Jam 3:6-10 | TNotes | STEP | 3:6 It is a whole world of wickedness: The tongue acts as an agent of the whole unrighteous world opposed to God (1:27 ; 4:4 ). • hell itself: Greek Gehenna, the place of eternal punishment (Matt 5:22 , 30 ; 23:15 ), in contrast to Hades, the abode of the dead (Luke 16:23 ; Acts 2:31 ). The reference to hell is an allusion to the devil (Jas 4:7 ; Matt 5:22 ; John 8:44 ) as the ultimate source of evil speech.

3:6 ^a It is a whole world of wickedness: The tongue acts as an agent of the whole unrighteous world opposed to God (1:27 ^b; 4:4 ^c).

• hell itself: Greek Gehenna, the place of eternal punishment (Matt 5:22 ^d, 30 ^e; 23:15 ^f), in contrast to Hades, the abode of the dead (Luke 16:23 ^g; Acts 2:31 ^h). The reference to hell is an allusion to the devil (Jas 4:7 ⁱ; Matt 5:22 ^j; John 8:44 ^k) as the ultimate source of evil speech.
3:8 ^l no one can tame the tongue: The tongue has an astonishing capacity for committing evil. If its evil is motivated by hell (3:6 ^m), it certainly cannot be tamed by mere human effort.

• full of deadly poison: This might allude to the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1 ⁿ), who is identified with the devil (Rev 20:2 ^o).
3:9 ^p praises ... curses: Praising our Lord and Father is the best activity of the tongue, whereas cursing those made in his image is one of the worst, because it is an implicit curse on God himself (Gen 1:26-27 ^q; 9:6 ^r).