James Chapter 3, Verse 8
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8: την δε γλωσσαν ουδεις δυναται ανθρωπων δαμασαι ακατασχετον κακον μεστη ιου θανατηφορου
8: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison.
8: But the tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil, full of deadly
poison.
But 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 effectual check can be applied. Of the truth of this no one can have any doubt, who looks at the condition of the world.
Full of deadly poison. That is, it acts on the happiness of man, and on the peace of society, as poison does on the human frame. The allusion here seems to be to the bite of a venomous reptile. Compare Ps 1403, "They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips." Rom 3:13, "With their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips." Nothing would better describe the mischief that may be done by the tongue. There is no sting of a serpent that does so much evil in the world; there is no poison more deadly to the frame than the poison of the tongue is to the happiness of man. Who, for example, can stand before the power of the slanderer? What mischief can be done in society that can be compared with that which he, may do?
