James 3

This is the middle of the five chapters of the Epistle of James. Following the exhortation on faith and works in James 2, it addresses how those works are expressed in speech and in wisdom.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Not many should become teachers, since teachers will receive the greater judgment. All offend in many things, but the one who does not offend in word is a perfect man.
• Verses 3–5 Just as a bit in a horse's mouth or the helm of a ship controls something large, so the small tongue moves great things, and a little fire kindles a great deal of wood.
• Verses 6–8 The tongue is called a fire and a world of iniquity; beasts can be tamed, but no man can tame the tongue.
• Verses 9–12 The contradiction of blessing God and cursing men with the same mouth is rebuked through the images of a fountain, a fig tree, and a vine.
• Verses 13–18 Earthly wisdom, which springs from envying and strife, is contrasted with the wisdom from above, which is pure and peaceable.

Key Verses

• James 3:2 "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man" — presents speech as a measure of spiritual maturity.
• James 3:9 "Curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God" — grounds the wrongness of cursing people in the doctrine of creation.
• James 3:17 "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable" — lists the qualities of true wisdom.

People and Places

No named people or places appear in this chapter. The word "hell" in verse 6 is Gehenna in Greek, a term derived from the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem. Outside the Gospels, this is its only occurrence in the New Testament.

Points for Reflection

• The word "masters" (teachers) in verse 1 refers to those who held the teaching office in the early church; today it is broadly applied to preachers and teachers.
• The meaning of the phrase rendered "the course of nature" in verse 6 (literally "the wheel of birth") is unclear in the original. It is widely understood to refer to the whole of human life.
• Verse 9 connects with the teaching on the image of God in Genesis 1.
• Verses 13–18 correspond to the exhortation to "ask of God" for wisdom in James 1:5–6. Verse 18 is read alongside Matthew 5:9 in the Beatitudes, and the list of virtues in verse 17 alongside the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23.