φλογίζω means to set something ablaze or cause it to burn, derived from φλόξ ('flame'). James uses it twice in rapid succession in his vivid description of the tongue's destructive power. In James 3:6, he writes that 'the tongue is a fire' and that it φλογίζει ('sets on fire') the course of nature, while itself being φλογιζομένη ('set on fire') by hell. The doubled use creates a chain of conflagration: the tongue, ignited by Gehenna, in turn ignites the whole cycle of human life, spreading destruction like a wildfire racing through dry timber.