James 3:10

Jas 3:10. Ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ στόματος ἐξέρχεται εὐλογία καὶ κατάρα, out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing) Psa 62:4. (Septuagint) τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν εὐλόγουν, καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν κατηρῶντο, they blessed with their mouth, but in their heart they cursed.—οὐ χρὴ, there is no need) that is, it is by no means becoming.—ταῦτα οὕτω, these things so) these good things, with the evils mixed up with them in such a manner.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jam_3:10. First a repetition of the saying in brief expressive combination, by which the accent is placed on αὐτοῦ. With the words οὐ χρὴ ταῦτα οὕτως γίνεσθαι, James adds the condemnation of the conduct described.

The impersonal verb χρή is in the N. T. ἅπ. λεγ.; the usual word is δεῖ, from which it does not differ in meaning.

ταῦτα οὕτως] The union of these two words serves for the sharpening of the idea; ταῦτα designates the contents; οὕτως, the form of the action; incorrectly Bengel: ταῦτα bona; οὕτω adjunctis malis.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jas 3:10 . ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ στόματος : This incongruity is often rebuked in Jewish literature; it was the more needed because in earlier days it was not regarded as reprehensible, cf. Pro 11:26 ; Pro 24:24 ; Pro 26:2 ; Pro 30:10 , etc. εὐλογία καὶ κατάρα : this does not imply a combination of blessing and cursing, as though such a combination were condemned, while either by itself were allowable (Mayor); it simply means that the mouth which blesses God when uttering prayer, curses men at some other times, e.g. , during embittered controversy. οὐ χρή : ἅπ . λεγ . in N.T.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Secondly, because the order of nature which God hath set in things, will not suffer things that are so contrary the one to the other, to stand the one with the other.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The tongue, says ÆSOP, is at once the best and the worst of things. So in a fable, a man with the same breath blows hot and cold. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (compare Psa 62:4).

brethren--an appeal to their consciences by their brotherhood in Christ.

ought not so to be--a mild appeal, leaving it to themselves to understand that such conduct deserves the most severe reprobation.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. Out of the same mouth] This saying is something like that, Pr 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and on this, for an illustration of St. James' words, hear Vayikra Rabba, sec. 33: "Rabbi Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, said to his servant Tobias, Go and bring me some good food from the market: the servant went, and he bought tongues. At another time he said to the same servant, Go and buy me some bad food: the servant went, and bought tongues. The master said, What is the reason that when I ordered thee to buy me good and bad food, thou didst bring tongues? The servant answered, From the tongue both good and evil come to man: if it be good, there is nothing better; if bad, there is nothing worse."

A saying very like that of St. James as found in Rabbi Tanchum, fol. 10, 4: "The mouth desires to study in the law, and to speak good words; to praise God, to glorify him, and to celebrate him with hymns: but it can also slander, blaspheme, reproach, and swear falsely." See Schoettgen.

To find a man who officiates in sacred things to be a common swearer, a slanderer, c., is truly monstrous but there have been many cases of this kind, and I have known several. Let me say to all such, My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This particular truth ought also to be borne in mind, that severe censors discover their own virulence, which they suddenly vomit forth against their brethren whatever curses they can imagine, after having in sweet strains offered praises to God. Were any one to object and say, that the image of God in human nature has been blotted out by the sin of Adam; we must, indeed, confess that it has been miserably deformed, but in such a way that some of its lineaments still appear. Righteousness and rectitude, and the freedom of choosing what is good, have been lost; but many excellent endowments, by which we excel the brutes, still remain. He, then, who truly worships and honors God, will be afraid to speak slanderously of man.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) Ought not.—The Greek equivalent for this is only found here in the New Testament, and seems strangely weak when we reflect on the usual vehemence of the writer. Was he sadly conscious of the failure beforehand of his protest? At least, there seems no trace of satire in the sorrowful cadence of his lines, “Out of the same mouth!”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. these things ought not so to be] The verb, strictly. speaking, denotes not so much a state, as the coming into a state: these things ought not to occur in this way.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing,.... Which is not only a contradiction, but unnatural, as well as wicked and sinful:

my brethren, these things ought not so to be: in any, and much less in professors of religion: such things are unbecoming men, are a scandal upon human nature, and exceeding unworthy of the Christian name; see Psa 50:16.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Ver. 10. Out of the same mouth] As it did once out of the mouth of Pope Julius II, who in the battle of Ravenna on Easter Day, between him and the French, as he sat by the fire reading his prayers, and having news of the defeat, he flung away his book, saying, Sit ergo Gallus in nomine diabolorum, Let Gaul be in the name of the demons. The devil take the French. (Annal. Gallic.) Is not this that mouth that speaketh great things and blasphemies? Rev 13:5. A loaf of the same bran was that foul mouthed cardinal, who entering the city of Paris, and being met by the people who begged his blessing, blessed them at first; but when they came thicker upon him, and hindered his passage, he cursed them as fast; using these words, Quandoquidem hic populus vult decipi, decipiatur in nomine diaboli, i.e. Since this people will needs be deceived, let them be deceived in the devil’s name. Os sceleratum et profanum! The mouth is wicked and imious! (Dr Prideaux, Lect.) Plutarch in Dion tells of a land about Athens, that brings forth the best honey and worst poison. In Polypidis capite bonum inest et malum. Lo, such is the tongue.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing - The meaning here may be, either that out of the mouth of man two such opposite things proceed, not referring to the same individual, but to different persons; or, out of the mouth of the same individual. Both of these are true; and both are equally incongruous and wrong. No organ should be devoted to uses so unlike, and the mouth should be employed in giving utterance only to that which is just, benevolent, and good. It is true, however, that the mouth is devoted to these opposite employments; and that while one part of the race employ it for purposes of praise, the other employ it in uttering maledictions. It is also true of many individuals that at one time they praise their Maker, and then, with the same organ, calumniate, and slander, and revile their fellow-men. After an act of solemn devotion in the house of God, the professed worshipper goes forth with the feelings of malice in his heart, and the language of slander, detraction, or even blasphemy on his lips.

My brethren, these things ought not so to be - They are as incongruous as it would be for the same fountain to send forth both salt water and fresh; or for the same tree to bear different kinds of fruit.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He repeats here, by way of exaggeration, what he had said Jam 3:9, to show how exceedingly absurd it is that two such contrary actions should proceed from the same agent.

These things ought not so to be; there is a meiosis in the words; he means, things should be quite contrary. See the like expression, 1Ti 5:13; Tit 1:11.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Same mouth—Thus far these contrasts have illustrated the versatile power of the tongue. They will now serve to enforce the wickedness of such inconsistency.

My brethren… ought not—And cannot, just so far as they are true brethren, that is, true Christians, or true people of the Messiah.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Out of the same mouth. These utterly inconsistent things come out of the same mouth.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

10. οὐ χρή. χρή. here only in N.T.: it is not right or fitting. It is not the same as δεῖ, which implies moral obligation, duty. Here the unfitness or incongruity is expressed.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] Exemplification of ἀκατάστατον κακόν, by the inconsistent use of the tongue.

10.] Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing (by this resuming and collocation of the two opposite acts, the inconsistency is further shewn). These things, my brethren, ought not (χρή is not elsewhere found in the N. T., but always δεῖ) so to take place.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. οὐ χρή. Used only here in N. T.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.