James 3:11

James 3:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
• New International Version (NIV)Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?

Context of James 3:11

9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. 10Out of the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, should not be this way [for we have a moral obligation to speak in a manner that reflects our fear of God and profound respect for His precepts]. Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. 13Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good conduct show his [good] deeds with the gentleness and humility of true wisdom.

James 3:11 word by word

μήτι ἡ πηγὴ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ὀπῆς βρύει τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ πικρόν;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Dothμήτιmēti · surely notG3385
• a fountainπηγήpēgē · flowG4077
• send forthβρύωbruō · to pourG1032
• atἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• the sameαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• placeὀπήopē · holeG3692
• sweetγλυκύςglukus · sweetG1099
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• bitterπικρόςpikros · bitterG4089

Commentaries on James 3:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Doth a fountain send forth - sweet water and bitter? - In many things nature is a sure guide to man; but no such inconsistency is found in the natural world as this blessing and cursing in man. No fountain, at the same opening, sends forth sweet water and bitter; no fig tree can bear olive berries; no vine can bear figs; nor can the sea produce salt water and fresh from the same place. These are all contradictions, and indeed impossibilities, in nature…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place - Margin, “hole.” The Greek word means “opening, fissure,” such as there is in the earth, or in rocks from which a fountain gushes. Sweet water and bitter - Fresh water and salt, James 3:12. Such things do not occur in the works of nature, and they should not be found in man.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11Some springs, especially in the upper sources of the Jordan River, produced both fresh water and salt water. These salty springs could not support a town. Similarly, if a person's speech mixes bad with good, it will not help the community.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. fountain--an image of the heart: as the aperture (so the Greek for "place" is literally) of the fountain is an image of man's mouth. The image here is appropriate to the scene of the Epistle, Palestine, wherein salt and bitter springs are found. Though "sweet" springs are sometimes found near, yet "sweet and bitter" (water) do not flow "at the same place" (aperture). Grace can make the same mouth that "sent forth the bitter" once, send forth the sweet…Read the comment

Topics related to James 3:11

• Righteousness
• Spring

In the dictionaries

• Course
• Governor
• Obey
• Offend
• Ought
• Tame
• Bitter; Bitterness
• Place
• Salt
• Well

Commentaries on James 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings