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What the Fathers say

James 3:8

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

This should be read not in an affirmative but in an interrogative form, namely thus: if man tames and domesticates untamable beasts, will he really not tame his own tongue? This is how it should be read. For if one reads it in an affirmative form, then it would be unjust to give the following instruction: "My brethren, these things ought not to be so" (Jas. 3:10), for if it is impossible to tame the tongue, then the apostle vainly urges the fulfillment of the impossible. …

Commentary on James ↗

Western Saints

Bede

However, no man can tame the tongue. This sentence can be correctly understood in two ways: both that none of the good teachers can tame the tongues of those who neglect to restrain themselves from foolish prattling, and that there is no speaker who does not sometimes offend with his tongue. Finally, it was truthfully said of a perfect man placed in the moment of greatest temptation: In all this Job did not sin with his lips (Job I). …

Commentary on the Catholic Epistles ↗