James 1:22

Doers and Hearers

22. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only The thought is the same, though illustrated by a different similitude, as that of the closing verses of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-28). The reference to the "hearers of the word" confirms the explanation given above of the Word of the Truth. It is not primarily the writtenword, for then we should have the "reader," not the "hearer," nor Christ as the Incarnate Word, but the spoken message from God to the soul of man "Be ye doers;" literally, " become," as though life were a continued process of such "becoming," the condition not being that in which men find themselves by nature.

deceiving your own selves The word is etymologically more definite than that commonly used for deceiving, and implies strictly the self-deception, if one may so speak, of bad logic. The hypocrite knew the major premiss; "The doers, not the hearers, are blessed," but though conscience supplied the minor, "I am a hearer, not a doer," he shut his eyes to it and failed to draw the conclusion. The use of the word in the LXX., as e. g. in Genesis 31:7; Genesis 31:41; Exodus 8:29, shews, however, that it had come to be used in the general sense of "cheating" or "defrauding," and it may be questioned, therefore, how far the special sense is to be pressed here.