📖 Biblical Definition
The tongue is the organ of speech — and in Scripture it is the most-warned-about body part in the New Testament. James devotes nearly a whole chapter to its disproportionate damage: "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" (James 3:5-6). Proverbs warns of its lethal power: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" (18:21). Christ says we will give account for every idle word at the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36-37). The tongue can bless and curse (James 3:9) — but Christian men must train it to bless.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
TONGUE, n.
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1. In man, the instrument of taste and of speech, an oblong, flexible substance in the mouth. 2. Speech; words or declarations only; opposed to thoughts or actions. 3. A language. 4. In scripture, the tongue is often the symbol of speech, especially that which is harmful or righteous.
📖 Key Scripture
James 3:5 — "The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!"
James 3:8 — "The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."
Proverbs 18:21 — "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
Matthew 12:36 — "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern social media is mostly tongue without James 3 supervision.
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James 3 is the most surgical chapter in the Bible on the tongue. The same instrument that praises the Father curses a brother; the same little flame can set a forest ablaze; no man can tame the tongue, but the Spirit can. Modern social media is mostly tongue without James 3 supervision — wholesale cursing, slandering, mocking, gossiping, all from believers who would never speak the same words at family dinner.
Christ's warning in Matthew 12 is severe: every idle word. The cure is not silence but Spirit-controlled speech — Ephesians 4:29 sets the standard: let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. Audit your tongue. The day of judgment will not be impressed with thread length.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew lashon (H3956); Greek glossa (G1100).
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H3956 — lashon — tongue; language
G1100 — glossa — tongue; language
G2545 — kaio — to kindle, set on fire
Usage
"Modern social media is mostly tongue without James 3 supervision."
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue — Solomon was already warning the comment section."
"Audit your tongue; the day of judgment will not be impressed with thread length."