Kretzmann's Popular Commentary
James 3:5
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Verse James 3:5. _BOASTETH GREAT THINGS._] That is, _can do great_ _things_, whether of a _good_ or _evil_ kind. He seems to refer here to the powerful and all commanding eloquence of the Greek orator...
EVEN SO THE TONGUE IS A LITTLE MEMBER - Little compared with the body, as the bit or the rudder is, compared with the horse or the ship. AND BOASTETH GREAT THINGS - The design of the apostle is to ill...
III. THE EVILS OF THE TONGUE CORRECTED CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The tongue and its work (James 3:1)_ 2. The wisdom which is earthly and the wisdom that is from above (James 3:13) James 3:1 The practical cha...
Do not crowd into the ranks of the teachers, my brothers. You know that we teachers shall be judged more severely than other men; and there are many things in which all of us stumble. This leads to th...
THE TEACHER'S PERIL (James 3:1) _ 3:1 My brothers, it is a mistake for many of you to become teachers, for you must be well aware that those of us who teach will receive a greater condemnation._ In...
If we put bits into horses' mouths to make them obedient to us, we can control the direction of their whole body as well. Look at ships, too. See how large they are and how they are driven by rough wi...
BOASTETH. Greek. _aucheo._ Only here. GREAT, &C.. much wood. Greek. _hule_. Only here. A LITTLE. how little a. KINDLETH. See Acts 28:2....
_and boasteth great things_ The Greek verb is a compound word, which does not occur elsewhere, but is used not unfrequently by Philo. The fact is not without interest, as indicating, together with the...
2–12. FROM THIS THOUGHT OF THE TEACHING OFFICE AND ITS RESPONSIBILITIES AND FAILURES THERE IS A NATURAL TRANSITION TO THE USE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE TONGUE. Yet so passionate and agitated is the rebuk...
ΜΕΓΆΛΑ ΑΥ̓ΧΕΙ͂ with ABC*P; μεγαλαυχεῖ in אC2KL and later MSS. ἡλίκον, for ὀλίγον of T.R., with אA2BCP; ὀλίγον, a change to an easier reading, has a good deal of later support, A*vidC2KL &c. 5. ΜΕΓΆΛΑ...
_CAREFUL ABOUT CONTROL -- JAMES 3:2-6:_ The fact that all teachers are prone to speak error is one of the main reason why men were cautioned about seeking to be a teacher. Mistakes in teaching not onl...
ΟΎΤΩΣ (G3779) так, следовательно. Это слово ведет нас к применению двух примеров. ΓΛΏΣΣΑ (G1100) язык, ΜΙΚΡΌΣ (G3398) маленький. ΜΈΛΟΣ (G3196) член, ΜΕΓΆΛΑ _пот. pl. от_ ΜΈΓΑΣ (G3173) большой, бол...
AND BOASTETH GREAT THINGS— Though the word μεγαλαυχειν signifies in general _to boast great things;_ yet here, to answer the two preceding comparisons, it must signify that the tongue, though a small...
A BIG THING IN A LITTLE PACKAGE _Text 3:3-5a_ James 3:3. Now if we put the horses bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. James 3:4. Behold, the ships...
WILD AND UNCONTROLLED _Text 3:5b-8_ 5b. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! 6. And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth th...
_FOURTEEN THREE-PART SERMON STARTERS_ PROFESSIONAL WRECKERS James 3:1-5 1. Every man has a tendency to wreak havoc James 3:2. 2. A very small crow-bar can wreck a big house James 3:3-4. 3. The t...
CHAPTER VI _THE FOOLISH TEACHER_ James 3:1-12 _Introduction_ In James 1:16; James 1:26 James said Be swift to hear, slow to speak. In a sense, the balance of chapter one develops the thought of how...
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! BOASTETH GREAT THINGS. What the careless think 'little,' is often of great mome...
VERSE 5. EVEN SO THE TONGUE IS A LITTLE MEMBER. Now the apostle begins his application of the thoughts advanced in his comparisons of the bit in the horse's mouth and the ship controlled by the helm....
20 The case of Abraham is most helpful in further defining the distinct viewpoints of Paul and James. The former refers us to the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, the latter to the twenty-second. In the...
3:5 wood (a-21) i.e. a forest. But some regard the expression as meaning 'materials.'...
Great power is exercised by small things like a horse's bridle and a rudder. So also the tongue, although small, is very powerful, and generally for evil rather than for good. HOW GREAT A MATTER] bett...
THE CONTROL OF THE TONGUE 1, 2. Warning against undue eagerness to teach: cp. Matthew 12:37; Matthew 23:7; Romans 2:19; 1 Corinth
WHAT *FAITH SHOULD DO JAMES _IAN MACKERVOY_ The word list at the end explains words with a *star by them. CHAPTER 3 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER 3:1-5A V1 My Christian brothers and sisters,...
EVEN SO... — _Thus_, like the tiny rudder of the mighty ship, whereon its course most critically depends — _the tongue is a little member;_ for it “vaunts great words which bring about great acts of m...
CHAPTER 14 HEAVY RESPONSIBILITIES OF TEACHERS-THE POWERS AND PROPENSITIES OF THE TONGUE-THE SELF-DEFILEMENT OF THE RECKLESS TALKER. James 3:1 FROM the "idle faith" St. James goes on to speak of the...
ἡ γλῶσσα …; For this idea of the independent action of a member of the body taken as though personality were attached to it see Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 15:19; it is quite in the Hebrew style, _cf._ i...
James 3:1-18 form a self-contained section; the subject dealt with is the bridling of the tongue, see above James 1:19; James 1:26-27....
BRIDLE THE TONGUE James 3:1 It is much easier to teach people what they should be and do than to obey our own precepts. Even the best of us stumble in many respects; but our most frequent failures ar...
The writer now proceeded to show the effect of faith on speech. Beginning with the warning against every man setting up to teach, he proceeded to deal with the power of speech. He likened the tongue t...
LITTLE, BUT POWERFUL We all continually trip or slip into wrong actions. Thankfully, Christ's blood continually cleanses (1 John 1:7-9). The most common sins must be those of the tongue because James...
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. (5) Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (5) On the contrary part he shows how great inconveniences arise by the excess...
The tongue is indeed a little member, yet doth great things: [2] causeth great evils and mischiefs, when it is not carefully governed; as a little fire, [3] it kindleth and consumeth a great wood. It...
[BIBLIOGRAPHY] Et magna exaltat, _Greek: megalauchei; which is not only magnifice loqui et gloriari, but also magna facere._ [BIBLIOGRAPHY] Quantus ignis, for quantulus by the Greek, _Greek: oligon...
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (2) For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also...
To the reader who enters on the consideration of the epistle of James from the epistles of Paul, the change is great and sudden, and by no means least of all from the epistle to the Hebrews, which, in...
_GUARDING OUR WORDS_ ‘Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth.’ James 3:5 St. James is nothing if not practical, and in this chapter (James 3:5) he warns us of the evil of an unguarded to...
_And boasteth great things_. The verb μεγαλαυχεῖν means to boast one’s self, or to vaunt. But James in this passage did not intend to reprove ostentation so much as to show that the tongue is the doer...
In Chapter 3 the apostle recurs to the tongue, the most ready index to the heart, the proof whether the new man is inaction, whether nature and self-will are under restraint. But there is hardly anyth...
EVEN SO THE TONGUE IS A LITTLE MEMBER,.... Like the bit in the horse's mouth, or like the helm of a ship. AND BOASTETH GREAT THINGS: and does them; for this word may be taken in a good sense: a bridl...
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! Ver. 5. _Boasteth great things_] Gr. μεγαλαυχει. It doth magnifically lift up itse...
_Behold_, &c. As if the apostle had said, Think not the tongue a weak member because it is small; _we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may obey us_ May go as we direct them; _and_, strong, and...
As everlasting consequences depend upon the use of the tongue, all, and especially ministers of the gospel, should earnestly pray that they may always so speak as shall tend most to honor God and bene...
Here we begin a fourth division of the book, which continues to the end of Ch.4; in which our walk is tested by the circumstances of the world. Certainly in the previous Chapter s there is emphasis al...
What is the meaning of the word “tongue” in this chapter? The tongue (as used here) is: a) a muscle in the mouth; b) a language (English or Spanish, for example); c) the words uttered What does it tak...
A MATTER: Or, wood...
DANGERS OF THE TONGUE James 3:5 "So also the tongue is. small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great. forest is set aflame by such. small fire!"So also the tongue" -Sma...
1-12 We are taught to dread an unruly tongue, as one of the greatest evils. The affairs of mankind are thrown into confusion by the tongues of men. Every age of the world, and every condition of life...
The accommodation of the former similitudes. THE TONGUE IS A LITTLE MEMBER, i.e. one of the lesser, in comparison of the body. AND BOASTETH GREAT THINGS; the Greek word signifies, according to its der...
James 3:5 Even G2532 so G3779 tongue G1100 is G2076 (G5748) little G3398 member G3196 and G2532 things...
‘So the tongue also is a little member, and boasts great things. See, how great a an area of brushwood is kindled by how small a fire!' He now brings their thoughts back to the tongue. The ‘small' rud...
James 3:5. EVEN SO. Now follows the application of the two illustrations. If we rule our tongues, we govern the whole man; for the tongue is to the man what the bit is to the horse, or the helm to the...
A LITTLE MEMBER (μικρον μελος). Μελος is old and common word for members of the human body (1 Corinthians 12:12; Romans 6:13, etc.).BOASTETH GREAT THINGS (μεγαλα αυχε). Present active indicative o...
CONTENTS: Control of the tongue. CHARACTERS: God, James. CONCLUSION: The Christian who is not affected by the sins of the tongue but takes care to avoid them, has an undoubted sign of true grace. Th...
James 3:1. _Be not many masters:_ διδασκαλοι, teachers. In some assemblies they might all prophesy one by one, but no man should be too forward; he will never shine as a teacher, unless he _be_ a teac...
SO IT IS. "Even though the tongue is small, it can control us, just like the bit controls the horse or the rudder controls the ship." IT CAN BOAST. _Mayor_ says: "There is no idea of vain boasting, th...
JAMES—NOTE ON JAMES 3:5 The TONGUE, one of the smaller parts of the body, is like the bit or rudder (vv. James 3:3). It has a similar control over a person....
JAMES—NOTE ON JAMES 3:1 The Sin of Dissension in the Community. This section is the longest in the letter. It discusses the problems people cause with their speech (James 3:1;...
_CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES_ James 3:5. A MATTER.—Better, “a forest.” The picture presented is of the wrapping of some vast forest in a flame by the falling of a single spark. _Philo_ uses the same...
EXPOSITION JAMES 3:1 WARNING AGAINST OVER-READINESS TO TEACH, LEADING TO A DISCOURSE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT OF
Let's turn to James chapter three. James first of all warns against a desire to teach the Word of God that would stem or emanate just from your own desire to be in front of people or whatever. My bre...
2 Kings 19:22; 2 Peter 2:18; Daniel 3:15; Daniel 4:30; Exodus 15:9;...
Boasteth great things [μ ε γ α λ α υ χ ε ι]. The best texts separate the compound, and read megala aujcei, of course with the same meaning. Aujcei, boasteth, only here in New Testament. How great a ma...
Boasteth great things — Hath great influence....