James 3:1-8 – The Importance of Taming Your Tongue

Sermon & Translation by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 14 May 2023

Introduction

vs.1-2 Application to Teachers

vs. 3-5 The Strategic Nature of the Tongue

v.6 Five Powers Of The Tongue For Evil

(1) it is a “fire”

(2) it is “the world of unrighteousness”

(3) Furthermore, the tongue is “that which stains/pollutes the whole body”

(4) the tongue “sets ablaze the wheel of genetics/course of life/nature”

(5) the tongue “is set ablaze by hell.”

vs.7-8 The Tongue Must Be Tamed

James 3:1-10 – Comparison Of Textual Traditions & VersionsA

ByzantineB

NAW

KJVC

Vulgate

PeshittaD

1 Μὴ πολλοὶ διδάσκαλοι γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί μου, εἰδότες ὅτι μεῖζον κρίμα ληψόμεθαE·

1 Not many of y’all should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive more judgment.

1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive [the] greater condemnation.F

1 nolite plures magistri fieri fratres mei scientes quoniam maius iudicium sumitis

1 Let there not be many teachers among you, my brethren; but know ye, that we are obnoxious to , a severer judgment.

2 πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομενG ἅπαντες. εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνήρ, δυνατὸς χαλιναγωγῆσαιH καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα.

2 For we all stumble in many things. If, in discourse, someone is not stumbling, this is a mature man, able to hold in check his whole body also.

2 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.

2 in multis enim offendimus omnes si quis in verbo non offendit hic perfectus est vir potens etiam freno circumducere totum corpus

2 For we all offend in many things. X Whoever offendeth not in discourse, X is a perfect man, who can also keep his whole body in subjection.

3 εἰ δὲI τῶν ἵππων τοὺς χαλινοὺς εἰς τὰ στόματα βάλλομεν Jπρὸς τὸ πείθεσθαι αὐτοὺςK ἡμῖν, καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα αὐτῶν μετάγομενL.

3 See, we slap bits into the mouths of horses for them to be guided by us, and we steer the whole of their body.

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may X obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

3 si autem equorum frenos in ora mittimus ad consentien­dum nobis et omne corpus illorum circumferimus

3 Behold, we put bridles into the mouth of horses, that they may X obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

4 ἰδοὺ καὶ τὰ πλοῖα, τηλικαῦτα ὄνταM καὶ ὑπὸ σκληρῶν ἀνέμων ἐλαυνόμενα, μετάγεται ὑπὸ ἐλαχίστου πηδαλίουN ὅπου ἂν ἡ ὁρμὴO τοῦ Pεὐθύνοντος Qβούληται.

4 And look at the ships: although they are so large and are propelled by fierce winds, they are steered by the smallest rudder where ever the impulse of the pilot might want.

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 X X X governor listeth.

4 ecce et naves cum magnae sint et a ventis validis minentur circumferun­tur a modico gubernaculo ubi impetus dirigentis voluerit

4 X X Huge ships also, when X strong winds X drive them, are turned about by a small timber, to what X [place] the pleasure of the pilot looketh.

5 οὕτω καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα μικρὸν μέλος ἐστὶ καὶ Rμεγαλαυχεῖ. ᾿Ιδοὺ Sὀλίγον πῦρ ἡλίκηνT ὕληνU ἀνάπτειV·

5 So also the tongue is a little member, yet it boasts of big things. See how a small fire ignites so great a forest!

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matterW a little fire kindleth!

5 ita et lingua modicum quidem membrum est et magna exultat ecce quantus ignis quam magnam silvam incendit

5 So likewise the tongue is a small member, and it exalteth itselfX. Also a little fire inflameth X large forest[s].

6 καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα πῦρ, ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίαςY. οὕτωςZ ἡ γλῶσσα καθίσταταιAA ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν ἡ σπιλοῦσαAB ὅλον τὸ σῶμαAC καὶ φλογίζουσαAD τὸν τροχὸν τῆς γενέσεωςAE καὶ φλογιζομένη ὑπὸ τῆς γεέννης.

6 And the tongue is a fire; it is the world of the unrighteous. The tongue is appointed among our members to be what stains the whole body and sets ablaze the wheel of genetics and is set ablaze by hell.

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue X among our members, that [it] defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

6 et lingua ignis est universitas iniquitatis lingua constituitur in membris nostris quae maculat totum corpus et inflammat rotam nativitatis nostrae inflammata a gehenna

6 Now the tongue is a fire, [and] the world of sin is [like a forest. And] this tongue, [which] is one among our members, X marreth our whole body; and it inflameth the series of our generation[s that roll on like a wheel]; and it is itself on fire X X.

7 πᾶσα γὰρ φύσιςAF θηρίωνAG τε καὶ πετεινῶν ἑρπετῶν τε καὶ ἐναλίωνAH δαμάζεται καὶ δεδάμασταιAI τῃ῀ φύσει τῃ῀ ἀνθρωπίνῃ,

7 For every kind, both of animals and of birds, even of reptiles and of marine-animals is being tamed and has been tamed by human-kind,

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

7 omnis enim natura bestiarum et volucrum et serpentium etiam ceterorum domantur et domita sunt a natura humana

7 For all nature[s] of beasts and birds and reptiles, X of the sea or land, are subjugated by the nature of man.

8 τὴν δὲ γλῶσσαν οὐδεὶς δύναται ἀνθρώπων δαμάσαι· ἀκατάσχετονAJ κακόν, μεστὴAK ἰοῦ θανατηφόρουAL.

8 but the tongue – no one among men is able to tame; it is an unrestrained evil, loaded with poison that brings death.

8 But the tongue can no X X man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

8 linguam autem nullus hominum domare potest inquietum malum plena veneno mortifero

8 But the tongue hath no one X X been able to tame: it is an evil thing, not coercible, and full of deadly poison.

9 ἐν αὐτῃ῀ εὐλογοῦμεν τὸν ΘεὸAM καὶ πατέρα, καὶ ἐν αὐτῃ῀ καταρώμεθαAN τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσινAO Θεοῦ γεγονότας·

9 With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are according to the likeness of God.

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are [madeAP] after the similitude of God.

9 in ipsa benedicimus DominumAQ et Patrem et in ipsa maledicimus homines qui ad similitudinem Dei facti sunt

9 For with it, we bless the LordAR and Father; and with it we curse men, who were [made] in the image of God:

10 ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ στόματος ἐξέρχεται εὐλογία καὶ κατάρα. οὐ χρήAS, ἀδελφοί μου, ταῦτα οὕτω γίνεσθαι.

10 Out of the same mouth, blessing and cursing proceed. My brothers, these things ought not to keep happening that way.

10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

10 ex ipso ore procedit benedictio et maledictio non oportet fratres mei haec ita fieri

10 and from the same mouth, proceed curses and blessings. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.


1Various commentators have noted parallels between this passage and Aristotle, Philo, Plutarch, the Apocryphal wisdom books, the Mishnah, Proverbs, the Gospels, and other sources. James seems to be familiar with them, but he writes authoritatively under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

2Douglas Moo’s list of “Proverbs which... [single] out speech habits as a key marker of godliness” includes: 10:8, 11, 21, 11:9, 12:18, 25, 13:3, 16:27, 17:14, 18:7, 21, and 26:22.

3In 1 Tim. 2:7 and 2 Tim. 1:11, the Apostle Paul said, I was appointed to be… a teacher of the Gentiles...”

4cf. A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures: “Stop becoming many teachers” (so many of you). There is thus a clear complaint that too many of the Jewish Christians were attempting to teach what they did not clearly comprehend. There was a call for wise teachers (Jas. 2:13.), not for foolish ones. This soon became an acute question, as one can see in 1 Cor. 12 to chapter 14.”

5Ει paired with a present indicative verb in the protasis implies a condition which is true in fact.

6Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (NKJV)

71 Peter 5:10 “ And after y'all have suffered a few [things], the God of all grace who called y'all into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus will Himself renew [y'all], He will confirm, strengthen, [and] establish.” (NAW)

8Acts 27:37 “And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship.” (NKJV)

91:27 “pure and undefiled religion is to keep oneself unstained by the world;” 2:5 “poor in regards to this world but rich in faith;” 4:4 “friendship with the world is enmity against God”

10This was John Owen’s position: “‘The course of nature,’ or the compass of nature, that is, all that is included in nature, means evidently the same with ‘the whole body’ in the preceding clause.”
Calvin took a different position that “...when other vices are corrected by age or by the succession of time... the vice of the tongue spreads... the tongue is like untamed horses; for as these draw violently the chariots, so the tongue hurries a man headlong by its own wantonness.”

11A.R.Fausset, in his commentary, made the interesting aside about the future of animal-taming: “So it shall be in the millennial world; even now man, by gentle firmness, may tame the inferior animal, and even elevate its nature.”

AWhen a translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics or greyed-out text, I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular. I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. NAW is my translation. My original chart includes annotated copies of the NKJV, NASB, NIV, and ESV, but I erase them from the online edition so as not to infringe on their copyrights.

BThis Greek New Testament is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era as a break from the traditional Greek Bible by compiling just a few of the oldest-known manuscripts, but even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.

C1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain.

DJames Murdock, A Literal Translation from the Syriac Peshito Version, 1851, Robert Carter & Brothers, New York. Scanned and transcribed by Gary Cernava and published electronically by Janet Magierra at http://www.lightofword.org

ENowhere else in the Greek Bible is krima combined with a form of mega, but there are two other places where krima is combined with a form of lambanw: Rom. 13:2, and Mark 12:40, the latter of which is like our current passage, indicating something more than standard judgment: “Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation [or “abundant judgment” - λήμψονται περισσότερον κρίμα].” (KJV) The fact that all three passages in the Bible with this phrase “receive judgment,” have to do with ultimate justice from God points my interpretation in that direction, although my experience is that teachers also get lots of criticism from human sources as well! As for the spelling, the UBS and N-A GNTs add a μ as the third letter, which is the full spelling of the word, but only a minority of the manuscripts don’t abbreviate it. Vaticanus goes both ways.
Calvin’s interpretation (shared by Henry) seems out-of-keeping with the Greek text by interpreting it as though it said “be not teachers” instead of “let not many be teachers” and by interpreting “teachers” negatively as “such as took upon them the right of passing judgment upon others… when impertinent censors of this kind insolently boast themselves in the work of exposing the vices of others….” although the problem he identifies is a real one.

FDouglas Moo commented that, although krima “usually refers to the negative outcome of judgment… the word can also have a neutral sense, referring to the act of judgment without regard to the outcome (John 9:39, 1 Cor. 6:7, Heb. 6:2).”

Gcf. 2:10 “...whoever might keep the whole of the law, yet happen to stumble in one of them has become guilty of all.”

Hcf. 1:26, the only other place this verb occurs in the Greek Bible: “If someone among y'all reckons that he is religious, but is deceiving his heart while not holding his tongue in check, the religion of this one is vain.” (NAW)

I There is controversy over whether the Greek should be ιδε (“behold”) or ει δε (“but if”), and manuscript evidence is split pretty evenly between them. Critical GNTs (W-H, N-A, and UBS) as well as the Patriarchal Greek Orthodox edition read ei de (“but if”), following three of the four oldest-known Greek manuscripts, and the Vulgate went that direction. The modern Greek Orthodox, Textus Receptus, and R-P GNTs read ide (“behold”), since the overall majority of manuscripts and lectionaries support that reading, and this is what the Syriac Peshitta followed. Since, however, both serve primarily to introduce a new topic, this variant doesn’t make a difference in the meaning of the sentence.

J Following 3 of the 4 oldest-known Greek manuscripts, the critical editions of the GNT depart from the traditional majority text by reading the preposition εις (“into,” more commonly used with Greek statements of intent) instead of proV (“to”), but there is no difference in meaning.

KThe accusative case of this word is the normative way in Greek grammar to label it as the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive is the passive form of the Greek verb for “persuade,” so I think that “for them to be guided by us” is a more accurate translation than “that they may obey us.”

LLiterally “lead through/across/with/after” Nowhere else in the GNT, but in the Greek O.T., this word occurs to describe the Israelite people and their things taken away by Babylon as captives or booty (1 Ki. 8:47-48; 2 Chr. 6:37; 36:3; 1 Es. 1:43; 2:7; 5:66). It is also in the next verse.

MMoulton called this use of a participle “concessive” (“although being”).

NThe only other instance of this “rudder” in the Greek Bible is Acts 27:40, where it is plural. The Alexandrian grain ships from this era had something that looked like a canoe paddle lashed to both sides of the ship (with the paddle in the water), and these acted as rudders.

O“Old word for rapid, violent motion, here of the hand that worked the rudder.” (ATR) Omitted by the Geneva, KJV and NKJV, even though it is in the TR, and omitted by the NIV (perhaps because it is omitted in the Peshitta, although the English translations of the Peshitta by Etheridge and by Murdock read as though the word is there – Lamsa translated it without the word. Perhaps there is another Syriac edition with it?), this Greek word only appears one other place in the NT, namely Acts 14:5, describing the “rush” of a mob of people on an impulse. It also shows up in Num. 11:11 & 17, where Brenton translated it as the “weight/burden” of the people, and in Prov. 3:25 as “attacks of the ungodly,” and in Prov. 21:1 “the rush of water,” Jer. 29:3 “the sounding of his rushing,” and Ezekiel 3:14 “the impulse of my spirit.”

PThis word only occurs one other place in the NT, and that is in John 1:23 (“make straight the way of the Lord”). The half-dozen OT citations (Num. 22:23; Jos. 24:23; Jdg. 14:7; 1 Sam. 18:20, 26; Prov. 20:24) are divided between (“pleasing to the eyes”) and (“direct/make straight”).

QThe traditional spelling in almost all the Greek manuscripts is Subjunctive (connoting some uncertainty as to where he might desire), and includes the αν (“ever”) earlier in the sentence (further denoting that uncertainty), whereas the spelling in the critical editions (based on two of the 4 oldest-known manuscripts and almost nothing else) is Indicative (simply denoting that it is according to his will), and they omit the αν. The The difference is not significant, seeing as all the standard English versions read the same, whether they followed the Textus Receptus (KJV, NKJV) or the Critical editions (NASB, NIV, ESV), and furthermore, this has nothing to do with the point of the argument that the small rudder controls the direction of the great ship.

R The Greek manuscripts vary as to whether the two words (“mega” and “boast”) are run together or are treated as separate words. It makes no substantial difference in meaning, except that one way “great things” is the object of “boasts” and the other way it is an adverb modifying the verb (“boasts greatly”), although the versions got that backwards, with the KJV translating the adverbialized one in the TR as a plural object and the NIV translating the plural object in the critical text adverbially! The overall majority run them together, so that is the traditional reading, but since 5 out of the 6 oldest ones spell them as separate words, the critical editions spell it that way. ATR noted that, although the words are not run together anywhere else in the Greek Bible, they are run together in the writings of Aeschylus, Plato, and other ancient Greek authors. Calvin commented, “James in this passage did not intend to reprove ostentation so much as to show that the tongue is the doer of great things.”

S On the basis of half a dozen manuscripts, the critical GNTs read hlikon (“how great”) instead of oligon (“a small”), and while it is true that the oldest-known manuscripts are almost evenly divided on that (unless you count the corrections made after the original manuscript was drawn up, all of which corrections were to “how great,” but the actual antiquity of those corrections is unknown), the vast majority overall of manuscripts reads “small.”

TRobertson’s Grammar states that this word in James is an exclamation: “how great!” Col. 2:1 is the only other occurrence in the Greek Bible, but it is similar to telikauta (“how large” a ship) in the previous verse.

UOnly other occurrences of this word in the Greek Bible are in the LXX: 2 Ma. 2:24; 4 Ma. 1:29; Job 19:29; 38:40; Wis. 11:17; 15:13; Sir. 28:10; Isa. 10:17; Jas. 3:5. All but the latter one in Job are translated “matter.” The reference in Sirach 28:10 also mentions fire: “As the matter of the fire is, so it burneth: and as a man's strength is, so is his wrath; and according to his riches his anger riseth; and the stronger they are which contend, the more they will be inflamed.” (Brenton)

VThis verb occurs only two other places in the NT: Luke 12:49 and Acts 28:2, the latter of which is spelled in abbreviated form in the critical GNTs. The Greek OT has 24 more occurrences.

W So also Grotius and Alford. The root meaning of this word is “material,” but in the context, much wood is being incin­erated, and that suggests a forest fire.

X The Peshitta appears to omit the “mega,” so Murdock and Etheridge’s translations of the Syriac appear to be accurate. Nevertheless, Lamsa’s translation of the Peshitta is “boasts great things,” which makes me wonder if he was reading a different edition.

Y Jesus used this word to describe those who would be condemned, in His judgment Day scenario in Luke 13:27, "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'” (NIV) And so does Paul: Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (NKJV, cf. 2 Thess. 2:12).

Z This conjunction is not in any of the five oldest-known Greek manuscripts, nor is it in the Vulgate or Coptic version, but it is the reading of the overall majority of Greek manuscripts, and is supported by the Peshitta, therefore the Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT, as well as the Majority GNT editions by Robertson & Pierpont and by Hodges & Farstad, and the Textus Receptus editions of Stevens and of Scrivner have it (and that is why the KJV & NKJV & Geneva have the word “so” here), but the critical editions of Westcott & Hort, Nestle & Aland, and the UBS GNT don’t have it (thus it is not reflected in the NASB, NIV, and ESV). It doesn’t change the drift of the verse’s meaning, though.

AA “has its place” (Vincent), “presents itself” (ATR), “is constituted” (Fausset)

AB Only here and Jude 23 in the Bible. Also in Wisdom of Solomon 15:4. Meaning literally “to stain/spot,” and figuratively “to defile/pollute.”

AC This is the third time in this chapter that this phrase “the whole of the body” occurs cf. vs 2-3. Also see Matt. 5:29-30 & 6:22-23.

AD This is what a πυρ/fire does in Greek. Nowhere else in the NT, but is in Exod. 9:24; Num. 21:14; 1 Ma. 3:5; Ps. 96:3; Sir. 3:30; Ps. Sol. 12:3; Dat. 3:94, where Brenton translates it “burn/flame.”

AE Trochon only here in NT, but everywhere in the LXX OT it is translated “wheel.” Genesews in traditional GNT, only here and Matt 1:1 (“genesis/genealogy” of Christ) and James 1:23 “For if someone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is comparable to a man taking cognizance of the genetics of his face in a mirror” (NAW). Critical GNT’s add two more instances (Matt. 1:18 and Luke 1:14 – both referring to the “birth” of Jesus). These two words are not found together in any other verse of the Greek Bible. It seems likely to be a figure of speech, however. One possible application is the effect that sin can have on future generations, as in Exodus 20:5-6.
Vincent: “[T]he wheel of birth - i.e., the wheel which is set in motion at birth and runs on to the close of life. It is thus a figurative description of human life. So Anacreon: ‘The chariot-wheel, like life, runs rolling round,’ Tertullian says: ‘The whole revolving wheel of existence bears witness to the resurrection of the dead.’”
John Gill: “circulation of the blood... this is the wheel broken at the cistern at death, in Eccl. 12:6”
Douglas Moo: “wheel of existence… may… be… a way of describing the ‘ups and downs’ of life.”

AF Seems to correlate somewhat with Linnean taxonomy at the Class level, although it is used in the Bible to distinguish between physical and spiritual beings too. Vincent noted that Peter used a different classification system in Acts 10:19 & Acts 11:6.

AG ATR: “Old word diminutive from thēr and so ‘little beasts’ originally, then wild animals in general (Mark 1:13), or quadrupeds as here. These four classes of animals come from Gen. 9:2.”

AH Hapex Legomenon, composed of the preposition “in” plus the word for salt “halite.”

AI This verb only occurs here and in the LXX of Daniel 2:40 (where the fourth kingdom of “iron pulverizes and subdues all things” and the Apocrypha adds a repetition of the same verb in the future tense “...and will subdue” – suggesting a possible jumping off point for James using the same verb in two tenses also, if he was already familiar with that bit of literature.) It also occurs in Mark 5:4, where the Gadarene demoniac could not be “controlled/subdued/tamed.” It seems too demeaning to speak of “taming” a fellow human being (as entertaining as might be to watch The Taming of the Shrew), but the sense of this passage in James seems to go beyond mere control/subduing of animals to what we mean by the word “tame.”

AJ Three out of the four-oldest-known Greek manuscripts, as well as a smattering of others read akatastaton ("un­steady," based on the verb for "stand," and used in James 1:8, where all the English versions translated it “unstable ” - also in Isa. 54:11 – perhaps the basis for the Vulgate “unquiet”), but the majority of Greek manuscripts and lectionaries and church fathers read akatasceton (“unrestrained,” based on the verb for “have/hold,” not used anywhere else in the NT – perhaps the basis for the Syriac “unhindered”). Such a slight difference in meaning does not essentially change the meaning, however. cf. Hermas, Mandate 2:3 “Slander is evil; it is a restless demon, never at peace.” (Moo)

AK The same word for “filled/laden/loaded/saturated” comes later in v.17 to show the contrast: “full of mercy and good fruits.” This poison is only mentioned elsewhere in the NT in Rom. 3:13 (quoting Psalm 140). In James 5:3 the word recurs, but means “rust” there.

AL Not elsewhere in the GNT, but in the LXX: Num. 18:22 (in the sense of incurring death by disobeying God); 4 Ma. 8:18, 26; 15:26; Job 33:23.

AM All 5 of the oldest-known manuscripts of this verse read kurion (“Lord”), followed by a smattering of other manuscripts and versions, thus the modern critical GNTs read that way, followed by the NASB, NIV, ESV, and other contemporary English versions. However, the overall majority of Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, church fathers, and ancient versions, reads “God,” so that is the reading of the traditional GNTs and of the KJV & Geneva. There are Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions on both sides of this variation (e.g. Wycliffe’s English version of the Vulgate which reads “God” cf. endnote AV). The appellation “God and Father” appears in Rom 15:6, 1 Pet 1:3, 2 Cor. 1:3; 11:31; Eph. 1:3; 4:6; 1 Thess. 3:11; 1 Pet. 1:3 and John 20:17, but the appellation “Lord and Father” appears nowhere else.

AN The noun form of this verb follows in v.10.

AO A.R. Fausset commented: “In the passage, Gen. 1:26, ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ are distinct: ‘image,’ according to the Alexandrians, was something in which men were created, being common to all, and continuing to man after the fall, while the ‘likeness’ was something toward which man was created, to strive after and attain it: the former marks man’s physical and intellectual, the latter his moral pre-eminence.”

AP The Greek verb ginomai means “be” not “make.” This isn’t denying creation; it is simply describing human ontology since the creation.

AQ The Clementine and Wordsworth-White editions instead read Deo, along with the Byzantine majority.

AR The Harclean version instead reads “God,” along with the Byzantine majority.

AS The only other instance of this word in the Greek Bible is Proverbs 25:27, where it is in parallel with καλον (“good”) “It is not good to eat much honey; but it is right to honour venerable sayings.” (Brenton)
Moulton & Milligan provide additional examples from ancient Greek correspondence:
* P Hib I. 6419 (B.C. 264) crὴ δὲ καὶ [γρά]φειν μοι p[ερ]ὧν ἂν χρείαν ἔchς,
“and you
must write to me about anything which you require” (Edd.),
* BGU III. 83018 (i/A.D.) χρ]ὴ οὖν ἑτοιμάσ[ε]ιν (l. ἑτοιμάσαι) καὶ προαιρ[εῖν], ἵν᾽ ἔχι (l. ἔχῃ) τοῦ π[ωλ]εῖν,
“it is therefore necessary to prepare and bring forward, in order that he may be able to sell,”
* P Flor III. 3095 (iv/A.D.) οὐ χρὴ σ[ι]ωπῇ παραdίδοσθαι τὰ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς εἰρημένα, [not translated in the original, but
something like “it is not necessary that what is under its peace be delivered in silence” ~NAW]

* P Oxy I. 1205 (iv/A.D.) χρὴ γάρ τινα ὁρῶντα αἱαυτὸν (l. ἑαυτὸν) ἐν δυστυχίᾳ κἂν ἀναχωρεῖν,
“when a man finds himself in adversity he ought to give way” (Edd.),
* ib. VIII. 11635 (v/A.D.) ἐρωτηθὶς παρὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ μεγαλοπρεπίας ὅσα ἔχρην ἀνεδίδαξα au,[τ]ὸn περὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας
μεγαλοπρεπίας
, “on the inquiry of his magnificence I told him what was fitting about your magnificence” (Ed.).
* Preisigke 42110 ( = LAE2, p. 367) χρή, τιμιώτατε, τὰς θεὰς (or θέας) κωμάζεσθαι,
it is necessary, O most honourable, that the goddesses (or spectacles) be celebrated in festal procession.”
ATR commented that its meaning “is more like prepei (it is appropriate) than dei (it is necessary).”


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