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 ( 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 ( didask), 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 - ( 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 teachers 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 rabbins 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 priests 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 watchmans 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 , 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, , 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, , have they stumbled so as to fall? Therefore, as in Scripture, walking denotes the course of a mans 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 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 Masters 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 peoples 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 gainsayersservices 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 Lords 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 attributeddoctrine that trimmed itself to the prejudices and likings of the hearers for selfish endsis 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-eminenceeven 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 Pauls representation, had 15. actuated some in his daya 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 menwho judged of others by their own narrow-minded selfishnessknew 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 Churchwhether 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 zealthe 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 condemnationwe shall be subjected to stricter judgment, as by some the words have been renderedof 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 teacherswhether arising from want of proper and sufficient investigation and study, from prejudice and partiality, or from whatever other corrupt or defective sourceas 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 Gods work Dare any of us say with the French king, Letat cest moiThe State is myselfI 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 mans 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 Carlyles 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 Gods 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" ( ) 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 ( for ), 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" () 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. Jamess 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 ( ) instead of Me, which St. James nowhere else uses, or , 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 horses mouth, but the whole animal. This first metaphor is suggested by the writers 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" ( ) 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 tongues 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 travelers 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" () 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 , nor , but ). 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" () 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 ( ) 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" ( ) 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 manAll 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 Apostles 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 Gods 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 Apostles 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 Mans 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 (m polloi didaskaloi ginesthe). Prohibition with m 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 teachers 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 Christs 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 Jamess 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 horses bridle and the ships 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 horses 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 hearts 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 steermans 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 tongues 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. Mans impossibilities are Christs actualities. So we have here to fall back on Jamess 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 Jamess precepts. Of course when the Apostle gibbets the grotesque inconsistency of such a union, he is not to be taken as allowing curs