James 3:2 Kommentar

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. Those who profess religion ought especially to govern their tongues (Jam 3:1-12). True wisdom makes men meek, and avoiders of strife and envy: and hereby it may easily be distinguished from a wisdom that is earthly and hypocritical (Jam 3:13 to the end).

INTRODUCTION TO JAMES 3 In this chapter the apostle cautions against censoriousness, and reproving others with a magisterial air; advises to bridle the tongue, and guard against the vices of it; and shows what true wisdom is, and from whence it comes. He advises the saints not to arrogate too much to themselves, and take upon them to be the censorious reprovers of others; which he dissuades from, by the consideration of the greater damnation such shall receive, and by the frailty of all men, and a common proneness to offend by words; for he must be a very singular man indeed that does not offend by words, Jam 3:1 wherefore he exhorts them to watch over their words, and bridle their tongues; which he illustrates by the methods used with horses to keep them in subjection, and with ships, to turn them as occasion serves, and the master pleases, Jam 3:3 and though the tongue is a little member, and not comparable to a horse, or ship, for its bulk; yet it boasts of great things, has a world of iniquity in it, and much mischief is done by it, being influenced by the powers of hell; therefore care, and all possible means, should be used to restrain it, Jam 3:5 though it is not tameable by man, only by the Lord, when all sorts of creatures are, even the most fierce and savage, and therefore are worse than they, being an unruly evil, and full of deadly poison, Jam 3:7. And what is the most monstrous and shocking, blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth, are pronounced by the same tongue, which is used in blessing God, and cursing men made after his image, which by no means ought to be done, Jam 3:9 and which is not to be paralleled in nature; no instance like it can be given, no fountain sending forth, in the same place, water sweet and bitter, salt and fresh, or any fig tree bearing olives, or vine figs, Jam 3:11. And because all this evil springs from a vain opinion men have of their own wisdom, the apostle proceeds to give an account of true wisdom; and observes, that that shows itself in good works, in a holy conversation, attended with meekness and humility, and not in envying, strife, and lies, Jam 3:13. Such sort of wisdom is not from heaven, but of the earth; it is not rational; it is no better than that of brutes; yea, no other than that of devils, since where the above sins prevail, it is a hell on earth, there is nothing but confusion, and everything that is vile and wicked, Jam 3:15 but, on the other hand, true wisdom is of an heavenly original, of a pure, peaceable, gentle, and tractable nature, and is full of good fruits or works in its effects, particularly mercy, and is clear of partiality and hypocrisy, Jam 3:17 and as one of its fruits is righteousness, that is sown in peace by the peacemaker, and produces it, Jam 3:18.

For in many things we offend all,.... Or "we all offend", slip and fall; no man lives without sin; in many, in most, if not in all things, a good man himself does, he sins; and this extends to the most solemn services, and best works of a good man; there is sin in his holy things, imperfections in all his performances; his righteousnesses are as filthy rags; hence no man can be justified by his works before God, nor is any man perfect in this life, so as to be without sin in himself: the apostle includes himself in this account, and that not out of modesty merely, or in a complaisant way, but as matter of fact, and what he found in himself, and observed in the conduct of his life: and now this is given as a reason why persons should not be anxious of teaching others, since in many instances, in common speech and conversation, men are apt to offend, and much more in a work which requires a multitude of words; or why men should be careful how they charge, censure, and reprove others, in a rash, furious, and unchristian manner; since they themselves are in the body, and may be tempted, and are attended with many infirmities, slips, and falls in common life. If any man offend not in word; from slips and falls in general, the apostle proceeds to the slips of the tongue, and to the use and abuse of that member; and his sense is, that if a man has so much guard upon himself, and such a command over his tongue, and so much wisdom to use it, as to give no offence by it, to his fellow creatures, and fellow Christians: the same is a perfect man; not that he is perfect in himself, and without sin, that is denied before; unless this is considered as a mere hypothesis, and by way of concession; that could there be found out a man that never, for instance, offends in word in anyone part of life, that man may be allowed, and be set down to be a perfect man; but no such man is to be found, and therefore none perfect: but rather the sense is, that he who in common is so careful of his speech, as not to offend his brethren, may be looked upon as a sincere and truly religious man; See Jam 1:26 or he may be accounted a wise and prudent man, such an one as in Jam 3:13 he is not a babe in understanding, a child in conduct, but a grown man; at full age; a perfect man; in which sense the word is used in Co1 2:6. And able also to bridle the whole body; either to govern the whole body, the church, to teach a society of Christians, and to feed them with knowledge, and with understanding; or rather, as he appears to be able to bridle that member of the body, the tongue, so likewise to be able, through the grace of God, to keep under the whole body, that sin shall not reign in it, or the lusts of it be in common obeyed.

We all fall very often, but let us pray to the merciful God, and if we watch over ourselves in the future, he will heal us.

Who then would ever dare to call himself perfect?

The effective proof of a sound mind and perfect thought is to have nothing faulty on our tongue and to keep our mouths closed when necessary. For it is better to be guided by worthy speech, which is able to know and to express the fullness of all praise. For the most useful talent is to be able to speak wisdom when talking about how to live well. Foolish talk should be foreign to the saints.

Perfection consists of righteousness, and silence is the way to achieve it. This is why James connects perfection with keeping one’s mouth shut.

If one of Christ’s own disciples can talk like this, we must make it our business to press toward the opposite direction, so as to allay the God and judge of all things for those times when in the weakness of our humanity we have fallen into wrongdoing, failing to pay heed to our salvation.

Do not become many teachers, my brothers, knowing that we shall receive a greater judgment: for in many things we all stumble. When James had said and taught the faithful in the above matters that they should possess faith that is not empty of good works, he turned to another commandment similar to this. For indeed, some attempt to teach things which they themselves do not practice: and it is said that their judgment will be harsher, since they have brought no profit. For whoever teaches what is not beneficial, as if possessing it, is condemned just as if he has slipped with his own tongue. Moreover, confirming this abundantly, he says, Although in another way the tongue is prone to slip due to negligence, in the case of those whose judgment will not escape, who has acquired this, as Solomon has it, saying: “Because of the sin of the lips, the sinner falls into a snare”; (Prov. 12:13) much more, however, will he who knowingly and deliberately sins, teaching with his tongue what he has not learned through experience, be unable to escape the inevitable punishment. The unrefined and chaotic tongue destroys the one who has acquired it: it is necessary to overcome it for the praise and glory of God; in which he also discusses good conduct and without strife of one against another, out of a desire for glory, because of human wisdom; and about divine wisdom: and that quarrels, seditions, and enmities against God arise from laziness and the love of pleasure; and about repentance for salvation, and about not judging one's neighbor.

If anyone does not stumble in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they may obey us, and we turn the whole body about. Behold, ships also, though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, are turned about by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman wishes. "Behold, we put bits in the mouths of horses." This is the order of letters: We put the reins in the mouths of horses; for unless it is arranged this way, speech is unintelligible (namely, if we take the Greek words in the order they are placed). This confirms what has been said about the tongue, and also addresses something greater: namely, that he who brings into his power that which is easy to arrange, will also overcome that which is difficult to handle. However, this resolves the objection. For it was plausible that someone might add: What labor is there in governing such a small member? Or what harm can come from the smallest member? And this shows that from the bridle and the helm and from the small things which are indeed small, but make great things. — In another way. Furthermore, these also show that the tongue should not move recklessly, but should be directed towards better things: just as the strength of horses is restrained by the bridle, and the onslaught of a ship is controlled by the rudder. Thus, we must also direct the tongue to what is beneficial with proper speech. For this signifies what is said: So also the tongue, that it should be directed in this way with proper speech, and not do what it does: for when it is small, it does great things, and kindles a great fire for us, since it is itself a fire. And what does it do? It adorns iniquity through the cunning eloquence of orators, contaminates the body, persuading women to allow its approach: it operates through deceit: it slanders others with falsehoods: and above all, it ignites the wheel of hell: that is, it sets on fire and stirs up hell in us, as if making a fire rage against us. But it also, he says, is set on fire by hell, as is evident from the rich man who was tormented by the tongue. (Luke 16:24) For the tongue is punished not for any other reason than because it has been inclined towards pleasures and trifles. Therefore, if the Wheel of hell is read, as some copies have it, the meaning must be explained accordingly. However, if it has the Wheel of Birth, it achieves this solution: the Wheel of Birth signifies our life. Therefore, inflaming the wheel of birth contaminates life: and how? While it is moved carelessly and lustfully, from which our life is enraged, or the time of our life. For this, the Psalmist also called it a crown, saying: "You will bless the crown of the year." (Ps. 65:11) Indeed, the wheel and the crown agree in that both are circular and spheric; the Wheel is said to be life, as if rolled back upon itself. But how does it contaminate our life? As it is moved, as we said before: because of which our life is both soiled and full of sighs. Thus, the tongue is turned about in proper speech. Indeed, the world is full of iniquity, as if it were cast down to a vile and popular crowd, looking back. For the world is understood here as a multitude. Or the world is, that is, an ornament, or adorning human nature: through this, we communicate our thoughts to one another, for in this meaning, some also wish to accept the World. Therefore, while it is directed towards the vile crowd, it does harm and injures and contaminates the whole body, and the wheel of birth is inflamed and is inflamed by hell. Yet, it is not difficult to direct it so that it moves rightly and in the way that the one who governs wishes. But if all of nature of wild beasts, birds, serpents, and marine creatures is tamed and has been tamed by human nature, is it true that the tongue, which is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison, cannot be tamed by any human? I would say by no means is this the case. For if it cannot be tamed, it never inclines toward what is better; how is it that by it we bless God and the Father, and by it we curse men? Behold, it is governed by the will of the one who uses it. But it should not be so, my brothers. For if by it we bless God, is it not shameful to curse men who are made in the likeness of God? Is it just that from the same mouth there should come blessing and cursing? It should not be so.

For in many things we all offend. He did not say "you offend," when he reproved those whom he saw as less perfect in both knowledge and action, and would remove such from the chair of teaching, fearing lest they might harm the little ones by preaching erroneously, and turn their ears away from the hearing of teachers by forestalling them; or certainly might defile what they rightly preached with the filth of incorrect action, and thus obscure the path of evangelical perfection with sinister opinion; but he said, "we offend," when we are of Christ; thus speaks the Apostle. And he prefaced it with "in many things," he added "all," so that the imperfect might consider themselves all the more cautiously in acting or speaking, as they would know more certainly that not even the perfectly good, who walk under the guidance of the grace of the Holy Spirit, can by any means pass through the path of this life without offending by some sin, according to what is written elsewhere: "The heavens are not clean in His sight" (Job XV). And as Solomon says: "There is no just man upon earth, that does good, and sins not" (Eccl. VII).

If anyone does not offend in word, this one is a perfect man. How can he say that the man who does not offend in word is perfect, when he has previously stated: Because in many things we all offend? Is it because the elect can offend in many things, and yet remain perfect? Indeed, it is to be understood in this way. For there are different kinds of offenses. The elect offend in one way, the reprobate in another, as Solomon testifies, who says: For the just man falls seven times, and rises again; but the wicked stumble into evil. And if the just man indeed offends through the frailty of the flesh or through ignorance, he nonetheless does not cease to be just. Because just as such daily and unavoidable offenses occur, so too is there a daily remedy of prayers and good works, which quickly raises the offending just man, so that he does not fall to the ground, and stain the wedding garment of charity and faith with the dust of vices. Therefore, if anyone does not offend in word, this one is a perfect man, that is, in that word whose offense human frailty can avoid, such as the word of deceit, of detraction, of cursing, of pride, of boasting, of excusing sins, of envy, of dissension, of heresy, of lying, of perjury, and also of idle and unnecessary and even superfluous speech in those things which seem necessary. In whatever word anyone keeps himself without offense, this one is a perfect man. For he who keeps his mouth and his tongue, keeps his soul from troubles (Prov. XXI).

He can also bridle his whole body. This verse depends on the previous one. If anyone, he says, does not offend in word, this one is a perfect man, and he can also bridle his whole body. Which is to say openly: If anyone avoids the slip of the tongue, which is nearly inevitable, he will learn also to observe the other members of the body, which can be more easily disciplined, so that they do not stray from the right path.

"For we all stumble in many things," conducting our life inattentively and negligently. That no person escapes sin is confirmed by the mobility of the tongue. From this it is also evident that no one possesses perfection, for who has not sinned with his tongue? But if anyone overcomes the mobility of his tongue, he is able to govern the whole body well. For he who has restrained what is very prone to falling will with less effort and attention gain mastery over what falls more slowly.

They are exhorted not to be many masters, Jam 3:1. And to bridle the tongue, which is often an instrument of much evil, Jam 3:2-12. The character and fruits of true and false wisdom, Jam 3:13-18.

In many things we offend all - Πταιομεν ἁπαντες· We all stumble or trip. Dr. Barrow very properly observes: "As the general course of life is called a way, and particular actions steps, so going on in a regular course of right action is walking uprightly; and acting amiss, tripping or stumbling." There are very few who walk so closely with God, and inoffensively with men, as never to stumble; and although it is the privilege of every follower of God to be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ, yet few of them are so. Were this unavoidable, it would be useless to make it a subject of regret; but as every man may receive grace from his God to enable him to walk in every respect uprightly, it is to be deplored that so few live up to their privileges. Some have produced these words as a proof that "no man can live without sinning against God; for James himself, a holy apostle speaking of himself, all the apostles, and the whole Church of Christ, says, In many things we offend all." This is a very bad and dangerous doctrine; and, pushed to its consequences, would greatly affect the credibility of the whole Gospel system. Besides, were the doctrine as true as it is dangerous and false, it is foolish to ground it upon such a text; because St. James, after the common mode of all teachers, includes himself in his addresses to his hearers. And were we to suppose that where he appears by the use of the plural pronoun to include himself, he means to be thus understood, we must then grant that himself was one of those many teachers who were to receive a great condemnation, Jam 3:1; that he was a horse-breaker, because he says, "we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us," Jam 3:3; that his tongue was a world of iniquity, and set on fire of hell, for he says, "so is the tongue among our members," Jam 3:6; that he cursed men, "wherewith curse we men, Jam 3:9. No man possessing common sense could imagine that James, or any man of even tolerable morals, could be guilty of those things. But some of those were thus guilty to whom he wrote; and to soften his reproofs, and to cause them to enter the more deeply into their hearts, he appears to include himself in his own censure; and yet not one of his readers would understand him as being a brother delinquent. Offend not in word, the same is a perfect man - To understand this properly we must refer to the caution St. James gives in the preceding verse: Be not many masters or teachers - do not affect that for which you are not qualified, because in your teaching, not knowing the heavenly doctrine, ye may sin against the analogy of faith. But, says he, if any man offend not, ου πταιει, trip not, εν λογῳ, in doctrine, teaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the same is τελειος ανηρ, a man fully instructed in Divine things: How often the term λογος, which we render word, is used to express doctrine, and the doctrine of the Gospel, we have seen in many parts of the preceding comment. And how often the word τελειος, which we translate perfect, is used to signify an adult Christian, one thoroughly instructed in the doctrines of the Gospel, may be seen in various parts of St. Paul's writings. See among others, Co1 2:6; Co1 14:20; Eph 4:13; Phi 3:15; Col 4:12; Heb 5:14. The man, therefore, who advanced no false doctrine, and gave no imperfect view of any of the great truths of Christianity; that man proved himself thereby to be thoroughly instructed in Divine things; to be no novice, and consequently, among the many teachers, to be a perfect master, and worthy of the sacred vocation. Able also to bridle the whole body - Grotius, by body, believed that the Church of Christ was intended; and this the view we have taken of the preceding clauses renders very probable. But some think the passions and appetites are intended; yet these persons understand not offending in word as referring simply to well guarded speech. Now how a man's cautiousness in what he says can be a proof that he has every passion and appetite under control, I cannot see. Indeed, I have seen so many examples of a contrary kind, that I can have no doubt of the impropriety of this exposition. But it is objected "that χαλιναγωγεω signifies to check, turn, or rule with a bridle; and is never applied to the government of the Church of Christ." Probably not: but St. James is a very peculiar writer; his phraseology, metaphors, and diction in general, are different from all the rest of the New Testament writers, so as to have scarcely any thing in common with them, but only that he writes in Greek. The sixth verse is supposed to be a proof against the opinion of Grotius; but I conceive that verse to belong to a different subject, which commences Jam 3:3.

DANGER OF EAGERNESS TO TEACH, AND OF AN UNBRIDLED TONGUE: TRUE WISDOM SHOWN BY UNCONTENTIOUS MEEKNESS. (Jam. 3:1-18) be not--literally, "become not": taking the office too hastily, and of your own accord. many--The office is a noble one; but few are fit for it. Few govern the tongue well (Jam 3:2), and only such as can govern it are fit for the office; therefore, "teachers" ought not to be many. masters--rather, "teachers." The Jews were especially prone to this presumption. The idea that faith (so called) without works (Jam 2:14-26) was all that is required, prompted "many" to set up as "teachers," as has been the case in all ages of the Church. At first all were allowed to teach in turns. Even their inspired gifts did not prevent liability to abuse, as James here implies: much more is this so when self-constituted teachers have no such miraculous gifts. knowing--as all might know. we . . . greater condemnation--James in a humble, conciliatory spirit, includes himself: if we teachers abuse the office, we shall receive greater condemnation than those who are mere hearers (compare Luk 12:42-46). CALVIN, like English Version, translates, "masters" that is, self-constituted censors and reprovers of others Jam 4:12 accords with this view.

all--The Greek implies "all without exception": even the apostles. offend not--literally "stumbleth not": is void of offence or "slip" in word: in which respect one is especially tried who sets up to be a "teacher."