Verses 7-8: For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and
creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and
full of deadly poison.
James is not finished with the subject of the tongue. Here he declares what is evident, that members of the human race have tamed all sorts of critters—including the fierce and dangerous land beasts, reptiles, sea creatures and the birds of the air.
This was God’s design for mankind from the very beginning, to have dominion over every living thing:
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
He also gave Adam the responsibility of naming and categorizing them:
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. (Genesis 2:19–20)
This gave Adam a tremendous responsibility in his undertakings with God’s creatures. Even to this day, people have continued to demonstrate their ability to tame animals. This is evidenced by the control of animals in farm, in circuses, in zoos and even household pets.
Untamed Tongue
The main verb in this phrase is can; the Greek word from which it is translated means “to be able, have power, whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources.”[1] It is important to make note that the English translation is missing a word in the original Greek: mankind. It should read that “no one of mankind can tame the tongue.” One might think that this makes very little difference, but putting the word mankind in the verse as it should be, James is emphasizing the futility of human effort in controlling the tongue.
James maintains a definitive contrast, that man can tame God’s creatures, but he cannot tame his own tongue because he does not have the power to do so. The underlying truth is that it takes a supernatural power source to have victory over taming the tongue. Dr. Radmacher rightly notes that "Only the work of the Holy Spirit within us can bring this destructive force under control."[2]
For the apostle Paul has much to say about the Spirit controlled life of the believer. On this very issue of the tongue he stated:
But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (Galatians 5:15–16, cf. Romans 8:4 [emphasis mine])
And if we are not walking by the Spirit, Paul charges us, “Do not quench the Spirit.”[3] Here he is likening the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit with that of a fire which can be extinguished or stifled. When we stifle to Holy Spirit we attempt to take over the control of our lives by our feeble human efforts.
And as a response to our attempts to superimpose our effort over the Spirits’ control in our lives, Paul commands that we “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30). We understand the English word grieve as meaning sorrow or sadness. But the Biblical meaning here is to vex, irritate, offend, insult.[4] We offend and insult the Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, when we straight-arm Him, or in effect say ‘talk to the hand’, basically pronouncing that our efforts are superior to His.
Next, James emphatically states that the tongue is a restless evil. The English word restless has the connotation of fidgety, twitchy, edgy. But a word better suited to what James is trying to convey is unstable. To be unstable means being unbalanced, unsound or volatile—these are the evidences of an untamed tongue characterized as evil, wicked and vicious.
Full of deadly poison is an additional description of this untameable tongue. James equates it to the bite of a poisonous snake whose venom will cause physical death. The apostle Paul likewise asserted this in his description of sinful mankind by quoting two passages from Psalms 140:3 & 10:7:
“Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,
The poison of asps is under their lips.”
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” (Romans 3:13–14)
Our Lord compared the Pharisees to vipers proclaimed:
“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” (Matthew 12:34)
The heart is therefore the source of the tongues’ deadly poison. While the human tongue may not inject actual poisonous venom into its victim, it does cause bitterness and divisiveness within the Body of Christ. This is the reason for James’ exposition of the subject of the tongue, for its poison has been the ruin of many who claim Christ as their Savior.
[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G1410.
[2] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, Jas 3:7–8.
[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:19
[4] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 481.
© 2023 David M. Ross
Excellent as always
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