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James 3

James 3:5 KJV (With Strong’s)

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5

Even so the tonguei is a little member, and boastethk great things. Behold, how great τa matter a little fire kindleth!

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Prov. 12:13• ¹³In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare; but a righteous man shall go forth out of trouble. (Prov. 12:13)

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Psa. 12:3• ³Jehovah will cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaketh proud things, (Psa. 12:3)

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or, wood.

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Fire

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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Ex. 5:2• ²And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, to whose voice I am to hearken to let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go. (Ex. 5:2)

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Ex. 15:9• ⁹The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my soul shall be sated upon them; I will unsheath my sword, my hand shall dispossess them. (Ex. 15:9)

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2 Kings 19:22‑24• ²²Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted the voice? Against the Holy one of Israel hast thou lifted up thine eyes on high.
²³By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots have I come up To the height of the mountain, to the recesses of Lebanon, And I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its cypresses; And I will enter into its furthest lodging-place, into the forest of its fruitful field.
²⁴I have digged, and have drunk strange waters, And with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of Matsor. (2 Kings 19:22‑24)

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Job 21:14‑15• ¹⁴And they say unto *God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!
¹⁵What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him? (Job 21:14‑15)

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Job 22:17• ¹⁷Who said unto *God, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them? (Job 22:17)

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Psa. 10:3• ³For the wicked boasteth of his soul's desire, and he blesseth the covetous; he contemneth Jehovah. (Psa. 10:3)

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Psa. 12:2‑4• ²They speak falsehood every one with his neighbour: with flattering lip, with a double heart, do they speak.
³Jehovah will cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaketh proud things,
⁴Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail, our lips are our own: who is lord over us? (Psa. 12:2‑4)

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Psa. 17:10• ¹⁰They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly. (Psa. 17:10)

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Psa. 52:1‑2• ¹To the chief Musician: an instruction. Of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David came to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in evil, thou mighty man? The loving-kindness of *God abideth continually.
²Thy tongue deviseth mischievous things, like a sharp razor, practising deceit. (Psa. 52:1‑2)

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Psa. 73:8‑9• ⁸They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily:
⁹They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. (Psa. 73:8‑9)

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Prov. 12:18• ¹⁸There is that babbleth like the piercings of a sword; but the tongue of the wise is health. (Prov. 12:18)

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Prov. 15:2• ²The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright; but the mouth of the foolish poureth out folly. (Prov. 15:2)

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Prov. 18:21• ²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. (Prov. 18:21)

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Jer. 9:3‑8• ³And they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood, and not for fidelity are they valiant in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.
⁴Take ye heed every one of his friend, and confide not in any brother; for every brother only supplanteth, and every friend goeth about with slander.
⁵And they act deceitfully every one with his neighbour, and speak not the truth: they teach their tongue to speak falsehood, they weary themselves with perverse dealing.
⁶Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.
⁷Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else could I do for the daughter of my people?
⁸Their tongue is a murderous arrow; it speaketh deceit. A man speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth his ambush. (Jer. 9:3‑8)

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Jer. 18:18• ¹⁸And they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor word from the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. (Jer. 18:18)

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Ezek. 28:2• ²Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a *god, I sit in the seat of God, in the heart of the seas, (and thou art a man, and not *God,) and thou settest thy heart as the heart of God: (Ezek. 28:2)

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Ezek. 29:3• ³speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which saith, My river is mine own, and I made it for myself. (Ezek. 29:3)

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Dan. 3:15• ¹⁵Now if ye be ready at the time that ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast that same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands? (Dan. 3:15)

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Dan. 4:30• ³⁰the king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty? (Dan. 4:30)

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2 Peter 2:18• ¹⁸For while speaking great highflown words of vanity, they allure with the lusts of the flesh, by dissoluteness, those who have just fled those who walk in error, (2 Peter 2:18)

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Jude 16• ¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts; and their mouth speaks swelling words, admiring persons for the sake of profit. (Jude 16)

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Rev. 13:5‑6• ⁵And there was given to it a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to it authority to pursue its career forty-two months.
⁶And it opened its mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and those who have their tabernacle in the heaven. (Rev. 13:5‑6)

matter.

or, wood.

• If not bridled, the tongue can become the means of expressing the vanity of our hearts by condemning others and exalting ourselves, for it can boast "great things". (“The Evil of the Flesh: James 3-4” by H. Smith)

• though "a little member", it resembles a little fire that is capable of destroying an entire forest. (“The Evil of the Flesh: James 3-4” by H. Smith)

• no member of the body so readily and easily expresses our will, exposes our weakness, and reveals the true state of our heart, as the tongue. It is easily inflamed by malice in the heart, and inflames others (“The Evil of the Flesh: James 3-4” by H. Smith)

• The tongue is ordinarily used among men it is rightly declared by James to be “a fire, a world of iniquity” (ch. 3:6). Small as it is, it boasts great things. It may be like a little spark of fire, but how many a ruinous conflagration has been started by a little spark! (“James 3” by F.B. Hole)

J. N. Darby Translation

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Thus also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wooda it kindles!

JND Translation Notes

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a

i.e. a forest. But some regard the expression as meaning "materials."

W. Kelly Translation

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So also the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. See how large a wooda how little a fire kindleth!

WK Translation Notes

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a

It may be observed that the word hylēn generally translated "wood" or "forest" is often in philosophical writings used to express "matter," and by historians or others, like "materia" in Latin authors, the stuff or material of anything, timber etc. The KJV had ground for its rendering, even if the preponderance lean to that view which is presented here.