Verses 9-12: With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
Have you ever heard someone who used foul language being reprimanded by the question: “Do you kiss you mother with that tongue?” That’s exactly what James is trying to get across to his readers, that for a believer this mannerism is shameful.
But here the word curse does not mean foul language—it means “to wish anyone evil or ruin.”[1] Exactly how a believer might come to wishing evil upon another person, Lenski refreshes our memory of what James has already cited:
Provoked by anger, which does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20), we forget the royal law of love (James 2:8) and curse the human beings who are in the likeness of God.[2]
I have heard this type of cursing before: “I hope you rot in Hell!”; “I hope you get what’s coming to you!”; “I wish nothing but bad luck to you and your progeny!” etc. It contains so much hate and bitterness.
We as believers must recognize that the uncontrolled tongue that wishes evil and ruin on another human being is not just condemning the one who we are angry with, but we are lashing out at the very image of our Creator—for all were created in His image (Genesis 1:27).
The irony in all of this is that when God created man on the sixth day He placed the tongue in the body (as stated in verse 6: set among our members) and Scripture asserted that “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31a). The original Hebrew word for very has the more precise connotation of our English term: exceeding.
It is found in many combinations, all expressing the idea of exceeding (e.g. Gen 1:31, in which the Creator calls his creation exceeding good).[3]
Therefore God created mankind in His image and declared that what He had made was exceedingly good. But we should be aware that this verse is not referring to violent situations (i.e. wars, street violence, savagery). What James is discussing is that within our personal relationships with family, friends, fellow believers and with our co-workers and casual acquaintances, the wishing of evil upon others should never emanate from our tongues.
The Fountain and the Fig Tree
James provides in these two verses two incongruities in the natural world: water fountains producing fresh, bitter or salty water at the same time and fig trees bearing olives or, vice versa, olive vines bearing figs. The idea is that this is not normal; it is not how God intended in the natural world He created and controls.
And neither did He intend that the tongue be used in such a wicked manner. Lenski proclaims that “this must be regarded as an enormity, a monstrosity...only a Christian’s tongue will do it when it is not watched closely and held in check firmly enough.”[4] J.R. Blue adds:
A key to right talk is right thought. The tongue is contained in a cage of teeth and lips, but it still escapes. It is not intelligence that keeps the lock on that cage; it is wisdom—a wisdom that is characterized by humility, grace, and peace.[5]
We have been commanded by the apostle Paul: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14). By not following these directives of James and Paul, a believer is actually going against the very intent of God for his life.
Lenski provides a relevant summation of this issue of the tongue and its potential negative impact upon the Christian’s walk of faith and witness for Christ.
The implied application to the tongue is the point that it will produce according to its nature and not otherwise, and that it can have only one nature and not two or more. If it then blesses and curses out of the same mouth, something is wrong. It cannot be possible that its cursing is untrue; thus it follows that its blessing must be untrue, be nothing but formality and hypocrisy.[6]
It should be noted that James’ teaching of the uncontrolled tongue actually began way back in chapter 1:19, when he stated that we should be “slow to speak”—not hasty or reckless. The underlying truth that James is trying to get across is that since we are created in the image of God, we have the ability to reason—to think. So we believers should guard what comes out of our mouths by thinking first as to what we are saying (i.e. not be hasty or reckless), mindful that we are His witnesses for the gospel in thought, deeds and words! We may never know who we turn off from the opportunity of realizing the actuality of God and the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem all of His creatures who bare His image.
[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G2672.
[2] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, 10.611.
[3] Kaiser, W. C. (1999). 1134 מאד. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.). Chicago: Moody Press, p. 487.
[4] Lenski, 10.612.
[5] Blue, J. R. (1985). James. (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 2.828.
