Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Translate, "The tongue, that world of iniquity, is a fire." As man's little world is an image of the greater world, the universe, so the tongue is an image of the former [BENGEL].
so--omitted in the oldest authorities.
is--literally, "is constituted." "The tongue is (constituted), among the members, the one which defileth," etc. (namely, as fire defiles with its smoke).
course of nature--"the orb (cycle) of creation."
setteth on fire . . . is set on fire--habitually and continually. While a man inflames others, he passes out of his own power, being consumed in the flame himself.
of hell--that is, of the devil. Greek, "Gehenna"; found here only and in Matthew 5:22. James has much in common with the Sermon on the Mount (Proverbs 16:27).
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Proverbs 16:27
Proverbs 21:23
Romans 3:14
James 2:12
James 3:5
James 3:15
James 4:11
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