The Meaning of James 3:5 Explained

James 3:5

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!

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Even  so  the tongue  is  a little  member,  and  boasteth great things.  Behold,  how great  a matter  a little  fire  kindleth! 

What does James 3:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The two previous illustrations share a characteristic that James pointed out next. Though small and comparatively insignificant, the tongue can effect great change out of all proportion to its size. The bit, the rudder, and the tongue, even though they are small, all have power to direct. This interpretation seems preferable to the one that takes James 3:5 a as a statement that the tongue can make pretentious claims. James did not state that idea previously, but this sentence claims a connection with what precedes.
The tongue has as much destructive power as a spark in a forest. It is petite but powerful.

Context Summary

James 3:1-12 - Bridle The Tongue
It is much easier to teach people what they should be and do than to obey our own precepts. Even the best of us stumble in many respects; but our most frequent failures are in speech. If we could control our tongues, we should be masters of the whole inner economy of our natures. The refusal to express a thought will kill the thought. Let Christ bridle your mouth, and He will be able to turn about your whole body. Let Him have His hand on the tiller of your tongue, and He will guide your life as He desires.
A single spark may burn down a city. The upsetting of an oil lamp in a stable led to the burning of Chicago. Lighted at the flames of hell, the tongue can pass their, vitriol on to earth. Man cannot tame the tongue, but Christ can. He goes straight for the heart, for, as He said long ago, the seat of the mischief is there. See Mark 7:14-15; Psalms 51:10. [source]

Chapter Summary: James 3

1  We are not rashly or arrogantly to reprove others;
5  but rather to bridle the tongue, a little member,
9  but a powerful instrument of much good, and great harm
13  The truly wise are mild and peaceable, without envy and strife

Greek Commentary for James 3:5

A little member [μικρον μελος]
Μελος — Melos is old and common word for members of the human body (1 Corinthians 12:12, etc.; Romans 6:13, etc.). [source]
Boasteth great things [μεγαλα αυχει]
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]
Boasteth great things [μεγαλαυχεῖ]
The best texts separate the compound, and read μεγάλα αὐχεῖ , of course with the same meaning. Αὐχεῖ , boasteth, only here in New Testament. [source]
How great a matter a little fire kindleth [ἡλίκον πῦρ ἡλίκην ὕλην ἀνάπτει]
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

Colossians 2:1 What great conflict I have [ἡλίκον ἀγῶνα ἔχω]
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]
Colossians 2:1 How greatly I strive [ηλικον αγωνα εχω]
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]
2 Timothy 1:6 Stir up [ἀναζωπυρεῖν]
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]
James 3:6 The world of iniquity [ο κοσμος της αδικιας]
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]
James 3:6 Setteth on fire [πλογιζουσα]
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]

What do the individual words in James 3:5 mean?

Thus also the tongue a small member is and exceeding things it boasts Behold a small fire how great a forest it kindles
Οὕτως καὶ γλῶσσα μικρὸν μέλος ἐστὶν καὶ μεγάλα αὐχεῖ ἰδοὺ ἡλίκον πῦρ ἡλίκην ὕλην ἀνάπτει

Οὕτως  Thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὕτως  
Sense: in this manner, thus, so.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
γλῶσσα  tongue 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γλῶσσα  
Sense: the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech. 2 a tongue.
μικρὸν  a  small 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: μικρός  
Sense: small, little.
μέλος  member 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: μέλος  
Sense: a member, limb: a member of the human body.
μεγάλα  exceeding  things 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: μέγας  
Sense: great.
αὐχεῖ  it  boasts 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐχέω 
Sense: to be grandiloquent.
ἰδοὺ  Behold 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἰδού  
Sense: behold, see, lo.
ἡλίκον  a  small 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: ἡλίκος  
Sense: as old as, as tall as.
πῦρ  fire 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: πῦρ  
Sense: fire.
ἡλίκην  how  great 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἡλίκος  
Sense: as old as, as tall as.
ὕλην  a  forest 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ὕλη  
Sense: a forest, a wood.
ἀνάπτει  it  kindles 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀνάπτω  
Sense: to light up, kindle.