Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — James writes to the scattered Jews (1:1), mid-way through a passage on the tongue (3:1–12), using a series of analogies to show how a small thing governs a large one. This verse bridges the ship/rudder image (v. 4) and the fire/wickedness claim (v. 6).
The words — μελός (melos) = "member, limb"; the tongue is framed not as an organ of speech but as a body-part, which makes the spark analogy a claim about physical proportion rather than mere metaphor.
The thread — Proverbs 18:21 and 12:18 treat the tongue as a small instrument with lethal or healing power; Jeremiah 9:3 pictures bent tongues as weapons. All three, like James, isolate the tongue's size against its effect.
Why it lands — The verse forces a reader to own the gap between the tongue's physical smallness and the scale of what it claims to do. It is not a command to be quiet; it is an inventory of what one's own body-part actually does.
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
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Cross-references
- Proverbs 18:21 Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
- Proverbs 12:18 Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
- Jeremiah 9:3 “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
- Psalms 17:10 They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Psalms 73:8 They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
- Psalms 12:2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Psalms 52:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
- Jeremiah 18:18 Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
- Jude 1:16 These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.