 |
|
     |
|
|
|
James condemns those who use tongues for blessing and cursing Eblessing God, and cursing men made in the image of God. Among the images he uses to express this is the image of the tree and fruit. Fig trees cannot product olives, nor vines produce figs (3:12). In many passages, the vine and fig tree are associated with Israel, especially Israel during her Solomonic splendor (1 Ki 4; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10); when the prophets talk about the withering of the vine and the fig tree, they are saying specifically that Israel has fallen short of the glories of Solomon (Is 34:4; Jer 5:17; 8:13). When the Assyrians promise Jerusalem "every man his vine and every man his fig tree," they are saying that they can provide the peace, security, and plenty that Judah enjoyed long ago (Is 36:16): Sennacherib is the new SHLOMOH, the king who brings SHALOM.
With this background, it seems plausible that James has Israel's double-tonguedness specifically in mind in James 3:12. The chapter begins with a warning about the stricter standard that is applied to teachers (v 1), a role that Israel played in relation to the Gentiles (cf. Rom 2:17-24). Perhaps James is even thinking of the "cursing" or "blaspheming" that comes to God because of Israel's unfaithfulness (as in Rom 2).
One oddity: the image in 3:12 is not an image of a vine producing useless thorns or chaff, but vine that produces oil; dittos with the fig tree - it produces grapes. A grape-producing fig tree would be surprising, but how does this image connect to the blessing/cursing of v 10, which presumably it's supposed to illustrate?
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, September 02, 2004 at 09:50 AM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
