James 3 · Verse 12

James 3:12

Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

James 3:12, King James Version

James 3:12 in other translations

BSB	My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
WEB	Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.
ASV	can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither can salt water yield sweet.
YLT	is a fig-tree able, my brethren, olives to make? or a vine figs? so no fountain salt and sweet water is able to make.
DARBY	Can, my brethren, a fig produce olives, or a vine figs? Neither can salt water make sweet water.
BBE	Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?
Webster	Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive-berries? or a vine, figs? so no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

What does James 3:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

12. Transition from the mouth to the heart. Can the fig tree, &c.--implying that it is an impossibility: as before in Jas 3:10 he had said it "ought not so to be." James does not, as Matthew (Mt 7:16, 17), make the question, "Do men gather figs of thistles?" His argument is, No tree "can" bring forth fruit inconsistent with its nature, as for example, the fig tree, olive berries: so if a man speaks bitterly, and afterwards speaks good words, the latter must be so only seemingly, and in hypocrisy, they cannot be real. so can no fountain ... salt ... and fresh--The oldest authorities read, "Neither can a salt (water spring) yield fresh." So the mouth that emits cursing, cannot really emit also blessing.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 12. Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Such a thing is impossible in nature, and equally absurd in morals. A fig-tree bears only figs; and so the tongue ought to give utterance only to one class of sentiments and emotions. These illustrations are very striking, and show the absurdity of that which the apostle reproves. At the same time, they accomplish the main purpose which he had in view, to repress the desire of becoming public teachers without suitable qualifications. They show the power of the tongue; they show what a dangerous power it is for a man to wield who has not the proper qualifications; they show that no one should put himself in the position where he may wield this power without such a degree of tried prudence, wisdom, discretion, and piety, that there shall be a moral certainty that he will use it aright.

(a) "Can the fig-tree...bear olive berries" Mt 7:16

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12 So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh - For the reading of the common text, which is οὑτως ουδεμια πηγη ἁλυκον και γλυκυ ποιησαι ὑδωρ, so no fountain can produce salt water and sweet, there are various other readings in the MSS. and versions. The word οὑτως, so, which makes this a continuation of the comparison in Jam 3:11, is wanting in ABC, one other, with the Armenian and ancient Syriac; the later Syriac has it in the margin with an asterisk. ABC, five others, with the Coptic, Vulgate, one copy of the Itala, and Cyril, have ουτε ἁλυκον γλυκυ ποιησαι ὑδωρ, neither can salt water produce sweet. In the Syriac and the Arabic of Erpen, it is, So, likewise, sweet water cannot become bitter; and bitter water cannot become sweet. The true reading appears to be, Neither can salt water produce sweet, or, Neither can the sea produce fresh water; and this is a new comparison, and not an inference from that in Jam 3:11. This reading Griesbach has admitted into the text; and of it Professor White, in his Crisews, says, Lectio indubie genuina, "a reading undoubtedly genuine." There are therefore, four distinct comparisons here: 1. A fountain cannot produce sweet water and bitter. 2. A fig tree cannot produce olive berries. 3. A vine cannot produce figs. 4. Salt water cannot be made sweet. That is, according to the ordinary operations of nature, these things are impossible. Chemical analysis is out of the question.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on James 3:1-12

Chapter Outline Cautions against proud behaviour, and the mischief of an unruly tongue. (1-12) The excellence of heavenly wisdom, in opposition to that which is worldly. (13-18) Verses 1-12 We are taught to dread an unruly tongue, as one of the greatest evils. The affairs of mankind are thrown into confusion by the tongues of men. Every age of the world, and every condition of life, private or public, affords…

Read the full comment on James 3:1-12 →

James 3:12 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

μὴmēSurely notG3361

δύναται,dunataiis able,G1410

ἀδελφοίadelphoibrothersG80

μου,mouof mine,G3165

συκῆsukēa fig treeG4808

ἐλαίαςelaiasolivesG1636

ποιῆσαιpoiēsaito produceG4160

ἢēOrG2228

ἄμπελοςampelosa vineG288

σῦκα;sukafigs?G4810

οὔτεouteNorG3777

πηγὴpēgēspringG4077

ἁλυκὸνhalukonof saltG252

γλυκὺglukufreshG1099

ποιῆσαιpoiēsaito produceG4160

ὕδωρ.¶hudōrwater.G5204

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for James 3:12

Luke 6:43-44
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Matthew 12:33
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
Matthew 7:16-20
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. …
Jeremiah 2:21
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
Romans 11:16-18
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Ezekiel 47:8-11
Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En–gedi even unto En–eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
Isaiah 5:2-4
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the fig tree.
Isa 5:2-4; Jer 2:21; Mt 7:16-20; 12:33; Lu 6:43,44; Ro 11:16-18
so.
Ex 15:23-25; 2Ki 2:19-22; Eze 47:8-11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

James 3:11
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
James 3:12
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James 3:13
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

Read all of James 3

James 3:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Hermanos míos, ¿puede la higuera producir aceitunas, ó la vid higos? Así ninguna fuente puede hacer agua salada y dulce.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Mes frères, un figuier peut-il produire des olives, ou une vigne, des figues? De l’eau salée ne peut pas non plus faire de l’eau douce.
German Elberfelder 1871	Kann etwa, meine Brüder, ein Feigenbaum Oliven hervorbringen, oder ein Weinstock Feigen? Auch kann Salziges nicht süßes Wasser hervorbringen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Numquid potest, fratres mei, ficus uvas facere, aut vitis ficus? Sic neque salsa dulcem potest facere aquam.