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For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.
Verse Takeaways
1
A Shocking Contrast
Commentators stress that James's point is not to praise human ingenuity but to create a shocking contrast. While humanity can subdue every category of wild animal, we consistently fail to control our own tongues. This remarkable power over nature highlights the unique perversity and profound difficulty of taming the tongue.
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Book Overview
James
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7
18th Century
Presbyterian
For every kind of beasts. The apostle proceeds to state another thing showing the power of the tongue: the fact that it is ungovernable, a…
Kind (φυσις). Old word from φυω, order of nature (Romans 1:26), here of all animals and man, in [Reference 2 Peter 1:4…
19th Century
Anglican
For every kind of beasts . . .—Compare the margin, and read more exactly, thus: Every nature of beasts and birds, and creeping…
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James shifts almost unnoticeably from discussing the power of the tongue (vv.3–6) to a discussion of its perversity (vv.7–12). According to vv.7–8,…
16th Century
Protestant
For every kind of beasts. This is a confirmation of the previous clause; for he proves that Satan rules most effectively through the tongu…
17th Century
Reformed Baptist
For every kind of beasts, and of birds Or the "nature" of them, as it is in the Greek text; however fierce, as beast…
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We are taught to dread an unruly tongue as one of the greatest evils. The affairs of humankind are thrown into confusion by the tongues of people. …
