James 3:7

7 For people have tamed and continue to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures;

James 3:7 Meaning and 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 relates, that elephants lions and tigers among beasts, and the eagle among birds, and crocodiles, asps, and other serpents, and fishes of the sea, have been tamed: though some think this is only to be understood of their being mastered and subdued, by one means or another; or of their being despoiled of their power, or of their poison: and the Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it, "subjected to human nature".

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 9. 16, 17. & 10. 5, 44.

James 3:7 In-Context

5 So too the tongue is a tiny part of the body, yet it boasts great things. See how a little fire sets a whole forest ablaze!

6 Yes, the tongue is a fire, a world of wickedness. The tongue is so placed in our body that it defiles every part of it, setting ablaze the whole of our life; and it is set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself.

7 For people have tamed and continue to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures;

8 but the tongue no one can tame - it is an unstable and evil thing, full of death-dealing poison!

9 With it we bless ADONAI, the Father; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God.g