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

10Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! 11Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water. 13Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living the right way with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don’t brag. Don’t say that you are wise when it isn’t true.

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 up, removed its stones, planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in it, and made a winepress in it. Then he waited for it to produce good grapes, but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
• Jeremiah 2:21I planted you like a choice grapevine from the very best seed. Now you have turned against me and have become a wild vine.
• Matthew 7:16You will know them by what they produce. “People don’t pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they?
• Matthew 12:33“Make a tree good, and then its fruit will be good. Or make a tree rotten, and then its fruit will be rotten. A person can recognize a tree by its fruit.
• Luke 6:43“A good tree doesn’t produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t produce good fruit.
• Romans 11:16If the first handful of dough is holy, the whole batch of dough is holy. If the root is holy, the branches are holy.
• Exodus 15:23When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink the water because it tasted bitter. That’s why the place was called Marah [Bitter Place].
• 2 Kings 2:19The people of the city ⌞of Jericho⌟ told Elisha, “This city’s location is as good as you will ever find. But the water is bad, and the land cannot grow crops.”
• Ezekiel 47:8Then the man said to me, “This water flows through the land to the east, down into the Jordan Valley, and into the Dead Sea. When the water flows into the Dead Sea, it will replace the salt water there with fresh water.

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