Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · James Capítulo 3

James 3:1. Be not many masters— Many teachers. The word Διδασκαλος among the Jews, commonly signified the same with Rabbi, a title of which the Scribes and Pharisees were exceedingly fond, as it signifies frequently the head of a sect, or author of a doctrine, Matthew 23:7. But in that sense no Christians are to desire the title, much less to assume the thing thereby intended; for Christ alone is our Master, or the author of the doctrines which we are to embrace. But the word is here used in a more general sense, and the verse may be thus paraphrased: "Give me leave, my brethren, to caution you against another evil, which I have seen some reason to apprehend; and to press you, that you be not many teachers; that none of you rashly undertake the office of teachers, into which many are ready to intrude themselves, without due qualifications, or a real divine call: but I would urge you to be cautious against such an assuming disposition, as knowing that we who bear that office, must expect that we shall undergo greater and stricter judgment than others in a more private station of life."

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James 3:2. For in many things we offend all, &c.— "The many infirmities, to which the best of us are subject, may indeed teach us to think with awe of that exact trial which we are to undergo on the great day, and induce us to fly to the only refuge of sinners, the Blood of the covenant; for in many things we offend all; we are too ready to trip and stumble in our walk. But if any one is enabled to keep a bridle upon his tongue, that it utter no opprobrious, false, or other sinful words, from any corrupt or excessive passion; he is, in avery eminent sense, a finished Christian; is a man of rich attainmentsinknowledgeandexperience,integrityandholiness;andisfurnishedwith such divine assistances, as aresufficient to prevent all irregularities of conduct, and to spread a most amiable influence through all the members of his body; and the whole behaviour of his life, to the advantage of every religious and civil body to which he is related."

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James 3:4. Whithersoever the governor listeth— Whithersoever the action of the pilot directs. Heylin. Whithersoever the steersman pleaseth. Doddridge; who remarks, "I know not how to express in English the force of 'Ορμη του ευθυνοντος, which, admirably represents the impetuosity with which, in a storm, a man at the helm, on a critical occasion, turns his hand."

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James 3:5. And boasteth great things— Though the word μεγαλαυχειν signifies in general to boast great things; yet here, to answer the two preceding comparisons, it must signify that the tongue, though a small member, can do great things; just as a small bridle can curb a great horse, and a small helm steer a large ship. Many critics join this first clause of the 5th verse to the 4th, and read the 5th thus: Behold how great a quantity of materials a little fire kindleth! Jam 3:6 and the tongue is a fire, &c.

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James 3:6. And the tongue, &c.— St. James seems to have called the tongue of man a world of iniquity, in the same sense that we say "a world of riches,"—"a sea of trouble,"—"an ocean of delights." So Milton, in his Paradise Lost, speaks of "an universe of death," and "a world of woe." The word rendered course is τροχον, and the passage should be rendered, and sets on fire the wheel or course of our life. The present life of man is here compared to a wheel, which is put in motion at our birth, and runs swiftly till death puts a stop to it. By the rapidity of its motion, the tongue sets this wheel in a flame, which sometimes destroys the whole machine. One of the ancient Heathen poets compares human life to a wheel;

For, like a chariot wheel, our life rolls on; thus beautifullypointing out the continual tendency of human life to its final period. The Syriac version has rendered the last clause, and it will itself be burned in the fire; intimating the punishment which men who have used their tongues wickedly, must undergo: but as the false wisdom, Jam 3:15 is called devilish, the common interpretation seems preferable.

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James 3:10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth, &c.— So that "out of one and the same mouth come forth blessings and praises in one mood, and curses in another. Certainly, my Christian brethren, these contrary uses of the same tongue are monstrously incongruous and absurd; and ought, by no means, to have any place in those who make a profession of Christ and his gospel."

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James 3:12. So can no fountain both yield, &c.— "Full as inconsistent is it to suppose, that a man's heart, the fountain whence all his words proceed, should habitually vent itself in ways of talking, which are of as directly contrary a nature, as the salt water of the sea, and the sweet water of the finest spring, are one to the other."

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James 3:13. Who is a wise man, &c.— "Who is there then among you, that would approve himself to be wise towards God, and for himself and others; prudent in his conduct; and endued with the true knowledge of God, of Christ, and of himself; and withaspiritualdiscernmentoftheabsurdityandself-contradictionofthesethings?Let it be his great care and concern, that, by an honourable deportment in the church and in the world, he may evidently practise every kindof good works, in the whole course of his conversation, with a meek and humble Spirit, which proceeds from, and discovers, the truest wisdom."

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James 3:14. But if ye have bitter envying, &c.— "But if ye have bitter zeal against each other, and uncharitable contention in your hearts, boast not of your improvements in Christianity, and lie not against the truth by such groundless pretensions."

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James 3:15. This wisdom descendeth not from above, &c.— "For, whatever pretences such a person may make, (James 3:14.) to a greater knowledge, or a sounder faith than others, this fierce zeal and love of strife is not the wisdom which descends from heaven; but it is produced upon earth, arising from a excessive regard to the present world, and proceeds not from the Spirit of God, but from too great an indulgence of the sensual appetites: and it resembles the temper of demons,—those wicked spirits; for wherever there is such a sort of zeal, wherever such a spirit of strife and animosity is the root, the fruit which it yields must be irregularity, tumult, and almost every unchristian and destructive practice." St. James here calls the false wisdom of wicked me ψυχικη, animal, or sensual: it proceeded not from the spirit of God, but from a criminal indulgence of the sensual appetites and passions: it is in other places called the flesh, and condemned under that image. See Romans 8:5; Romans 8:7; Romans 13:14. 1 Corinthians 2:14.Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:21. 1 Thessalonians 5:23.Jude 1:19; Jude 1:19. Dr. Bates supposes, that the three epithets in this verse refer to the three grand temptations of the world, avarice, pleasure, and ambition; the first of which is earthly, the second sensual, the third diabolical, being the sin by which the devils fell.

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