Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
And not a doer (kai ou poihthv). Condition of first class, assumed as true, and ou (rather than mh) contrasts poihthv with akroathv.
Unto a man beholding (andri katanoounti). Associative instrumental case after eoiken as in James 1:6. Note andri as in James 1:8 in contrast with gunaiki (woman), not anqrwpw (general term for man). Present active participle of katanoew to put the mind down on (kata, nouv), to consider attentively, to take note of, as in verse James 1:24 (katenohsen).
His natural face (to proswpon thv genesewv autou). "The face of his birth" (origin, lineage, nativity). For this use of genesiv see James 3:6; Matthew 1:1, Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:13.
In a mirror (en esoptrw). Old word (from eis, optw) in N.T. only here and I Corinthians 13:12. The mirrors of the ancients were not of glass, but of polished metal (of silver or usually of copper and tin). See katoptrizomai in II Corinthians 3:18.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing James 1:23:
Romans 2:13
James 1:6
James 1:8
James 2:11
James 2:12
James 3:1
James 3:6
James 4:17
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