Passage

James 3.1

Book: James · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

1. Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.

For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3. Now if we put the horses' bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. (James 3:1-3, ASV)

WEB

1. Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.

For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3. Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. (James 3:1-3, WEB)

KJV

1. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. ^{condemnation: or, judgment}

For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. (James 3:1-3, KJV)

YLT

1. Many teachers become not, my brethren, having known that greater judgment we shall receive,

for we all make many stumbles; if any one in word doth not stumble, this one [is] a perfect man, able to bridle also the whole body; 3. lo, the bits we put into the mouths of the horses for their obeying us, and their whole body we turn about; (James 3:1-3, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: James (Iakōbos), identified by the great majority of interpreters as the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19; Mark 6:3), leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18). He introduces himself simply as "a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), never as a relative.
Audience: Jewish believers outside Palestine, addressed as "the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad" (James 1:1). The congregations meet in a synagōgē (James 2:2) and include both poor members and wealthy visitors.
Location: Jerusalem, from which James led the mother church.
Time period: Date disputed. An early date (c. AD 44-49) would make this the earliest surviving Christian writing; a later one places it before James's death, which Josephus dates to AD 62 (Antiquities 20.200). The letter shows no awareness of the Gentile-circumcision controversy settled in Acts 15, which many take as evidence for the early date.

Theological reading

"Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment."

A warning about a desirable position. Teaching carried honor in the synagogue and in the early church, and James's counsel is to want it less. The verb ginesthe is present imperative, "stop becoming" or "do not keep becoming", which may indicate an actual rush toward the role in these congregations.

"We." James includes himself. The stricter judgment is not a rule he applies to others, and the whole of chapter 3 on the tongue follows from a warning aimed at people who speak for a living.

"Stricter judgment." Meizon krima, greater judgment. The principle is the one Jesus states at Luke 12:48, from everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and it appears again at Hebrews 13:17, where leaders will give an account. Greater influence carries greater accountability, which is a consistent biblical pattern and a needed one in an age of platforms.

Why it opens the tongue section. Verses 2-12 describe the tongue as a bit in a horse's mouth, a rudder on a ship, a small fire in a great forest, and an untamable creature. The teacher is the person whose whole work is speech, so the warning and the anatomy of the tongue belong together.

A note for apologetics. The verse bears directly on public argument. Whoever takes up the work of explaining Christian truth publicly has taken on this warning, and James 3:17's wisdom from above, gentle and open to reason, is the standard by which it will be assessed.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G1492 - oida, oida, Strong's G1492
G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Concepts:

Teacher

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.