truthful in what we say to Him, if irritation, discontent, or gloom, or anger, is busy at our breasts. An undisciplined temper shuts out the face of God from us. We may see His holy Law, but we cannot see Himself. We may think of Him as our Creator, our Judge, our Ruler, but we cannot think of Him as our Father, nor approach Him with love." "Salt water cannot yield sweet."
It was once pleaded on behalf of a man who had been criticized and condemned as unsatisfactory, that he was "a good man, all but his temper." "All but his temper!" was the not unreasonable reply"; as if temper were not nine-tenths of religion." "If any man stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. But the tongue can no man tame. Man…
8. But the tongue can no man tame. Man has never tamed this organ as a whole. Some may have ruled their own, but the organ itself still does its evil work in the world. It is an unruly evil. Not only an evil, but unruly. Generally used. Full of deadly poison. Often charged with malice, envy, anger, slander, etc.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 With it we
With it we
"We use the tongue to say words that"
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we curse men
"we ask God to harm men"
who have been made in God's likeness
This can be stated in active form. AT: "whom God made in his likeness" (See: Active or Passive)
Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing
The nouns "blessing" and "cursing" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "With the same mouth, a person blesses people and curses people" (See: Abstract Nouns)
My brothers
"Fellow Christians"
these things should not happen
"these things are wrong"
translationWords
praise
lord
God the Father
curse
image of God
bless
brother
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8–9 3:8 no one can tame the tongue: The tongue…
3:8 no one can tame the tongue: The tongue has an astonishing capacity for committing evil. If its evil is motivated by hell (3:6), it certainly cannot be tamed by mere human effort. • full of deadly poison: This might allude to the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1), who is identified with the devil (Rev 20:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.