Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - James 3:11
11. fountain—an image of the heart: as the aperture (so the Greek for "place" is literally) of the fountain is an image of man's mouth. The image here is appropriate to the scene of the Epistle, Palestine, wherein salt and bitter springs are found. Though "sweet" springs are sometimes found near, yet "sweet and bitter" (water) do not flow "at the same place" (aperture). Grace can make the same mouth that "sent forth the bitter" once, send forth the sweet for the time to come: as the wood... read more
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - James 3:10
10. The tongue, says ÆSOP, is at once the best and the worst of things. So in a fable, a man with the same breath blows hot and cold. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (compare :-). brethren—an appeal to their consciences by their brotherhood in Christ. ought not so to be—a mild appeal, leaving it to themselves to understand that such conduct deserves the most severe reprobation. read more