SPEECH, TONGUE ｜ 言语与舌头

ENSPEECH, TONGUE. The tongue—the gift of speech—is man's glory: Ps. 57:8. Awake up, my glory. There is an income from spoken words: Prov. 18:20, 21. A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth . . . Death and life are in the power of the tongue. James 3:8-10. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. 1. As true, pure, helpful—and commended: Prov. 10:11. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. Prov. 10:21. The lips of the righteous feed many. Prov. 12:18, 19. But the tongue of the wise is health. The lip of truth shall be established for ever. Prov. 12:25. But a good word maketh it glad. Prov. 15:1. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Prov. 25:15. And a soft tongue breaketh the bone. Prov. 25:11. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Prov. 15:23. And a word spoken in due season, how good is it! Ps. 15:2, 3. He that walketh uprightly . . . and speaketh the truth in his heart. Ps. 37:30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom. Isa. 50:4. That I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. Prov. 31:26. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. The words of the godly are noted, recorded and remembered: Mal. 3:16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him.

BSBProverbs 18:21 Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

中言语；舌头。舌头——说话的恩赐——是人的荣耀：诗篇 57:8 —— 我的灵（英译作『我的荣耀』）啊，你当醒起。所说的话是有『收益』的：箴言 18:20-21 —— 人口中所结的果子，必充满肚腹……生死在舌头的权下。雅各书 3:8-10 —— 惟独舌头没有人能制伏，是不止息的恶物，满了害死人的毒气。我们用舌头颂赞那为主、为父的，又用舌头咒诅那照着神形像被造的人。颂赞和咒诅从一个口里出来。一、作为真实、洁净、造就人的言语，受称许：箴言 10:11 —— 义人的口是生命的泉源。10:21 —— 义人的口教养多人。12:18-19 —— 智慧人的舌头却为医人的良药。口吐真言，永远坚立。12:25 —— 一句良言，使心欢乐。15:1 —— 回答柔和，使怒消退。25:15 —— 柔和的舌头能折断骨头。25:11 —— 一句话说得合宜，就如金苹果在银网子里。15:23 —— 话合其时，何等美好。诗篇 15:2-3 —— 就是行为正直……心里说实话的人。37:30 —— 义人的口谈论智慧。以赛亚书 50:4 —— 使我知道怎样用言语扶助疲乏的人。箴言 31:26 —— 她开口就发智慧，她舌上有仁慈的法则。敬虔人的话是被留意、被记录、被记念的：玛拉基书 3:16 —— 那时，敬畏耶和华的彼此谈论，耶和华侧耳而听，且有纪念册在他面前，记录那敬畏耶和华、思念他名的人。

EN2. As false, hurtful—and condemned: Prov. 12:22. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord. Prov. 16:27. And in his lips there is as a burning fire. Prov. 17:20. And he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. Prov. 18:8. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Prov. 25:18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow. Prov. 26:28. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. Idle speaking: Prov. 13:3. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. Ps. 12:2. They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. Ps. 120:2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. Rom. 3:13. With their tongues they have used deceit. [Backbiting is a conjugation of evils, and is productive of infinite mischiefs: it undermines peace and saps the foundations of friendship; it destroys families, and rends in pieces the very heart and vitals of charity; it makes an evil man party, and witness, and judge, and executioner of the innocent. Bishop Taylor.] [Profane speech corrupts and depraves the heart: it casts God and everything sacred out of the life. It feeds the passion of anger, and therefore brutalizes; it weakens the obligations of truth, so that the swearer is almost invariably a liar—by the moral law that vices act and react on each other, just as, on the other side, virtues act and react on each other. Men not only swear because they are wicked; they are more wicked at heart because they swear. There is a tremendous reversionary power over character in the language which we habitually use: frivolous language will by and by make a frivolous nature; the language of purity and nobleness will go far toward making one pure and noble. Profanity injures not only those who indulge in it, but those who hear it; and not the least element of its wickedness is that there is so little temptation to it. There are strong temptations, in the way of personal advantage, to theft and falsehood; intemperance and licentiousness have the excuse, in their earlier stages, of pleasure, and in their later stages of an imperious and well-nigh resistless physical appetite. But profanity pleases no sense, gratifies no passion, brings no profit; it impairs rather than increases a man's credibility—for a swearer's word is always at a discount. W. R. Taylor.]

BSBProverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

中二、作为虚假、伤人的言语，受定罪：箴言 12:22 —— 说谎言的嘴，为耶和华所憎恶。16:27 —— 他嘴上仿佛有烧焦的火。17:20 —— 舌弄是非的，陷在祸患中。18:8 —— 传舌人的言语如同美食，深入人的心腹（英译：如伤人的话，深入肺腑）。25:18 —— 作假见证陷害邻舍的，就是大槌，是利刀，是快箭。26:28 —— 虚谎的舌恨他所压伤的人；谄媚的口败坏人的事。闲言：箴言 13:3 —— 谨守口的，得保生命；大张嘴的，必致败亡。诗篇 12:2 —— 人人向邻舍说谎；他们说话，是嘴唇油滑，心口不一。120:2 —— 耶和华啊，求你救我脱离说谎的嘴唇和诡诈的舌头。罗马书 3:13 —— 他们用舌头弄诡诈。〔背后毁谤是诸恶的合流，能生出无穷的祸害：它挖空和睦，掏空友谊的根基；它毁灭家庭，把仁爱的心脏与命脉撕成碎片；它使一个恶人同时成为无辜者的原告、证人、审判官与行刑者。泰勒主教（Bishop Taylor）〕〔亵渎的言语败坏、腐蚀人心：它把神以及一切神圣之物逐出人的生活。它喂养愤怒的情欲，因而使人兽化；它削弱人对真话的责任感，以致赌咒发誓的人几乎无一例外都是说谎的人——这正合乎那条道德律：恶习彼此推助、互相加剧；反过来，美德也彼此推助、互相加强。人不只是因为邪恶才咒骂；他们也因为咒骂而心里更加邪恶。我们习惯使用的语言，对品格有一种极大的反作用力：轻浮的语言迟早会造就一种轻浮的天性；洁净高贵的语言则大大有助于使人洁净高贵。亵渎不但伤害说的人，也伤害听的人；而它罪恶中不可小看的一点是：它几乎没有什么可诱惑人的地方。偷窃与谎言，还有个人得利这类强烈的诱因；纵酒与淫乱，在早期还能以快感为托辞，到后期还能以一种专横而几乎无法抗拒的肉体需索为托辞。但亵渎既不悦任何感官，不满足任何情欲，也不带来任何利益；它反倒削弱而非增加一个人的可信度——因为一个满口赌咒之人的话，从来是要打折扣的。泰勒（W. R. Taylor）〕

ENCautions and counsels: Ps. 34:13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Prov. 10:19. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Prov. 21:23. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Matt. 12:36, 37. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. James 1:26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue . . . this man's religion is vain. James 1:19. Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Eph. 4:25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. Eph. 4:29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. Eph. 5:4. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient. James 4:11. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. Col. 4:6. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Titus 2:8. Sound speech, that cannot be condemned. Illustration: Mal. 2:6. The law of truth was in his mouth. Appropriate petitions: Ps. 19:14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Ps. 119:172. My tongue shall speak of Thy word. Ps. 141:3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

BSBColossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

中警戒与劝勉：诗篇 34:13 —— 就要禁止舌头不出恶言，嘴唇不说诡诈的话。箴言 10:19 —— 多言多语难免有过；禁止嘴唇是有智慧。21:23 —— 谨守口与舌的，就保守自己免受灾难。马太福音 12:36-37 —— 我又告诉你们：凡人所说的闲话，当审判的日子，必要句句供出来。因为要凭你的话定你为义，也要凭你的话定你有罪。雅各书 1:26 —— 若有人自以为虔诚，却不勒住他的舌头……这人的虔诚是虚的。1:19 —— 你们各人要快快地听，慢慢地说，慢慢地动怒。以弗所书 4:25 —— 所以你们要弃绝谎言，各人与邻舍说实话。4:29 —— 污秽的言语一句不可出口，只要随事说造就人的好话。5:4 —— 淫词、妄语和戏笑的话都不相宜。雅各书 4:11 —— 弟兄们，你们不可彼此批评。歌罗西书 4:6 —— 你们的言语要常常带着和气，好像用盐调和，就可知道该怎样回答各人。提多书 2:8 —— 言语纯全，无可指责。例证：玛拉基书 2:6 —— 真实的律法在他口中。适切的祷告：诗篇 19:14 —— 耶和华我的磐石，我的救赎主啊，愿我口中的言语、心里的意念在你面前蒙悦纳。119:172 —— 愿我的舌头歌唱你的话。141:3 —— 耶和华啊，求你禁止我的口，把守我的嘴。

EN[Use your gift of speech to give comfort, joy, cheer and hope to all about you. Use it to encourage the weary and disheartened; to warn those who are treading in paths of danger; to inspire the lethargic and indolent with high and holy motives; to kindle the fires of heavenly aspiration on cold heart-altars. J. R. Miller.] [To be a good talker, to be a clever jester, to be a pungent story-teller, to be a desired element in general conversation—these things have become an ambition, an aim and goal of life, just as others have found it in riches or in honors. Pride may come, and vanity; and, alas, charity may not come here. It comes not, or it stays not, where scandal is; where discussion of other men's matters, other men's conduct, other men's characters is; where idle tales—purposeless at best, probably but one-third true, more than possibly false to the core—are retailed, commented upon, laughed over, though the appearance of the person discussed would instantly silence and abash the loudest! These things are the unchristian use of society. But in all watchings against evil there should be a positive striving after good. It is not by encountering our enemies in detail that we best overcome them, whether in speech or in life: let the negative have its positive. Let a high aim and a Christian motive go with us into society, and we shall not be there like men armed for self-defense or chained against offending, but rather as free and large-hearted friends, fearing no evil, because God is with them. C. J. Vaughan.] [The sins of the tongue all point to the necessity and profit of self-mastery. So evident and so important did this appear to James that it occurs again and again in his epistle: "In many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." If this confession of failure and this magnifying of the office of the tongue seem exaggerated, let any one sit down quietly and think of the sins and cruelties of human speech: the careless words which no repentance can call back again; the rash promises which it has cost us so much to fulfill; the expression of the lower nature which has shamed the higher; the hot and angry words which sober thought condemned. On the other hand, like most of the uses of the world which turn so easily to evil, the tongue may be the instrument of great and lasting good: "Therewith bless we God, even the Father." If we can, by God's grace, hold it to blessing, there is no better testimony to the indwelling of God's Spirit in a human soul than righteous, considerate, modest, truthful speech. Speaking the truth in love, men trust him; seeking not his own, men come to speak unselfishly in his presence; considering others, they in turn become considerate; cherishing no resentments, he awakens no angry feelings. Such Christian self-control is not easily attained, but it is worth striving for; and by God's help it is not out of reach.]

BSBJames 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

中〔要用你说话的恩赐，把安慰、喜乐、鼓舞与盼望带给你周围的人。用它去激励疲乏灰心的人；去警戒那些正走在危险路上的人；用崇高圣洁的动机去唤起那些迟钝懒散的人；在冷却的心坛上重新点起属天渴慕的火。米勒（J. R. Miller）〕〔做一个善谈的人，做一个机智的谐谑者，做一个言辞辛辣的说故事高手，在众人的谈笑中成为人人乐见的角色——这些已经成了一种雄心，成了人生的目标与归宿，正如另一些人把目标放在财富或荣誉上一样。骄傲会随之而来，虚荣也会；而唉，仁爱却未必会来。哪里有流言蜚语，哪里有对别人的事、别人的行为、别人品格的议论，哪里有闲话被贩卖、被评点、被哄笑——那些闲话至多不过毫无意义，多半只有三分真，很可能从头到尾是假的；而一旦被议论的那个人出现，最大声的那位立刻就会哑口而窘迫——仁爱在那里就不来，或者不留。这些都是对社交场合的非基督徒式的使用。然而在一切提防恶事的同时，还应当有一种积极的向善追求。无论在言语上还是在生活上，我们最能胜过仇敌的方式，都不是一个一个地去迎战它们：要让消极的一面有其积极的一面。让一个崇高的目标与一个基督徒的动机随我们进入社交场合；这样，我们在那里就不像武装起来自卫的人，也不像被锁住免得冒犯人的人，倒像自由、宽宏的朋友，不怕遭害，因为神与他们同在。沃恩（C. J. Vaughan）〕〔舌头的诸般罪，都指向自制的必要与益处。这一点在雅各看来如此明显、如此重要，以致在他的书信中一再出现：『原来我们在许多事上都有过失。若有人在话语上没有过失，他就是完全人，也能勒住自己的全身。』倘若这样承认失败、这样看重舌头的职分显得夸张了，那就让任何人安静坐下来，想一想人类言语中的罪与残忍：那些说出口便再无懊悔能收回的轻率之言；那些许下之后叫我们付出极大代价才能兑现的鲁莽承诺；那些让高尚一面蒙羞的、出自低下本性的话；那些冷静下来自己也要定罪的火气冲天的话。另一方面，就像世上大多数极易转恶的用途一样，舌头也可以成为极大而长存之善的工具：『我们用舌头颂赞那为主、为父的。』我们若能靠神的恩典把舌头守在祝福上，那么，再没有比公义、体贴、谦和、诚实的言语更能见证神的灵内住在一个人灵魂中的了。他用爱心说诚实话，人就信任他；他不求自己的益处，人在他面前也渐渐不自私地说话；他体谅别人，别人转而也变得体谅；他心里不存怨恨，也就不激起别人的怒气。这样的基督徒自制并不容易达到，却值得努力去求；而靠神的帮助，它并非遥不可及。〕