Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Translate, "The tongue, that world of iniquity, is a fire." As man's little world is an image of the greater world, the universe, so the tongue is an image of the former [BENGEL].
so—omitted in the oldest authorities.
is—literally, "is constituted." "The tongue is (constituted), among the members, the one which defileth," etc. (namely, as fire defiles with its smoke).
course of nature—"the orb (cycle) of creation."
setteth on fire . . . is set on fire—habitually and continually. While a man inflames others, he passes out of his own power, being consumed in the flame himself.
of hell—that is, of the devil. Greek, "Gehenna"; found here only and in Matthew 5:22. James has much in common with the Sermon on the Mount (Proverbs 16:27).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing James 3:6:
Proverbs 16:27
Proverbs 21:23
Romans 3:14
James 2:12
James 3:5
James 3:15
James 4:11
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