James 3:12

James 3:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
• New International Version (NIV)My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

Context of James 3:12

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]. 11Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can 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. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant, and [as a result] be in defiance of the truth.

James 3:12 word by word

μὴ δύναται, ἀδελφοί μου, συκῆ ἐλαίας ποιῆσαι ἢ ἄμπελος σῦκα; οὔτε ἁλυκὸν γλυκὺ ποιῆσαι ὕδωρ.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·μήmē · notG3361
• Canδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• the fig treeσυκῆsukē · fig treeG4808
• myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• bearποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• olive berriesἐλαίαelaia · olive treeG1636
• eitherἤē · orG2228
• a vineἄμπελοςampelos · vineG288
• figsσῦκονsukon · figG4810
• soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• noοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
• fountainπηγήpēgē · flowG4077
• saltἁλυκόςhalukos · saltyG252
• waterὕδωρhudōr hudatos · waterG5204
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• freshγλυκύςglukus · sweetG1099

Cross-references for James 3:12

• Isaiah 5:2He dug it all around and cleared away its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine (the people of Judah). And He built a tower in the center of it; And also hewed out a wine vat in it. Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.
• Jeremiah 2:21Yet I had planted you [O house of Israel as] a choice vine, A completely faithful seed. How then have you turned against Me Into degenerate shoots of a foreign and wild vine [alien to Me]?
• Matthew 7:16By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
• Matthew 12:33“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is recognized and judged by its fruit.
• Luke 6:43For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.
• Romans 11:16If the first portion [of dough offered as the first fruits] is holy, so is the whole batch; and if the root (Abraham, the patriarchs) is holy, so are the branches (the Israelites).
• Exodus 15:23Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter).
• 2 Kings 2:19Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, this city is in a pleasant place, as my lord [Elisha] sees; but the water is bad and the land is barren.”
• Ezekiel 47:8Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah (the Jordan Valley); then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the Dead Sea shall be healed and become fresh.

Commentaries on James 3:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh - For the reading of the common text, which is ̔ ̔ ̔, so no fountain can produce salt water and sweet, there are various other readings in the MSS. and versions. The word ̔, so, which makes this a continuation of the comparison in James 3:11, is wanting in ABC, one other, with the Armenian and ancient Syriac; the later Syriac has it in the margin with an asterisk. ABC, five others, with the Coptic…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive-berries? - Such a thing is impossible in nature, and equally absurd in morals. A fig-tree bears only figs; and so the tongue ought to give utterance only to one class of sentiments and emotions. These illustrations are very striking, and show the absurdity of that which the apostle reproves. At the same time, they accomplish the main purpose which he had in view, to repress the desire of becoming public teachers…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Transition from the mouth to the heart. Can the fig tree, &c.--implying that it is an impossibility: as before in Jas 3:10 he had said it "ought not so to be." James does not, as Matthew (Mt 7:16, 17), make the question, "Do men gather figs of thistles?" His argument is, No tree "can" bring forth fruit inconsistent with its nature, as for example, the fig tree, olive berries: so if a man speaks bitterly, and afterwards speaks good words, the latter…Read the comment

Topics related to James 3:12

• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• Olive Berries
• Course
• Governor
• Obey
• Offend
• Ought
• Tame
• Berries
• Either
• Fresh

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