John Calvin Commentary James 3:7

"For every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind." — James 3:7 (ASV)

For every kind of beasts. This is a confirmation of the previous clause; for he proves that Satan rules most effectively through the tongue by this fact—that it can by no means be brought to proper order; and he amplifies this by comparisons. For he says that there is no animal so savage or fierce that is not tamed by human skill—that fishes, which, in a way, inhabit another world; that birds, which are so quick and roving; and that serpents, which are so hostile to humankind, are sometimes tamed. Since, then, the tongue cannot be restrained, there must be some secret fire of hell hidden in it.

What he says about wild beasts, serpents, and other animals is not to be understood as applying to all of them; it is enough that human skill subdues and tames some of the most ferocious of them, and also that serpents are sometimes tamed. He refers to present and past time: the present concerns power and capacity, and the past, usage or experience. He therefore justly concludes that the tongue is full of deadly poison.

Although all these things most suitably refer, in the first place, to the subject of this passage—namely, that those who claim an unreasonable command over others are themselves laboring under a worse vice—yet a universal doctrine may be understood as taught here: that if we desire to order our lives correctly, we must especially strive to restrain the tongue, for no part of a person does more harm.