I don’t believe James is arguing that man has tamed every form of life that exists, although he has tamed many animals that live in the wild. What James is saying, in my opinion, is that man has been able to tame animals from all four main groups of living creatures (James 3:7): wild beasts (four-footed), birds (things that fly); reptiles (creeping things) and fish (living creatures in the water). In other words, Every “nature” (G5449 phusis or kind) of beast has been tamed by man (G442 anthropinos).
Nevertheless, man has been unable to tame or control the tongue of his species (James 3:8). We take pride in describing ourselves as civilized or tamed creatures. However, while some may argue this man or that man was able to control his own tongue, who could argue that the tongue of man hasn’t created immeasurable evil throughout the world in every generation? James concludes by saying the tongue: “…is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” which may be drawn from Psalm 140:3.
Then James points out the contradictoriness of the tongue. We use it to both bless God, and curse men who were created in the image of God (James 3:9). But, how can this be (James 3:10), if both blessing and cursing come from the same source? Can a good tree bear evil fruit, or an evil tree bear good fruit (Matthew 7:17-18)? If we consider all of nature, to what would we compare the tongue? It’s contrariness is unique, and nothing in the Lord’s creation express the rebellion of man against the orderliness of his Creator more than man’s own tongue. Speaking to the scribes and Pharisees (John 8:3), Jesus told them they were the children of the rebel, Adam, who had slandered God (John 8:44). He was a murderer from the beginning through his vicious, lying tongue.
Then, James compares a man’s tongue with a fountain and asks: “Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?” (James 3:11). At this point I’m reminded that the Lord compares himself to a fountain of living water (Jeremiah 2:13), and the prophet claimed man had forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water. If the Lord is a fountain of living water (i.e. fresh water, implying truth), it would be impossible for man to image him (cp. Genesis 1:27), if his fountain yielded bitter water (i.e. salt water), implying death, undrinkable, undesirable lies. Jesus told his disciples that they were clean through the word he had spoken to them (John 15:3), for the word of God sanctifies or cleanses men (John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26). Therefore, a false teacher, a purveyor of lies, cannot cleanse anything. The truth cleanses the heart and prepares it for God’s use, but a lying tongue corrupts the heart and makes it useless for God to use for his purposes.
In James 3:12 the author of this epistle concludes the present theme of his argument by alluding to the chaos a lying tongue brings to creation. Is a fig tree able to bring forth olives or a grape vine figs? What a chaotic world it would be, if man planted a fruit tree, but a grape vine arose, instead, or if he planted a vine, a tree arose! In such a context, he would never know for certain what sort of plant a particular seed would yield. What chaos! Can a lying tongue bring forth truth or cleanse the heart? Such a thing is simply unnatural. Yet, so many believe they are permitted to slander another person simply because he is of a different religion or holds a different political perspective. How terrible a matter a lie yields (Proverbs 14:5; 30:5-6).
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