SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:5
Así tambin, la lengua es un miembro pequeito, y se gloría de grandes cosas. He aquí, un pequeo fuego ¡cun grande bosque enciende!
Clarke's Bible Commentary - James 3:5
Verse 5. Boasteth great things.] That is, can do great things, whether of a good or evil kind. He seems to refer here to the powerful and all commanding eloquence of the Greek orators: they could carry the great mob whithersoever they wished; calm them to peaceableness and submission, or excite them to furious sedition. Behold, how great a matter] See what a flame of discord and insubordination one man, merely by his persuasive tongue, may kindle among the common people.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 5. Even so the tongue is a little member , etc.] Like the bit in the horse's mouth, or like the helm of a ship. And boasteth great things : and does them; for this word may be taken in a good sense: a bridled and sanctified tongue, that is influenced by the grace of God, and directed by the Spirit of God, as it speaks great and good things, it has great power, weight, and influence: the tongue of the just is as choice silver, and the lips of the righteous feed many, ( Proverbs 10:20,21), the Gospel, as preached by Christ's faithful ministers, who are the church's tongue, when it comes not in word only, but in power, is the power of God unto salvation: faith comes by hearing it, and hearing by this word; by it souls are convinced, converted, and comforted, enlightened, quickened, and sanctified. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth ; what vast quantities of wood, large forests, stately buildings, and populous towns and cities, are at once seized on by a little fire, a few sparks, and in a short time burnt down, and utterly destroyed. One of the proverbs of Ben Syra is, ``burning fire kindles great heaps; suggesting, that an evil tongue does great mischief, as did the tongue of Doeg the Edomite, as the gloss upon it observes: from hence the apostle passes to consider the abuse or vices of the tongue.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-12 - We are taught to dread an unruly tongue, as one of the greatest evils The affairs of mankind are thrown into confusion by the tongues of men Every age of the world, and every condition of life, private or public affords examples of this. Hell has more to do in promoting the fire of the tongue than men generally think; and whenever men's tongues ar employed in sinful ways, they are set on fire of hell. No man can tam the tongue without Divine grace and assistance. The apostle does no represent it as impossible, but as extremely difficult. Other sin decay with age, this many times gets worse; we grow more froward an fretful, as natural strength decays, and the days come on in which we have no pleasure. When other sins are tamed and subdued by the infirmities of age, the spirit often grows more tart, nature being drawn down to the dregs, and the words used become more passionate That man's tongue confutes itself, which at one time pretends to ador the perfections of God, and to refer all things to him; and at anothe time condemns even good men, if they do not use the same words an expressions. True religion will not admit of contradictions: how man sins would be prevented, if men would always be consistent! Pious an edifying language is the genuine produce of a sanctified heart; an none who understand Christianity, expect to hear curses, lies boastings, and revilings from a true believer's mouth, any more tha they look for the fruit of one tree from another. But facts prove tha more professors succeed in bridling their senses and appetites, than i duly restraining their tongues. Then, depending on Divine grace, let u take heed to bless and curse not; and let us aim to be consistent in our words and actions.
Greek Textus Receptus
ουτως 3779 και 2532 η 3588 γλωσσα 1100 μικρον 3398 μελος 3196 εστιν 2076 5748 και 2532 μεγαλαυχει 3166 5719 ιδου 2400 5628 ολιγον 3641 πυρ 4442 ηλικην 2245 υλην 5208 αναπτει 381 5719
Vincent's NT Word Studies
5. Boasteth great things (megalaucei). The best texts separate the compound, and read megala aujcei, of course with the same meaning. Aujcei, boasteth, only here in New Testament.
How great a matter a little fire kindleth (hlikon pur hlikhn ulhn anaptei). The word ulh (only here in New Testament) means wood or a forest, and hence the matter or raw material of which a thing is made. Later, it is used in the philosophical sense of matter - "the foundation of the manifold" - opposed to the intelligent or formative principle nouv, mind. The authorized version has taken the word in one of its secondary senses, hardly the philosophical sense it would seem; but any departure from the earlier sense was not only needless, but impaired the vividness of the figure, the familiar and natural image of a forest on fire. So Homer:
"As when a fire Seizes a thick-grown forest, and the wind Drives it along in eddies, while the trunks Fall with the boughs amid devouring flames." Iliad, xi., 156.
Hence, Rev., rightly, "Behold how much wood or how great a forest is kindled by how small a fire.
This, too, is the rendering of the Vulgate: quam magnum silvam.
