Charles Ellicott Commentary James 3:9

"Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:" — James 3:9 (ASV)

With it we bless God, even the Father.—A strange reading of this verse in the more ancient manuscripts renders it as, With it we bless the Lord and Father. And it may serve to remind us of the oneness of our God, that He may thus be called Lord and Saviour.

His worship and praise are, as explained under James 3:6, the right use of the tongue. However, most inconsistently, with it we curse men who have been made in the image, after the similitude, of God. See Psalm 1:16-23, with its final words of warning to the wicked, and praise to him that ordereth his conversation right.

The “likeness of God” assuredly remains in the most abandoned and fallen; and to curse it is to invoke the wrath of its Creator. What then can be urged in defense of anathemas and fulminations of councils, or the mutual execrations of sects and schisms, in the light of these solemn words? Though they curse, yet bless thou . . . and let them cover themselves with their own confusion (Psalms 109:28–29).