Bible Strands
James 3:2
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — James writes to Jewish believers in the dispersion, addressing them as "my brothers" (v.1), placing a warning about the tongue between the stricter judgment of teachers and the horse-bit illustration.
The words — πταίομεν (ptaiōmen, "we stumble") shares its root with σκάνδαλον (stumbling block), framing the tongue as a tripwire rather than a minor slip.
The thread — The tongue as life-or-death runs through Proverbs 13:3 (guarding the mouth protects life), Matthew 12:37 (words acquit or condemn), and James 1:26 (an unbridled tongue renders religion worthless).
Why it lands — The verse sets a standard no one meets to force the reader to take the tongue seriously: if speech reveals the whole self, careless words are not a small failure but a full-body exposure.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Cross-references
- James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- 1 Peter 3:10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
- Psalms 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
- James 3:5 In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
- Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?
- 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.