James 3 is the third chapter of the

Epistle of James The Epistle of James). is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles ( didactic letters) in the New Testament. James 1:1 identifies the author as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" who is writing to "the twelve tribes ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. The author identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" and the epistle is traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus, written in Jerusalem between 48 and 61 CE. Alternatively, some scholars argue that it is a pseudographical work written after 61 CE. This chapter contains an exposition about wisdom and humility.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 18 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Greek are: * Papyrus 20 (early 3rd century; extant verses 1–9) *

Papyrus 100 Papyrus 100 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by siglum 𝔓100, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Epistle of James. The surviving texts of James are verses 3:13-4:4; 4:9-5:1, they are ...

(late 3rd century; extant verses 13–18) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (ca. 450) * Papyrus 54 (5th century; extant verses 2–4) *

Papyrus 74 Papyrus 74 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓74, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles and Catholic epistles with lacunae. The manuscript paleographically had been as ...

(7th century; complete) An ancient manuscript containing this chapter in the Coptic language is: * Papyrus 6 (~AD 350; all verses).

Ethics of Speech for Teachers (3:1–12)

Verse 1

: ''My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.''

Joyce Meyer Pauline Joyce Meyer (née Hutchison; June 4, 1943) is an American Charismatic Christian author, speaker and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Joyce and her husband Dave have four grown children, and live outside St. Louis, Missouri. Her min ...

consider all believers in Christian faith are 'teachers in some way or another', because although they don't quote Bible verses or say spiritual things, their behavior becomes a tool to 'teach by example', teaching people around them about Christianity without realizing it, and can do more harm than good if they fail to behave as Christians.

Verse 2

: “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a erfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”

Verse 5

:''Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.'' :''See how great a forest a little fire kindles!'' The danger of the human

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste ...

is a popular theme in Jewish wisdom tradition, with many warnings placed in the Book of Proverbs (for examples, see ; ; ; ), as well as in Wisdom 1:11; Sirach 5:13; 19:16; 25:8b; 28:17-18, 22, and in

rabbinical literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

(''Abot'' 6:6; ''Lev. Rab.'' 16:4 n Leviticus 14:2 ''b. 'Arak.'' 15b; ''b. Ber.'' 17a). Several

scrolls A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papy ...

from Qumran also contain similar advice, such as 1QS 10:21-24; 4Q525 2 ii 1; 14 ii 25–27; and 4Q436 1 i 7–10.

Verse 6

:''And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.'' :''The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.'' *"The tongue is a fire": Fire can be very useful to warm and comfort when used properly, and so is the tongue in conversation and ministry of the word. However, as fire should be carefully controlled, so should Christians be careful that they don't sin with their tongue and always keep their lips from speaking evil. Fire can kindle and rise up into a flame, like angry, passionate words can stir up the flame of lust, anger, envy, and revenge, also spreading when lies, scandal, and evil reports vented by the tongue; and as fire devours all that comes in its way, such are the words of an evil tongue; and therefore are called devouring words () they devour the good names of men, corrupt their good manners, and destroy those who make use of them; and what wood is to fire, and coals to burning coals, that are whisperers, tale bearers, backbiters, and contentious persons to strife, () * "A world of iniquity": points to the world which is full of sin, for it lies in wickedness, so is the tongue full of iniquity, existing as a world of its own. The Jewish commentaries state that one who uses an evil tongue multiplies transgression, and that it is equal to idolatry, adultery, and murder, and the cause of all sin, as expressed using the fable, as follows: The

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

version renders this clause as "and the world of iniquity is as wood", referring to a branch of a tree, in the sense that the tongue is fire, and the wicked world is fuel to it. * "The course of nature": or "wheel of nature", that is, the natural body, where there is a continual rotation or circulation of the blood, by which it is supported. This is the wheel broken at the cistern at death, in or the course of a man's life and actions, even of all generations, which greatly influenced by the tongue; as the Syriac version renders, "and sets on fire the series of our genealogies, or our generations, which run like wheels". *"Set on fire by hell": that is, by the devil as its habitation (cf. Matthew 16:18), in contrast to the "heaven" as the dwelling of God (Matthew 21:25, Luke 15:18), and the sense is, that the tongue is influenced and instigated by Satan to speak many evil things, and later be set on fire in hell, as the tongue of the rich man in Luke 16:24, as implied in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

The Meekness of Wisdom (3:13–18)

Verse 16

New King James Version : ''For where envy and self-seeking exist,

confusion In medicine, confusion is the quality or state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion"

and every evil thing are there.''

References

Sources

* *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle of James 03