<p>1:19 <i>You know this, my beloved brothers But let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger</i>- If we are truly born by the word then we will swift to hear it, as Jesus was of quick understanding in the word (Is. 11:3). We will share His aptitude for it, and we will be slow to speak anything else. The great danger is to be hearers and not doers of the word (James 1:22), but James implies that the antidote to this is to reflect upon the very nature of the word which gave us spiritual birth.</p><p>Because of the glorious power of the word of the Gospel as outlined in the previous verses, we should be quick to hear that powerful word. The idea of running swiftly in eager response to the word is quite a common Biblical idiom (2 Thess. 3:1; Ps. 119:32,60; Hab. 2:2; Amos 8:11,12; Dan. 12:4). Inevitably some practical examination of our eagerness of response to the word has to be made. How frequently do we rise up from our readings with an eager resolve to do something practical, to make some subtle change in our character? How often do our minds burn and race within us as we chase connections and themes through Scripture (cp. Lk. 24:32) and God's word falls open to us? Or are we content to dash through our Bible readings on the way to work, or leave them to the dog end of the day? God and the Angels no doubt look eagerly to those parts of the day when we read the word as their opportunity to guide and teach us, to strengthen us against the flesh. What a despite to them if our minds are somewhere else as we read- if we bother doing any Bible readings at all that day. The practical effects of swiftly hearing this powerful word are to make us &quot;slow to speak, slow to wrath&quot;. Along with many other examples in James, this definitely alludes to the Proverbs- in this case 10:19 and 17:27 for &quot;slow to speak&quot;, and 14:29 for &quot;slow to wrath&quot;. The context in these passages is that &quot;instruction... reproof (10:17)... knowledge... understanding (17:27) ...understanding&quot; (14:29) lead to the control of speech and wrath. All these things are true concerning the word- the ultimate source of reproof (2 Tim. 3:16,17) and understanding. This is exactly the context of James 1- by being &quot;swift to hear&quot; the spiritual strength which is in the word, we find the strength in practical terms to be &quot;slow to speak, slow to wrath&quot;. It may be that James is alluding to Moses being &quot;slow of speech, and of a slow tongue&quot;- i.e. rather quiet, unsure of his words. Hence God reassured him: &quot;I will teach thee what thou shalt say&quot; (Ex.4:10-12). This would be specially relevant to James' persecuted Jewish readership; telling them to 'be like Moses' in his quiet speaking. And remember that James is writing to Jews, for whom Moses was an unattainable saint. But they are asked here to actually be like him.</p>