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James 3 · a question people ask

"Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers" (3:1). Why does the letter say that?

In the text

The verse gives its own reason: "knowing that we will receive heavier judgment" (3:1). The next verse goes on, "For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also." (3:2). These notes say nothing of who the teachers were or what they did, describe no office, say no more of the we than the verses do, and apply these words to no church or person today.

The verses

“Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also.”
James 3:1-2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of James 3

James 3: Out of the same mouth

The tongue is "a little member" (3:5), set beside the bits in a horse’s mouth and a ship’s "very small rudder" (3:4). And bitter in "fresh and bitter water" (3:11) and in "bitter jealousy" (3:14) is one Greek word, found in the New Testament in these two verses only.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions