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Jam_3:7-8. In these verses the untameable power of the tongue is adduced. The particle γάρ here indicates neither simply the transition (Pott), nor is it to be referred to μεγαλαυχεῖ (Wiesinger), separated from it by Jam_3:5-6, nor only to the last thought, φλογιζομένη κ . τ . λ . (Lange); but it is used as a logical particle, whilst the truth expressed in these verses substantiates the judgment contained in Jam_3:5-6. The relation of these two verses to each other is, that Jam_3:8 contains the principal thought, and Jam_3:7, on the other hand, a thought subordinate to it, which is only added in order to make that thought more emphatic. The meaning is: Whereas man tames all animals, yet he cannot tame the tongue. By φύσις is to be understood not the genus (Augusti, Gebser, Bretschneider, Schneckenburger), but the qualitas naturalis, and in such a manner that James has in view not the relation of the individual man to the individual beast, but the relation of human nature to animal nature in general, however this may differ in the different kinds of animals. The totality of beasts is expressed by four classes, which are arranged in pairs, namely, quadrupeds and birds, creeping beasts and fishes.
θηρία ] are not “beasts generally” (Pott), nor specially “wild beasts” (Erasmus, Vatablus, Piscator, Baumgarten, Theile, Bouman).
τὰ ἑρπετά ] are neither terrestrial animals generally (Pott, Hottinger), nor only serpents (Luther, Calvin, Grotius, and others), but it is used here in the same meaning as in Gen_1:24-25 (LXX. ἑρπετά , as the translation of øÆîÆùÒ ); see Act_10:12; Rom_1:23.
ἐνάλια ] ( ἅπ . λεγ .) denotes either fish simply, or likewise all worms living in the water; Luther incorrectly translates it “sea wonders,” and Stier “sea monsters.” There is here the same classification as in Gen_9:2 in the LXX. (which may have been before the mind of James): τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς , τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ , τὰ κινούμενα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς , οἱ ἰχθύεις τῆς θαλάσσης . The dominion of human nature over the brute creation is expressed by the verb δαμάζειν (i.e. so to subdue, that what is subdued submits to the will of the subduer), because it supposes the subjection of something resisting (see Mar_5:4). That James only thought on wild animals does not follow from this. The perfect δεδάμασται is added to the present δαμάζεται in order to represent the present taming as that which had already taken place in the past. It is incorrect to resolve δαμάζεται into δαμάζεσθαι δύναται (Hottinger, Schneckenburger), for it treats not only of the possibility, but of the actuality.
τῇ φύσει τ . ἀνθρ .] is not the dat. commodi, but the dative used with the passive, instead of the construction with ὑπό . φύσις has the same meaning as before; accordingly not ingenii solertia (Hornejus, Hottinger, Schneckenburger).