James 3:7

7 And all the kind of beasts, and of fowls, and of serpents, and of others is chastised, and those be made tame of man's kind; [Soothly all kind of beasts, and fowls, and serpents, and of others, be overcome, or under-yoked, and be made tame, of mankind];

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 also the tongue is but a little member, and raiseth great things. Lo! how little fire burneth a full great wood [Lo! how much fire kindleth how great a wood].

6 And our tongue is fire, the university of wickedness. The tongue is ordained in our members, which defouleth all the body; and it is inflamed of hell [and it is inflamed, or set afire, of hell], and inflameth the wheel of our birth.

7 And all the kind of beasts, and of fowls, and of serpents, and of others is chastised, and those be made tame of man's kind; [Soothly all kind of beasts, and fowls, and serpents, and of others, be overcome, or under-yoked, and be made tame, of mankind];

8 but no man may chastise the tongue, for it is an unpeaceable evil [soothly it is an unquiet, or unpeaceable, evil thing], and full of deadly venom.

9 In it we bless God, the Father, and in it we curse men, that be made to the likeness of God.