KJV: Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
YLT: so also the tongue is a little member, and doth boast greatly; lo, a little fire how much wood it doth kindle!
Darby: Thus also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wood it kindles!
ASV: So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!
Οὕτως | Thus |
Parse: Adverb Root: οὕτως Sense: in this manner, thus, so. |
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καὶ | also |
Parse: Conjunction Root: καί Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but. |
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γλῶσσα | tongue |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: γλῶσσα Sense: the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech. 2 a tongue. |
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μικρὸν | a small |
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: μικρός Sense: small, little. |
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μέλος | member |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: μέλος Sense: a member, limb: a member of the human body. |
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μεγάλα | exceeding things |
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Plural Root: μέγας Sense: great. |
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αὐχεῖ | it boasts |
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐχέω Sense: to be grandiloquent. |
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ἰδοὺ | Behold |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular Root: ἰδού Sense: behold, see, lo. |
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ἡλίκον | a small |
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: ἡλίκος Sense: as old as, as tall as. |
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πῦρ | fire |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: πῦρ Sense: fire. |
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ἡλίκην | how great |
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: ἡλίκος Sense: as old as, as tall as. |
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ὕλην | a forest |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: ὕλη Sense: a forest, a wood. |
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ἀνάπτει | it kindles |
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἀνάπτω Sense: to light up, kindle. |
Greek Commentary for James 3:5
Μελος Melos is old and common word for members of the human body (1 Corinthians 12:12, etc.; Romans 6:13, etc.). [source]
Present active indicative of αυχεω aucheō old verb, here only in N.T. The best MSS. here separate μεγαλα megala from αυχεω aucheō though μεγαλαυχεω megalaucheō does occur in Aeschylus, Plato, etc. Μεγαλα Megala is in contrast with μικρον mikron much - how small The same relative form for two indirect questions together, “What-sized fire kindles what-sized forest?” For double interrogatives see Mark 15:24. The verb αναπτω anaptei is present active indicative of υλην anaptō to set fire to, to kindle (Luke 12:49, only other N.T. example except some MSS. in Acts 28:2). αναπτει Hulēn is accusative case, object of anaptei and occurs here only in N.T., though old word for forest, wood. Forest fires were common in ancient times as now, and were usually caused by small sparks carelessly thrown. [source]
The best texts separate the compound, and read μεγάλα αὐχεῖ , of course with the same meaning. Αὐχεῖ , boasteth, only here in New Testament. [source]
The word ὕλη (only here in New Testament) means wood or a forest, and hence the matter or raw material of which a thing is made. Later, it is used in the philosophical sense of matter - “the foundation of the manifold” - opposed to the intelligent or formative principle νοῦς , mind. The authorized version has taken the word in one of its secondary senses, hardly the philosophical sense it would seem; but any departure from the earlier sense was not only needless, but impaired the vividness of the figure, the familiar and natural image of a forest on fire. So Homer:“As when a fireSeizes a thick-grown forest, and the wind Drives it along in eddies, while the trunks-DIVIDER- Fall with the boughs amid devouring flames.”Iliad, xi., 155.Hence, Rev., rightly, “Behold how much wood or how great a forest is kindled by how small a fire. This, too, is the rendering of the Vulgate: quam magnam silvam. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for James 3:5
Rev., how greatly I strive. Ἡλίκον whatgreat, only here and James 3:5. Conflict, continuing the metaphor of Colossians 1:29. Here of inward conflict, anxiety, prayer, as Colossians 4:12. [source]
Literally, “how great a contest I am having.” The old adjectival relative ηλικος hēlikos (like Latin quantus) is used for age or size in N.T. only here and James 3:5 (twice, how great, how small). It is an inward contest of anxiety like the μεριμνα merimna for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28). Αγωνα Agōna carries on the metaphor of αγωνιζομενος agōnizomenos in Colossians 1:29. [source]
N.T.olxx, (Genesis 45:27; Luke href="/desk/?q=lu+12:49&sr=1">Luke 12:49; James 3:5. It is not necessary to assume that Timothy's zeal had become cold. [source]
A difficult phrase, impossible to understand according to Ropes as it stands. If the comma is put after πυρ pur instead of after αδικιας adikias then the phrase may be the predicate with κατισταται kathistatai (present passive indicative of κατιστημι kathistēmi “is constituted,” or the present middle “presents itself”). Even so, κοσμος kosmos remains a difficulty, whether it means the “ornament” (1 Peter 3:3) or “evil world” (James 1:27) or just “world” in the sense of widespread power for evil. The genitive αδικιας adikias is probably descriptive (or qualitative). Clearly James means to say that the tongue can play havoc in the members of the human body.Which defileth the whole body (η σπιλουσα ολον το σωμα hē spilousa holon to sōma). Present active participle of σπιλοω spiloō late Koiné, verb, to stain from σπιλος spilos (spot, also late word, in N.T. only in Ephesians 5:27; 2 Peter 2:13), in N.T. only here and Judges 1:23. Cf. James 1:27 ασπιλον aspilon (unspotted).Setteth on fire Present active participle of πλογιζω phlogizō old verb, to set on fire, to ignite, from πλοχ phlox (flame), in N.T. only in this verse. See αναπτει anaptei (James 3:5).The wheel of nature (τον τροχον γενεσεως ton trochon geneseōs). Old word for wheel (from τρεχω trechō to run), only here in N.T. “One of the hardest passages in the Bible” (Hort). To what does τροχον trochon refer? For γενεσεως geneseōs see note on James 1:23 apparently in the same sense. Vincent suggests “the wheel of birth” (cf. Matthew 1:1, Matthew 1:18). The ancient writers often use this same phrase (or κυκλος kuklos cycle, in place of τροχος trochos), but either in a physiological or a philosophical sense. James may have caught the metaphor from the current use, but certainly he has no such Orphic or Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls, “the unending round of death and rebirth” (Ropes). The wheel of life may be considered either in motion or standing still, though setting on fire implies motion. There is no reference to the zodiac.And is set on fire by hell Present passive participle of πλογιζω phlogizō giving the continual source of the fire in the tongue. For the metaphor of fire with γεεννα gehenna see Matthew 5:22. [source]
Present active participle of πλογιζω phlogizō old verb, to set on fire, to ignite, from πλοχ phlox (flame), in N.T. only in this verse. See αναπτει anaptei (James 3:5).The wheel of nature (τον τροχον γενεσεως ton trochon geneseōs). Old word for wheel (from τρεχω trechō to run), only here in N.T. “One of the hardest passages in the Bible” (Hort). To what does τροχον trochon refer? For γενεσεως geneseōs see note on James 1:23 apparently in the same sense. Vincent suggests “the wheel of birth” (cf. Matthew 1:1, Matthew 1:18). The ancient writers often use this same phrase (or κυκλος kuklos cycle, in place of τροχος trochos), but either in a physiological or a philosophical sense. James may have caught the metaphor from the current use, but certainly he has no such Orphic or Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls, “the unending round of death and rebirth” (Ropes). The wheel of life may be considered either in motion or standing still, though setting on fire implies motion. There is no reference to the zodiac.And is set on fire by hell Present passive participle of πλογιζω phlogizō giving the continual source of the fire in the tongue. For the metaphor of fire with γεεννα gehenna see Matthew 5:22. [source]