Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Transition from the mouth to the heart.
Can the fig tree, etc.—implying that it is an impossibility: as before in James 3:10 he had said it "ought not so to be." James does not, as Matthew (Matthew 7:16-17), 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.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing James 3:12:
James 2:12
James 4:11
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