James 3:8

James 3:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
• New International Version (NIV)but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
• English Standard Version (ESV)but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Context of James 3:8

6A person's tongue is like a fire. It has the power of everything in the world that is wrong. It is a small part of the body but it can spoil the whole person. Like a fire, it can destroy all of a person's life. It is a fire that comes from the fire of hell itself. 7Remember this: People can cause all kinds of things to do what they want them to do. They have done this with wild animals, birds, snakes and things that live in the sea. But no person can rule his tongue. It continues to say bad things. It is like a bad poison that can cause death. 9We use our tongue to praise the Lord God who is our Father. But then we use it to curse other people. That is wrong, because God made those people to be like himself. 10This shows that we use the same mouth to praise and also to curse. My Christian friends, we should not do this.

James 3:8 word by word

τὴν δὲ γλῶσσαν οὐδεὶς δαμάσαι δύναται ἀνθρώπων· ἀκατάστατον κακόν, μεστὴ ἰοῦ θανατηφόρου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Butδέde · thenG1161
• the tongueγλῶσσαglōssa · tongueG1100
• canδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• noοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
• manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• tameδαμάζωdamazō · to tameG1150
• an unrulyἀκατάσχετοςakataschetos · uncontrollableG183
• evilκακόςkakos · evil/harm: evilG2556
• fullμεστόςmestos · fullG3324
• of deadlyθανατήφοροςthanatēphoros · deadlyG2287
• poisonἰόςios · poison/rustG2447

Cross-references for James 3:8

• James 3:6A person's tongue is like a fire. It has the power of everything in the world that is wrong. It is a small part of the body but it can spoil the whole person. Like a fire, it can destroy all of a person's life. It is a fire that comes from the fire of hell itself.
• Psalms 55:21He speaks a message of peace, but he is really thinking about war. His words are easy to listen to, but they hurt like sharp knives.
• Psalms 57:4My enemies are all round me, like hungry lions! I must lie down among wild animals, that want to eat me! They are men who use spears and arrows to bite like teeth. They use their tongues to hurt people, like sharp swords.
• Psalms 59:7They shout evil things, and their words hurt like swords. They think, ‘Nobody can hear what we say!’
• Psalms 64:3Their tongues are like sharp swords that hurt people. Their cruel words are like arrows that they shoot at people.
• Deuteronomy 32:33The wine from their grapes kills people, like dangerous poison from snakes.
• Psalms 58:4Their words hurt people like a snake's poison. They listen to nobody, like a deaf cobra.
• Psalms 140:3Their words hurt people, like the tongue of a snake. They bite with poison, like a dangerous snake. Selah
• Ecclesiastes 10:11Someone may have power over dangerous snakes. But that will not help him if the snake bites him first.
• Romans 3:13Bad words come out of their mouth, like a very bad smell. They tell lies all the time, so that people do wrong things. The things that they say hurt people, like a snake's poison.
• Revelation 12:9Michael and his angels threw the great dragon out of heaven. The dragon is called the Devil or Satan. He is the snake who has been there since long ago. He tells lies to deceive the whole world. They threw him down to the earth, together with all his angels.

Commentaries on James 3:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8But the tongue wan no man tame - No cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able to silence it. Nothing but the grace of God, excision, or death, can bring it under subjection. It is an unruly evil - · An evil that cannot be restrained; it cannot be brought under any kind of government; it breaks all bounds. Full of deadly poison - He refers here to the tongues of serpents, supposed to be the means of conveying their poison into wounds made by…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8But the tongue can no man tame - This does not mean that it is never brought under control, but that it is impossible effectually and certainly to subdue it. It would be possible to subdue and domesticate any kind of beasts, but this could not be done with the tongue. It is an unruly evil - An evil without restraint, to which no certain and effectual check can be applied. Of the truth of this no one can have any doubt, who looks at the condition of the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8No man can tame the tongue: The tongue has a remarkable ability to do harm. If hell motivates its evil, humans effort alone cannot control it (3:6). full of deadly poison: This might refer to the serpent in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1). The Scriptures identify the serpent with the devil (Revelation 20:2).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. no man--literally, "no one of men": neither can a man control his neighbor's, nor even his own tongue. Hence the truth of Jas 3:2 appears. unruly evil--The Greek, implies that it is at once restless and incapable of restraint. Nay, though nature has hedged it in with a double barrier of the lips and teeth, it bursts from its barriers to assail and ruin men [Estius]. deadly--literally, "death-bearing."Read the comment

Topics related to James 3:8

• Speaking

In the dictionaries

• Course
• Governor
• Obey
• Offend
• Ought
• Poison
• Tame
• Busybody
• Deadly

Commentaries on James 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings