James 3:4

Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Behold	ἰδοὺ idou	G2400	used as imperative lo! · interjection
also	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
ships	πλοῖα, ploia	G4143	a sailer · noun — nominative plural neuter
though	ὤν ṓn	G5607	being
great	τηλικαῦτα tēlikauta	G5082	such as this · demonstrative pronoun — nominative plural neuter
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
driven	ἐλαυνόμενα, elaunomena	G1643	to push (as wind · verb — present passive participle, nominative plural neuter
of	ὑπὸ hupo	G5259	under · preposition
fierce	σκληρῶν sklērōn	G4642	dry · adjective — genitive plural masculine
winds	ἀνέμων anemōn	G417	wind · noun — genitive plural masculine
about	μετάγεται metagetai	G3329	to lead over · verb — present passive indicative, 3rd person singular
with	ὑπὸ hupo	G5259	under · preposition
small	ἐλαχίστου elachistou	G1646	used as equivalent to G3398 (μικρός) · adjective — genitive singular neuter
helm	πηδαλίου pēdaliou	G4079	from the same as G3976 (πέδη)) · noun — genitive singular neuter
whithersoever	ὅπου hopou	G3699	what(-ever) where · conjunction
governor	ὁρμὴ hormē	G3730	a violent impulse · noun — nominative singular feminine
listeth	βούλεται.¶ bouletai	G1014	to "will · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 8:24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
Psalms 107:25-27 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Acts 27:14-38 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
Jonah 1:4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on James 3:1-12

The foregoing chapter shows how unprofitable and dead faith is without works. It is plainly intimated by what this chapter first goes upon that such a faith is, however, apt to make men conceited and magisterial in their tempers and their talk. Those who set up faith in the manner the former chapter condemns are most apt to run into those sins of the tongue which this chapter condemns. And indeed the best need to be cautioned against a dictating, censorious, mischievous use of their tongues. We are therefore taught, I. Not to use our tongues so as to lord it over others: My brethren, be not many masters, etc., Jam 3:1. These words do not forbid doing what we can to direct and instruct others…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on James 3:4

Not only animals, but even ships. the governor listeth--literally, "the impulse of the steersman pleaseth." The feeling which moves the tongue corresponds with this.

Adam Clarke on James 3:3

Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths - In order to show the necessity of regulating the tongue, to which St. James was led by his exhortation to them who wished to thrust themselves into the teacher's office, supposing, because they had the gift of a ready flow of speech, that therefore they might commence teachers of Divine things; he proceeds to show that the tongue must be bridled as the horse, and governed as the ships; because, though it is small, it is capable of ruling the whole man; and of irritating and offending others.

John Gill on James 3:4

Behold also the ships, which though they be so great,.... Of so large a bulk, of such a prodigious size, and are such unwieldy vessels: and are driven of fierce winds; with great vehemence, rapidity, and swiftness: yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth; the helm, or tiller of a ship, is a beam or piece of timber fastened into the rudder, and so coming forward into the steerage, where he that stands at helm steers the ship (e), who is here called the governor; or "he that directs", as the word may be rendered; that is, that steers; the word for "helm" is translated rudder in Acts 27:40, and the helm or tiller is sometimes, though improperly, ca…

The Church Fathers

James says that if we can contain the spirits of a horse by putting a bit into his mouth and control the direction of a ship with a small rudder, how much more ought we to be able to guide the tongue by right words toward doing good.
— Andreas of Caesarea, CATENA

Behold, even ships, though they are so great, and are driven by strong winds, are steered by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. The great ships on the sea are the minds of men in this life, whether good or bad. The strong winds by which they are driven are the inclinations of the minds, compelled by nature to act, by which they reach either a good or bad end. The rudder by which such ships are steered wherever the will of the pilot directs is the intention of the heart itself, by which the elect, having crossed the waves of this world, reach the happy harbor of the heavenly homeland, while the reprobate, killed by the stormy errors of this life, which they did not know how to leave, perish like those destroyed by Scylla or Charybdis. And because the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart, it is rightly added:
— Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Governor — (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of…
Helm · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Ship · .A helm — .A helm
Ships · Described as: Large — Described as: Large
Wind, The · When violent called: Fierce wind — When violent called: Fierce wind

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

James 3:4

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on James 3:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on James 3:4

Adam Clarke on James 3:3

John Gill on James 3:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

James 3:4

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on James 3:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on James 3:4

Adam Clarke on James 3:3

John Gill on James 3:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on James 3:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on James 3:2