A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON JAMES CHAPTER 3 DEALING WITH THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE, AND TWO KINDS OF WISDOM.

1. JAMES 3 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Taming the Tongue
1 ot many of you should become TEACHERS,
my fellow believers, because you know that we
who teach will be judged more strictly.
BAR ES, "My brethren, be not many masters - “Be not many of you teachers.”
The evil referred to is that where many desired to be teachers, though but few could be
qualified for the office, and though, in fact, comparatively few were required. A small
number, well qualified, would better discharge the duties of the office, and do more
good, than many would; and there would be great evil in having many crowding
themselves unqualified into the office. The word here rendered “masters” (διδάσκαλοι
didaskaloi) should have been rendered “teachers.” It is so rendered in Joh_3:2; Act_13:1;
Rom_2:20; 1Co_12:28-29; Eph_4:11; 1Ti_2:11; 1Ti_4:3; Heb_5:12; though it is
elsewhere frequently rendered master. It has, however, in it primarily the notion of
“teaching” (διδάσκω didaskō), even when rendered “master;” and the word “master” is
often used in the New Testament, as it is with us, to denote an instructor - as the
“school-master.”
Compare Mat_10:24-25; Mat_22:16; Mar_10:17; Mar_12:19, et al. The word is not
properly used in the sense of master, as distinguished from a servant, but as
distinguished from a disciple or learner. Such a position, indeed, implies authority, but it
is authority based not on power, but on superior qualifications. The connection implies
that the word is used in that sense in this place; and the evil reprehended is that of
seeking the office of public instructor, especially the sacred office. It would seem that
this was a prevailing fault among those to whom the apostle wrote. This desire was
common among the Jewish people, who coveted the name and the office of “Rabbi,”
equivalent to that here used, (compare Mat_23:7), and who were ambitious to be
doctors and teachers. See Rom_2:19; 1Ti_1:7. This fondness for the office of teachers
they naturally carried with them into the Christian church when they were converted,
and it is this which the apostle here rebukes. The same spirit the passage before us
would rebuke now and for the same reasons; for although a man should be willing to
become a public instructor in religion when called to it by the Spirit and Providence of
God, and should esteem it a privilege when so called, yet there would be scarcely
anything more injurious to the cause of true religion, or that would tend more to
produce disorder and confusion, than a prevailing desire of the prominence and
importance which a man has in virtue of being a public instructor. If there is anything
which ought to be managed with extreme prudence and caution, it is that of introducing

2. men into the Christian ministry. Compare 1Ti_5:22; Act_1:15-26; Act_13:2-3.
Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation - (µεሏζον κρᆳµα
meizon krima. Or rather, “a severer judgment;” that is, we shall have a severer trial, and
give a stricter account. The word here used does not necessarily mean “condemnation,”
but “judgment, trial, account;” and the consideration which the apostle suggests is not
that those who were public teacher would be condemned, but that there would be a
much more solemn account to be rendered by them than by other men, and that they
ought duly to reflect on this in seeking the office of the ministry. He would carry them in
anticipation before the judgment-seat, and have them determine the question of
entering the ministry there. No better “stand-point” can be taken in making up the mind
in regard to this work; and if that had been the position assumed in order to estimate the
work, and to make up the mind in regard to the choice of this profession, many a one
who has sought the office would have been deterred from it; and it may be added, also,
that many a pious and educated youth would have sought the office, who has devoted his
life to other pursuits. A young man, when about to make choice of a calling in life, should
place himself by anticipation at the judgment-bar of Christ, and ask himself how human
pursuits and plans will appear there. If that were the point of view taken, how many
would have been deterred from the ministry who have sought it with a view to honor or
emolument! How many, too, who have devoted themselves to the profession of the law,
to the army or navy, or to the pursuits of elegant literature, would have felt that it was
their duty to serve God in the ministry of reconciliation? How many at the close of life, in
the ministry and out of it, feel, when too late to make a change, that they have wholly
mistaken the purpose for which they should have lived!
CLARKE, "Be not many masters - Do not affect the teacher’s office, for many
wish to be teachers who have more need to learn. There were many teachers or rabbins
among the Jews, each affecting to have The truth, and to draw disciples after him. We
find a caution against such persons, and of the same nature with that of St. James, in
Pirkey Aboth, c. i. 10: Love labor, and hate the rabbin’s office.
This caution is still necessary; there are multitudes, whom God has never called, and
never can call, because he has never qualified them for the work, who earnestly wish to
get into the priest’s office. And of this kind, in opposition to St. James, we have many
masters - persons who undertake to show us the way of salvation, who know nothing of
that ways and are unsaved themselves. These are found among all descriptions of
Christians, and have been the means of bringing the ministerial office into contempt.
Their case is awful; they shall receive greater condemnation than common sinners; they
have not only sinned in thrusting themselves into that office to which God has never
called them, but through their insufficiency the flocks over whom they have assumed the
mastery perish for lack of knowledge, and their blood will God require at the watchman’s
hand. A man may have this mastery according to the law of the land, and yet not have it
according to the Gospel; another may affect to have it according to the Gospel, because
he dissents from the religion of the state, and not have it according to Christ. Blockheads
are common, and knaves and hypocrites may be found everywhere.
GILL, "My brethren, be not many masters,.... The apostle having dispatched the
subject of faith and good works, which constitute the pure and undefiled religion

3. mentioned in Jam_1:27 which gave rise to this discourse, he proceeds to consider the
evidence of a religious man, suggested in Jam_1:26 who is one that bridles the tongue;
and enters into an account of the use and abuse of the tongue: and which is introduced
by this exhortation; and which seems to be opposed to an affectation among the Jews, to
whom James writes, of being called "Rabbi, Rabbi", or "Mori, Mori", master, master,
condemned by Christ, Mat_23:8. The words may be rendered, "be not many teachers";
or be not fond, and forward, and ambitious of being preachers of the word, but rather
choose to be hearers of it, agreeably to the advice in Jam_1:19, "be swift to hear, slow to
speak"; not but that the office of a teacher is a good work, and a very desirable one; and
spiritual gifts, qualifying for it, are to be coveted with a view to the glory of God, and the
good of souls; and to have many teachers is a blessing to the churches of Christ and a
large number of them is often not only proper, but absolutely necessary: but then this
office should not be entered upon without suitable gifts, a divine mission, and a regular
call by a church; and when entered into, should not be performed in a magisterial way,
as lords over God's heritage, and as claiming a dominion over the faith of men, but as
helpers of their joy, peace, and comfort; nor according to the commandments of men,
but according to the oracles of God. Or it may be, this exhortation may have respect to
censorious persons, rigid and severe reprovers of others, who take upon them, in a
haughty manner, to charge and rebuke others for their faults; reproof for sin ought to be
given; sin should not be suffered upon the brethren; to reprove is not blameworthy, but
commendable, when it is done in a right manner, with a good spirit, and to a good end:
in case of private offences, it should be privately given, and for public ones, men should
be rebuked before all; but then this ought to be done in a gentle manner, and in a spirit
of meekness; and when it is a clear case, and plain matter of fact, and which ought not to
be exaggerated and aggravated; mole hills are not to be made mountains of, or a man be
made an offender for a word, or a matter of human frailty; and reproof should be given
by persons not guilty of the same, or worse crimes, themselves, and always with a good
end; not to screen and cover their own vices, or to be thought more holy and religious
than others, or to satisfy a revengeful spirit, but for the glory of God, and the restoring of
the person that has sinned.
Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation: should men enter
into the office of teaching others without a call, or perform it negligently, or live not
according to the doctrine they teach others, such would be judged out of their own
mouths, and by their own words, and their condemnation would be aggravated; and
should men judge rash judgment, they themselves will be judged at a higher tribunal;
and should they be too censorious, and bear too hard on others, they will have judgment
without mercy.
HE RY, "The foregoing chapter shows how unprofitable and dead faith is without
works. It is plainly intimated by what this chapter first goes upon that such a faith is,
however, apt to make men conceited and magisterial in their tempers and their talk.
Those who set up faith in the manner the former chapter condemns are most apt to run
into those sins of the tongue which this chapter condemns. And indeed the best need to
be cautioned against a dictating, censorious, mischievous use of their tongues. We are
therefore taught,
I. Not to use our tongues so as to lord it over others: My brethren, be not many masters,
etc., Jam_3:1. These words do not forbid doing what we can to direct and instruct others
in the way of their duty or to reprove them in a Christian way for what is amiss; but we
must not affect to speak and act as those who are continually assuming the chair, we
must not prescribe to one another, so as to make our own sentiments a standard by

4. which to try all others, because God gives various gifts to men, and expects from each
according to that measure of light which he gives. “Therefore by not many masters” (or
teachers, as some read it); “do not give yourselves the air of teachers, imposers, and
judges, but rather speak with the humility and spirit of learners; do not censure one
another, as if all must be brought to your standard.” This is enforced by two reasons. 1.
Those who thus set up for judges and censurers shall receive the greater condemnation.
Our judging others will but make our own judgment the more strict and severe, Mat_7:1,
Mat_7:2. Those who are curious to spy out the faults of others, and arrogant in passing
censures upon them, may expect that God will be as extreme in marking what they say
and do amiss. 2. Another reason given against such acting the master is because we are
all sinners: In many things we offend all, Jam_3:2. Were we to think more of our own
mistakes and offenses, we should be less apt to judge other people. While we are severe
against what we count offensive in others, we do not consider how much there is in us
which is justly offensive to them. Self-justifiers are commonly self-deceivers. We are all
guilty before God; and those who vaunt it over the frailties and infirmities of others little
think how many things they offend in themselves. Nay, perhaps their magisterial
deportment, and censorious tongues, may prove worse than any faults they condemn in
others. Let us learn to be severe in judging ourselves, but charitable in our judgments of
other people.
JAMISO , "Jam_3:1-18. Danger of eagerness to teach, and of an unbridled tongue:
True wisdom shown by uncontentious meekness.
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.
CALVI , "1Be not many masters. The common and almost
U IVERSALinterpretation of this passage is, that the Apostle discourages the
desire for the office of teaching, and for this reason, because it is dangerous, and
exposes one to a heavier judgment, in case he transgresses: and they think that he
said, Be not many masters, because there ought to have been some. But I take
masters not to be those who performed a public duty in the Church, but such as
took upon them the right of passing judgment upon others: for such reprovers
sought to be accounted as MASTERS OFmorals. And it has a mode of speaking

5. usual among the Greeks as well as Latins, that they were called masters who
superciliously animadverted on others.
And that he forbade them to be many, it was done for this reason, because many
everywhere did thrust in themselves; for it is, as it were, an innate disease in
mankind to seek reputation by blaming others. And, in this respect, a twofold vice
prevails — though few excel in wisdom, yet all intrude indiscriminately into the
office of masters; and then few are influenced by a right feeling, for hypocrisy and
ambition stimulate them, and not a care for the salvation of their brethren. For it is
to be observed, that James does not discourage those brotherly admonitions, which
the Spirit so often and so much recommends to us, but that immoderate desire to
condemn, which PROCEEDS from ambition and pride, when any one exalts himself
against his neighbor, slanders, carps, bites, and malignantly seeks for what he may
turn to a sinister purpose: for this is usually done when impertinent censors of this
kind insolently boast themselves in the work of exposing the vices of others.
From this outrage and annoyance James recalls us; and he adds a reason, because
they who are thus severe towards others shall undergo a heavier judgment: for he
imposes a hard law on himself, who tries the words and deeds of others according to
the rule of extreme rigor; nor does he deserve pardon, who will pardon none. This
truth ought to be carefully observed, that they who are too rigid towards their
brethren, provoke against themselves the severity of God.
BARCLAY, "THE TEACHER'S PERIL (James 3:1)
3:1 My brothers, it is a mistake for many of you to become teachers, for you must be
well aware that those of us who teach will receive a greater condemnation.
In the early church the teachers were of first rate importance Wherever they are
mentioned, they are mentioned with honour. In the Church at Antioch they are
ranked with the prophets who sent out Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary
journey (Acts 13:1). In Paul's list of those who hold great GIFTS within the Church
they come second only to the apostles and to the prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28;
compare Ephesians 4:11). The apostles and the prophets were for ever on the move.
Their field was the whole Church; and they did not stay long in any one
congregation. But the teachers worked within a congregation, and their supreme
importance was that it must have been to them that the converts were handed over
for instruction in the facts of the Christian gospel and for edification in the
Christian faith. It was the teacher's awe-inspiring responsibility that he could put
the stamp of his own faith and knowledge on those who were entering the Church
for the first time.
In the ew Testament itself we get glimpses of TEACHERS who failed in their
responsibility and became false teachers. There were teachers who tried to turn
Christianity into another kind of Judaism and tried to introduce circumcision and
the keeping of the law (Acts 15:24). There were teachers who lived out nothing of
the truth which they taught, whose life was a contradiction of their instruction and
who did nothing but bring dishonour on the faith they represented (Romans 2:17-

6. 29). There were some who tried to teach before they themselves knew anything (1
Timothy 1:6-7); and others who pandered to the false desires of the crowd (2
Timothy 4:3).
But, APART altogether from the false teachers, it is James' conviction that teaching
is a dangerous occupation for any man. His instrument is speech and his agent the
tongue. As Ropes puts it, James is concerned to point out "the responsibility of
teachers and the dangerous character of the instrument they have to use."
The Christian teacher E TERED into a perilous heritage. In the Church he took
the place of the Rabbi in Judaism. There were many great and saintly Rabbis, but
the Rabbi was treated in a way that was liable to ruin the character of any man. His
very name means, "My great one." Everywhere he went he was treated with the
utmost respect. It was actually held that a man's duty to his Rabbi exceeded his duty
to his parents, because his parents only brought him into the life of this world but
his teacher brought him into the life of the world to come. It was actually said that if
a man's parents and a man's teacher were captured by an enemy, the Rabbi must be
ransomed first. It was true that a Rabbi was not allowed to take money for teaching
and that he was supposed to support his bodily needs by working at a trade; but it
was also held that it was a specially pious and meritorious work to take a Rabbi into
the household and to support him with every care. It was desperately easy for a
Rabbi to become the kind of person whom Jesus depicted, a spiritual tyrant, an
ostentatious ornament of piety, a lover of the highest place at any function, a person
who gloried in the almost subservient respect showed to him in public (Matthew
23:4-7). Every teacher runs the risk of becoming "Sir Oracle." o profession is
more liable to beget spiritual and intellectual pride.
There are two dangers which every teacher must avoid. In virtue of his office he will
either be teaching those who are young in years or those who are children in the
faith. He must, therefore, all his life struggle to avoid two things. He must have
every care that he is teaching the truth, and not his own opinions or even his own
prejudices. It is fatally easy for a teacher to distort the truth and to teach, not God's
version, but his own. He must have every care that he does not contradict his
teaching by his life, CO TI UALLY, as it were, not, "Do as I do," but, "Do as I
say." He must never get into the position when his scholars and students cannot
hear what he says for listening to what he is. As the Jewish Rabbis themselves said,
" ot learning but doing is the foundation, and he who multiplies words multiplies
sin" (Sayings of the Fathers 1: 18).
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 people
to whom James was writing coveted the prestige of the teacher; James demanded
that they should never forget the responsibility.
PEASE, This means that God takes the position of teacher very seriously. It is one of
the highest jobs in the kingdon of God, and men need to take it seriously as well. We
often think there is no judgment for believers, but the fact is, there will be judgment

7. and loss of reward for those who take teaching lightly so that they are indifferent to
the truth they teach. If they lead others astray they will suffer loss in eternity. It is a
place of high responsibility, and those who take it on must be students with a high
degree of motivation to make sure they know what the Bible teaches.
This is a great place to point out the danger of taking a theological position to
extremes. Many do so, and neglect other persepectives that are Biblical truths. They
teach that there is only one way to interpret the Bible, and cast suspicion on the
millions of believers who have other ways of looking at it. They risk judgment by
being blind to other views, and refusing to teach the truths of what they rejects in
other theological positions. Wise is the teacher who is open to teach the full truths of
the Bible, and not limit himself to one perspective. I find many texts in the Bible that
support a Calvinistic interpretation, but then find many that support an Arminian
interpretation. Do I choose what to teach in just one of the two categories, and reject
the other? Or, do I choose to teach all that the Bible reveals as truth rather than
reject much because it does not fit into one system? Many will take the vital truth of
salvation by faith alone, and reject the many clear passages on the vital aspect of
good works in the Christian life. Rejecting this aspect makes them false teachers
when they lead people to believe they are not accountable when they do nothing to
make their faith alive and useful for the kingdom of God. When any truth is
stressed to the extreme of eliminating another truth, one is in danger of being a false
teacher.
BE SO , "James 3:1-2. Be not many masters — διδασκαλοι, teachers. Let none of
you rashly, and without proper qualifications, undertake the office of TEACHERS
of others; an office into which many are ready to intrude themselves, without being
called of God to it. “The great desire which the Jewish Christians, to whom this
letter was written, had to become teachers in the church after their conversion, and
to inculcate the obligation of the law of Moses, is noticed by St. Paul, 1 Timothy 1:7.
Desiring to be teachers of the law, &c. — These teachers of the law in the Christian
Church were the great corrupters of the gospel.” Knowing that — If we err, we
shall receive the greater condemnation — On ACCOU T of our taking upon us an
office for which we are not qualified, and in the exercise of which more is required
of us, in many respects, than of others in a more private station of life. St. James
here, as in several of the following verses, by a common figure of speech, joins
himself with the persons to whom he wrote, to mitigate the harshness of his reproof:
we shall receive — we offend — we put bits — we curse, none of which particulars,
as common sense shows, are to be interpreted either of him or of the other apostles.
For in many things we offend all — Through natural infirmity and strong
temptation, we are all liable to fall. The original expression, πταιοµεν απαντες, is
literally, we all stumble. “It is a metaphor taken from persons who, walking on
slippery or rough ground, slide or stumble without falling; as appears from Romans
11:11, µη επταισαν ινα πεσωσι, have they stumbled so as to fall? Therefore, as in
Scripture, walking denotes the course of a man’s conduct, stumbling, in this
passage, signifies those lesser failings in duty, to which common Christians are
liable.” If any man offend — Stumble; not in word — Keep his tongue under
constant government, so that no corrupt discourse PROCEEDS out of his mouth, at

8. any time or on any occasion, but only that which is either about necessary
BUSI ESS as far as is necessary, or good to the use of edifying, (see note on
Ephesians 4:29,) the same is a perfect man — Eminently good; one who has attained
to a high DEGREE of wisdom and grace, and able also to bridle the WHOLE
BODY — To keep all his senses, appetites, and passions under due regulation. The
tongue is an index of the heart, and he who does not transgress the law of truth, or
love, or purity, or humility, or meekness, or patience, or seriousness, with his
tongue, will, with the same grace, so rule all his dispositions and actions, as to
manifest that he has in him the mind that was in Christ, and walks as Christ
walked.
COFFMA , "This entire chapter is a "self-contained section DEALI G with the
bridling of the tongue,"[1] and fitting exactly into James' overall theme of
"perfection" (see introduction). By such a vigorous ADDRESS to this area of
human behavior, in which the totality of all mankind is revealed as transgressors,
either in small or in great degree, it must not be thought that James was requiring
sinless perfection of Christians, his object being rather that of turning all men to
Jesus Christ our Lord who alone is perfect, and in whom alone perfection is
available for any mortal (see Matthew 5:48 and Colossians 1:28,29). In this chapter,
as throughout the epistle, the remarkable consonance with the teachings of Christ
should be OTED. Had not Christ himself said, "By thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned?" (Matthew 12:37); and did he
not also caution his followers against seeking the adulation accorded teachers,
saying, "Be not ye called Rabbi TEACHER)," etc. (Matthew 23:1-12)?
E D OTE:
[1] W. E. Oesterley, Expositor's Greek ew Testament, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 449.
Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that ye shall receive heavier
judgment. (James 3:1)
Be not many of you teachers ... The word "teachers" in this place replaces
"masters" in the KJV, a very valid and instructive change. However, it is deplorable
that here, as in so many similar places, scholars go out of their way to condemn the
inaccuracy of the King James Version; and this is as good a place as any to put such
ERRORS" of the KJV in the proper perspective.
REGARDI G THE KJV A D SUBSEQUE T VERSIO S
ot for a moment should it be considered that the translators of the KJV were, in
any sense, lacking in zeal, dedication, SCHOLARSHIP or intelligence, being in
every such category fully on a parity with the scholarship of our own or of any other
generation. The need for a new version did not arise from any superiority of
"modern" translators over those of the seventeenth century. Indeed, there may be
some question of the scholarship of our own age even equaling that of theirs.

9. On the other hand, the need for a new version did become recognized because: (1)
There were linguistic changes in the English language itself. For example, this verse,
using "masters" instead of teachers, derived from the exact meaning of "masters"
in the year 1611, at which time it was understood throughout the English-speaking
world as a short-form of "schoolmasters." It was the change in that usage which
made "masters" archaic in the present era. (2) Three of the great uncial
manuscripts, the Vatican, the Alexandrinus and the Sinaitic, were not AVAILABLE
to the KJV translators; and in a few instances, their work needed CORRECTIO in
the light of the manuscript authority of those uncials. (3) Archeological discoveries,
in a very few instances, have shed further light on the science of translation, which
was not available to KJV translators.
However, modern translators are all too frequently carried away from the truth by
wild, speculative, subjective assumptions, which generally did not characterize the
work of the KJV translators. Therefore, because of these considerations and many
others, the KJV today should be carefully studied by anyone with a desire to know
the truth; especially in light of the fact of its value in general as authoritative
presentation of the sacred text, and in not a few instances for its fidelity in giving the
only true rendition of the Greek ew Testament. For an example of this, see
extensive comment in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 118ff and my Commentary
on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians 43ff. Another example of
notorious mistranslation by the English Revised Version (1885) is Romans 10:16,
which ought to read, "They have not all obeyed the gospel." There are many other
such errors which flaw the work of "modern" translators. This comment is not
intended to demean the great scholars through whose labors we are able to
understand the ew Testament, but rather to suggest that appreciation for those of
other generations who labored in the same field is also appropriate.
OT MA Y TEACHERS
In saying, "Be not many teachers," James did not seek to discourage any who might
have been qualified for such work. As Harper suggested, "His words were meant to
remind us of our responsibilities, rather than to deter us from our duties." [2] The
need for such a caution grew out of a number of circumstances: (1) The Christian
meetings were open, unstructured and informal; and anyone wishing to be heard
could rise and speak (see 1 Corinthians 14:26-40). The great honor ATTACHED to
the work of teaching, as indicated in 1 Corinthians 12:28, where teachers were
ranked second only to apostles and prophets, naturally led self-seekers to attempt to
teach, whether or not they were qualified. (3) Some of James' readers, perhaps
many of them, had come out of Judaism; and the characteristic of many of those
was described by Paul in Romans 2:17-24, to the effect that their total lack of any
true qualification did not deter their conceited and arrogant assumption of the
office of "teacher" for all mankind! (4) The Judaizers who attempted to graft the
forms and ceremonies of Mosaic law upon the church were a particularly
troublesome element of the church which sorely needed the caution here expressed
by James. As Macknight said: "These teachers of the Law in the Christian church

10. were the great corrupters of Christianity."[3] Paul likewise ADDRESSED stern
words to this group, thus, "Some ... have turned aside unto vain talking, desiring to
be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor whereof
they confidently affirm" (1 Timothy 1:7).
Greater judgment ... (as in the ASV margin) is reminiscent of Jesus' declaration that
hypocrites making long prayers for show, and at the same time devouring widows'
houses, would also receive "the greater condemnation" (Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47). It
is not necessary to soften this to "judgment"; because such false teachers, because of
their being unqualified, must be reckoned among the most vicious and destructive
influences in the whole history of Christianity. As Lenski said:
The damage that wrong teaching may cause is indicated by what James later says of
the tongue. Untold damage may result. We see it everywhere to this day. This text
about the judgment that teachers shall receive cannot be impressed too deeply upon
all who teach today, whether professionally or as volunteers[4]SIZE>
[2] A. F. Harper, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. X (Kansas City: Beacon Hill
Press, 1967), p. 220.
[3] James Macknight, Apostolical Epistles and Commentary, Vol. V Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969 (reprint)), p. 372.
[4] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of ... the Epistle of James (Minneapolis:
Augsburg Publishing House, 1938), p. 600.
COKE, "Introduction
CHAP. III.
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 especially from his epistle to the Romans, we
learn, that the Jews valued themselves highly on the knowledge of the true God and
of his will, which they derived from the divine revelations of which they were the
keepers; and set themselves up every where as teachers of the Gentiles. Animated by
the same spirit, many of the Jews who had embraced the gospel were exceedingly
desirous of the office of teachers in the Christian church. But the apostle James, well
knowing that some of them still believed the observance of the law of Moses to be
necessary to salvation; that others had not shaken off all the prejudices of their
EDUCATIO ; and that not a few still followed the bad practices to which they had
been formerly accustomed; he earnestly dissuaded them from becoming teachers, by
representing to them the punishment to which they exposed themselves, if they
either perverted the doctrines, or concealed the precepts of the gospel, James 3:1.—
ext, he insinuated that their ancient prejudices, or the want of genuine religion,

11. might lead them to offend in many things: but at the same time to make them
attentive to their own conduct, he told them that if they did not offend in word, it
would be a proof of their having attained a great degree of piety, and holiness, as it
might well be concluded that they were then able also to bridle the WHOLE BODY,
James 3:2.—Then, to make them sensible how dangerous it was to sin with the
tongue, he shewed them by the power which bits in the mouths of horses, and helms
in ships, have to turn these great bodies, whithersoever their governors please, that
the tongue, though a little member, is capable of producing prodigious effects, either
good or bad, according as it is used, James 3:3-5.—and further points out the
mischief which the intemperate useof speech often produces in society, James 3:6.—
adding, that though human ingenuity had been able to subdue all kinds of wild
beasts, birds, and sea-monsters, the tongue is so unruly a thing that no one has been
able to subdue it, except by the power of almighty grace, James 3:7-8.—And to shew
the unruliness of the tongue, the apostle mentioned, that with it we bless God; but
with it also we curse men made in THE IMAGE of God, James 3:9.—Moreover, the
absurdity of EMPLOYI G the tongue for such contradictorypurposes, he
displayed, by remarking that no such contradictions were to be found in any part of
the natural system, James 3:10-12.
To his description of the mischiefs occasioned in society by an unbridled tongue, St.
James subjoined an earnest exhortation to such of the Jews as pretended to be wise
and intelligent, to make good their pretensions, by shewing their works all done
with the meekness of wisdom. In this exhortation, he seems to have had those of
them especially in his eye, who set themselves up as TEACHERS; and the rather
because they all valued themselves on their wisdom and knowledge, Romans 2:10-
20. So that by supposing that many of them were wise and intelligent, he prudently
used an argument which might draw their attention, James 3:13.—On the other
hand, he told them, that if they taught either the Law or the Gospel with bitter
anger and strife after the example of some of their bigotted brethren, they lied
against the truth; because such a conduct was a contradiction to the religion which
they pretended to teach, James 3:14.—and was no part of the religion which cometh
from above, to which they laid claim; but was earthly, animal, and demoniacal,
James 3:15.—Besides, bitter anger and strife never fail to produce tumult and every
evil work, James 3:16.—Then he RECOMME DED to them the wisdom which is
from above, by displaying its many amiable qualities, James 3:17.—together with its
efficacy in producing in those whom they instructed, the good fruits of true and
living faith.
Verse 1
James 3:1. Be not many masters— Many teachers. The word ∆ιδασκαλος 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 Christians are to desire the
title, much less to assume the thing thereby intended; for Christ alone is our Master,
or the author of the doctrines which we are to embrace. But the word is here used in
a more general sense, and the verse may be thus paraphrased: "Give me leave, my
brethren, to caution you against another evil, which I have seen some reason to

12. apprehend; and to press you, that you be not many teachers; that none of you rashly
undertake the office of teachers, into which many are ready to intrude themselves,
without due qualifications, or a real divine call: but I would urge you to be cautious
against such an assuming disposition, as knowing that we who bear that office, must
expect that we shall undergo greater and stricter judgment than others in a more
PRIVATE station of life."
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Be not many masters—
The qualifications necessary for teachers of Christianity
The words might have been better rendered thus, “Be not many teachers, knowing that
we shall undergo a severer judgment”; and were occasioned by certain novices assuming
the office of teachers when utterly unqualified for it.
The meaning is, the office of a spiritual instructor is attended with great difficulty and
danger, and the duties of it are hard to be discharged. Let none undertake it rashly,
destitute of the gifts and graces necessary for so sacred a function; for teachers, as well
as hearers, must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. God will require more from
teachers than from others; and their private miscarriages, or unfaithfulness to the duties
of their office, will expose them to the severest punishment.
I. PERSONAL RELIGION is a necessary qualification in the Christian teacher. Those
must be clean that bear the vessels of the sanctuary. Their Master is holy, their work is
holy, and therefore it becomes them to be holy also. They engage in the work of the
ministry, not seeking their own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved
(1Co_10:33). Having tasted that the Lord is gracious, they are unwilling to eat their
spiritual morsels alone, and earnestly wish to have others partakers of the same grace of
life. Animated by such a spit it, the pious minister is vigorous and active, diligent and
unwearied, in his Master’s service. Grace, in lively exercise, makes the teacher honest
and impartial, bold and courageous. He will not, through a slavish dread of man, put his
candle under a bushel, or withhold the truth in unrighteousness; but endeavours to keep
back from his hearers nothing profitable, however distasteful, and to declare to every
one of them the whole counsel of God. He is no respecter of persons; but warns every
man, and teaches every man, in all wisdom, that he may present every man perfect in
Christ. With sacred sincerity, what the Lord saith that will he speak; though
philosophers should call him enthusiast, the populace salute him heretic, or the
statesman pronounce him mad. This integrity and uprightness preserves the minister
from fainting under a prospect of outward difficulties and a sense of his own weakness.
Grace, in lively exercise, not only animates the teacher to his work, but assists him in it,
and greatly tends to crown it with success. It does so by disposing him to give himself to
prayer, as well as to the ministry of the Word. He is a favourite at the court of heaven,
and improves all his interest there for his people’s good. Further, personal religion
promotes knowledge of the truth and aptness to teach, both which are indispensably
necessary in the spiritual instructor. And as piety thus prevents men from mistaking the
duties, so it preserves them from prejudices against the doctrines of Christianity. Just as
one who perceived the light and brightness of the sun would be little moved by any
attempts to prove that there was nothing but darkness around him. But, above all,
inward piety assists in understanding and explaining experimental religion. Those are
best suited to speak a word in season to weary souls who can comfort them in their
spiritual distresses with those consolations wherewith they themselves have been
comforted of God. True religion will promote in ministers a pious and exemplary

13. behaviour.
II. ORTHODOXY, or soundness in the faith, is highly necessary in a spiritual instructor.
Much more stress is laid upon this in the sacred writings than some seem willing to
allow (1Ti_1:3; 1Ti_6:3; 1Ti_6:5; 1Ti_6:20-21; 2Ti_1:13; Tit_1:9; Tit_2:1; Tit_2:7-8;
Jud_1:2). Is it either ridiculous or hurtful to judge of things as they really are? If
orthodoxy, in this sense, has done evil, let its enemies bear witness of the evil; but if
good, why do they reproach it? Do superstition, enthusiasm, bigotry, or persecution for
conscience sake, flow from just sentiments of religion and of the proper means to
promote it? or rather do they not flow from wrong sentiments of these? Truth and
general utility necessarily coincide. The first produces the second.
III. A TOLERABLE GENIUS AND CAPACITY, WITH A COMPETENT MEASURE OF
TRUE LEARNING, are requisite to fit for the office of a spiritual instructor. Infidels may
wish, as Julian the apostate did, to see learning banished from the Christian Church.
And men of low education, or of selfish spirits may think meanly or speak diminutively
of a gospel ministry, as if the weakest abilities sufficed to qualify for it. But a Paul cried
out, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2Co_2:16). Elihu tells us that scarcely one of a
thousand is qualified to deal with the conscience Job_33:23). Uncommon talents are
necessary to explain obscure passages of Scripture, to resolve intricate cases of
conscience, and to defend the truth against gainsayers—services to which ministers have
frequent calls. But, above all, one who would teach others to be religious, must himself
have a clear and distinct notion of religion. We cannot avoid despising the man who is
ignorant in his own profession, whatever his knowledge may be of other matters. The
spiritual instructor should be mighty in the Scriptures, able not only to repeat, but to
explain them, having the Word of God dwelling in him richly, in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding.
IV. Ministers have need to be persons of PRUDENCE AND CONDUCT, and to know
men as well as books. A minister should study himself. He should not only be acquainted
with his own spiritual state, but with the particular turn of his genius; for our usefulness
will in a great measure depend upon knowing what our gift is. A minister should study
the make and frame of the human mind; for till the springs of human nature are, in a
good measure, disclosed to him, and he has learned how far the bodily passions, or a
disordered imagination, may either cloud genuine piety or cause a resemblance of it, he
will be often at a loss what judgment to frame of religious appearances. He should know
all the avenues to the soul, and study the different capacities and tempers of men, that
he may be able, with becoming address, to suit himself to them all.
V. A due mixture OF A STUDIOUS DISPOSITION AND OF AN ACTIVE SPIRIT is
necessary in teachers of Christianity. The ministry is no idle or easy profession, but
requires an almost uninterrupted series of the most painful and laborious services. (J.
Erskine, D. D.)
Dissuasives from proud censure
1. The best need dissuasives from proud censuring. It is the natural disease of wit, a
pleasing evil; it suiteth with pride and self-love, and feedeth conceit. It serveth
vainglory, and provideth for our esteem abroad; we demolish the esteem of others,
that out of the ruins of it we may raise a structure of praise to ourselves.
2. Censuring is an arrogation of mastership over others. It is a wrong to God to put
myself in His room; it is a wrong to my neighbour to arrogate a power over him

14. which God never gave me.
3. Christians should not affect this mastership over their brethren. You may
admonish, reprove, warn, but it should not be in a masterly way. How is that?
(1) When we do it out of pride and self-conceit, as conceiving yourselves more
just, holy, wise, etc.
(2) When we do it as vaunting over their infirmities and frailties in a braving
way, rather to shame than to restore them: this doth not argue hatred of the sin,
but envy, malice against the person.
(3) When the censure is unmerciful, and we remit nothing of extreme rigour and
severity; yea, divest the action of extenuating circumstances.
(4) When we infringe Christian liberty and condemn others for things merely
indifferent.
(5) When men do not consider what may stand with charity as well as what will
agree with truth; there may be censure where there is no slander.
(6) When we do it to set off ourselves, and use them as a foil to give our worth
the better lustre, and by the report of their scandals to climb up and commence
into a better esteem. In the whole matter we are to be actuated by love, and to
aim at the Lord’s glory.
4. A remedy against vain censures is to consider ourselves (Gal_6:1). How is it with
us? Gracious hearts are always looking inward; they inquire most into themselves,
are most severe against their own corruptions.
(1) Most inquisitive after their own sins.
(2) Most severe against themselves.
5. Rash and undue judging of others, when we are guilty ourselves, maketh us liable
to the greater judgment. The apostle proceedeth upon that supposition. Sharp
reprovers had need be exact, otherwise they draw a hard law upon themselves, and
in judging others pronounce their own doom; their sins are sins of knowledge, and
the more knowledge the more stripes. (T. Manton.)
Introduction into the office of religious teachers
Introduction into the office of religious teachers is the subject to which the admonition
has reference. The unconverted Jews were vain of their privileges, and of their
superiority in knowledge to the unenlightened Gentiles. This part of their character is
forcibly drawn by Paul (Rom_2:17-20). There were some corrupters also of the gospel—
mixing up its simple provisions for human salvation into a heterogeneous compound
with the observances of the Mosaic ceremonial who manifested the same propensity to
become teachers of others; their character, too, is graphically touched by the same
apostle (1Ti_1:5-7; Tit_1:9-11). In the latter passage, the motive to which the teaching of
such false doctrine is attributed—doctrine that trimmed itself to the prejudices and
likings of the hearers for selfish ends—is inexpressibly base. But by various other
motives besides avarice may the same desire be prompted. It may spring from vanity—
from the ambitious love of distinction and fondness for pre-eminence—even when the
teaching is not that of false doctrine, but of the true gospel, the doctrine of the Cross.
Envy of the eminence of others, it would appear from Paul’s representation, had

15. actuated some in his day—a motive even more unworthy than the simple love of
distinction for themselves Php_1:15-18). What a shocking way for malice to adopt to give
itself indulgence!—preaching Christ from rivalry, and under the idea that the success of
such rivalry might be a new element of distress to the suffering apostle! How little such
men—who judged of others by their own narrow-minded selfishness—knew of the
elevation and nobleness of principle and feeling by which this servant of Christ was
animated. Still further. Ill-directed zeal, where there is a deficiency of prudence, or of
self-diffidence and experience, may produce, without any morally-evil motive, the same
effect. This is frequently the case with new converts. Undue eagerness, then, for the
office of teachers in the Church—whether thus arising from such corrupt motives as
vanity, avarice, ambition, and envious rivalry, or from the less censurable ones of self-
ignorance, inconsideration, and misguided zeal—the apostle seeks to repress. The
meaning plainly is, that the believers should be in no haste to become public instructors,
in order that the number might not be multiplied of such as, in knowledge and in
character, were not suitable for the office. The ground on which James here rests his
caution, is that of the specially solemn responsibility with which the office of teacher is
invested: “Knowing that we” (we who are, or become, teachers namely) “shall receive
greater condemnation”—we shall be subjected to “stricter judgment,” as by some the
words have been rendered—of which, as a necessary consequence, the result must be,
when there is wilful or careless failure, or failure even from incompetency, “greater
condemnation.” The errors of teachers—whether arising from want of proper and
sufficient investigation and study, from prejudice and partiality, or from whatever other
corrupt or defective source—as they are more extensively mischievous than those of
others, so are they proportionally more criminal; the obligation lying upon them being
the greater to find out, by diligent search and careful discrimination of truth from
falsehood, what they ought to teach and what to shun, so thus they may faithfully and
fully, without alteration, addition, or abatement, declare “the thing that is right.” And,
while such considerations constitute the ground of a specially solemn account which
public teachers have to render for what they teach, hasty aspirants after the office should
further bear in mind that a station of public eminence exposes its occupant to
observation, that the sins and failings of such a one are more marked, and are more
injurious to the cause of God and of His truth than even grosser misdemeanours on the
part of Christians in more private spheres; and hence, even in the present life, we need
not be surprised should we observe discipline peculiarly severe dealt out by Providence
to those who either, from any corrupt motive, go aside in their teaching from the Divine
standard, or who, while they publish truth, fail to adorn it by their own consistent
deportment. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Shrinking from the ministerial office
Mark here how the apostle includes himself. He says, “We shall receive.” He does so in a
spirit of humility and self-distrust, which serves to bring out more forcibly the
magnitude of the danger against which he is warning his readers. We find Paul writing in
a similar manner (1Co_9:27). The most eminent ministers of the Church in all ages have
felt this, and to such an extent that they have often shrunk back at first from the sacred
office altogether. It was so with Ambrose, who, when elected Bishop of Milan, fled from
the city, and had to be searched out and brought back from his place of concealment. It
was so with the still more celebrated Father Augustine, who went forward to receive
ordination only after the most urgent solicitations. It was so with John Knox, for he,
when called to the ministry in the Castle of St. Andrews, first made an ineffectual

16. attempt to address the congregation that had chosen him, and then, bursting into tears,
rushed out of the assembly and hid himself in his own chamber. “His countenance and
behaviour, from that day till the day he was compelled to present himself in the public
place of preaching, did sufficiently declare the grief and trouble of his heart, for no man
saw any sign of mirth from him, neither had he pleasure to accompany any man for
many days together.”
What a lesson is here to all who either have entered on, or are looking forward to, the
work of spiritual teaching I (John Adam.)
Respect for authority
When Faraday was preparing to lecture in natural science at the Royal Institution, he
advertised for a retired sergeant to help him with his experiments. Being asked why he
sought for a military man, he explained that some of the materials that would be used
were dangerous, and that, therefore, he wanted for an assistant not one who would
follow his own ignorant judgment, and blow up himself, the professor, and the audience,
but one who would do exactly what he would be told, and nothing else. (E. J. Hardy, M.
A.)
Masters
i.e., self-constituted censors of others. (Calvin.)
The itch of teaching
Wiesinger heads this chapter, “Against the itch of teaching.” (Calvin.)
Inconsistent teachers
Words had taken the place of works. (Huther.)
Teachers to love their work
The sages of Israel had given the same caution as in the maxim: Love the work, but strive
not after the honour of a teacher. (Pirke Aboth. 1:10.)
The teaching gift
It is obvious that true teachers must always be a minority. There is something seriously
wrong when the majority in the community, or even a large number, are pressing
forward to teach the rest. (A. Plummer, D. D.)
Self-assertion

17. Bishop Hall said, “There are three things which, of all others, I will never strive for: the
wall, the way, and the best seat. If I deserve well, a low place cannot disparage me so
much as I shall grace it; if not, the height of my place shall add to my shame, while every
man shall condemn me for pride matched with unworthiness.” (H. O. Mackey.)
Self-glorification, a disqualification for God’s work
Dare any of us say with the French king, “L’etat c’est moi”—“The State is myself”—“I am
the most important person in the Church”? If so, the Holy Spirit is not likely to use such
unsuitable instruments; but if we know our places, and desire to keep them with all
humility, He will help us, and the Churches will flourish beneath our care. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
EBC, "HEAVY RESPONSIBILITIES OF TEACHERS - THE POWERS AND
PROPENSITIES OF THE TONGUE - THE SELF-DEFILEMENT OF THE
RECKLESS TALKER.
FROM the "idle faith" St. James goes on to speak of the "idle word." The change from the
subject of faith and works to that of the temptations and sins of speech is not so abrupt
and arbitrary as at first sight appears. The need of warning his readers against sins of the
tongue has been in his mind from the first. Twice in the first chapter it comes to the
surface. "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (Jas_1:19), as if
being slow to hear and swift to speak were much the same as being swift to wrath. And
again, "If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue, but
deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain" (Jas_1:26). And now the subject of
barren faith causes him to return to the warning once more. For it is precisely those who
neglect good works that are given to talk much about the excellence of their faith, and
are always ready to instruct and lecture others. That controversies about faith and works
suggested to him this section about offences of the tongue, is a gratuitous hypothesis. St.
James shows no knowledge of any such controversies. As already pointed out, the
purpose of the preceding section (Jas_2:14-26) is not controversial or doctrinal, but
purely practical, like the rest of the Epistle. The paragraph before us is of the same
character; it is against those who substitute words for works.
St. James is entirely of Carlyle’s opinion that in the majority of cases, if "speech is
silvern, silence is golden"; but be does not write twenty volumes to prove the truth of
this doctrine. "In noble uprightness, he values only the strict practice of concrete duties,
and hates talk" (Reuss); and while quite admitting that teachers are necessary, and that
some are called to undertake this office, he tells all those who desire to undertake it that
what they have to bear in mind is its perils and responsibilities. And it is obvious that
true teachers must always be a minority. There is something seriously wrong when the
majority in the community, or even a large number, are pressing forward to teach the
rest.
"Be not many teachers, my brethren"; or, if we are to do full justice to the compact
fullness of the original, "Do not many of you become teachers." St. James is not
protesting against a usurpation of the ministerial office; to suppose this is to give far too
specific a meaning to his simple language. The context points to no such sin as that of
Korah and his company, but simply to the folly of incurring needless danger and
temptation. In the Jewish synagogues any one who was disposed to do so might come

18. forward to teach, and St. James writes at a time when the same freedom prevailed in the
Christian congregations. "Each had a psalm, had a teaching, had a revelation, had a
tongue, had an interpretation All could prophesy one by one, that all might learn and all
be comforted". (1Co_14:26; 1Co_14:31) But in both cases the freedom led to serious
disorders. The desire to be called of men "Rabbi, Rabbi," told among Jews and
Christians alike, and many were eager to expound who had still the very elements of true
religion to learn. It is against this general desire to be prominent as instructors both in
private and in public that St. James is here warning his readers. The Christian Church
already has its ministers distinct from the laity, to whom the laity are to apply for
spiritual help; (Jas_5:14) but it is not an invasion of their office by the laity to which St.
James refers, when he says, "Do not many of you become teachers." These Jewish
Christians of the Dispersion are like those at Rome to whom St. Paul writes; each of
them was confident that his knowledge of God and the Law made him competent to
become "a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, a corrector of the
foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the Law the form of knowledge and of the truth".
(Rom_2:17 ff.) But in teaching others they forgot to teach themselves; they failed to see
that to preach the law without being a doer of the law was to cause God’s name to be
blasphemed among the Gentiles; and that to possess faith and do nothing but talk was
but to increase their own condemnation; for it was to place themselves among those who
are condemned by Christ because "they say and do not". (Mat_23:3) The phrase "to
receive judgment" (κριµα λαµβανειν) is in form a neutral one: the judgment may
conceivably be a favorable one, but in usage it implies that the judgment is adverse.
(Mar_12:40; Luk_20:47; Rom_13:2) Even without the verb "receive" this word
"judgment" in the New Testament generally has the meaning of a condemnatory
sentence. (Rom_2:2-3; Rom_3:8; Rom_5:16; 1Co_11:29; Gal_5:10; 1Ti_3:6; 1Ti_5:12;
1Pe_4:17; 2Pe_2:3; Jud_1:4; Rev_17:1; Rev_18:20) And there is no reason to doubt that
such is the meaning here; the context requires it. The fact that St. James with
affectionate humility and persuasiveness includes himself in the judgment-"we shall
receive"-by no means proves that the word is here used in a neutral sense. In this he is
like St. John, who breaks the logical flow of a sentence in a similar manner, rather than
seem not to include himself: "If any man sin, we have an Advocate"; (1Jn_2:1) he is as
much in need of the Advocate as others. So also here, St. James, as being a teacher,
shares in the heavier condemnation of teachers. It was the conviction that the word is
not neutral, but condemnatory, which produced the rendering in the Vulgate, "knowing
that ye receive greater condemnation" (scientes quoniam maius judicium sumitis), it
being thought that St. James ought not to be included in such a judgment.
But this is to miss the point of the passage. St. James says that "in many things we
stumble-every one of us." He uses the strong form of the adjective (απαντες for παντες),
and places it last with great emphasis. Every one of us sins, and therefore there is
condemnation in store for every one of us. But those of us who are teachers will receive a
heavier sentence than those of us who are not such; for our obligations to live up to the
law which we know, and profess, and urge upon others, are far greater. Heaviest of all
will be the condemnation of those who, without being called or qualified, through
fanaticism, or an itch for notoriety, or a craze for controversy, or a love of fault-finding,
push themselves forward to dispense instruction and censure. They are among the fools
who "rush in where angels fear to tread," and thereby incur responsibilities which they
need not, and ought not, to have incurred, because they do not possess the qualifications
for meeting them and discharging them. The argument is simple and plain: "Some of us
must teach. All of us frequently fall. Teachers who fall are more severely judged than

19. others. Therefore do not many of you become teachers."
In what sphere is it that we most frequently fall? Precisely in that sphere in which the
activity of teachers specially lies-in speech. "If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a
perfect man." St. James is not thinking merely of the teacher who never makes a
mistake, but of the man who never sins with the tongue. There is an obvious, but by no
means exclusive, reference to teachers, and that is all. To every one of us, whatever our
sphere in life, the saying comes home that one who offends not in word is in deed a
perfect man. By "perfect" (τελειος) he means one who has attained full spiritual and
moral development, who is "perfect and entire, lacking in nothing". (Jas_1:4) He is no
longer a babe, but an adult; no longer a learner, but an adept. He is a full and complete
man, with perfect command of all the faculties of soul and body. He has the full use of
them, and complete control over them. The man who can bridle the most rebellious part
of his nature, and keep it in faultless subjection, can bridle also the whole. This use of
"perfect," as opposed to what is immature and incomplete, is the commonest use of the
word in the New Testament. But sometimes it is a religious or philosophical term,
borrowed from heathen mysteries or heathen philosophy. In such cases it signifies the
initiated, as distinct from novices. Such a metaphor was very applicable to the Gospel,
and St. Paul sometimes employs it; (1Co_2:6; Col_1:28) but it may be doubted whether
any such thought is in St. James’s mind here, although such a metaphor would have
suited the subject. He who never stumbles in word can be no novice, but must be fully
initiated in Christian discipline. But the simpler interpretation is better. He who can
school the tongue can school the hands and the feet, the heart and the brain, in fact, "the
whole body," the whole of his nature, and is therefore a perfect man.
In his characteristic manner, St. James turns to natural objects for illustrations to
enforce his point. "Now if we put the horses’ bridles into their mouths, that they may
obey us, we turn about their whole body." The changes made here by the Revisers are
changes caused by a very necessary correction of the Greek text (ει δε) instead of Me,
which St. James nowhere else uses, or ιδου, which here has very little evidence in its
favor; for the text has been corrupted in order to simplify a rather difficult and doubtful
construction. The uncorrupted text may be taken in two ways. Either, "But if we put the
horses’ bridles into their mouths, that they may obey us, and so turn about their whole
body" (much more ought we to do so to ourselves); this obvious conclusion being not
stated, but left for us to supply at the end of an unfinished sentence. Or, as the Revisers
take it, which is simpler, and leaves nothing to be understood. A man who can govern his
tongue can govern his whole nature, just as a bridle controls, not merely the horse’s
mouth, but the whole animal. This first metaphor is suggested by the writer’s own
language. He has just spoken of the perfect man bridling his whole body, as before he
spoke of the impossibility of true religion in one who does not bridle his tongue; (Jas_
1:26) and this naturally suggests the illustration of the horses.
The argument is a fortiori from the horse to the man, and still more from the ship to the
man, so that the whole forms a climax, the point throughout being the same, viz., the
smallness of the part to be controlled in order to have control over the whole. And in
order to bring out the fact that the ships are a stronger illustration than the horses, we
should translate, "Behold, even the ships, though they are so great," etc., rather than
"Behold, the ships also, though they are so great." First the statement of the case (Jas_
3:2), then the illustration from the horses (Jas_3:3), then "even the ships" (Jas_3:4),
and finally the application, "so the tongue also" (Jas_3:5). Thus all runs smoothly. If, as
is certainly the case, we are able to govern irrational creatures with a small bit, how

20. much more ourselves through the tongue; for just as he who has lost his hold of the reins
has lost control over the horse, so he who has lost his hold on his tongue has lost control
over himself. The case of the ship is still stronger. It is not only devoid of reason, but
devoid of life. It cannot be taught obedience. It offers a dead resistance, which is all the
greater because of its much greater size, and because it is driven by rough winds, yet its
whole mass can be turned about by whoever has control of the little rudder, to lose
command of which is to lose command of all. How much more, therefore, may we keep
command over ourselves by having command over our tongues! There is nothing more
in the metaphor than this. We may, if we please, go on with Bede, and turn the whole
into a parable, and make the sea mean human life, and the winds mean temptations, and
so on; but we must beware of supposing that anything of that kind was in the mind of St.
James, or belongs to the explanation of the passage. Such symbolism is read into the
text, not extracted from it. It is legitimate as a means of edifying, but it is not
interpretation.
The expression "rough winds" (σκληρων ανεµων) is peculiar, "rough" meaning hard or
harsh, especially to the touch, and hence of what is intractable or disagreeable in other
ways. (1Sa_25:3; Joh_6:60; Act_26:14; Jud_1:15) Perhaps in only one other passage in
Greek literature, previous to this Epistle, is it used as an epithet of wind, viz., in Pro_
27:16, a passage in which the Septuagint differs widely from the Hebrew and from our
versions. St. James, who seems to have been specially fond of the sapiential books of
Scripture, may have derived this expression from the Proverbs.
"So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things." The tongue, like the
bit, and the rudder, is only a very small part of the whole, and yet, like them, it can do
great things. St. James says, "boasteth great things," rather than "doeth great things,"
not in order to insinuate that the tongue boasts of what it cannot or does not do, which
would spoil the argument, but in order to prepare the way for the change in the point of
the argument. Hitherto the point has been the immense influence which the small organ
of speech has over our whole being, and the consequent need of controlling it when we
want to control ourselves. We must take care to begin the control in the right place. This
point being established, the argument takes a somewhat different turn, and the necessity
of curbing the tongue is shown, not-from its great power, but from its inherent
malignity. It can be made to discharge good offices, but its natural bent is towards evil. If
left unchecked, it is certain to do incalculable mischief. The expression "boasteth great
things" marks the transition from the one point to the other, and in a measure combines
them both. There are great things done; that shows the tongue’s power. And it boasts
about them; that shows its bad character.
This second point, like the first, is enforced by two illustrations taken from the world of
nature. The first was illustrated by the power of bits and rudders; the second is
illustrated by the capacity for mischief in fire and in venomous beasts. "Behold, what a
fire kindles what a wood!" is the literal rendering of the Greek, where "what a fire"
evidently means "how small a fire," while "what a wood" means "how large a wood." The
traveler’s camp-fire is enough to set a whole forest in flames, and the camp-fire was
kindled by a few sparks. "Fire," it is sometimes truly said, "it is a good servant, but a bad
master," and precisely the same may with equal truth be said of the tongue. So long as it
is kept under control it does excellent service; but directly it can run on unchecked, and
lead instead of obeying, it begins to do untold mischief. We sometimes speak of men
whose "pens run away with them"; but a far commoner case is that of persons whose
tongues run away with them, whose untamed and unbridled tongues say things which
are neither seriously thought nor (even at the moment) seriously meant. The habit of

21. saying "great things" and using strong language is a condition of constant peril, which
will inevitably lead the speaker into evil. It is a reckless handling of highly dangerous
material. It is playing with fire.
Yes, "the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which
defileth the whole body." The right punctuation of this sentence cannot be determined
with certainty, and other possible arrangements will be found in the margin of the
Revised Version; but on the whole this seems to be the best. The one thing that is certain
is that the "so" of the Authorized version-"so is the tongue among our members" - is not
genuine; if it were, it would settle the construction and the punctuation in favor of what
is at least the second-best arrangement: "The tongue is a fire, that world of iniquity: the
tongue is among our members that which defileth the whole body." The meaning of "the
world of iniquity" has been a good deal discussed, but is not really doubtful. The
ordinary colloquial signification is the right one. The tongue is a boundless store of
mischief, an inexhaustible source of evil, a universe of iniquity; universitas iniquitatis, as
the Vulgate renders it. It contains within itself the elements of all unrighteousness; it is
charged with endless possibilities of sin. This use of "world" (κοσµος) seems not to occur
in classical Greek; but it is found in the Septuagint of the Proverbs, and again in a
passage where the Greek differs widely from the Hebrew (see above). What is still more
remarkable, it occurs immediately after the mention of sins of speech: "An evil man
listeneth to the tongue of the wicked; but a righteous man giveth no heed to false lips.
The faithful man has the whole world of wealth; but the faithless not even a penny".
(Pro_17:4)
"Is the tongue." The word for "is" must be observed (not εστι, nor υπαρχει, but καθιστατι).
Its literal meaning is "constitutes itself," and it occurs again in Jas_4:4, where the
Revisers rightly translate it "maketh himself:…Whosoever would be a friend of the world
maketh himself an enemy of God." The tongue was not created by God to be a
permanent source of all kinds of evil; like the rest of creation, it was made "very good,"
"the best member that we have." It is by its own undisciplined and lawless career that it
makes itself "the world of iniquity," that it constitutes itself among our members as "that
which defileth our whole body." This helps to explain what St. James means by
"unspotted" (ασπιλον) or "undefiled". (Jas_1:27) He who does not bridle his tongue is
not really religious. Pure religion consists in keeping in check that "which defileth (ηη
σπιλουσα) our whole body." And the tongue defiles us in three ways; -by suggesting sin to
ourselves and others; by committing sin, as in all cases of lying and blasphemy; and by
excusing or defending sin. It is a palmary instance of the principle that the best when
perverted becomes the worst-corruptio optimi tit pessima.
It "setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell." We must be content to
leave the precise meaning of the words rendered "the wheel of nature" (τον τροχοσεως)
undetermined. The general meaning is evident enough, but we cannot be sure what
image St. James had in his mind when he wrote the words. The one substantive is
obviously a metaphor, and the other is vague in meaning (as the latter occurs Jas_1:23,
the two passages should be compared in expounding); but what the exact idea to be
conveyed by the combination is, remains a matter for conjecture. And the conjectures
are numerous, of which one must suffice. The tongue is a center from which mischief
radiates; that is the main thought. A wheel that has caught fire at the axle is at last
wholly consumed, as the fire spreads through the spokes to the circumference. So also in
society. Passions kindled by unscrupulous language spread through various channels

22. and classes, till the whole cycle of human life is in flames. Reckless language first of all
"defiles the whole" nature of the man who employs it, and then works destruction far
and wide through the vast machinery of society. And to this there are no limits; so long
as there is material, the fire will continue to burn.
How did the fire begin? How does the tongue, which was created for far other purposes,
acquire this deadly propensity? St. James leaves us in no doubt upon that point. It is an
inspiration of the evil one. The enemy, who steals away the good seed, and sows weeds
among the wheat, turns the immense powers of the tongue to destruction. The old
serpent imbues it with his own poison. He imparts to it his own diabolical agency. He is
perpetually setting it on fire (present participle) from hell.
The second metaphor by which the malignant propensity of the tongue is illustrated is
plain enough. It is an untamable, venomous beast. It combines the ferocity of the tiger
and the mockery of the ape with the subtlety and venom of the serpent. It can be
checked, can be disciplined, can be taught to do good and useful things; but it can never
be tamed, and must never be trusted. If care and watchfulness are laid aside, its evil
nature will burst out again, and the results will be calamitous.
There are many other passages in Scripture which contain warnings about sins of the
tongue: see especially Pro_16:27-28; Ecc_5:13-14, and Ecc_28:9-23, from which St.
James may have drawn some of his thoughts. But what is peculiar to his statement of the
matter is this, that the reckless tongue defiles the whole nature of the man who owns it.
Other writers tell us of the mischief which the foul-mouthed man does to others, and of
the punishment which will one day fall upon himself. St. James does not lose sight of
that side of the matter, but the special point of his stern warning is the insisting upon the
fact that unbridled speech is a pollution to the man that employs it. Every faculty of
mind or body with which he has been endowed is contaminated by the subtle poison
which is allowed to proceed from his lips. It is a special application of the principle laid
down by Christ, which was at first a perplexity even to the Twelve, "The things which
proceed out of the man are those that defile the man". (Mar_7:15; Mar_7:20; Mar_7:23)
The emphasis with which Christ taught this ought to be noticed. On purpose to insist
upon it, "He called to Him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear ye all of you,
and understand: there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile
him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man." And He
repeats this principle a second and a third time to His disciples privately. Are ye so
without understanding also?
"That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man…All these things proceed
from within, and defile the man." If even an unspoken thought can defile, when it has
not yet proceeded farther than the heart, much greater will be the pollution if the evil
thing is allowed to come to the birth by passing the barrier of the lips. This flow of evil
from us means nothing less than this, that we have made ourselves a channel through
which infernal agencies pass into the world. Is it possible for such a channel to escape
defilement?
HAWKER, "James 3:1-14
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater
condemnation. (2) For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the
same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. (3) Behold, we put bits in
the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. (4)

23. 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, whithersoever the governor listeth. (5)
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a
matter a little fire kindleth! (6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the
tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the
course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. (7) 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: (8)
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9) Therewith
bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the
similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My
brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth a fountain send forth at the same
place sweet water and bitter? (12) Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries?
either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. (13) Who is a wise
man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation
his works with meekness of wisdom. (14) But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your
hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
We shall enter into a more perfect apprehension of the several directions we meet with
in the whole of this Chapter, and indeed, it might be added, the whole of this Epistle, if
we consider the general scope of the Apostle’s directions, in relation to those to whom he
wrote. The Church then, as the Church now, had a nominal congregation, which mingled
with the people of God. The Holy Ghost, therefore, by his servant the Apostle, instructs
the true Church, from being led away by the practice of such men. Hence, we find in the
two preceding chapters, expressions, of double-minded men; mere hearers of the word;
men seeming to be religious. So again, of certain persons, who were partial observer, of
the law: unconscious that one offence constituted a transgressor, as truly so, as a man
guilty of all. And in this Chapter, he describes the bitter envying, and strife in the heart,
and of lying against the truth The Reader will do well to consider these things. It is not
the Church, to whom James is writing, that he chargeth with this inconsistency; for the
Church is considered in a regenerate state. But it is the mere Professor, who mingled
with God’s people, though in reality, had no part, nor lot in the matter. By an attention
to these different characters, what the Apostle here sets forth will be found under divine
teaching, very instructive.
I would pause over the Apostle’s words, of the wonderful circumstance which he takes
notice of, and which, more or less, the people of God too fully know, and feel; that those
members of ours, which under grace, are used for glorifying the Lord, in praising him,
are also made the instruments of sin. With the tongue bless we God even the Father.
And, though a truly regenerated child of God is restrained from using the tongue to
curse; yet, too often; perhaps, the tongue is used in angry words. Hence, Reader! every
child of God hath an evidence in himself, when regenerated by the Holy Ghost, of a
double principle within him; grace, and corruption. Indeed, what higher proof can a
child of God need, than his own heart? I have so largely considered this subject in this
Poor Man’s Commentary, upon several occasions before, and particularly in the
Canticles, Jas_5:2 and Rom_7:7, that I rather would refer to those scriptures, than
enlarge. But, as the Apostle saith, and very blessedly saith it, the wise man, (that is, the
truly regenerated believer, made wise unto salvation, through the grace that is in Christ
Jesus, and who is endued with divine knowledge,) will skew out of a good conversation
his works of grace with meekness and wisdom.
RWP, "Be not many teachers (mē polloi didaskaloi ginesthe). Prohibition with mē

24. and present middle imperative of ginomai. “Stop becoming many teachers” (so many of
you). There is thus a clear complaint that too many of the Jewish Christians were
attempting to teach what they did not clearly comprehend. There was a call for wise
teachers (Jam_2:13.), not for foolish ones. This soon became an acute question, as one
can see in 1 Cor. 12 to chapter 14. They were not all teachers (1Co_12:28.; 1Co_14:26).
The teacher is here treated as the wise man (Jam_3:13-18) as he ought to be. The rabbi
was the teacher (Mat_23:7.; Joh_1:38; Joh_3:10; Joh_20:16). Teachers occupied an
honourable position among the Christians (Eph_4:11; Act_13:1). James counts himself a
teacher (we shall receive, Jam_3:1) and this discussion is linked on with Jam_1:19-27.
Teachers are necessary, but incompetent and unworthy ones do much harm.
Heavier judgment (meizon krima). “Greater sentence.” See Mar_12:40; Luk_20:47
for perrisoteron krima (the sentence from the judge, Rom_13:2). The reason is obvious.
The pretence of knowledge adds to the teacher’s responsibility and condemnation.
MEYER, " BRIDLE THE TONGUE
Jam_3:1-12
It is much easier to teach people what they should be and do than to obey our own
precepts. Even the best of us stumble in many respects; but our most frequent failures
are in speech. If we could control our tongues, we should be masters of the whole inner
economy of our natures. The refusal to express a thought will kill the thought. Let Christ
bridle your mouth, and He will be able to turn about your whole body. Let Him have His
hand on the tiller of your tongue, and He will guide your life as He desires.
A single spark may burn down a city. The upsetting of an oil lamp in a stable led to the
burning of Chicago. Lighted at the flames of hell, the tongue can pass their, vitriol on to
earth. Man cannot tame the tongue, but Christ can. He goes straight for the heart, for, as
He said long ago, the seat of the mischief is there. See Mar_7:14-15; Psa_51:10.
MACLARE , "A WATCH ON THE DOOR OF THE LIPS
Jas_3:1-15
‘THERE is a recurrence to earlier teaching in Jas_1:19; Jas_1:26, which latter verse
suggests the figure of the bridle. James has drunk deep into Old Testament teaching as
to the solemn worth of speech, and into Christ’s declaration that by their words men will
be justified or condemned.
No doubt, Eastern peoples are looser tongued than we Westerns are; but modern life,
with its great development of cities and its swarm of newspapers and the like, has
heightened the power of spoken and printed words, and made James’s exhortations even
more necessary. His teaching here gathers round several images- the bridle, the fire, the
untamed creature, the double fountain. We deal with these in order.
I. No doubt, in the infant Church, with its flexible organisation, there were
often scenes very strange to our eyes, such as Paul hints at in 1Co_14:26-33,

25. where many voices of would-be teachers contended for a hearing.
James would check that unwholesome eagerness by the thought that teachers who do
not practice what they preach will receive a heavier judgment than those who did not set
up to be instructors. He humbly classes himself with the teachers. The ‘for’ of verse 2
introduces a reason for the advice in verse 1 - since it is hard to avoid falls, and harder in
respect to speech than action, it is a dangerous ambition to be a teacher.
That thought leads on to the series of considerations as to the government of the tongue.
He who can completely keep it under command is a ‘perfect’ man, because the difficulty
of doing so is so great that the attainment of it is a test of perfection. James is like the
Hebrew prophets, in that he does not so much argue as illustrate. His natural speech is
imagery, and here he pours out a stream of it. The horse’s bridle and the ship’s rudder
may be taken together as both illustrating the two points that the tongue guides the
body, and that it is intended that the man should guide the tongue. These two ideas are
fused together here. The bridle is put into the mouth, and what acts on the mouth
influences the direction of the horse’s course. The rudder is but a little bit of wood, hut
its motion turns the great ship, even when driven by wild winds. ‘So the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things,’ which boasting is not false, for the whole point of
the passage is that that little member has large power.
Is it true, as James says, that it governs our actions as the bridle does the horse, Or the
rudder the ship? No doubt, many sins go straight from the inner chambers of the heart’s
desires out into the world of action without.going round by the way of speech; but still, if
we think of the immense power of our own words and of others in setting our activities
in motion, of the dreadful harvest of sin which has of ten sprung from one tempting
word, of the ineffaceable traces of pollution which some vile book leaves in memory and
heart, of the good and evil which have been wrought by spoken or printed words, and
that never more truly than to-day, when a flood of talk all but drowns the world, we shall
not think James exaggerating in the awful weight he gives to speech as the mother of
action.
His other point is that this guiding power needs guidance. A firm yet gentle hand
touches the rein, and the sensitive mouth yields to the light pressure. The steerman’s
hand pushes or draws the tiller an inch from or towards him, and the huge vessel yaws
accordingly. Speech is often loose. Most men set less careful watch on the door of their
lips than of their actions; but it would be wiser to watch the inner gate, which leads from
thought to speech, than the outer one, which leads from speech to act. Idle words, rash
words, unconsidered words, free-flowing words, make up much of our conversation. ‘His
tongue ran away with him’ is too often true. It is hard but possible, and it is needful, to
guide the helm, to keep a tight hand on the reins.
II. The next figure is that of the fire, suggested by the illustration of the
small spark which sets a great forest ablaze.
Drop a match or a spark from a locomotive or a pipe in the prairie grass, and we know
what comes. The illustration was begun to carry on the contrast between the small
member and its great results; but James catches fire, and goes off after the new
suggestion, ‘The tongue is a fire.’
Our space forbids discussing the interpretation of the difficult verse 6, but the general
bearing of it is clean It reiterates under a fresh figure the thought of the preceding verses
as to the power of the tongue to set the whole body in motion. Only the imagery is more
lurid, and suggests more fatal issues from an unhallowed tongue’s influence. It ‘defileth
the whole body.’ Foul speech, heard in schools or places of business, read in filthy books,

26. heard in theatres, has polluted many a young life, and kindled fires which have
destroyed a man, body and soul. Speech is like the axle which, when it gets heated, sets
the wheel on fire. And what comes of the train then? And what set the axle ablaze? The
sulphurous flames from the pit of Gehenna. No man who knows life, especially among
young boys and young men, will think that James has lost the government of his tongue
in speaking thus.
III. Next comes the figure of the untamable wild beast.
e need not pin James down to literal accuracy any more than to scientific classification in
his zoology. His general statement is true enough for his purpose, for man has long ago
tamed, and still continues to use as tamed, a crowd of animals of most diverse sorts,
fierce and meek, noxious and harmless.
But, says James, in apparent contradiction to himself, there is one creature that resists
all such efforts. Then what .is the sense of your solemn exhortations, James, if ‘the
tongue can no man tame’? In that case he who is able to bridle it must be more than a
perfect man. Yes, James believed that, though he says little about it. He would have us
put emphasis on ‘no man.’ Man’s impossibilities are Christ’s actualities. So we have here
to fall back on James’s earlier word, If any of you lack,... let him ask of God,... and it shall
be given him.’ The position of ‘man’ in the Greek is emphatic, and suggests that the
thought of divine help is present to the Apostle.
He adds a characterisation of the tongue, which fits in with his image of an untamable
brute: ‘It is a restless evil,’ like some caged but unsubdued wild animal, ever pacing
uneasily up and down its den; ‘full of deadly poison,’ like some captured rattlesnake. The
venom spurted out by a calumnious tongue is more deadly than any snake poison.
Blasphemous words, or obscene words, shot into the blood by one swift dart of the
fangs, may corrupt its whole current, and there is no Pasteur to expel the virus.
IV. The last image, that of the fountain, is adduced to illustrate the strange
inconsistencies of men, as manifested in their speech.
Words of prayer and words of cursing come from the same lips. No doubt these hot
tempered, and sometimes ferociously religious, Jewish Christians, to whom James
speaks, had some among them whose portraits James is drawing here. ‘Away with such a
fellow from the earth!’ is a strange sequel to ‘Blessed be he, the God of our fathers.’ But
the combination has often been heard since. To Deums and anathemas have succeeded
one another m strange union, and religious controversy has not always been conducted
with perfect regard to James’s precepts.
Of course when the Apostle gibbets the grotesque inconsistency of such a union, he is
not to be taken as allowing cursing, if it only keeps clear of ‘blessing God.’ Since the latter
is the primary duty of all, and the highest exercise of the great gift of speech, anything
inconsistent with it is absolutely forbidden, and to show the inconsistency is to condemn
the act.
Further, the assertion that ‘salt water cannot yield sweet’ implies that the ‘cursing’
destroys the reality of the verbal ‘blessing God.’ If a man says both, the imprecation is his
genuine voice, and the other is mere wind.
The fountain is deeper than the tongue. From the heart are the issues of life. Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and clear, pure waters will not well out
thence unless the heart has been cleansed by Christ entering into it. Only when that tree
of life is cast into the waters are they made sweet. When Christ governs us, we can

27. govern our hearts and our lips, and through these our whole bodies and all their
activities.
2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is
never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to
keep their WHOLE BODY in CHECK.
BAR ES, "For in many things we offend all - We all offend. The word here
rendered offend, means to stumble, to fall; then to err, to fail in duty; and the meaning
here is, that all were liable to commit error, and that this consideration should induce
men to be cautious in seeking an office where an error would be likely to do so much
injury. The particular thing, doubtless, which the apostle had in his eye, was the peculiar
liability to commit error, or to do wrong with the tongue. Of course, this liability is very
great in an office where the very business is public speaking. If anywhere the improper
use of the tongue will do mischief, it is in the office of a religious teacher; and to show
the danger of this, and the importance of caution in seeking that office, the apostle
proceeds to show what mischief the tongue is capable of effecting.
If any man offend not in word - In his speech; in the use of his tongue.
The same is a perfect man - Perfect in the sense in which the apostle immediately
explains himself; that he is able to keep every other member of his body in subjection.
His object is not to represent the man as absolutely spotless in every sense, and as
wholly free from sin, for he had himself just said that “all offend in many things;” but the
design is to show that if a man can control his tongue, he has complete dominion over
himself, as much as a man has over a horse by the bit, or as a steersman has over a ship
if he has hold of the rudder. He is perfect in that sense, that he has complete control over
himself, and will not be liable to error in anything. The design is to show the important
position which the tongue occupies, as governing the whole man. On the meaning of the
word perfect, see the notes at Job_1:1.
And able also to bridle the whole body - To control his whole body, that is, every
other part of himself, as a man does a horse by the bridle. The word rendered “to bridle,”
means to lead or guide with a bit; then to rein in, to check, to moderate, to restrain. A
man always has complete government over himself if he has the entire control of his
tongue. It is that by which he gives expression to his thoughts and passions; and if that is
kept under proper restraint, all the rest of his members are as easily controlled as the
horse is by having the control of the bit.
CLARKE, "In many things we offend all - Πταιοµεν ᅋπαντες· We all stumble or

28. 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 λογሩ, 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, 1Co_2:6; 1Co_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,