Verses 5-6: So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
In verses 3 and 4 James has just demonstrated how something small, a bit and a rudder can control something larger, a horse and a ship.
Now James points out how the small object of a tongue can control a person, causing them to “boast of great things.” James is the only New Testament writer to us this Greek word for boast (αὐχέω/aucheo). It provides the image of someone who would lift up their neck and speak in a haughty reproachful manner in order to ignite discord and cause provocation by bragging of great things.[1] James likens this to a forest fire. An uncontrolled tiny spark can ignite the dried leaves and wood of trees which will engulf the rest of the forest into flames.
The Tongue of Fire
James’ readers would have been familiar with the phrase ‘the tongue is a fire’, for the writer of Proverbs 16:27 stated: “A worthless man digs up evil, while his words are like scorching fire.”
The lesson here is that an uncontrolled, unbridled, rudderless tongue is like a destructive fire. It is characterized by James as ‘the very world of iniquity’—a phrase that has puzzled many Bible scholars. But since the word ‘world’ is identified with evil in this epistle (1:27; 2:5; 4:4) James equates iniquity—wickedness—with that specific substance of evil in the world controlled by Satan. The Greek scholar Spiros Zodhiates clarifies this:
This wickedness is seen more particularly in the neglect of the true God and His laws and in an adherence to the world or to idolatry; hence, adikía [iniquity] means impiety, ungodliness, contempt of God.[2]
Not only does this tongue unleash its hatred and derision of the Creator, it has devastating consequences upon the individual—defiling the entire body. The root meaning of this Greek word defile means: “a spot or stain, is used metaphorically of moral blemish.”[3] R.C.H. Lenski explains:
The wicked tongue defiles not merely itself with its fire but “the whole body,” for there is no sin that is committed by any member of the body and no sin that requires the whole body for movement, attitude, etc., in which the tongue does not assume the control; and it does this by the way in which it speaks of sin, helps to plan it, joins with what it says in carrying out the sin, defends, upholds, and continues the sin after it is done, etc. By means of a final modifier James explains how this one little member can thus control the whole body with defilement.[4]
Our Lord stated that this defilement affects the very core of a man:
“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” (Matthew 15:18-19, cf. Matthew 12:36-37)
James proceeds to explain the extent of this defilement: it is actively setting “on fire the course of our life.” The Greek word for course is wheel (τροχός/trochos), and is used figuratively for the cycle of our lives. Just as the wheels of an automobile rotate and proceed on a given route so does our lives. But the image here is not a positive one. As a fire will consume its source of fuel, the tongue will actively devour our lives— draining a person of all joy and happiness, and for believers, causing estrangement in their relationship with the Lord. Plus, there is an associated danger: just as a fire tends to spread, igniting other fuel sources, the tongue on fire will seek to devour those around us.
Next, James identifies the ultimate source of this devastatingly iniquitous tongue: set on fire by hell. The intent here is that hell is the active agent that causes this “tremendous destructive power of the tongue.”[5]
You might ask: How is hell able to accomplish this? Isn’t hell a place—a non-person without a personality or human characteristic? The answer lies in the context of the word hell.
The Greek word is Gehenna (γέεννα/géenna). Dr. Ryrie identifies it as a place “where the continuous burning of rubbish made it an apt illustration of the lake of fire (Mark 9:44; James 3:6; Rev. 20:14)."[6] Lenski explains further:
[Gehenna] has the connotation of both defilement and fire. South of the walls of Jerusalem lay the valley that had been desecrated by the worship of Moloch, in which children were burned (Jeremiah 2:23; 7:31; 2 Chronicles 23:3; 33:6). Josiah declared the place unclean (2 Kings 23:10), and it was then used as a place for the disposal of offal* (Jeremiah 7:32ff; 31:40).[7]
James’ readers would no doubt have been familiar with this location and its awful history of blasphemous worship and the burning of garbage. They would identify this as an unclean place based upon their Jewish belief system. From this they would understand that he is asserting that the wicked tongue is no different than an item of refuse burning in Gehenna.
We should strive to insure that our tongue is used for the glory of God and not as Paul has stated of those of "a depraved mind" (Romans 1:28), and went on to declare that they have wicked tongues: gossips, slanderers, boasters (Romans 1:29-30). Never should this be said of us who claim Christ as our Savior! We need to heed Paul's command:
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)
[1] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.71.
[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). ἀδικία/adikía. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G93.
[3] Vine, 2.596.
[4] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, 10.606.
[5] Ryrie, C. C. (1995). Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update. Chicago: Moody Press, p.1971 note.
[6] Ryrie, p.1520 note.
