3:8a

but: There is a contrast between 3:7 and 3:8a. People are able to tame all of the creatures mentioned in 3:7, but no one can tame the tongue.

Some other ways to translate this contrast are:

However
-or-
Yet (God’s Word)
-or-
In contrast

no man can tame the tongue: James was referring to people being unable to control their own tongues. In some languages, it may be best to supply that implicit information by using a pronoun. For example:

no man can tame his own tongue.

no man: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as man is the same word that James used in 3:7b. Here the focus is on each individual human. So it refers to women as well as to men.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

no human being (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
no one (Revised English Bible)
-or-
no person

tame: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as tame is the same word as in 3:7b. If it is unnatural to use the same word here, you may be able to use a word meaning “control.” For example:

But our tongues get out of control. (Contemporary English Version)

the tongue: As in 3:5a, the tongue represents the words that we speak with our tongues. In some languages, “the lips” or “the mouth” represent the words that a person says. Use the same expression here as in 3:5a.

3:8b

It is a restless evil: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as restless primarily means “unstable.” The sense of “unstable” in this context includes:

(a) The tongue is restless. It does not rest but is always busy doing evil. For example:

It is restless and evil (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
it is a pest that will not keep still (New Jerusalem Bible)

(b) The tongue is uncontrollable.

The two meanings are close. Something that is restless and determined to do evil is probably also uncontrollable. If you have a word that is close in meaning to both “restless” and “uncontrollable,” it would be good to use it here.

Some other ways to translate this word are:

always busy doing evil
-or-
constantly doing wrong

3:8c

full of deadly poison: The phrase full of deadly poison is a metaphor. In this metaphor, James compared the human tongue to the mouth of a poisonous snake. (Compare Psalm 58:3–4 and Psalm 140:3 for the thought.) One way that they are similar is that both can do great harm.

There are at least three ways to translate this phrase:

• Keep the metaphor. If it is not difficult to understand the metaphor in your language, then you should keep the metaphor. For example:

always spreading deadly poison (Contemporary English Version)

• Use a simile and add the meaning. For example:

very harmful like the venom from a poisonous snake

• Translate the meaning without the metaphor. For example:

a source of terrible harm/pain

© 2012 by SIL International®

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.