_WE ARE NOT RASHLY OR ARROGANTLY TO REPROVE OTHERS: BUT RATHER TO BRIDLE THE TONGUE; A LITTLE MEMBER, BUT A POWERFUL INSTRUMENT OF MUCH GOOD, AND GREAT HARM. THEY WHO ARE TRULY WISE, ARE MILD, AND PEACEABLE, WITHOUT ENVYING, AND STRIFE._ _Anno Domini 60._ FROM the writings of St. Paul, but especia... [ Continue Reading ]
BE NOT MANY MASTERS— _Many teachers._ The word Διδασκαλος among the Jews, commonly signified the same with _Rabbi,_ a title of which the Scribes and Pharisees were exceedingly fond, as it signifies frequently the head of a sect, or author of a doctrine, Matthew 23:7. But in _that_ sense no Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IN MANY THINGS WE OFFEND ALL, &C.— "The many infirmities, to which the best of us are subject, may indeed teach us to think with awe of that exact trial which we are to undergo on the great day, and induce us to fly to the only refuge of sinners, the Blood of the covenant; _for in many things we... [ Continue Reading ]
WHITHERSOEVER THE GOVERNOR LISTETH— _Whithersoever the action of the pilot directs._ Heylin. _Whithersoever the steersman pleaseth._ Doddridge; who remarks, "I know not how to express in English the force of 'Ορμη του ευθυνοντος, which, admirably represents the _impetuosity_ with which, in a storm,... [ Continue Reading ]
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 member, _can do great things;_ just as a small bridle can curb a great horse, and a small helm steer... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE TONGUE, &C.— St. James seems to have called the tongue of man _a world of iniquity,_ in the same sense that we say "a world of riches,"—"a sea of trouble,"—"an ocean of delights." So Milton, in his Paradise Lost, speaks of "an universe of death," and "a world of woe." The word rendered _cour... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVERY KIND OF BEASTS, &C.— Instead of _serpents,_ in this verse, some read _creeping things._ Dr. Doddridge renders it _reptiles._ Good men have through Divine grace governed their own tongues: otherwise their _religion_ would have been in _vain;_ ch. James 1:26. The comparisons mentioned in the... [ Continue Reading ]
OUT OF THE SAME MOUTH PROCEEDETH, &C.— So that "out of one and the same mouth come forth blessings and praises in one mood, and curses in another. Certainly, my Christian brethren, these contrary uses of the same tongue are monstrously incongruous and absurd; and ought, by no means, to have any plac... [ Continue Reading ]
SO CAN NO FOUNTAIN BOTH YIELD, &C.— "Full as inconsistent is it to suppose, that a man's heart, the fountain whence all his words proceed, should habitually vent itself in ways of talking, which are of as directly contrary a nature, as the salt water of the sea, and the sweet water of the finest spr... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS A WISE MAN, &C.— "Who is there then among you, that would approve himself to be wise towards God, and for himself and others; prudent in his conduct; and endued with the true knowledge of God, of Christ, and of himself; and withaspiritualdiscernmentoftheabsurdityandself-contradictionoftheseth... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF YE HAVE BITTER ENVYING, &C.— "But if ye have bitter zeal against each other, and uncharitable contention in your hearts, boast not of your improvements in Christianity, and lie not against the truth by such groundless pretensions.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS WISDOM DESCENDETH NOT FROM ABOVE, &C.— "For, whatever pretences such a person may make, (James 3:14.) to a greater knowledge, or a sounder faith than others, this fierce zeal and love of strife is not the wisdom which descends from heaven; but it is produced upon earth, arising from a excessive... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS SOWN IN PEACE— "The word σπειρεται, rendered _is sown,_ imports, says Parkhurst, the labour, attention, or pains employed upon any thing, whence are produced fruits or effects good or bad:" in which sense it must be understood in this place; as _to sow fruit_ does not a... [ Continue Reading ]