James: My Tongue, Your Tongue? “the tongue is a fire”
“let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger”
James 3:1-12 James 3:2: “For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.”
Introduction
The early Desert Fathers praised silence as the safest way to God. Henri Nouwen quotes one such Father:
‘I have often repented of having spoken,” Arsenius said, “but never of having remained silent.”
Gregory the Great (A.D. 540-604) observed in his The Life of Saint Benedict: Patriarch of the Western Monks:
Not far from the monastery there were two nuns [of noble birth] living in their own private house, for whom a man who feared God [Saint Benedict] used to procure the necessaries of life. But as there are some persons in whom nobility of birth produces feelings of vanity which hinder them from acquiring nobility of soul (which consists in virtue), for they despise their own selves so much the less in this world as their birth has raised them above others, these nuns had not yet entirely subdued their tongue and curbed it with the bridle of the holy profession whose habit they wore, but frequently provoked by indiscreet words this just man who attended to their needs.“
The Psalmist exclaimed,
I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth” (39:1).
Proverbs admonishes its readers,
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise (10:19).
Not long ago in the early morning, I started a slow read of James in Greek. James 1:26 caught my attention, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his own tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man’s religious is worthless” (NASB). What struck me with startling force was the parallelism in Greek of the clauses, “does not bridle his own tongue,” and “deceives his own heart.” Each clause appears to define the other. Is James really saying that when we do not keep “a tight rein” on our tongues, we are deceiving our own hearts? Give it some thought!
As I see my speech habits, observe others, and question friends, speech with which “we deceive our own hearts” falls into at least three categories—lying words, true but unnecessary words, and unkind words. Following are two examples of each:
One: Lying Words: Vicious, untrue gossip. Out of jealousy or anger making negative judgments on others that come more from our imagination than known fact. What can you add here or how else are we guilty of this?
Two: Unnecessary Words Correcting someone or a “put down” for no reason except to stroke our own egos. Sharing even true but negative information about someone for no good reason, information that damages their image in the other’s eyes. How do you sin at this point? Or do you ever?
Three: Unkind Words Sarcasm or biting humor aimed at some one or ones? An impatient, sharp or caustic answer to an unwelcome question? How long can this list get? What is our greatest temptation here?
A pastor friend made two very thoughtful observations about words that qualify as the use of an unbridled tongue:
Saying stuff because you can, pushing the limits of your speech or the appropriateness of your speech. For those of us who are up in front of people a lot, it almost becomes a game in itself to see what you can get away with. We all have a little “radio shock jock” in us.
Talking so that we don’t have to say anything. Constant speech becomes a way of hiding from the truth of ourselves as well as others. As long as I am talking I don’t have to listen. Filibustering is a means of control.
I.
We look now at how James unpacks in chapter 3:1-12 his initial wisdom in 1:19, to “be . . . slow to speak” and 1:26, to “keep a tight reign on [your] tongue.” 1
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers [and sisters], because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.11Can both fresh water and salt[ \l "fen-NIV-30315a#fen-NIV-30315a" \o "See footnote a" a] water flow from the same spring?12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. As divided above, Jeanne Serrao writes that this section can be subdivided into a discussion on why teachers are judged more severely by what they say (vv 1-2), a passage on the uncontrollable tongue (vv 3-6), and the conundrum of praising and cursing coming from the same tongue (vv 7-12).
II. Teachers Are judged More Strictly (3:1-2) Behind the Text Teachers in the first century were highly regarded. Ephesians 4:11 and the later Christian writing, Didache (15:1), indicate that teaching was a divine office or service, perhaps even the major function of the pastor or shepherd of the church.
The letters of the NT show that distinguishing true teachers or prophets from the false ones was an on-going problem for the early Church. The high status level of the teachers probably tempted the “unfit” to become teachers.
The warning in this passage fits in with James’ other warnings about status and favoritism. He warns that not many should aspire to be teachers because teachers’ lifestyles must reflect their teaching. Due to their place of authority and example, teachers will be judged severely.
In the Text 1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
■ 1 James asks those seeking this high position of leadership in the church to reconsider because they will come under stricter judgment (krima). The teacher instructs in doctrine and lifestyle, so what one says and how one lives will be judged both by God and by students.
“The precise meaning of krima here is difficult. Does it mean (. . .) that they are to be judged by a higher standard (. . .), or does it mean that they will be punished more severely”? If Jesus’ influence is primary in James’ thoughts, then Matt 23:13 and Luke 20:47 indicate that teachers will be more severely punished because they lead others astray and are more visibly hypocritical. But both aspects could be meant: teachers are held to a higher standard and will be more severely punished for failing to meet that standard.
■ 2 James includes himself among those who are not perfect: For in many things we all are stumbling. He specifically indicates that what we say is the most difficult area of our lives to control If anyone is not stumbling in a word, this man is mature [perfect], powerful enough to bridle also [his] whole body.
The descriptive adjective, teleios, means perfect, mature or complete. It indicates that something that “has reached its end, term, limit, hence, complete, wanting in nothing.” James introduced this root word first in 1:4 where he states his goal for his readers. He employs it again in 2:22 where to make the point that one’s faith is perfected by works.
This perfect man is dynatos, able, or powerful and strong. Such a one has the strength to bridle even his whole body. The verb and the noun for bridle are used only in James (1:26, 3:2-3) and Rev (14:20). The reference is specifically to horse bridles. The verb to bridle ties this section back to 1:26 and to the next passage (3:3) where James likens a horse’s bridle to what is necessary to control the tongue.
From the Text Those entrusted with leadership, interpretation of Scripture, and guiding God’s people possess a sacred trust and one for which they will be held accountable. Leadership in the church and in our educational institutions is for those who are spiritually, doctrinally, and educationally mature teleios, “perfect). Church leadership requires an informed faith as well as spiritual maturity and the ability to control one’s speech.
III. The Uncontrollable Tongue (3:3-6)
Behind the Text James chooses two examples of objects that were controlled by relatively small things. These comparisons and the proverb in v 5 about the small flame burning a whole forest were common sayings in the Hellenistic world. They are oral proverbs that James altered to add emphasis and understanding to what he says.
In the Text 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
■ 3 James says, But if [when] we are able to throw the bits (chalinous) of horses into [their] mouths with the result that they obey us and [or indeed] we are guiding their whole body (soma). The English term “bit” fits better here than “bridle” although the Greek uses only one term, chalinos, for both. The bit is put into the horse’s mouth and rests on the sensitive space between the horse’s teeth.
■ 4 James turns from large spirited horses to large ocean-going ships. Indeed [and or also] the ships, while being so large and while being driven by strong winds, are directed by a very small rudder where the desire of the one steering wants [to go]. The author has ocean-going boats in mind as he wants them to think about the largest boat they have seen. Here James emphasizes the relative sizes; the boat is so extremely large and the rudder is so extremely small.
■ 5 Likewise: Here James compares () the size of the tongue with the rudder of the boat. The comparison is inverted with the small tongue being what needs to be controlled: So also [or And so] the tongue is a small part [of the body] but [or and] it boasts great things. It is the tongue, this small part, that needs controlling because the consequences of what it says can be enormous.
The text says that the tongue boasts great things: “The phrase is here used in the sense not of an empty boast, but of a justified, though haughty, sense of importance.” Others point out that boasting is usually associated with sin. Here the thought drifts from the power of the tongue to the evil it can do, and then to the need to control it.
The comparison in the second half of v 5 begins with the same command: Consider or Look [idou] how a small flame is able to burn a forest [a lot of wood]. This is likely a common proverb as “the structure hēlikon . . . hēlikēn gives balance and symmetry to the expression.” Few disasters in the ancient world were more feared than fire, as the ancients possessed few resources to battle them, even in urban centers.
■ 6 And the fiery tongue becomes a world of wickedness in our members [melesin, parts of the body]. James ties in the example of the destructive flame that burns the whole forest with the power of the tongue.
The second part of this verse is a series of participles which describe the fiery tongue. A literal translation reads: the one corrupting the whole body and the one inflaming the [circular] course of the natural being and the one being inflamed by Gehenna IV. Praising and Cursing from the Same Tongue (3:7-12) In the Text 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.11Can both fresh water and salt[ \l "fen-NIV-30315a#fen-NIV-30315a" \o "See footnote a" a] water flow from the same spring?12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
■ 7 Every physis (specie) of wild animals (or all kinds of animals) has been tamed by the physis of humanity. James uses the word thēriōn (wild animals) rather than zōon, the word used for domesticated animals or the living creatures that stand before the throne of God (Rev 5:6-14). He emphasizes that humanity has tamed and was commanded to tame (Gen 1:28) the wild animals, but it cannot tame the tongue.
The terms for birds and reptiles are common in biblical Greek, but the word for marine animals (enaliōn) occurs only here. James stresses that although the taming of the wild animals is happening and has happened, no one has been able—in the past or the present—to tame the tongue. The control of the tongue has to come from some “cosmic force”, whether it is the fires of Gehenna, that is, Satan or God himself.
■ 8 In the last half of v 8 no one can tame the human tongue. In v 6 the tongue is a flame from hell that brings destruction to the person and the community. In this verse, James describes the tongue as another kind of evil, a restless evil, full of deadly poison: But no one is able to tame the human tongue [which is] an unstable, evil, full of death-bringing poison.
It is possible that James is referring to the double-minded (double-souled) person in James 1:8. But the unstable or restless evil may fit the context of the tongue being untamed and a raging fire, rather than referring to the double-minded person. But (de), a strong adversative, contrasts the ability of humans to control wild animals to their total incapacity to control the tongue. The taming of the tongue is something that only God can do. Augustine and Wesley agree.
■ 9 James moves from the destructive nature of the human tongue to its duplicity. With the same tongue we both bless God and curse humanity made in the image of God. James says, By this (unstable evil tongue, v 8) we are praising (our) Lord and Father and by this (unstable evil tongue, v 8) we are cursing people who have been made according to the likeness of God.
The word for praising (eulogoumen), sometimes translated “we bless” (NRSV), is what human beings do when they speak well of God or other people. It is commonly used to begin Jewish prayer: “Blessed are you Lord God . . . ”
Cursing (katarōmetha, we curse) is to wish ruin or evil things to happen to another person. James emphasizes that on one hand human beings are praising God and saying good things about him. On the other hand, they are wishing ruin on those who have been made in God’s image. Human beings reflect God on earth. Why would one both bless God and curse his image? The phrase made in God’s likeness (homoiōsin) is a reference to Gen 1:26-28 (LXX) where God created humanity according to our image (eikona) and likeness (homoiōsin).
■ 10 James addresses the issue of praise and cursing coming out of the same mouth with two examples from nature in vv 11-12. He concludes, Out of the same mouth is coming praising and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things ought not to happen in this way.
The impersonal verb used for ought (chrē, should), found only here in the NT, is used by Philo (first century Jewish philosopher) and other Hellenistic moralists to express the “moralist’s sense of outrage at ‘what ought not to be’.” Two conflicting actions, this duplicity, like the double-souled [dipsychos] person in 1:8, indicates something wrong with the person.
■ 11 James compares the mouth of a person to the opening of a spring from which water flows: Can a fountain from the same source (opening or hole) be gushing out both sweet and bitter [water]? No! Springs or fountains were known for the quality of their water. Some had sweet water and others had bitter water, but none would have sweet water some of the time and bitter water at other times.
The verb translated gushing out, conveys the idea of abundant water being forced out of an underground spring. Unlike a faucet, this water is coming out under no control.
The word for sweet (glyky, fresh) is from the same root where we get glucose, a basic sugar compound. It is used for sweet or fresh water as well as for the sweet of honey. The word for bitter (pikron) refers to water that is undrinkable. It may be salty (salt, NIV) or it may be heavy with other minerals (“brackish.” NRSV). It tastes so bad no one will drink it. It is also used metaphorically for bitterness in the heart or bitter jealousy.
■ 12 The negative mē in the rhetorical question expects a negative answer. My brothers and sisters, is a fig tree able to produce olives, or a grapevine, figs? No! Neither can a salty [spring] produce sweet (fresh) water. James alludes to Jesus’ teaching about grapes, trees, and their fruit in Matt 7:16-20. The good tree cannot bear bad fruit and vice versa. The tree bearing bad fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire! Thus, people like trees, are known by their fruits or visible actions.
This time James identifies the undrinkable water as salty (alykon) rather than bitter. As in v 11, the fruit of a plant reveals the true nature of the plant. Now the kind of water that flows from a spring indicates the kind of spring it is. So, by inference, what a person says and does reveals the true nature of the person.
From the Text This passage talks about the uselessness of trying to tame or cover-up what is at the core of a person. No matter how hard one tries to guard the tongue, one’s true nature will eventually be revealed by what is said. Everything in nature produces what it naturally is. A spring will always produce the same kind of water. Fig trees will always produce figs and an olive tree, olives.
For people to be godly, they have to be changed at the core of who they are. Godly people will say godly things and do righteous actions. Ungodly people will say ungodly things and do unrighteous actions. Christians are not to judge each another, but one can see from their words and actions what kind of people they are.
Conclusion
We close with a few scattered quotations from Nouwen’s chapter on “Silence”:
Silence is an indispensable discipline in the spiritual life. . . . Clearly silence is a discipline needed in many different situations: in teaching and learning, in preaching and worship, in visiting and counseling (44).
Silence is the home of the word. Silence gives strength and fruitfulness to the word. We can even say that words are meant to disclose the mystery of the silence from which they come (48).
. . . how often we come out of a conversation, a discussion, a social gathering, or a business meeting with a bad taste in our mouth. . . . We speak about people and their ways, but how often do our words do them or us any good? . . . Words often leave us with a sense of inner defeat, . . . a sense of numbness? (52-52).
Silence Guards The Fire Within. . . This inner heat is the life of the Holy Spirit within us. Thus, silence is the discipline by which the inner fire of God is tended and kept alive. . . . Often we come home from a sharing session with a feeling that something precious has been taken away from us or that holy ground has been trodden upon (52-54).
[S]ilence reveals itself as the mystery of the future world . . . by teaching us to speak. A word with power is a word that comes out of silence. . . . It is a word that reminds us of the silence from which it comes and leads us back to that silence (56).
Here we can glimpse the great mystery in which we participate through silence and the Word, the mystery of God’s own speaking. Out of his eternal silence God spoke the Word, and through this Word created and recreated the world. . . . Then, in the fullness of time, God’s Word, through whom all had been created, became flesh and gave power to all who believe to become the children of God. In all this, the Word of God does not break the silence of God, but rather unfolds the immeasurable richness of his silence (56-57).
Words can only create communion and thus new life when they embody the silence from which they emerge. As soon as we begin to take hold of each other by our words, and use words to defend ourselves or offend others, the word no longer speaks of silence. But when the word calls forth the healing and restoring stillness of its own silence, few words are needed (57).
A closed mouth gathers no feet!
C. Jeanne Orjala Serrão, James: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City), unpublished manuscript. In our study we rely on and quote her extensively with many emissions and some changes in wording. Note the different type. Greeting 1:1 Introduction 1:2-27: James’ Opening Statement on the Christian Life Exposition: 2:1-5:20 Partiality and the law of love: 2:1-13 Faith and Actions: 2:14-26 The Tongue Reveals One’s True Nature: 3:1-12 1, Teachers are judged more strictly (3:1-2) 2. The uncontrollable tongue (3:3-6) 3, Praising and cursing from the same tongue (3:7-12) Earthly and Heavenly Wisdom: 3:13-18 The Double-minded must Humble Themselves: 4:1-10 Do not Judge your Neighbor: 4:11-12 Do not Boast about Tomorrow: 4:13-17 Warning to the Corrupt Rich: 5:1-6 Patience in Suffering: 5:7-11 The Simple “Yes” and “No”: 5:12 Prayer Offered in Faith: 5:13-18 Turning back the Wanderer: 5:19-20 James 3:6 NRSV. James 1:19, NRSV. One way of analyzing James that has been suggested (Wall) is to see a beginning a thesis statement (1:2-21) and a concluding exhortations (5:7-20). The main body of James, then could consists of three essays (chs 2, 3, 4) on “wisdom from above” which the James summarizes in 1:19. NRSV. Normally, however, since the New Beacon Bible Commentary is based on the NIV, our quotations will follow it unless otherwise indicated. Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry (New York: The Seabury Press, 1981), 43-44. Nowen’s source is Benedicta Ward, trans., The Sayings of the Fathers (London & Oxford: Mowbrays, 1975), 69.
Gregory the Great’s (A.D. 540-604), The Life of Saint Benedict: Patriarch of the Western Monks, tran. P. Aurelius McMahon, O. S. B. (John Murphy & Co., 1880), 144-145. Bold type is mine.
Others he suggested are: Letting people “know” that you “know” when it serves no purpose but that of our own ego; reminding people that you have something on them; and speaking for others when we should direct folks to go talk to the others. “So what is so and so thinking?” Our response should probably be, “Go ask them.” _____
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