Passage Research
James 3 — Sermon Preparation
The destructive power of the tongue is examined, and heavenly wisdom marked by peace and humility is contrasted with earthly, selfish ambition. Below is a research summary for James 3, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 18
- verses
- 295 / 154
- Greek words / lemmas
- 24
- classic sermon excerpts
- 5
- preachers & commentators
James 3 in the Greek
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Greek | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | KJV renderings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| δαμάζω | damázō | G1150 | 3 | tame |
| γλῶσσα | glōssa | G1100 | 4 | tongue |
| σοφία | sophía | G4678 | 3 | wisdom |
| μετάγω | metágō | G3329 | 2 | turn about |
| πικρός | pikrós | G4089 | 2 | bitter |
| φλογίζω | phlogízō | G5394 | 2 | set on fire |
| ἡλίκος | hēlíkos | G2245 | 2 | how great |
How preachers through history handled this text
24 public-domain excerpts on James 3, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“These verses show the difference between men's pretending to be wise, and their being really so. He who thinks well, or he who talks well, is not wise in the sense of the Scripture, if he does not live and act well. True wisdom may be know by the meekness of the spirit and temper. Those who live in malice, envy, and contention, live in confusion; and are liable to be provoked and hurried to any evil work. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on James 3:13–27 (Public Domain)
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