Bit

Bit (Hebrew metheg) refers to the curb or restraining device placed in the mouths of horses and other animals to direct and control their movement. In Psalm 32:9, the word is used as a metaphor for the kind of mindless submission God does not want from his people: Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. The image contrasts the unthinking obedience of an animal constrained by physical force with the willing, understanding trust God desires from his people.

The same Hebrew word is translated bridle in 2 Kings 19:28 and Isaiah 37:29, where God declares to the Assyrian king Sennacherib: I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came. The reversal of the human use of bit and bridle—with God applying the restraint to the arrogant king—makes the image a vehicle for divine sovereignty over the nations. James 3:3 uses the bit as an illustration of the tongue's potential for control: just as a small bit controls a large horse, so the tongue—though small—directs the whole course of human life.