James 1:22

James 1:22

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

a. NLT: But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. [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: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: And become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, [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: [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Peshitta Eastern Text: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  [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: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. [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. “But be ye doers of the word…”

a. But [Strong: 1161. de deh a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.:--also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).]

b. be [ye] [Strong: 1096. ginomai ghin'-om-ahee a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be ("gen"-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.):--arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass), continue, be divided, draw, be ended, fall, be finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled, + God forbid, grow, happen, have, be kept, be made, be married, be ordained to be, partake, pass, be performed, be published, require, seem, be showed, X soon as it was, sound, be taken, be turned, use, wax, will, would, be wrought.]

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

d. [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.]

1). Matthew 7:21-23 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

7:22 Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?

7:23 Then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

2. “and not hearers only…”

a. 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.]

b. not [Strong: 3361. me may a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an absolute denial); (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an affirmative one)) whether:--any but (that), X forbear, + God forbid, + lack, lest, neither, never, no (X wise in), none, nor, (can-)not, nothing, that not, un(-taken), without.]

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

d. only [Strong: 3440. monon mon'-on neuter of 3441 as adverb; merely:--alone, but, only.

1). Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock;

7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

7:26 And every one that heareth those sayings  of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

3. “…deceiving your own selves.”

 

a. deceiving [Strong: 3884. paralogizomai par-al-og-id'-zom-ahee from 3844 and 3049; to misreckon, i.e. delude:--beguile, deceive.] [paralogizomai] [Zodhiates: para-aside, implying error, hence wrongly; logisomai-to exercise one’s reason; To reason falsely or incorrectly, to deceive, mislead.]

b. [your] own selves [Strong: 1438. heautou heh-ow-too' from a reflexive pronoun otherwise obsolete and the genitive case (dative case or accusative case) of 846; him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etc.:--alone, her (own, -self), (he) himself, his (own), itself, one (to) another, our (thine) own(-selves), + that she had, their (own, own selves), (of) them(-selves), they, thyself, you, your (own, own conceits, own selves, -selves).]

(1) When a person is not a doer of the Word, but just a hearer, they deceive their ownselves. If we let them, our undisciplined minds will talk us out of being obedient to the Word of God. The Apostle Paul gave the same warning in Philippians 2:14, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Hence the word is able to save my soul, but it is wholly dependent on me doing or being obedient to it.

(2) disputings [Strong: 1261. dialogismos dee-al-og-is-mos' from 1260; discussion, i.e. (internal) consideration (by implication, purpose), or (external) debate:--dispute, doubtful(-ing), imagination, reasoning, thought.] [Zodhiates: Thoughts and directions.]

1). Rick Renner 1/15/16 Let’s talk about what James meant when he said, “But be ye doers of the word….” The word “doers” is taken from the Greek word poietes, the same Greek word used for a poet. This word carries with it the idea of creativity, such as a poet whose personality includes a creative flair. James is telling us that if we can’t easily think of a way to do what has been preached to us, we must get creative! We must find ways to do the Word. Ephesians 2:10 is another place where a form of this word poietes is used. Paul writes, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.…” The word “workmanship” is the Greek word poiema, which comes from the same root word as poietes. This tells us that when we were saved, God put forth all His best efforts and creative powers to marvelously fashion and create us in Jesus Christ. Because the word poiema is used in Ephesians 2:10, it unmistakably means that God wielded His fullest, greatest, and most creative powers when we were born again. We weren’t just mildly saved; rather, God took us into His hands and marvelously made us new in Jesus Christ as He released His most powerful creative forces and made us a workmanship that would be worthy to bear His name. Whether the word poietes is used to depict a poet, as mentioned above, or (in another form) to describe God’s creative power, as in Ephesians 2:10, it always depicts someone putting forth his fullest creative abilities to achieve something. Now James uses this word poietes in James 1:22 to tell us that we must put forth our fullest efforts and most creative abilities in doing what we have heard preached! We cannot passively hope that the Word becomes a part of our lives; we have to get creative and find ways to make the Word a practical part of our lives.