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interlinearVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
OET (OET-LV) but the tongue no_one to_tame is_able of_the_people, an_unstable evil, full of_poison deadly.
OET (OET-RV) but no one is able to tame the tongue—it’s an erratically evil body part that’s full of deadly poison.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
οὐδεὶς & ἀνθρώπων
no_one & ˱of˲_/the/_people
James is using the term men in a generic sense that includes all people. Alternate translation: [no human being]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
δαμάσαι
/to/_tame
By analogy with the animals he discussed in the previous verse, James is using the word tame to mean “control.” Alternate translation: [to control]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὴν & γλῶσσαν
the & tongue
James is using the tongue to represent what people say, by association with the way the tongue is used for speech. Alternate translation: [what he says]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
ἀκατάστατον κακόν
/an/_unstable evil
James is using the adjective evil as a noun. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [an unsettled evil thing]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / personification
ἀκατάστατον κακόν
/an/_unstable evil
In this context, the word unsettled means “restless.” James is speaking of the tongue as if it were a living thing that could never rest because it always had to be saying bad things. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [We are constantly saying evil things]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
μεστὴ ἰοῦ θανατηφόρου
full ˱of˲_poison deadly
James is using deadly poison as an analogy for the destructive effects of what people say. Alternate translation (continuing a new sentence): “and what we say has very destructive effects”
3:8 no one can tame the tongue: The tongue has an astonishing capacity for committing evil. If its evil is motivated by hell (3:6), it certainly cannot be tamed by mere human effort.
• full of deadly poison: This might allude to the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1), who is identified with the devil (Rev 20:2).
OET (OET-LV) but the tongue no_one to_tame is_able of_the_people, an_unstable evil, full of_poison deadly.
OET (OET-RV) but no one is able to tame the tongue—it’s an erratically evil body part that’s full of deadly poison.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the SR-GNT.