Behold, we put the bits in the mouths of the horses, that they may obey us, and we turn round their whole bodies.
James points to an everyday sight. A rider slips a small piece of metal into a horse's mouth, and the whole animal turns. Size and power are two different things. The real question is who holds the reins on our tongue.
The force of the image lies in the gap between the bit and the animal. One writer measures that gap plainly:
The bit is a very small article when the large bulk of a horse is considered, yet by this simple contrivance a man gains complete control and, when once the animal is broken in and docile, it suffices to turn about its whole body.
The horse is not only mild-tempered ones. The point holds even where the animal has a will of its own, and what is governed is not just the head:
It would be an obvious mistake to doubt the power of an object because its size is small. Such are the bits we put into the horses' mouths. The animal may be wild and headstrong, but this usually brings it to obedience. And it is not only the mouth or head that is controlled: "we guide their whole bodies as well."
James is arguing against a common excuse — that a small fault deserves small concern. The bit answers it:
He shows that it may seem a little thing to man, but we must not excuse what is wrong because it may appear to have a little source. He proves that the smallest things are often the ones that govern far larger bodies.
A bridle is what you use on a creature that will not listen. One writer draws out what that says about us:
It is true that we ought not to be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, and which must be held back by bit and bridle, or they will not come near to you (Psalm 32). But that is restraint, and it shames us when we need it, as in the case supposed here. Our joy is to walk in the spirit of obedience and to know God's guidance in the way we should go, counselled by Him with His eye upon us. But if restraint is needed, He knows how, and He does not fail to restrain and to chastise.
James is not really talking about horses. One writer draws the line straight to the tongue:
Even so the tongue is a little member which, if a man can control it like a helmsman, he can govern the whole body. If it is not bridled, the tongue can become the way we express the vanity of our hearts. We use it to condemn others and exalt ourselves, for it can boast "great things."
The reverse is just as true. A bit only works while someone is holding the reins:
But if the horse driver or the helmsman gives up control, and leaves the horse or the ship to its own devices, then tragedy is practically certain. In the same way, the tongue, if it is not controlled by its owner, can do terrible damage rather than exert a great influence for good.
Later in the chapter James says no one can tame the tongue. So this verse is not a call to willpower:
Who then can control the tongue? "No man" can do it, but Christ can, and we have only to look to Him in simple faith. This implies both the sense of our own utter helplessness and His all-sufficiency… How often have we suffered from some blunder of the tongue and resolved to control that unruly tongue a little better next time? But our resolution proved to be like the morning cloud that passes away.
Another writer traces our speech back to the heart:
If no man can restrain the tongue, the grace of Christ can do it. The inner man on one side is under the yoke of the Lord, and is meek and lowly in heart. Christ fills the heart, and the tongue follows the impulses of the heart, so the speech will express this meekness and lowliness… It is very useful to see that the tongue shows what is working within, just as the hands of a clock show the hidden workings of its wheels.
- Small. The bit is tiny beside the horse, yet it turns the whole animal. Power does not follow size.
- Steered. The least thing can govern the largest, so no one may excuse a fault because its source looks small.
- Restrained. A bridle is for a creature that will not listen. It shames us when God must hold us back instead of guiding us with His eye upon us.
- Released. Let go of the reins and the tongue does more than drift. It can do terrible damage.
- Held. No one can tame the tongue by resolution. Christ fills the heart, and the speech that flows out turns meek and lowly.
Behold also the ships, which are so great, and driven by violent winds, are turned about by a very small rudder, wherever the pleasure of the helmsman will.
James turns to the harbour. A huge ship, a hard wind, and one small rudder that decides the whole course. His subject is not the ship but the tongue. Does something so small really carry that much weight?
The whole force of the illustration lies in a mismatch of scale. It answers the excuse that a word is too slight to matter.
He shows that it may seem a small thing to people. But we must not excuse what is wrong just because its source looks small. He proves that the smallest things are often the ones that control far larger bodies.
The bit in a horse's mouth came first. The rudder makes the same point on a bigger scale, and both point to the tongue.
The bit in the mouth of the horse is a small thing, but by it we can compel the horse to obey. The rudder is a small thing, but with it we can steer great ships despite "strong winds". In the same way the tongue is a little member. If a man can control it, as a helmsman controls a ship, he can govern his whole body. If it is left unbridled, the tongue puts the vanity of our hearts into words. We condemn others and exalt ourselves, for the tongue can boast "great things".
James does not describe calm sailing. He puts the rudder to work under pressure, and the wonder is how little effort it takes.
Ships of huge size are also turned by a very small rudder. The helmsman can turn the wheel with one finger. Strong winds may drive them, yet that almost effortless turn of the wheel gives amazing control over them.
The picture also runs the other way. A ship is not safe because it has a rudder; it is safe because someone is holding it.
But if the driver or the helmsman gives up control, and leaves the horse or the ship to itself, tragedy is almost certain. In the same way, if a man does not control his tongue, it can do terrible damage instead of having a great influence for good.
The verse ends with the person at the helm, not just the equipment. The rudder has no direction of its own.
The ship may be enormous, and at times a rough wind may drive it. Yet a very small rudder turns it wherever the steersman decides to send it.
So who is steering? The two pictures are pressed home as a duty — and where God guides, the whole life shows it.
He is still dealing with how easily we fail with the tongue. If a man does not fail in word, he is a perfect man; for James has already admitted that we all fail. He follows this up with two illustrations. They show how a small thing controls a great one, even in the hardest conditions. His aim is to impress on us the importance and the duty of governing our speech. What a blessing it is when the tongue, guided by God, bears witness that the whole body is under His control!
Some readers will still feel that words are a lighter matter than deeds. The commentators reply that words expose more, not less.
In every age many people count nothing but deeds. Free speech seems a man's rightful privilege, and going too far with it seems the most excusable fault of all. Our Lord judged words very differently (Matt. 12). Words express the feelings and leanings of the inner man even more than deeds do.
So the answer is not confidence in our own grip on the helm. Something better is held out to the believer.
The comfort is that God can deal with it — God who gives the believer His own nature.
- Small steers large. The smallest things often control far larger ones. So we cannot excuse a wrong word just because its source looks tiny.
- Bit, then rudder. Two pictures make one case. The tongue is a little member, yet it boasts great things and can govern the whole body.
- Fierce winds included. Strong winds do not stop the rudder. One finger on the wheel turns a great ship.
- Someone must hold the helm. Leave the helm alone and wreck is almost certain. The ship goes wherever the steersman sends it.
- Handed to God. Words reveal the inner man more than deeds do. The comfort is that God can deal with the tongue, and He gives the believer His own nature.
Thus also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. See how little a fire, how large a wood it kindles!
Two pictures come just before this verse: a bit in a horse's mouth and a rudder on a great ship. James now turns to the tongue. Why does something so small carry such weight? And why does its damage spread so far beyond its size?
The two illustrations before this verse are not decoration. They set a rule about size. James then applies that rule to speech.
He shows that it may seem a little thing to man. But we must not excuse what is wrong just because its source looks small. He proves that the smallest things are often the ones that govern far larger bodies.
The same smallness that makes the tongue easy to dismiss is what makes it dangerous.
The tongue is small in size. That only makes its power for mischief beyond reckoning or measure more vivid. Who can conceive the destructive effects of an evil word?
"Boasts of great things" is not vague bragging. It is what an unbridled tongue does, and it works in two directions at once.
If we do not bridle the tongue, it can express the vanity of our hearts by condemning others and exalting ourselves, for it can boast "great things." So it can become the source of great mischief. Though it is "a little member," it is like a little fire which may destroy a forest.
Many people grade sin by action and treat loose talk as harmless. One commentator sets that habit against the Lord's own estimate of words.
In every age many people take account of deeds only. Freedom of speech seems a necessary right of a man, and going too far with it the most forgivable of all faults. Our Lord judged words very differently (Matt. 12). Words express the feelings and bent of the inner man even more than deeds do.
Kelly adds why this matters for the tongue in particular: it "boasts habitually and also great things and is so much the more readily enticed to persevere and grow bolder, if sin is limited to deeds of the body."
Older English versions read "how great a matter a little fire kindles." Commentators point out that the Greek word behind "matter" usually means wood or forest. That is the reading the ESV follows, and it sharpens the picture.
It is like a tiny spark, yet that spark can set everything on fire and produce a disastrous blaze. "Behold how much wood is kindled by how small a fire" — this is the correct rendering of the text.
Kelly prefers "wood" too, but allows that the older wording had a basis. Commentators differ over the word, not over the picture.
This fire catches in ordinary places. One writer applies the verse to a disagreement between two women at Philippi.
Two devoted women at Philippi differed in judgment. The Apostle foresaw how something the saints might judge to be of small importance could soon lead to great sorrow and weakness in the assembly. "How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" (James 3:5).
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The scale of that damage among believers is hard to overstate.
The rash, foolish and wicked use of the tongue has caused so much mischief among Christian people… It has brought more defilement into the church of God than anything else.
James is describing the tongue running loose, not the tongue itself. The same power that does such harm can serve the other way.
Of course, he is speaking of the tongue when the fear of God does not restrain it and the power of the Spirit does not guide it. How much might we speak of the wonderful power of the tongue on the other side! What a ministry of comfort and blessing is in it! But the best gifts, when perverted, are just as fruitful for evil as they are good when used rightly.
And the restraint does not come from effort at the lips but from what fills the heart:
Nothing but the power of the Spirit filling the heart with the grace of Christ can restrain the tongue. When the heart is enjoying the grace and love of Christ, the tongue will speak in grace out of the abundance of the heart.
- Small — the bit and the rudder show a rule: little things steer far larger ones. A small source never excuses a wrong.
- Boastful — a tongue off the bridle shows the heart's vanity. It exalts self and condemns others.
- Counted — words are not a lesser class of sin; the Lord treated them as revealing the inner man more than deeds do.
- Spreading — one spark takes a forest. One small difference can bring deep sorrow and weakness among God's people.
- Governed — the tongue that defiles can also carry comfort and blessing. Only a heart filled with the grace of Christ will restrain it.