Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 3:5

"So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!" — James 3:5 (ASV)

With the words “likewise the tongue,” the application of the two preceding verses is introduced. Like bits (v.3) and rudders (v.4), the tongue also is a small item. Yet, also like them, it exerts a powerful influence. “It makes great boasts,” and these are not empty claims. The tongue is able to sway multitudes. It can alter the destinies of nations. The destructive potential of the tongue is graphically pictured by a forest fire. Thousands of acres of valuable timber may be devastated by a “small spark.” In the first two illustrations, animals and ships are controlled by small objects; in this last illustration, a huge forest is destroyed by a tiny spark. The tongue likewise can either control or destroy.