without hypocrisy; either with respect to God or man; not making show of that which they have not, or do not intend. The one was the most admirable submission to God with unqualified confidence in Himself, even when one could not see how His sure promise could stand, but sure it would. (b) In Christian thought eleos ( G1656) means mercy which issues in good fruits, that is, which issues in practical help. WebBiblical Commentary (Bible Study) James 3:1-12 EXEGESIS: THE CONTEXT: James seems to be moving in a very different direction after his discourse on works, which concluded, faith apart from works is dead (2:14-26). 3 Arrogance was the besetting sin of the Rabbis. Christian pity is not merely an emotion; it is action. Boasteth great things. Envying is first and excites strife; strife endeavours to excuse itself by vain-glorying and lying; and then (James 3:16; James 3:16) hereupon ensue confusion and every evil work. Without partiality . It is plain that we find ourselves throughout on the practical side of the manifestation by life. Hence, if a man be wise, the question arises, how is it to be proved? Encore une Commentaire Biblique de Adam Clarke. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Amplified If we set bits in the horses mouths to make them obey The passage speaks of practice, not of doctrine. 13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? In this sense the phrase very nearly means the wheel of fortune, always changing and always variable. We have to remember that the danger is not only in what may be breathed in private; but, adds he, James 3:1-18; James 3:1-18 "Be not many masters," that is, in the sense of teachers "knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." No more is meant here than that, being happy, he is to give vent to his joy in the praise of the Lord. Wednesday Night Bible Study at Waco First Assembly on April Teaching the Word of God is an awesome responsibility, The body (soma, G4983) is our physical flesh and blood; the soul (psuche, G5590) is the physical life which we share with the beasts; the spirit (pneuma, G4151) is that which man alone possesses, which differentiates him from the beasts, which makes him a rational creature and kin to God. And what was Rahab's act but treason against her country and her king? To bring about peace, we must rid ourselves of hate, suspicion, and fear and replace them with love, patience, and understanding. He does call for works, and is not content simply with faith, but the works he produces are works that owe all their value to faith. It regards its opponents as enemies to be annihilated rather than as friends to be persuaded. Thus there is often a great deal of importance even in the way in which a truth is stated. 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 the arrangement of the English Bible, immediately precedes James. It may not be always consciously known, and it was not in Old Testament times; but in order that there should be a basis of immutable blessing, and of communion in any measure between God and the creature, there must be the communication of the divine nature. At least they do feel; and so far there is a greater effect produced than on these reasoning Jews. People may come to it with the thought that all the epistles were addressed to Christians, but this is simply wrong. The tongue is a fire] It is often the instrument of producing the most desperate contentions and insurrections. It is James' warning that the teacher has of his own choice entered into a special office; and is, therefore, under the greater condemnation, if he fails in it. The Orphic religion believed that the human soul was continually undergoing a process of birth and death and rebirth; and the aim of life was to escape from this treadmill into infinite being. He has claimed this for God already; but now we come to see the application to us. and even gloried in it! Hypocrisy, then, is a serious matter and should not be ignored. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. Click on the different category headings to find out more. But it is here, as is the case everywhere, blindness and ignorance in those that set one part of scripture against another. Some drugs are at once poisons and cures; they are benefits to a man when wisely controlled by his doctor but harmful when used unwisely. The tongue is something that has a capacity for great blessings or for great evil. Life in Christ is positive; the law was essentially negative. (iii) It is selfishly ambitious. It is always the every-day application that is in the mind of James. And as he was the person who gave the sentence, it is not without interest to see the link between what was written on that day, and what James writes here. 15; Trall. And yet those who exhibited all those evil things thought that they had wisdom! Biblical love and compassion issue in active love and service, not sentimentalities. (ii) He is under the temptation to bitterness. And he likens the tongue though it is such a small part of the body and yet able to do such great damage move so many things like the bridle in a horse's mouth, small but yet you can move that big horse around with just a little bridle in its mouth. April 19, 2023 Bible Study Service - Facebook (i) It is earthly. Commentary on James 3 James 3 - Smith's Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org gentle: Being "gentle" (epieikes) is another characteristic of true wisdom. let him pray. It is said to be "from above," indicating it comes from God. In the dry season the scanty grass and low-growing thorn bushes and scrub were as dry as tinder. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word | . This we know was an old custom. Biblical writers composed lists of virtues and vices to inspire changes in behavior (e.g., Psalms 15:1; Proverbs 6:17-19; Hosea 4:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-24; Ephesians 5:3-5). This is not the way in which the apostle Paul handles the matter. For out of the mouth comes blasphemies and evil speaking." It is unwaveringly single-minded in its devotion to God rather than double-minded. Nor do I deny that there are answers to prayer of a very striking kind. Behold, how great a matter just a little fire can kindle! The apostle shows that the spirit of heaping up riches in the last days is the same that in other circumstances slew Jesus Christ the righteous. He did not fight back and demand His rights. Worldly wisdom might well wish to escape Gods sight" (95). Alas! - Utley, This refers to spiritual integrity and moral sincerity. The writer of Ecclesiasticus repeats the same idea: "God put the fear of man upon all flesh, and gave him dominion over beasts and fowls" ( Sir_17:4 ). There prevails among too many evangelical persons a mischievous habit of talking about "saved sinners." cities hath it pulled down and overthrown the houses of great men. This is not in the least denied. Our business is to gather what He has to teach us. WebJames 3:2. Let us look to the grace of the Lord to understand the scripture. "I have a particular doctrine that I have embraced, I adhere to, and though there are scriptures that would seemingly contradict the position that I believe in. But if you have bitter envying or strife in your hearts, that's not wise, don't glory in it, and lie not against the truth. Those who live in malice, envy, and contention, live in confusion, and are liable to be provoked and hurried to any evil work. If they were set on fire, the flames spread like a wave which there was no stopping. ", On the other hand, one may and should be "blessed." But this is not all. Aristotle defined it as that "which is just beyond the written law" and as "justice and better than justice" and as that "which steps in to correct things when the law itself becomes unjust." In Psalms 12:6, David says, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. This wisdom is full of good fruits: This wisdom can be seen by the fruit it produces. We can see the need, value, and wisdom of what has been said, but we may find here the occasion of it: with Israel there was peculiar danger of taking up the doctrines of Christianity as a system. Heavenly wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits, inwardly disposed to every thing that is kind and good, both to relieve those who want and to forgive those who offend, and actually to do this whenever proper occasions offer. Jonah's special mission was to Nineveh, to the most famous Gentile city of that day. The real scholar will be far more aware of what he does not know than of what he knows. Surely we are not to take Paul's object in order to interpret James by. What James is saying is that the tongue can kindle a destructive fire which can destroy all life; and the tongue itself is kindled with. The ancients used the picture of the wheel to describe life in four different ways. Some will demand their rights regardless of the feelings of others. This word "pure" (hagne) is closely related to the word "holy" (hagios). For if we merely look at Abraham, or at Rahab, apart from God, apart from faith, if we regard their ways here cited as a question of human good works who in the world would ever so style that which Abraham or Rahab did? The stroke of the whip maketh marks. This is applied to the subject in hand. The word enters by faith, or, as the apostle has it in Hebrews, is "mixed with faith in them that hear it." It is psuchikos ( G5591) , which comes from psuche ( G5590) . For this end there is not a more precious thought nor a mightier word in all the New Testament. It could refer to the partiality condemned in James 2:1-13. They certainly exhibit a certain care for conscientiousness. But if here it be not the spirit of man, the only spirit elsewhere said to dwell in man ( i.e., the believer) is the Spirit of God. That attitude is not one that demands its rights but is willing to suffer wrong on occasions even when in the right (1 Peter 2:20). Thus it embraces such of them as were Christians; and it gives a very true and just place to those who had the faith of the Lord Jesus. A chance word dropped at one end of the country or the town can finish up by bringing grief and hurt at the other. In short, if we regard his work apart from faith, it is perhaps the darkest evil conceivable. Read James (BBE) Read James 3:17 (BBE) in Parallel Common English Bible for James 3:17 17 What of the wisdom from above? Of all Greek words in the New Testament this is the most untranslatable. Without partiality - Margin, or wrangling. The word here used ( adiakritos) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Every teacher runs the risk of becoming "Sir Oracle." It is one of life's hardest and plainest duties to see that the tongue does not contradict itself but speaks only such words as we would wish God to hear. without partiality: "Without partiality" (adiakritos) is the next characteristic mentioned. But, apart altogether from the false teachers, it is James' conviction that teaching is a dangerous occupation for any man. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. is the opposite of stiff and unbending. (Moffatt) Eupeithes can mean easy to persuade, not in the sense of being pliable and weak, but in the sense of not being stubborn and of being willing to listen to reason and to appeal true wisdom is not rigid but is willing to listen and skilled in knowing when wisely to yield. (Barclay). The same promise is repeated to Noah: "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered ( Genesis 9:2). How much is covered by these two exhortations! One sees thoroughly, in the midst of the utmost difference otherwise, how it is the same divine mind a mind above the contractedness of man. WebTag: James 3:17-18 commentary. We must spend a little longer on this passage, because in it there are two specially difficult phrases. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, of them that makes peace ( James 3:18 ). "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame." We have had the evil traced to its source, which is the fallen nature of man, no doubt wrought on by Satan, but without here bringing the enemy before us. v. This wisdom is full of mercy: It does not judge others strictly on the basis of the law, but will extend a generous hand full of mercy. (128) The word is found only here, and has been variously rendered, because the verb from which it comes has various meanings, to discern, to make a difference, to judge, to examine, to contend or litigate, and to doubt. Full of mercy - Merciful; disposed to show compassion to others. Out of same mouth there proceeds blessings and cursings. Then follows a grave and searching consideration for those who talk about the law, "for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. To my mind it is not only inexact but misleading and dangerous. Without variance Gibson tells us that scholars are not altogether sure of the meaning of the word thus rendered, "without variance, without doubtfulness or without partiality,"[42] all being possible denotations of it. He has a lengthy passage which is so nobly and passionately put that it is worth quoting in full: Curst the whisperer and the double-tongued; for such have, destroyed many that were at peace. The man who is characterised by that wisdom will be pure, peaceable, etc. The governing and guiding of all the motions of a horse, by the bit which is put into his mouth: Behold, we put bits into the horses' mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body, v. 3. It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away, instead of your saying, If the Lord will, and we live, we will also do this, or that. It works nothing suitable to His moral nature. How could one think that those who indulge in such thoughts show any real intelligence as to the word of God? ", And how is this then to be effected? James 3:17 in all English translations. Demonstrate the wisdom. (a) In Christian thought eleos ( G1656) means mercy for the man who is in trouble, even if the trouble is his own fault. The reason why people often find legality in James is because they themselves bring it. James 3:17 Are they told to weep and howl? The true wisdom is full of mercy (eleos, G1656) and good fruits. Similarly, Christians who sow peace by building good relations with others can expect to see a harvest of righteousness in their lives (18). The serpent was the emblem of Aesculapius, and in his temples tame serpents glided about and were supposed to be incarnations of the god. 3:9-12 With it we bless the Lord and Father and with it we curse the men who have been made in the likeness of God. He is pleading for the control of the tongue. Two constant demands of a child of God are a positive attitude and appropriate action. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." [40] E. C. S. Gibson, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. He also calls it gentle or tractable; by which he means that it widely differs from pride and malignity. We know only too well from experience that there is a cleavage in human nature. James 3:17 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org There is a kind of clever and arrogant wisdom which separates man from man, and which makes a man look with superior contempt on his fellows. The Jewish sages were always agreed that the true wisdom came from above. Behold, how great a matter" (or wood, as it is given in the margin) "a little fire kindleth! The apostles even lived with the potential of living hypocritical lives. There must be no attempts to reach peace by overleaping purity. The word of God expresses that life, and the Spirit gives it power; but this needs faith which all have not. We have the lovely picture of that wisdom which is from above more fully drawn, and set in opposition to this which is from beneath: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, c., James 3:17; James 3:18. Paul describes his confrontation with Peter and his hypocrisy with these words, "But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. It ranges over the whole earth and reaches to heaven." The Lord Himself respected the adjuration of the high-priest; and in no passage whatever do we see a depreciatory allusion to a judicial oath in the sermon on the mount, or, in what James says here, or in any other part of the Bible, but the contrary, The Lord was addressing Jewish disciples, James writes to the twelve tribes of Israel who are in the dispersion; but what they both set their faces against was the habit of bringing in religious asseverations for the purpose of confirming their word every day, besides the profaning of the Lord's name in matters of this life. (i) We put a bit into the mouth of a horse, knowing that if we can control its mouth, we can control its whole body. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. "Easy to be entreated" (eupeithes) is found only once in the New Testament and means "easily obeying, compliant" (Thayer 261). Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. The first point therefore in the mind of the Holy Ghost here is to vindicate God. (127) He, in the second place, calls it peaceable, to intimate that it is not contentious. Then follows undissembling, not saying one thing and meaning another. Isaiah says "wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest" ( Isaiah 9:18). It is ever the right thing, as it was exactly what was most called for then and there. is first pure; it is pure in itself, it is free from everything that is earthly, carnal, or sensual, or devilish; it produces purity of heart, of life, and conversation; and is the means of keeping persons pure and chaste, and free from impure lusts, lusts of uncleanness, pride, envy, wrath which prevail in carnal and unregenerate men: and then peaceable; it inclines and engages those who have it to live in peace with the saints, and even with all men; with those of their own household, with their neighbours, yea, with their enemies: it is also "gentle"; or makes men gentle, moderate, and humane, so as that they bear, and forbear; they bear with the infirmities of the weak; readily forgive injuries done them; do not rigidly exact what is their due, but recede from their just right for the sake of peace and love; and do not bear hard upon others for their failings, but cover them with the mantle of love: and it is. Will any man argue still that this means the saints of God? But this would be judging their actions apart from God, because of whose will they were done, and apart from faith, which alone gave these works their life and character. "None is righteous, no not one," quotes Paul. It is perfectly plain from the early portion of the Acts of the Apostles, and confirmed too by the latest glimpses which the Holy Ghost gives us of the church in Jerusalem, that there was still a great and decided cleaving to that which was properly Jewish on the part of the early Christians there. It was not the attainment. "He beholdeth himself, and goeth his way." It is sensual indulging the flesh, and making provision to fulfil the lusts and desires of it. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. See the Romans 14:19 note; Hebrews 12:14. It is important to understand that peace is not the mere absence of strife and hostility. The picture was one the Jews of Palestine knew well. And if any man offends not in word, the same is a perfect man, and is able also to bridle the whole body. let him demonstrate it by his manner of life, by his works, with the meekness of wisdom. Jesus warned men that they would give account for every word they spoke. Many of the letters also end with the wish for peace. This condition is not peace. Who is there that should not desire that its blessed influence should spread around the world? This does not mean that mortals are directly inspired by such wisdom, but that God is the ultimate source from which their wisdom is actually received; and the means of their receiving it, while not in view in this text, must surely be allowed as the gospels and apostolic writings themselves, there being no other possible source of it. A huge ship turned by such a small rudder, so our tongues can really control in a sense our whole lives. James does contemplate Christians, but not Christians only. It does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. So on Rahab's story I need not dwell, except just to show how remarkably guided of divine wisdom was James's allusion. Jesus emphasizes that purity must include the entire man. "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." Is any merry? He proves that the least things are often those which govern other bodies incomparably larger. James 3 Hence, therefore, God reverses the judgment of the world in all these matters, "Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted. Israel was destroyed because of her lack of fruit (Matthew 21:43). "Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm." Here we must make a choice between two meanings. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. A Jew would have been likely to have thought of it thus; for he naturally turned to the law as the one and only standard. Man's ingenuity has tamed every wild creature in the sense of controlling and making useful; that, says James, is what no man by his own unaided efforts has ever been able to do with the tongue. WebMatthew Henry :: Commentary on James 3 Chapter 3 The apostle here reproves ambition, and an arrogant magisterial tongue; and shows the duty and advantage of bridling it because of its power to do mischief. The sense of all around and within leads him out in self-judgment before God. It means, properly, not to be distinguished. Here it may mean either of the following things: (a)Not open to distinction or doubt; that is, unambiguous, so that there shall be no doubt about its origin or nature; (b)Making no distinction, that is, in the treatment of others, or impartial towards them; or. Galatians 5:22-23). Every one has a clear idea of the virtue of gentleness - gentleness of spirit, of deportment, and of manners; and every one can see that that is the appropriate spirit of religion. Now one who is the servant of God looks up to God, confides in God, and expects from God. In the OT peace is usually associated with (1) cessation of war and hostilities and the promotion of harmony and (2) the presence of health, prosperity and wholeness, ultimately in this sense of the reign of the Messiah and eschatological salvation (cf. On the Temple of Aesculapius at Epidaurus there was the inscription at the entrance: "He who would enter the divine temple must be pure (hagnos, G53) ; and purity is to have a mind which thinks holy thoughts." Those James is not pleading for a cowardly silence but for a wise use of speech. (128), (127) Pure, , is to be understood according to what the context contains. That is to say, nothing good can ever grow in an atmosphere where men are at variance with one another. Pretend what you will, and think yourselves ever so wise, yet you have abundance of reason to cease your glorying, if you run down love and peace, and give way to bitter envying and strife. The Psalmist thought on the same lines: "Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field; the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea" ( Psalms 8:6-8). Unfortunately, this spirit often finds its way into the church. There are those who think that it is clever never to make one's mind up about anything. Is it not precisely what those who quote would find the greatest difficulty in honestly proving that they value? But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. It implies that it is free from ethical defilement (cf. Here, it would seem, we begin to learn more definitely the reason. It first maintains the character and glory of God, and then seeks the fruits of peace among men. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, it is capable of defiling the whole body, it sets on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire of Gehenna. "Who shall set a watch before my mouth and a sea, of wisdom upon my lips, that I shall not suddenly fall by them and my tongue destroy me not?" Behold, we count them happy which endure.
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