Tiago 3
R.C.H. Lenski · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 3
Lenski adds that eritheia "derived from eritheuō, to work for wages as a mercenary, and hence = Lohnsucht, the selfish spirit that seeks its own will and advantage. "Selfishness" seems to be the best translation or "self-interest," which terms bring out the personal motive of the heart. (Borrow)
Tiago 3
Lenski says "This is James' great confession of sin." All = no exceptions so now it is not only teachers but all believers.(Borrow The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James) Douglas Moo: But the rest of the passage makes no reference to teachers, and James’ warning about the tongue certainly has general application. Probably, then, James intends to include all his readers in the first person plural of verse 2. His warning to would-be teachers has suggested to his mind the problem of the tongue; and this is a problem for everyone in the church. (James: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 156) In many ways - We don't just have "slips" of our tongue, but James says this stumbling occurs in many ways which would include sins of various "shapes and sizes" so to speak. So while many ways most likely means a variety of sins, it is worth noting that even if one restricted the many ways to the tongue, there are still many ways to sin. As Theodore Epp says "The tongue can be used in so many ways that dishonor the Lord. It can be used to tell an off-color story; it can be used to utter profanity in a time of anger; it can be used to pass on idle gossip; and it can be used to report dishonest half-truths." Stumble (ptaio) = we all commit sin (even believers like James)! Why? Because the sin of Adam spread like a virulent virus to all men "and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Ro 5:12+). This is an indisputable fact of life "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Ro 3:23). Solomon adds that "Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. "(Ecclessiastes 7:20+) And just "as it is written, “THERE IS (absolutely) NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE." (Ro 3:10+). The verb stumble is in the present tense describing this as something that will occur not just once or twice but repeatedly throughout our life on earth, even as believers! There is not a single day when we as believers do not stub our toe spiritually and fall short of God's perfect will for our life! A prayer we might all consider in the morning is David's plea "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips." (Ps 141:3) In another psalm David took responsibility for guarding his mouth declaring “I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence.” (Ps 39:1). As Zodhiates says "It is good as we start the day, not only to pray that the Lord may direct our steps in the path of righteousness, but also that He may direct the tongue and its movements during the day. Our tongues are apt to go to places where our steps would never dream of going." (borrow Faith, Love & Hope: An Exposition of the Epistle of James) Stumble (4417)(ptaio) means literally to loose one's footing and so to fall, stumble or “to be tripped up." Ptaio was used in secular Greek writings to refer to a “sure-footed as a horse that does not stumble” (Xenophon), and to describe a good man (Epictetus, Marcus Antoninus). All 4 NT uses of ptaio (Ro 11:11; Jas. 2:10; Jas. 3:2; 2 Pe 1:10) are figurative and mean to err, to wander from the right way; to miss the right way; to commit error, and ultimately to fail to keep the law of God. James has already used ptaio explaining that "whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10+). In summary, to stumble means to commit any moral lapse, to fail to do what is right. D Edmond Hiebert on stumble - In its literal sense the term conveys the picture of the foot striking against some obstacle so as to cause the individual to trip or stumble; metaphorically it denotes the fact of a failure in duty, a mistake that is blameworthy, or a sin. (Commentary on James or digital copy) R C H Lenski adds that "To stumble (iterative present) is figurative for sinning without falling from grace. One stumbles and yet goes forward on the road....This is James's great confession of sin. It includes far more than sins of teaching or even sins of the tongue. James places these sins into the class of the many sins which true Christians confess daily (Matt. 6:12)." (Borrow The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James) James has just generalized our stumbling as occurring in many ways, but now focuses down on our speech, what we say, what comes out of our mouth. J
Tiago 3
Lenski comments, "Nothing stronger was ever said about the tongue." (Borrow The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James) And the tongue is a fire - Phillips paraphrases it "the tongue is as dangerous as any fire." Here James metaphorically equates the tongue directly with a fire. He has just portrayed how destructive a fire can be, spreading rapidly, destroying everything in its path. And while James does not say anything about smoke, obviously fire is always accompanied by smoke and if you have every had a house fire that you were able to put out, you were still left with the ruinous effects of the smoke, so that everything smelled like smoke. Beloved, that's the power of our unbridled, unruddered tongue, unless it is continually surrendered to the guarding, guiding power of the Holy Spirit! The metaphor of speech (tongue) as fire is found in Proverbs... Proverbs 16:27 A worthless man digs up evil, While his words are like scorching fire. Proverbs 26:18-22 Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death, 19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, “Was I not joking?” 20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. 21 Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body. Life Application Study Bible - James compares the damage the tongue can do to a raging fire....Idle and hateful words are damaging because they spread destruction quickly, and no one can stop the results once they are spoken. We dare not be careless with what we say, thinking we can apologize later, because even if we do, the scars remain. A few words spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to build. Before you speak, remember that words are like fire—you can neither control nor reverse the damage they can do. (Borrow Life Application Study Bible:) John
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Lenski - Although the tongue is so small and is caged in man's own mouth, which man needs only to shut in order to master the tongue completely, "no one of men" is able to subdue it by any power belonging to his phusis (nature). (Borrow The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James) Augustine - He does not say no one can tame the tongue, but no one of men: so that when it is tamed we confess that this is brought about by the pity, the help, and the grace of God. (ED: Augustine makes a great point - no man can naturally tame their tongue, but the Holy Spirit can supernaturally "tame" our tongue. See "Tongue Control") Barton - No person can tame the tongue, but Christ can. To do it, he goes straight for the heart (Mk 7:14-15; Ps 51:10) and the mind (Ro 12:1-2). We should not try to control our tongue with our own strength; we should rely on the Holy Spirit (ED: SEE TONGUE CONTROL). He will give us increasing power to monitor and control what we say. For when we feel offended or unjustly criticized, the Spirit will remind us of God's love and keep us from reacting. The Holy Spirit will heal the hurt and keep us from lashing out. We can make sure we are in the Spirit's control by incorporating Scripture into our life and by asking the Spirit to direct our thoughts and actions each day. (ED: AND BY BEGINNING EACH DAY "filled with the Spirit" - Eph 5:18+) (James - Page 74) David
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Lenski adds that zelos "is not as narrow as our "jealousy" but as broad as overzealousness in any matter for which one contends; hence "bitter" is appended and is to be understood in the sense in which pikros is used in James 3:11, offensive, unpalatable to all who come in contact with this fanatic zeal. "Bitter" indicates the effect produced on others." (Borrow The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James) THOUGHT -