James 3:5

James 3:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
• New International Version (NIV)Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
• New King James Version (NKJV)Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

Context of James 3:5

3Now if we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we guide their whole body as well. 4And look at the ships. Even though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. In the same sense, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See [by comparison] how great a forest is set on fire by a small spark! 6And the tongue is [in a sense] a fire, the very world of injustice and unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life [the cycle of man’s existence], and is itself set on fire by hell (Gehenna). 7For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

James 3:5 word by word

Οὕτως καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα μικρὸν μέλος ἐστὶν καὶ μεγάλα αὐχεῖ. ἰδοὺ ἡλίκον πῦρ ἡλίκην ὕλην ἀνάπτει·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Evenκαίkai · andG2532
• soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• the tongueὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the tongueγλῶσσαglōssa · tongueG1100
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• a littleμικρόςmikros mikroteros · smallG3398
• memberμέλοςmelos · memberG3196
• boasteth great thingsμεγαλαυχέωmegalaucheō · to boastG3166
• Beholdὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• how greatἡλίκοςhēlikos · how great?G2245
• a matterὕληhulē · forestG5208
• a littleὀλίγοςoligos · little/fewG3641
• fireπῦρpur · fireG4442
• kindlethἀνάπτωanaptō · to set fireG381

Cross-references for James 3:5

• Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
• Exodus 15:9The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied against them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall dispossess them and drive them out.’
• 2 Kings 19:22Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
• Job 21:14Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
• Job 22:17They said to God, ‘Depart from us! What can the Almighty do for us or to us?’
• Psalms 10:3For the wicked boasts and sings the praises of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns [and even despises] the Lord.
• Psalms 12:2They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
• Psalms 17:10They have closed their unfeeling heart [to kindness and compassion]; With their mouths they speak proudly and make presumptuous claims.
• Psalms 52:1Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
• Psalms 73:8They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak loftily [with malice].
• Proverbs 12:18There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.
• Proverbs 15:2The tongue of the wise speaks knowledge that is pleasing and acceptable, But the [babbling] mouth of fools spouts folly.
• Proverbs 18:21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.
• Jeremiah 9:3“They bend their tongue like their bow; [Their] lies and not truth prevail and grow strong in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know and understand and acknowledge Me,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 18:18Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”
• Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because your heart is lifted up And you have said and thought, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods In the heart of the seas’; Yet you are [only] a man [weak, feeble, made of earth] and not God, Though you [imagine yourself to be more than mortal and] think your mind is as [wise as] the mind of God—

Commentaries on James 3:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Boasteth great things - That is, can do great things, whether of a good or evil kind. He seems to refer here to the powerful and all commanding eloquence of the Greek orators: they could carry the great mob whithersoever they wished; calm them to peaceableness and submission, or excite them to furious sedition. Behold, how great a matter - See what a flame of discord and insubordination one man, merely by his persuasive tongue, may kindle among the common…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Even so the tongue is a little member - Little compared with the body, as the bit or the rudder is, compared with the horse or the ship. And boasteth great things - The design of the apostle is to illustrate the power and influence of the tongue. This may be done in a great many respects: and the apostle does it by referring to its boasting; to the effects which it produces, resembling that of fire, James 3:6; to its untameableness, James 3:8-9; and to…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. boasteth great things--There is great moment in what the careless think "little" things [Bengel]. Compare "a world," "the course of nature," "hell," Jas 3:6, which illustrate how the little tongue's great words produce great mischief. how great a matter a little fire kindleth--The best manuscripts read, "how little a fire kindleth how great a," &c. Alford, for "matter," translates, "forest." But Grotius translates as English Version, "material for…Read the comment

Topics related to James 3:5

• Boasting
• Speaking

In the dictionaries

• Course
• Governor
• Obey
• Offend
• Ought
• Tame
• Busybody
• Fire
• Great; Greatness
• Matter

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