James Chapter 1 verse 23 Holy Bible
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:
read chapter 1 in ASV
Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass;
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For if any man be a hearer of [the] word and not a doer, *he* is like to a man considering his natural face in a mirror:
read chapter 1 in DARBY
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:
read chapter 1 in KJV
read chapter 1 in WBT
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror;
read chapter 1 in WEB
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,
read chapter 1 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 23, 24. - Illustration from life, showing the folly of being led astray. His natural face (τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ); literally, the face of his birth. The expression is an unusual one, but there is no doubt of its meaning. In a glass; rather, in a mirror, ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ: cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12, Δἰ ἐσόπτρου. The mirror of burnished brass.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.--The Apostle points grimly to an example of this self-deception. He (literally, this) is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror. Not a "glass," but a mirror of polished steel, such as are still used in the East. "His natural face," or the face of his birth--the real appearance, that is, which the reflection of the Word of God, properly looked into, will afford the inquirer.
