EasyEnglish Bible 2018
James 3:11
11Salty water and sweet water never come from the same spring.
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
9We use our tongue to praise the Lord God who is our Father. But then we use it to curse other people. That is wrong, because God made those people to be like himself. 10This shows that we use the same mouth to praise and also to curse. My Christian friends, we should not do this. Salty water and sweet water never come from the same spring. 12A fig tree cannot give olives, my friends. A vine for grapes cannot give figs. And a salty spring cannot give sweet water. 13Do some of you think that you are wise? Do you think that you are clever? If so, show that you are wise by the way that you live. Be kind to other people. Do things that are good. That is what it means to be wise.
Read all of James 3James 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.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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