12. Transition from the mouth to the heart. Can the fig tree, c.—implying that it is an impossibility: as before in :- he had said it " ought not so to be." James does not, as Matthew ( Matthew 7:16 Matthew 7:17 ), make the question, "Do men gather figs of thistles? " His argument is, No tree "can" bring forth fruit inconsistent with its nature, as for example, the fig tree, olive berries: so if a man speaks bitterly, and afterwards speaks good words, the latter must be so only seemingly, and in hypocrisy, they cannot be real. so can no fountain . . . salt . . . and fresh —The oldest authorities read, "Neither can a salt (water spring) yield fresh." So the mouth that emits cursing, cannot really emit also blessing. return to ' Top of Page ' <a name="verse-13" class="com-number"
Pericope (part_of)
- part_of
pericope/per-jas-3-001
절 (explains)
Source
source-manifest/jfb— Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (PD)- evidence_grade: T_theological