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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
3:1-4:12 The Sin of Dissension in the Community. This section, the lengthiest of the letter, has an ABA pattern: A, danger of the tongue (3:1-12); B, the solution, "wisdom from above" (3:13-18); A, danger of the tongue (4:1-12). The main issue is the problem of dissension (4:1) and slander (3:9; 4:11), perhaps beginning with the leaders/teachers (3:1) but also involving the whole "body" of the church (3:6).
3:1-12 Taming the Tongue. James establishes the general principle that small things can cause great results (vv. 1-5a) then more specifically applies this to the power of the tongue to destroy (vv. 5b-12).
3:1 Teachers were important in the early church (Acts 2:42; Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11), and those who were ambitious sought teacher status for the wrong reasons. However, with greater responsibility comes greater expectations by God (Luke 12:48; Heb. 13:17), and teachers will be judged with greater strictness (lit., "greater judgment"), since they are accountable for more.
3:2 in what he says. A person's words reflect his character and thus are a key to his whole being. James emphasizes the importance of good works but also acknowledges that all Christians stumble (a metaphor for sinning; Gk. ptaiō, translated "fails" in 2:10) in many ways. James's call for good works, therefore, must not be seen as expecting perfection. When James says that a person who can control his mouth is a perfect man, he probably has absolute perfection in view. It is a perfection, however, that will be attainable only in heaven. Still, believers should always seek to grow in holiness.
3:3-4 Bits in a horse's mouth and the small rudder on a ship are examples of very small things that control large objects. The tongue, one of the smaller organs of the body, has a similar control over everything a person is and does.
3:5-6 boasts of great things. Pride (cf. "bitter jealousy," "boast," v. 14) is a major cause of the misuse of the tongue. In a progressive series framed by the imagery of fire, the tongue is presented in all its terrible potential. The small fire is the proud "boast" or other careless use of the tongue, and the great forest fire is the resulting conflagration. a world of unrighteousness. The tongue represents and puts into expression all the wickedness of the world. The entire course of life (lit., "the cycle of existence") likely means the "ups and downs" of life. The tongue turns upside down every aspect of life in the community as well as in the individual. set on fire by hell. Evil speech destroys because it comes from Satan himself.
3:9 It is both hypocrisy and folly to bless God during a worship service and then, after the service, to curse someone made in God's image (see Gen. 1:26-27). If the "curse" implies the common practice of invoking the name of God against the person, then this is doubly heinous.
3:11-12 In three illustrations of ridiculous natural contrasts, James drives home the point that blessing God while cursing his people cannot be countenanced. spring. Springs were the key to survival in dry Palestine, and the placement of villages and towns tended to depend on their presence. olives . . . figs. Just as no tree would produce two kinds of fruit, so also a true believer would not produce both blessings of God and curses toward others.
