The Power and Danger of the Tongue
James 3:1-12
Jas.3.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Μη: PART
- πολλοι: ADJ,nom,pl,m
- διδασκαλοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- γινεσθε: VERB,pres,mid/pass,imp,2,pl
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- ειδοτες: PTCP,perf,act,nom,pl,m
- οτι: CONJ
- μειζον: ADJ,nom,sg,neut,comp
- κριμα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- λημψομεθα·: VERB,fut,mid,ind,1,pl
Parallels
- Luke 12:48 (thematic): States the principle that to whom much is given much will be required—paralleling James’ warning that those who teach (with greater responsibility) will face stricter judgment.
- Hebrews 13:17 (structural): Instructs congregants to obey leaders because they must give account for souls—echoing James’ concern that teachers carry special accountability before God.
- Matthew 23:4 (thematic): Jesus condemns scribal/teaching leaders who impose heavy burdens and act hypocritically—relates to James’ caution about the serious responsibility and judgment facing teachers.
- Mark 9:42 (thematic): Warns that causing a ‘little one’ to sin brings severe punishment—illustrates the heightened consequences for those whose words or actions lead others astray, a key concern behind James’ admonition to prospective teachers.
- 1 Timothy 3:2 (thematic): Lists the requirement that an overseer be ‘able to teach’ and above reproach—underscoring the special moral and doctrinal responsibility attached to those who teach, which justifies stricter scrutiny.
Alternative generated candidates
- Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we will receive the stricter judgment.
- Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Jas.3.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- πολλα: ADJ,acc,pl,n
- γαρ: PART
- πταιομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- απαντες: ADJ,nom,pl,m
- ει: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- τις: PRON,nom,sg,?
- εν: PREP
- λογω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- ου: PART,neg
- πταιει: VERB,pres,act,subj,3,sg
- ουτος: PRON,nom,sg,m
- τελειος: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- ανηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- δυνατος: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- χαλιναγωγησαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- και: CONJ
- ολον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- σωμα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
Parallels
- James 1:26 (verbal): Direct internal parallel in the same epistle: both verses link true religion/maturity with control of the tongue and warn that uncontrolled speech undermines spiritual standing.
- Proverbs 21:23 (verbal): Wisdom tradition connecting guarded speech with preservation: 'Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble,' echoing James's stress on bridleing the tongue to control the whole person.
- Matthew 12:36-37 (thematic): Jesus teaches that people will give account for every idle word and that words reveal moral standing—parallel to James's claim that mastery of speech indicates maturity and control of the whole body.
- Proverbs 25:28 (thematic): The image of a person without self-control as a defenseless city corresponds to James's idea that one who can bridle the tongue (a mark of self-control) can govern the whole body.
- Galatians 5:22-23 (thematic): Self-control is named a fruit of the Spirit and a mark of Christian maturity, resonating with James's linkage of perfected character to the ability to restrain speech and the body.
Alternative generated candidates
- For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature person capable of bridle the whole body also.
- For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect person able also to bridle his whole body.
Jas.3.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ει: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,sg
- δε: CONJ
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- ιππων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- χαλινους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- εις: PREP
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- στοματα: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- βαλλομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- εις: PREP
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- πειθεσθαι: VERB,pres,mid/pass,inf
- αυτους: PRON,acc,pl,m
- ημιν: PRON,dat,pl,1
- και: CONJ
- ολον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- σωμα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- αυτων: PRON,gen,pl,m
- μεταγομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
Parallels
- James 3:4 (structural): Immediate parallel in the same paragraph: uses another small control (the ship's rudder) to show how a small part directs a large whole—same rhetorical point about controlling power (here, of the tongue).
- Psalm 39:1 (verbal): Uses bridle/bit imagery for restraining speech: 'I will guard my mouth with a bridle'—a close verbal/imagistic parallel about disciplining the lips. (Hebrew psalm often cited with this image.)
- Proverbs 25:28 (thematic): Compares lack of self-control to a city without walls—thematic parallel about the need for self-discipline (including control of speech) to prevent ruin.
- Psalm 141:3 (thematic): Prayer for a guard over the mouth: thematically links to the need to restrain speech and to direct the whole person by guarding words.
- Matthew 12:36-37 (thematic): Jesus' warning that people will give account for every idle word connects the Jamesan concern for the tongue's power and the consequences of uncontrolled speech.
Alternative generated candidates
- If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole body.
- If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies.
Jas.3.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ιδου: PART
- και: CONJ
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- πλοια: NOUN,nom,pl,n
- τηλικαυτα: ADJ,nom,pl,n
- οντα: PART,pres,act,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- υπο: PREP
- ανεμων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- σκληρων: ADJ,gen,pl,m
- ελαυνομενα: VERB,pres,pass,ptc,nom,pl,n
- μεταγεται: VERB,pres,pass,ind,3,sg
- υπο: PREP
- ελαχιστου: ADJ,gen,sg,n
- πηδαλιου: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- οπου: ADV,rel
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- ορμη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ευθυνοντος: VERB,pres,act,ptc,gen,sg,m
- βουλεται·: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- James 3:3 (verbal): Uses the closely related image of the bit in a horse's mouth to show how a small instrument controls a large animal—parallel logic and verbal framing within the same argument about taming with small means.
- James 3:5 (thematic): Continues the same theme that a small thing (the tongue / a little member) can have great influence, comparable to the small rudder controlling a large ship.
- Psalm 107:23-30 (thematic): Describes ships caught in fierce winds and God calming the storm and guiding the sailors—similar maritime imagery of violent winds and human (or divine) control of ships.
- Luke 8:24-25 (cf. Matthew 8:24-26) (thematic): Jesus calms a storm and rebukes the wind and waves, illustrating mastery over violent winds—parallels the James motif of directing a ship amid storms, emphasizing control over chaotic forces.
Alternative generated candidates
- Look at ships: though they are large and driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot chooses.
- Look at the ships: though they are so large and driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot's will desires.
Jas.3.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ουτως: ADV
- και: CONJ
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- γλωσσα: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- μικρον: ADV
- μελος: NOUN,nom,sg,n
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- μεγαλα: ADJ,nom,pl,n
- αυχει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- Ιδου: PART
- ηλικον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- πυρ: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- ηλικην: ADJ,acc,sg,f
- υλην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- αναπτει·: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- James 3:6 (structural): Immediate continuation in the same context: expands the fire imagery, describing the tongue as a world-setting fire and linking small organ to great destruction.
- Matthew 12:36-37 (thematic): Jesus warns that people will give account for every idle word; parallels the moral accountability and destructive power of speech.
- Proverbs 18:21 (thematic): Affirms the decisive power of the tongue—'death and life are in the power of the tongue'—echoing James' point that a small member can cause great harm.
- Romans 3:13 (verbal): Uses vivid metaphors for harmful speech ('their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they keep deceiving'), resonating with James' depiction of the tongue's destructive potential.
Alternative generated candidates
- So also the tongue is a small member yet boasts of great things. Consider how great a forest is set ablaze by a small spark.
- So too the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
Jas.3.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- γλωσσα: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- πυρ: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- κοσμος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- αδικιας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- γλωσσα: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- καθισταται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
- εν: PREP
- τοις: ART,dat,pl,n
- μελεσιν: NOUN,dat,pl,n
- ημων: PRON,gen,pl,1
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- σπιλουσα: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,sg,f
- ολον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- σωμα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- και: CONJ
- φλογιζουσα: VERB,pres,act,part,nom,sg,f
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- τροχον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- γενεσεως: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- φλογιζομενη: VERB,pres,mid,part,nom,sg,f
- υπο: PREP
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- γεεννης: NOUN,gen,sg,f
Parallels
- Proverbs 18:21 (thematic): Affirms the tongue's power to bring life or death—parallel to James' emphasis on the tongue as a destructive, world-affecting force.
- Proverbs 26:20-21 (verbal): Uses fire imagery linked to human speech/strife (“as wood to the fire”) resonating with James' depiction of the tongue setting the course of life on fire.
- Matthew 15:11, 18-20 (thematic): Jesus teaches that what comes out of the mouth defiles a person—echoing James' claim that the tongue can defile the whole body.
- Matthew 12:36-37 (thematic): Stresses accountability for every idle word and the decisive consequences of speech, paralleling James' concern about the tongue's destructive and judgment-linked power.
- Romans 3:13-14 (cf. Psalm 140:3) (allusion): Catalogue of corrupt tongue-imagery (throat an open grave, poison under lips) closely parallels James' language about the tongue's corruption and harmful effects.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the tongue is a fire; it is the world of unrighteousness among our members. It defiles the whole body, sets the wheel of life ablaze, and itself is set on fire by hell.
- And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. It is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting the course of life on fire, and itself set on fire by hell.
Jas.3.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- πασα: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- γαρ: PART
- φυσις: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- θηριων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- τε: CONJ
- και: CONJ
- πετεινων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- ερπετων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- τε: CONJ
- και: CONJ
- εναλιων: NOUN,gen,pl,n
- δαμαζεται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- δεδαμασται: VERB,perf,pass,ind,3,sg
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- φυσει: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- ανθρωπινη·: ADJ,dat,sg,f
Parallels
- Genesis 1:26-28 (thematic): God grants humanity dominion over fish, birds and all living creatures—background idea of human rule or mastery over animals reflected in James’ claim that beasts, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are tamed by human nature.
- Psalm 8:6-8 (verbal): Speaks of putting 'all things' under human feet and explicitly lists flocks, beasts, birds and fish—close verbal and thematic parallel to James’ catalog of animal groups subject to humans.
- Genesis 9:2 (thematic): After the Flood God says 'the fear and dread of you shall be upon every beast... they are given into your hand,' which echoes the idea that animals are subject to or 'tamed' by humans.
- Proverbs 30:24-28 (verbal): A series of small creatures are noted for being captured or handled by humans (e.g., the lizard taken by hands), paralleling James’ observation that various kinds of animals are tamed or handled by people.
- Job 38–39 (esp. Job 39) (thematic): God’s speeches catalogue wild animals that defy human control (e.g., mountain goats, ostrich, wild ox), providing a thematic contrast to James’ assertion and highlighting the unusual claim that every kind of animal is tamed by human nature.
Alternative generated candidates
- For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
- For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind.
Jas.3.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- δε: CONJ
- γλωσσαν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- ουδεις: PRON,nom,sg,m
- δαμασαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- δυναται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
- ανθρωπων·ακαταστατον: NOUN,gen,pl,m+ADJ,acc,sg,n
- κακον: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- μεστη: ADJ,acc,sg,f
- ιου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- θανατηφορου: ADJ,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- James 1:26 (structural): Same letter and theme: religion is worthless if one does not bridle the tongue—connects directly to the claim that no person can tame the tongue.
- Proverbs 18:21 (thematic): ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’—shares the theme that speech has deadly/destructive power.
- Psalm 140:3 (verbal): Speaks of tongues sharpened like serpents and the poison of vipers under the lips—closely echoes James’ image of the tongue as full of deadly poison.
- Matthew 12:36–37 (thematic): Jesus warns that people will give account for every idle word and that words reveal the heart—links the moral accountability and destructive potential of speech.
Alternative generated candidates
- but no human being can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
- But no human being can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Jas.3.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εν: PREP
- αυτη: PRON,dat,sg,f
- ευλογουμεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- κυριον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- πατερα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- εν: PREP
- αυτη: PRON,dat,sg,f
- καταρωμεθα: VERB,pres,mid,ind,1,pl
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- ανθρωπους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- καθ᾽ομοιωσιν: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- γεγονοτας·: PART,perf,act,acc,pl,m
Parallels
- Genesis 1:27 (thematic): Affirms that human beings are made in the image/likeness of God, the very status James invokes when noting that to curse people is to curse those 'made after the likeness of God.'
- Matthew 12:34-37 (verbal): Jesus links the mouth to the heart and teaches that people will be judged by their words—parallel to James’s focus on the tongue’s power to bless or curse and its moral significance.
- 1 Peter 3:9 (thematic): Commands believers not to repay evil with reviling but to bless instead—echoing James’s contrast between blessing God and cursing those made in God’s likeness.
- Proverbs 18:21 (thematic): States that 'death and life are in the power of the tongue,' resonating with James’s emphasis on the tongue’s destructive and beneficial potential (blessing vs. cursing).
- Romans 2:21-24 (thematic): Critiques hypocrisy that leads others to blaspheme God’s name—comparable to James’s indictment of speech that dishonors people created in God's image and thereby dishonors God.
Alternative generated candidates
- With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
- With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Jas.3.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- εκ: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- στοματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- εξερχεται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
- ευλογια: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- καταρα: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- ου: PART,neg
- χρη: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- ταυτα: PRON,acc,pl,n
- ουτως: ADV
- γινεσθαι: VERB,pres,mid,inf
Parallels
- Matt.12:34-37 (thematic): Jesus links speech to the heart and warns that words will justify or condemn—parallels James' concern over inconsistent blessing and cursing from one mouth.
- Luke 6:45 (verbal): Explicitly states 'out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks,' connecting inner source and spoken blessing/curse as in James 3:10.
- Prov.15:4 (thematic): Contrasts a life-giving gentle tongue with a perverse tongue that breaks the spirit—an Old Testament analogue to blessing versus cursing from the same mouth.
- Jas.1:26 (structural): An internal James parallel: true religion is tested by bridling the tongue, addressing the same moral problem of inconsistent speech.
- Jas.3:11-12 (structural): Immediate context in James: images of a spring not producing both fresh and bitter water, reinforcing that mouths should not issue both blessing and cursing.
Alternative generated candidates
- From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
- From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Jas.3.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- μητι: PART
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- πηγη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εκ: PREP
- της: ART,gen,sg,f
- αυτης: PRO,gen,sg,f
- οπης: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- βρυει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- γλυκυ: ADJ,nom,sg,n
- και: CONJ
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- πικρον: ADJ,nom,sg,n
Parallels
- James 3:9-10 (structural): Immediate context: both verses highlight the paradox of blessing and cursing from the same mouth, developing the spring/speech metaphor.
- Matthew 7:17-18 (thematic): Jesus' good-tree/bad-tree and good-fruit/bad-fruit saying parallels the idea that one source cannot produce both wholesome and harmful outcomes (applied to speech).
- Luke 6:43-45 (thematic): Parallel teaching to Matthew linking inner character (heart) with speech/fruit — like a spring producing consistent water, the mouth reveals the heart.
- Proverbs 10:11 (verbal): 'The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life' uses spring/fountain imagery for speech, echoing James' contrast of sweet and bitter waters.
- Proverbs 15:4 (thematic): Contrasts a healing/wholesome tongue with perverseness; thematically parallels James' concern about speech producing either good or harm.
Alternative generated candidates
- Does a spring send forth sweet and bitter from the same opening?
- Does a spring pour forth fresh and bitter water from the same opening?
Jas.3.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- μη: PART
- δυναται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- συκη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- ελαιας: NOUN,gen,sg,f
- ποιησαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- αμπελος: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- συκα: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- ουτε: CONJ
- αλυκον: ADJ,acc,sg,n
- γλυκυ: ADJ,nom,sg,n
- ποιησαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- υδωρ: NOUN,acc,sg,n
Parallels
- Matthew 7:16-20 (verbal): Uses the 'trees and fruit' motif to judge true character—'you will know them by their fruits'—parallel to James' appeal to incompatible fruit (figs vs olives) as evidence of inconsistency.
- Luke 6:43-45 (verbal): Similar teaching that a tree is known by its fruit and that good/evil speech flows from the heart, echoing James' point about the tongue not producing both blessing and cursing.
- Mark 11:12-14 (allusion): The fig tree that fails to bear fruit functions as an image of expected but absent fruitfulness—an implicit background for James' rhetorical question about trees producing the wrong fruit.
- Matthew 21:18-19 (structural): Jesus' cursing of the barren fig tree (it withers) highlights the moral/eschatological expectation that a tree should produce its proper fruit, reinforcing James' contrast of incompatible outcomes.
- Galatians 5:22-23 (thematic): Lists 'fruit of the Spirit' as consistent moral character; thematically contrasts with the disordered, self-contradictory behavior James criticizes (inconsistent speech and life).
Alternative generated candidates
- Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can a salt spring yield fresh water.
- Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a vine figs? Neither can a salt spring yield fresh water.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect person, able also to bridle the whole body.
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole body.
Consider ships: though they are large and driven by strong winds, yet they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue, among our members, defiles the whole body, sets on fire the course of life, and is itself set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by human beings. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
Can a fig tree bear olives, my brothers, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring yield fresh water.