James 3:6-8

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 3:1-12

The foregoing chapter shows how unprofitable and dead faith is without works. It is plainly intimated by what this chapter first goes upon that such a faith is, however, apt to make men conceited and magisterial in their tempers and their talk. Those who set up faith in the manner the former chapter condemns are most apt to run into those sins of the tongue which this chapter condemns. And indeed the best need to be cautioned against a dictating, censorious, mischievous use of their tongues.... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 3:7-8

3:7-8 Every kind of beast and bird, and reptile and fish, is and has been tamed for the service of mankind; but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. The idea of the taming of the animal creation in the service of mankind is one which often occurs in Jewish literature. We get it in the creation story. God said of man, "Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" ( ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 3:6

And the tongue is a fire ,.... It is like to fire, very useful in its place, to warm and comfort; so is the tongue in Christian conversation, and in the ministry of the word; the hearts of God's children burn within them, while they are talking together, and while the Scriptures of truth are opening to them; but as fire should be carefully watched, and kept, so should men take heed to their ways, that they sin not with their tongue, and keep their tongue from evil, and their lips from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 3:7

For every kind of beasts, and of birds ,.... Or the "nature" of them, as it is in the Greek text; however fierce, as beasts of prey are, or shy, as the fowls of the air be: and of serpents and things in the sea ; the fishes there: is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind , or "by human nature": by the wit and industry of man; by the various ways, means, and methods devised by man. So Pliny F12 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 9. 16,17. & 10. 5,44. relates, that elephants lions and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - James 3:8

But the tongue can no man tame ,.... Either his own, or others; not his own, for the man that has the greatest guard upon himself, his words and actions; yet, what through pride or passion, or one lust or another in his heart, at one time or another, bolts out vain, idle, angry, and sinful words: and he that does not may be set down for a perfect man indeed: nor can he tame or restrain the tongues of others from detraction, calumnies, backbitings, and whisperings; who say, their lips are... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 3:6

The tongue is a fire - It is often the instrument of producing the most desperate contentions and insurrections. A world of iniquity - This is an unusual form of speech, but the meaning is plain enough; World signifies here a mass, a great collection, an abundance. We use the term in the same sense - a world of troubles, a world of toil, a world of anxiety; for great troubles, oppressive toil, most distressing anxiety. And one of our lexicographers calls his work a world of words; i.e. a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 3:7

Every kind of beasts - That is, every species of wild beasts, πασα φυσις θηριων , is tamed, i.e. brought under man's power and dominion. Beasts, birds, serpents, and some kinds of fishes have been tamed so as to be domesticated; but every kind, particularly των εναλιων , of sea monsters, has not been thus tamed; but all have been subjected to the power of man; both the shark and whale become an easy prey to the skill and influence of the human being. I have had the most credible... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - James 3:8

But the tongue wan no man tame - No cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able to silence it. Nothing but the grace of God, excision, or death, can bring it under subjection. It is an unruly evil - Ακατασχετον κακον· An evil that cannot be restrained; it cannot be brought under any kind of government; it breaks all bounds. Full of deadly poison - He refers here to the tongues of serpents, supposed to be the means of conveying their poison into wounds made by their teeth.... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - James 3:6

Verse 6 He now explains the evils which proceed from the neglect of restraining the tongue, in order that we may know that the tongue may do much good or much evil, — that if it be modest and well regulated, it becomes a bridle to the whole life, but that if it be petulant and violent, like a fire it destroys all things. He represents it as a small or little fire, to intimate that this smallness of the tongue will not be a hindrance that its power should not extend far and wide to do harm. 6.... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - James 3:7

Verse 7 7For every kind of beasts. This is a confirmation of the last clause; for that Satan by the tongue rules most effectively he proves by this — that it can by no means be brought to due order; and he amplifies this by comparisons. For he says that there is no animal so savage or fierce, which is not tamed by the skill of man, — that fishes, which in a manner inhabit another world, — that birds, which are so quick and roving — and that serpents, which are so inimical to mankind, are... read more

Group of Brands