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Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

James 1:22

Verse 22. But be ye doers of the word] They had heard this doctrine; they had believed it; but they had put it to no practical use. They were downright Antinomians, who put a sort of stupid, inactive faith in the place of all moral righteousness. This is sufficiently evident from the second chapter.

Deceiving your own selves.] παραλογιζομενοι εαυτους. Imposing on your own selves by sophistical arguments; this is the meaning of the words. They had reasoned themselves into a state of carnal security, and the object of St. James is, to awake them out of their sleep.

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See also James 1:22 in other biblical comments:

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY - Obey the gospel, and do not merely listen to it. Compare Matthew 7:21. DECEIVING YOUR OWN SELVES - It is implied here, that by merely hearing the wo...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. TRIALS AND THE EXERCISE OF FAITH CHAPTER 1 _ 1. Trials and the power of faith (James 1:1)_ 2. The resources of faith (James 1:5) 3. The realization of faith (James 1:9...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    Be sure of it (_cf. mg.),_ he goes on, and turns to ask what conduct right views of God should produce. Humility and self-control, firstly, then purity, gentleness, and teachableness, with unsparing h...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    GREETINGS (James 1:1) _ 1:1 James, the slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes who are scattered throughout the world._ At the very beginning of his letter Ja...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    Prove yourselves to be doers of the word, and not only hearers, for those who think that hearing is enough deceive themselves. For, if a man is a hearer of the word and not a doer of it, he is like a...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    BE. become. HEARERS. Greek. _akroates._ Only here, verses: James 1:23; James 1:25.Romans 2:13. DECEIVING. Greek. _paralogizomai,_ to deceive by false reasoning. Only here and...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    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 Moun...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    ΠΟΙΗΤΑῚ ΛΌΓΟΥ. ποιητής is a characteristic word of St James, occurring four times in this Epistle, elsewhere in N.T. once in Romans 2:13 ποιηταὶ νόμου, and in Acts 17:28, where it bears the classical...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    19–27. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, CHARACTER AND WORSHIP This theme incidentally arises from the thought of temptation, as moral or religious error, and is immediately connected with the expression ἀπαρχήν τ...

  • Charles Box Commentaries

    _SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF THE_ WORD OF GOD -- JAMES 1:18-25 : The person who loves God will respond to his word. It is God alone who is able to save us. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.....

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΓΊΝΕΣΘΕ _praes. imper. med. (dep.) от_ ΓΊΝΟΜΑΙ (G1096) становиться. _Praes._ обозначает длительное действие как жизненную привычку: "становитесь и продолжайте быть..." ΠΟΙΗΤΑΊ _пот. pl. от_ ΠΟΙΗΤΉΣ (G...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING, &C.— The Jews did indeed place much of their religion in going up at proper times to the synagogue to hear the law read; and there may possibly be an allusion to that disposit...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    SERMON OUTLINES HOW TO LISTEN TO A SERMON James 1:20-25 Introduction: If a sermon is wasted, the time gone is multiplied by every person who fails to hear. If 100 people fail to hear one half-hour s...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    CHAPTER III _RECEIVING FROM GOD_ James 1:16-27 _Introduction_ After fourteen verses of showing the Way of the Wise, James has concluded that our trials are good for us, producing steadfastnessthat...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    LISTENING IS POINTLESS WITHOUT DOING _Text 1:22-25_ James 1:22. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. 23. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a d...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Qualification of "be swift to hear." BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY - not merely 'do,' but 'be doers'...

  • Commentary on the Minor Epistles by Caton

    VERSE 22. BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY. One who is a hearer of the Word only, and not a doer, deceives himself, for he reasons that hearing only is sufficient. Our blessed Master,...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    1 James is never called an apostle and does not write this epistle in that character. Rather, he puts himself in the place of a slave. Hence the epistle is not concerned with authoritative teaching so...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE POWER OF FAITH UNDER TEMPTATION 1. Servant] better, 'slave.' The word does not suggest any degradation, but only absolute surrender to the Master. St. James's humility prevents the mention of the...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    WHAT *FAITH SHOULD DO JAMES _IAN MACKERVOY_ The word list at the end explains words with a *star by them. INTRODUCTION 1 THE WRITER James is the writer of the letter. But he does not tell us...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    DOERS OF THE WORD. — Acting up to the full of their knowledge, whether gained by the spoken or the written Word of God. There is a force in the original sentence, which our own language cannot supply....

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    (2-27) Immediately after the salutation, and with more or less a play upon the word which we translate “greeting” (“rejoice,” James 1:1; “count it all joy,” James 1:2) there follow appeals on behalf o...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER 9 THE DELUSION OF HEARING WITHOUT DOING-THE MIRROR OF GOD'S WORD. James 1:22 HERE we reach what on the whole seems to be the main thought of the Epistle - the all-importance of Christian act...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    γίνεσθε : perhaps best expressed by the German “Werdet,” though Luther does not render it so. ποιηταὶ λόγου, καὶ, etc.: Taylor quotes an appropriate passage from the Babylonian Talmud: “On Exodus 24:7...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    James 1:21-25 form a self-contained section. By putting away all impurity the “implanted word” can influence the heart; but it is necessary not only to hear the word but also to act in accordance with...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    DOERS, NOT HEARERS ONLY James 1:19 Keep your mouth closed when you are angry; the inner fire will die out of itself, if you keep the doors and windows shut. In James 1:18 we are taught that God's tru...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    James wrote to Christians in the midst of temptation and trial. He showed first that the issue of testing is that they "may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." It is therefore to be looked upo...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    DOING WHAT WE HEAR The word is only able to save if we hear and do what we hear (Matthew 7:21-27; Romans 2:13). Woods says the verb tense here in the word "doers" is such that it denotes a continuous...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (15) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, (16) deceiving your own selves. (15) Another admonition: therefore God's word is heard, that we may model our lives according to the laws it co...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (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: (24)...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    To the reader who enters on the consideration of the epistle of James from the epistles of Paul, the change is great and sudden, and by no means least of all from the epistle to the Hebrews, which, in...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _UNION WITH CHRIST_ ‘The engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls.’ James 1:21 How is the engrafted Word able to save the soul? I. HOW DOES THE GRAFT SAVE THE TREE? (_a_) _ By changing i...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _EGOISM AND ALTRUISM_ ‘Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.’ James 1:22 (R.V.) There are two great classes of human lives; there are two fundamental differences...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    22_Be ye doers of the word_. The doer here is not the same as in Romans 2:13, who satisfied the law of God and fulfilled it in every part, but the doer is he who from the heart embraces God’s word and...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    The Epistle of James is not addressed to the assembly, and does not take the ground of apostolic authority over the persons to whom it is sent. It is a practical exhortation which still recognises the...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD,.... And they are such, who spiritually understand it; gladly receive it; and from the heart obey it, and make a sincere and ingenuous profession of it; and who submit to t...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Ver. 22. _And not hearers only_] The Panotii in Scythia are said to have such large ears, as that therewith they cover th...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _But be ye doers of the word_ See on Matthew 7:21; Matthew 7:24. We are then doers of the word, when, being enlightened by its doctrines, awed by its threatenings, and encouraged by its promises, we,...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Doers of the Word:...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOUR OWN SELVES....

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    This chapter has a very close relationship to the Old Testament, for all is seen in connection with God; and Christ is not yet spoken of as the center and essence of all blessing and of all direction...

  • Manly Luscombe Commentary on New Testament

    Why are we to be doers? Are we saved by faith OR doing the will of God? How can we be hearers only? Explain how we deceive ourselves?...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    Doers Of The Word Far from the idea of 'let go and let God'. James wants us to realize that the word is God's communication to us. Merely listening and waiting for something to happen, merely listeni...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    22-25 If we heard a sermon every day of the week, and an angel from heaven were the preacher, yet, if we rested in hearing only, it would never bring us to heaven. Mere hearers are self-deceivers; an...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD; the same as doers of _the work,_ JAMES 1:25, namely, which the word prescribes; q.d. Receive the word by faith into your hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in your li...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    James 1:22 But G1161 be G1096 (G5737) doers G4163 word G3056 and G2532 not G3361 hearers G202 only...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT ONLY TO BE A HEARER, IT IS NECESSARY ALSO TO BE A DOER (JAMES 1:22). Having laid a careful foundation in demonstrating that God's People are those whom He has sovereignly begotten...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    ‘But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.' James is very conscious of the danger of hearing and not doing. He had previously been like this himself, and he had see...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    James 1:22. BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY. The implanted word, or the word of truth, must be so heard and received as to produce a corresponding course of action. Practice, and not...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    James 1:19-27. In this passage St. James exhorts his readers to be not only hearers but doers of the word. They are to be swift to hear, and to receive the word implanted within them with freedom from...

  • Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

    BUT BE YE (γινεσθε δε). Rather, "But keep on becoming" (present middle imperative of γινομα).DOERS OF THE WORD (ποιητα λογου). Old word for agent (-της) from ποιεω to do as in James 4:11; Romans 2...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    James 1:22 The Danger of mistaking Knowledge for Obedience. I. Knowledge without obedience ends in nothing. It is, as St. James says, like a man who looks at his own face in a glass. For a time he ha...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    James 1:1. _James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting._ According to the teaching of some in the present day, the apostle should...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    James 1:1. _James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting._ The apostle James evidently believed in no lost ten tribes, as some nowad...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    James 1:1. _James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting._ «Where are the lost ten tribes?» asks somebody. They never were lost. Tha...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    James 1:1. _James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting._ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was an apostle,...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Testing of faith. Solicitation to evil not of God. Obedience as a test of true faith. CHARACTERS: God, Christ, James. CONCLUSION: Such as have a true title in Jesus Christ through faith may...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    James 1:1. _James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ._ He does not style himself an _apostle,_ because he would not assume any superiority; yet the majesty of his address is the language...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    DO NOT FOOL YOURSELF. "You do not _practice what you preach_ because you think the Scriptures are a _good-luck charm,_ and that if you listen to them being read, you will have life. But you are only f...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    JAMES—NOTE ON JAMES 1:19 Hearing and Doing the Word. This section focuses on living as a Christian directed by “the word of truth,” the gospel (v. James 1:18). Christian living

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES_ James 1:23. NATURAL FACE.—Lit. “face of his birth”; “the face he has by corporeal birth.” γενέσεως is used in distinction from the notion which follows of spiritual fe...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION JAMES 1:1 SALUTATION. JAMES, A SERVANT OF GOD AND OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. (On the person who thus describes himself, see the Introduction) It is noteworthy that he keeps entirely out of...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Let's turn to James chapter one. James introduces himself as the bondslave of God and of Jesus Christ. It's a title that most of the apostles delighted to take. Renouncing any claim for any rights, tu...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Corinthians 15:33; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 John 1:8;...

  • Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volume Set)

    Hearers [α κ ρ ο α τ α ι]. Used by James only. Deceiving [π α ρ α λ ο γ ι ζ ο μ ε ν ο ι]. From para, beside, contrary to, and logizomai, to reckon, and hence to conclude by reasoning. The deception r...

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