ed about with a very ſinall helm whicherſvever the governour liſteth h. h The other Similitude in which a Man is compared to a Ship, the Tongne to the Rudder, the governing the whole Body to the - turning about the Ship, As the Rudder is but a ſmall thin, in Com- pariſon of the much greater Bulk of a Ship, and yet beinz it ſeif turned, turns the whole Ship ( tho' ſo great, and driven of fo fierce Winds) which way foever the Steerſman pleaſeth : So likewiſe the Tongue, tho' little to the whole Man ( which may withal be driver, and ated by Storms of furious Paſſions} yet it it be 1t ſelf pndcr Government, the reſt of the Man will be fo too. _ 5 Even fo the * tongue is a little member 7, and *Prov. 12. } boaſterh great things &, Behold how great /a || nzar- '% 2nd ter m4 little fire kindleth 7. lee 7 The Accomodation of the former Similitudes : The Tonzue is a ly _ a little Member, j. e. one of the leffer, in Compariſon of the Body. y OEM k The Greek Word fignifies, according to its Derivation, the lifting ; 7" : » ©, *, © ji Or, word: up of the Neck ( as Horſes, mentioned, v. 3. are wont to do inthcir Pride) in a way of Bravery and Triumph; and hence it is uſed to expreſs boaſting and glorying, but here ſeems to imply ſomething more, viz. not only the uttering big Words, but doing great things, whether good and uſeful, as in the former Similitudes, or evil, as in what follows; or its boaſting how great things it can do, 4. d. the Tongue, tho' little, is of great force and efficacy, and it will tel! you ſo it ſelf; it not only boaſts what its fellow-members can do, but eſpecially what it ſelf can. / Another Similitude, in which he ſet; forth the evil, the Tongue, as little as it is, doth, where it- is not well-governed, as in the former he had ſhewn the good it may do, when kept under Rule. mm The word fipnifies either any combuſti- ble Stuff, or, as in the Margin, Word, that being the ordinary Fuel then in uſe. n Even as a Spark, the ſmalleſt Quantity or Particle, which may do great Miſchtet, when lightning ia ſutable matter. 6 And the tongue zs a fire o, a world p of iniquity : So is the tonguz amongſt our members, that * it de- * wy, x6. fileth the whole body 9, and ſertgth on fire the courte 11,13, 19. of nature 7; aud it 1s ſer on fire of hell. Mark 7 o The Application of the Similitude ia the foregoing Words. 15 22+ 23» The Tongue is a Fire, 1. e. hath the force of Fire, and reſembles it in the Miſchief it doth. p Aa Heap, or Azgregation of Evils ( as the natural World is an Aggregation of many teveral Beings ) as we ſay, an Ocean, or a World of Troubles, meaning, a great Mu!- titude of them. And the Words may be under1iod, cither with an Ellipſis of the word matter, expreſied juſt before, and ſupplied here, and the pointing a little altered, they may be thus read: 4nd * the Tongue is a Fire, a World of Iniquity (or an unrizhteous World, viz. which lies in Wickedneſs, 1 John 5. 19.) is the matter, narhe-
1 1y, which it inflames. A wicked World is fit Fuel for a wicked
Tongue, and ſoon catcheth the Fire which it kindlzs : Or, rataet as they ſtand plainly without any ſuch Defe& : The Tongue is a World of Iniquity, 7. e. an Heap or Maſs of various ſorts of Sins ; tho” it be but a little piece of Fleſh, yet it contains a whole World of Wickedneſs in it, or is as full of Evils, as the World is of Bodies. q Infefteth the whole Man with Sin, Fccleſ. 5. 6. as being the cauſe of Sin corhmitted by all the Members of the Body, for tho” Sin be- gin in the Soul, yet it is executed by the Body, which therefore ſeems here put (as v. 2.) for the Man. r Or, ſetteth on Fire the Wheel of Geniture, or Nativity, ( in alluſion to a_Wheel ſet on fire by a violent rapid motion ) meaning the Courſe. of Nativity, 7. e. the -natural Courſe of Life, as the Face of Nativity or Geniture, ch.1.23. for the natural Face; the ſenſe is, it inflames-with various Luſts, Wrath, Malice, Wantonneſs, Pride, ggc. the whole Courſe of Man's Life, ſo that there is no State, nor Age free from the Evils of it. * Whereas other Vices either do not extend to the whole man, or.are abated with Age, or worn away with length of time; the vices of the Tongue reach the whole Man, and the whole time of his life. ſ 1. e. By the Devil, the Father of Lyes and Slanders, and other Tongue-fins, ob 1. 10. 7ohn 8. 44. Rev. 12. 10, the Tongue be- ing the Fire, the Devil, by the Bellows of Temptations, inflames it yet more, and thereby kindles the Fire of all miſchiefs in the World.
7 For every || kind 7 of beaſts z, and of birds x ard || Gr. Ne- of ſerpents y, and things in the ſea 2, is tamed, and
hath been tamed 2 of + mankind. Ar ; _ t Some of every xind. | « Wild Beaſts, fuch as are moſt fierce ,,... J
and untratable. x Tho' ſo moveable ard wardring, the very Va-* © *
gabonds of Nature, y which -are ſuch Encemics to mankind. 7 The
Inhabitants, as1t were, of another World, really of another Elc-
ment. 4 Either made gentle, or at leaſt, brought into Sabjeftion to
man by one means or other. He ufeth both Tenfes, the Preſent,
and the Preterperfe&, to note that ſuch thines, not only have been,
but ſtill are; and that not as the Effetts of ſome miraculovs Provi-
dence, as in the Caſe of Daniel, ch. 6. and Paul, Ads 28. but as
that which 1s uſually experienced, and in Man's Power ſti! to do.
8 b But the tongue can no man tame c : z7 zs an
unruly evil d, full of deadly poiſon e.
b Not only other men's Tongues, but not his own. c No marr of himſelf, and without the Aſſittance of Divine Grace, czn- bring his Tongue into Subjettion, and keep it in order; nor can any man by the Afiſtance of any Grace promited in this Liſe, fo keep it, as that it ſhall never at all offend. & Or, which cannot be reſtrained, and kept within Bounds : Wild Beafts are kept in by Grates and Barrs,. but this by no Reſtraint. e The Wickedneſs of the Ton;ue is compared to Poiſon, in reſpett of the miſchief it doth to others. It ſeems to allude to thoſe kind of Serpents which have Poiſon, un- der their Tongues, Pſalm 140. 3. with which they kill thoſe they bite. The Poiſon of the Tongue 1s no leſs deadly, it murders men's Reputations by the Slanders it utters, their Souls by the Luſts and Paſfions it ſtirs up in them, and many times their Bodies too by the Contentions and Quarrels it raifeth againſt them.
9 Therewith bleſs we God f even the Father g, and