James by David P. Nystrom

Author:David P. Nystrom
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Christian, Reference, Bible Study & Reference, New Testament, Religion, Biblical Commentary, Commentaries
ISBN: 9780310493600
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 1997-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

Original Meaning

IN THIS SECTION James makes three basic points. (1) Small items, such as the tongue, a rudder, or even one teacher, can and often do control a larger whole, such as the body, a ship, or an entire congregation. (2) One source of evil is hell, the stronghold of Satan. (3) When the tongue is influenced by the forces of hell, the result is severe double-mindedness. This irrationality is seen in that the same tongue may praise God but curse people, who have been made in God’s likeness.

The connection between this section and those that have gone before is not immediately obvious,1 yet it is there. While it is true that James introduces a new notion by discussing teachers, the heart of this section, like that found in 1:19–21, has to do with proper speech. James launches this discussion because verbal attack, in the same manner as the favoritism he has just discussed, has a particularly corrosive and lethal effect on the life of a community, especially a community of faith. Indeed, either of the two discloses that for the false teachers, the targets of James’s ire, the community is no distinct community at all, but merely another avenue to personal power. The presence of both verbal attack and favoritism James regards as nothing short of critical—dangerous in the extreme.

Another sinew that binds this section to what has gone before is the frequent use of the word “body” (soma). It first appears in reference to the tongue as a part of the human body, but James quickly uses it to refer to the Christian community. Earlier we noted that the opening of the letter is concerned with personal morality, but that with chapter 2 James turns to corporate morality; that continues to be the case here.

A fascinating feature of this passage is that the discussion proceeds on two levels. At first blush the text can be read (and rightly so) in a straightforward fashion—it is about the danger of the tongue, a small part of the body that can do great damage. But we soon realize that we are in the presence of a writer of great facility, for James deftly points to a second level of meaning via his double use of the word “body,” referring to both individuals and the Christian church. On this level we see that teachers (and leaders), although a small percentage of the entire body of a Christian community, are able to guide the whole church, just as a rudder guides a ship; with the tongue, leaders can poison the whole community. In 3:4 James notes that the crucial issue with the rudder is the nature of the pilot and his will. The question, then, is whether the teachers are shaped and controlled by the will of God, or by Gehenna.

It should not be overlooked that with chapter 3 James inaugurates a lengthy discussion composed of three blocks of material dealing with pure speech. The first (3:1–12) has to do with his claim

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