James 1:23

James 1:23

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

a. NLT: For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: Because, if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one hath been like to a man viewing his natural face in a mirror, [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.] 

d. Classic Amplified: For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Peshitta Eastern Text: For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who sees his face in a mirror.  [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT.Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1961 by A.J. Holmon Co.; Copyright  Ⓒ 1939 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1967  by A.J. Holmon Co.;  Copyright  Ⓒ 1940 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; Copyright  Ⓒ 1957 by A.J. Holmon Co. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

f. NIV: Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror. [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

1.  “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer…”

a. For [Strong: 3754. hoti hot'-ee neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant); causative, because:--as concerning that, as though, because (that), for (that), how (that), (in) that, though, why.]

b. if [Strong: 1487. ei i a primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.:--forasmuch as, if, that, (al-)though, whether.]

c. any [Strong: 5100. tis tis an enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object:--a (kind of), any (man, thing, thing at all), certain (thing), divers, he (every) man, one (X thing), ought, + partly, some (man, -body, - thing, -what), (+ that no-)thing, what(-soever), X wherewith, whom(-soever), whose(-soever).]

d. be [Strong: 2076. esti es-tee' third person singular present indicative of 1510; he (she or it) is; also (with neuter plural) they are:--are, be(-long), call, X can(-not), come, consisteth, X dure for a while, + follow, X have, (that) is (to say), make, meaneth, X must needs, + profit, + remaineth, + wrestle.]

e. [a] hearer [Strong: 202. akroates ak-ro-at-ace' from akroaomai (to listen; apparently an intensive of 191); a hearer (merely):--hearer.]

f. [of the] word [Strong: 3056. logos log'-os from 3004; something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ):--account, cause, communication, X concerning, doctrine, fame, X have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, + reckon, remove, say(-ing), shew, X speaker, speech, talk, thing, + none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work.]

g. and [Strong: 2532. kai kahee apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:--and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

h. not [Strong: 3756. ou oo, also (before a vowel) ouk ook, and (before an aspirate) ouch ookh a primary word; the absolute negative (compare 3361) adverb; no or not:--+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but.]

i. [a] doer doers [Strong: 4163. poietes poy-ay-tace' from 4160; a performer; specially, a "poet"; --doer, poet.]

2). “…he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass”

a. he [Strong: 3778. houtos hoo'-tos, including nominative masculine plural houtoi hoo'-toy, nominative feminine singular haute how'-tay, and nominative feminine plural hautai how'-tahee from the article 3588 and 846; the he (she or it), i.e. this or that (often with article repeated):--he (it was that), hereof, it, she, such as, the same, these, they, this (man, same, woman), which, who.]

b. [is] like [Strong: 1503. eiko i'-ko apparently a primary verb (perhaps akin to 1502 through the idea of faintness as a copy); to resemble:--be like.]

c. [unto a] man [Strong: 435. aner an'-ayr a primary word (compare 444); a man (properly as an individual male):--fellow, husband, man, sir.]

d. beholding [Strong: 2657. katanoeo kat-an-o-eh'-o from 2596 and 3539; to observe fully:--behold, consider, discover, perceive.] [Zodhiates: katanoeo; kata-intensive; noeo-to perceive;  To observe, consider, think, contemplate.] [Vines: A strengthened for of to perceive, denotes action of the mind in apprehending certain facts about a thing.]

e. his [Strong: 846. autos ow-tos' from the particle au (perhaps akin to the base of 109 through the idea of a baffling wind) (backward); the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative 1438) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons:--her, it(-self), one, the other, (mine) own, said, (self-), the) same, ((him-, my-, thy- )self, (your-)selves, she, that, their(-s), them(-selves), there(-at, - by, -in, -into, -of, -on, -with), they, (these) things, this (man), those, together, very, which.]

f. natural [Strong: 1078. genesis ghen'-es-is from the same as 1074; nativity; figuratively, nature:--generation, nature(-ral).] [Vines: Birth, literally, ‘the face of his birth’.]

1). Perhaps here, because of the word play, ‘the face of his new birth.’

g. [Strong: 3588. [to] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [to] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé  hē, hai.]

h. face [Strong: 4383. prosopon pros'-o-pon from 4314 and ops (the visage, from 3700); the front (as being towards view), i.e. the countenance, aspect, appearance, surface; by implication, presence, person:--(outward) appearance, X before, countenance, face, fashion, (men's) person, presence.]

i. [Strong: 3588. [tēs] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [tēs] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé  hē, hai.]

j. in [Strong: 1722. en en a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519 and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, + almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly, one, X quickly, X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.]

k. [a] glass [Strong: 2072. esoptron es'-op-tron from 1519 and a presumed derivative of 3700; a mirror (for looking into):--glass.] [Zodhiates: A looking glass, a mirror.]

1). There are two other instances in Scripture where the Word of God has been compared to a mirror.

a). 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face…”

b). 2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

2). When I look into the Scriptures, there are a number of images I am to see. Yes I am to see my own failings and weaknesses, but in the context, the emphasis is on me seeing not only Christ, but also me; the person he has declared me to be, in him. He wants me to see who he has intended me to be, the new creation man, where old things are passed away and all things are become new, the overcomer, the more than a conqueror that He declares I am.