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Yacob/(James) C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

Yac 1 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V25 V26 V27

OET interlinear YAC (JAM) 1:24

← YAC (JAM) 1:24 ↓ → ► ║ ©

SR Greek word order

    1. Greek word
    2. Greek lemma
    3. OET-LV words
    4. OET-RV words
    5. Strongs
    6. Role/Morphology
    7. OET Gloss
    8. VLT Gloss
    9. CAPS codes
    10. Confidence
    11. OET tags
    12. OET word #
    1. κατενόησεν
    2. katanoeō
    3. he observed
    4. -
    5. 26570
    6. VIAA3··S
    7. ˱he˲ observed
    8. ˱he˲ observed
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146815
    1. Γάρ
    2. gar
    3. For/Because
    4. -
    5. 10630
    6. C·······
    7. for
    8. for
    9. S
    10. Y60
    11. 146816
    1. ἑαυτόν
    2. heautou
    3. himself
    4. -
    5. 14380
    6. R···3AMS
    7. himself
    8. himself
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146817
    1. καί
    2. kai
    3. and
    4. but
    5. 25320
    6. C·······
    7. and
    8. and
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146818
    1. ἀπελήλυθεν
    2. aperχomai
    3. has gone away
    4. -
    5. 5650
    6. VIEA3··S
    7. ˓has˒ gone_away
    8. ˓has˒ gone_away
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146819
    1. καί
    2. kai
    3. and
    4. -
    5. 25320
    6. C·······
    7. and
    8. and
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146820
    1. εὐθέως
    2. eutheōs
    3. immediately
    4. immediately
    5. 21120
    6. D·······
    7. immediately
    8. immediately
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146821
    1. ἐπελάθετο
    2. epilanthanomai
    3. he forgot
    4. -
    5. 19500
    6. VIAM3··S
    7. ˱he˲ forgot
    8. ˱he˲ forgot
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146822
    1. ὁποῖος
    2. hopoios
    3. what kind
    4. -
    5. 36970
    6. R····NMS
    7. what_kind
    8. what_kind
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146823
    1. ἦν
    2. eimi
    3. he was
    4. -
    5. 15100
    6. VIIA3··S
    7. ˱he˲ was
    8. ˱he˲ was
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146824

OET (OET-LV) For/Because he_observed himself and has_gone_away, and immediately he_forgot what_kind he_was.

OET (OET-RV) but goes away after having a look and then immediately forgets what they looked like.

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:19–27: Believers should accept the word of God and obey it

In this section, James emphasized the importance of obeying the word of God. There are three paragraphs: 1:19–21, 1:22–25, and 1:26–27.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Hearing and Doing the Word (ESV)

Christians must listen to God’s message and obey it (UBS)

Paragraph 1:22–25

Believers must not forget the word of God that they had heard. They must do/obey it.

1:24a

and after observing himself

and: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as and here introduces more details about 1:23c. The person not only looks at himself, he goes away and forgets what he looks like.

Some English versions translate this word as “for.” But do not translate this verse as if it were the reason for 1:23. It further explains 1:23, but it is not a reason.

after observing: The Greek word that the BSB translates as after observing is from the same Greek word as the word translated “looks at” in 1:23c. In some languages, it may be unnatural or unnecessary to repeat the word here. In these languages, it may be sufficient to translate this as:

after that

having done that

then

1:24b

goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

goes away: Some other ways to translate goes away are:

leaves

walks away

immediately: The Greek word that the BSB translates as immediately can also be translated as:

quickly (NCV)

soon

it is not long before

forgets what he looks like: The Greek word that the BSB translates as forgets in this context means “neglects to do something about” what he has seen and quickly forgets it. He has an attitude of carelessness. He does not consider it important for him to do anything about what he has observed. See the note about the simile in 1:23a–24b.Barclay-Newman and Louw & Nida both suggest “neglect” as a possible meaning of ἐπιλανθάνομαι. The SSA (page 54) on James says, “One sense of the verb ἐπιλανθάνομαι ‘forget’ is ‘neglect to do,’ which is more than just a lapse of memory. It is deliberately not responding to what has been seen.” Martin (page 50), agrees: “What is seen in a mirror is meant to lead to action, usually regarded as remedial. The face is seen to be dirty … or blemished and needing attention. Instead the thoughtless person ‘goes off and forgets’ [in the sense of “neglects to do”] … what he has seen.” Similarly, the New Bible Commentary for this passage (page 1226) says, “The word is compared to a mirror, for it shows a man to himself as he is and the sight is not pleasing... But the mere hearer gives himself a glance and hurries off; and away from the mirror he at once forgets what he saw—though his face was dirty. He does not receive the Word and act on it.” While many commentaries understand “forget” in this passage in the sense of “to not have the remembrance of something,” the two senses are not necessarily unconnected. Thompson in the Wesleyan Bible Commentary (page 212) notes: “If we do not move fairly quickly in doing what we see, the danger of forgetfulness is soon upon us.”

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

forgets what he saw

does nothing to fix the problem he saw and soon forgets about it

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατενόησεν Γάρ ἑαυτόν καί ἀπελήλυθεν καί εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν)

For introduces a reason, as would be expected, but it is a reason for something that must be inferred from the context. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state explicitly what James is giving the reason for. Alternate translation: [This did not really benefit him, because]

Note 2 topic: translate-tense

κατενόησεν & ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀπελήλυθεν, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν

˱he˲_observed & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατενόησεν Γάρ ἑαυτόν καί ἀπελήλυθεν καί εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν)

Here James is giving an illustration in the past tense as if he were telling the story of something that had happened. (See the discussion of this in Part 3 of the Introduction to James.) If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this sentence by translating this with the present tense. Alternate translation: [he beholds himself and goes away and immediately forgets of what sort he is]

Note 3 topic: writing-pronouns

κατενόησεν & ἑαυτὸν

˱he˲_observed & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατενόησεν Γάρ ἑαυτόν καί ἀπελήλυθεν καί εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν)

James is continuing the simile he began in the previous verse, so the pronouns he and himself refer to the hypothetical person who looks in the mirror. Alternate translation (using the present tense): [such a person looked at himself in a mirror] or, if you are using the present tense, [such a person looks at himself in a mirror]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

καὶ ἀπελήλυθεν, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατενόησεν Γάρ ἑαυτόν καί ἀπελήλυθεν καί εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν)

James is saying implicitly that this is a person who sees but does not do, just like a person who hears the word of God but does not obey it. The implication is that he sees in the mirror that he needs to do something such as wash his face or fix his hair. But because he does not do that when he is looking in the mirror, when he walks away, he forgets to do it. The point of the comparison is that a person who does not obey God’s word is like this. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could explain that explicitly. Alternate translation: [but because he did not immediately do what he saw he should do, when he walked away from the mirror, he forgot what he saw and so he did nothing about it] or, if you are using the present tense, [but because he does not immediately do what he sees he should do, when he walks away from the mirror, he forgets what he saw and so he does nothing about it]

ὁποῖος ἦν

what_kind ˱he˲_was

Alternate translation: [what he needed to do about his appearance] or, if you are using the present tense, [what he needs to do about his appearance]

TSN Tyndale Study Notes:

1:24 forget what you look like: The problem is not the poor quality of an ancient mirror but the inattention of the viewer (cp. Matt 7:24-27).

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

    1. OET-LV words
    2. OET-RV words
    3. Strongs
    4. Greek word
    5. Greek lemma
    6. Role/Morphology
    7. OET Gloss
    8. VLT Gloss
    9. CAPS codes
    10. Confidence
    11. OET tags
    12. OET word #
    1. For/Because
    2. -
    3. 10630
    4. S
    5. gar
    6. C-·······
    7. for
    8. for
    9. S
    10. Y60
    11. 146816
    1. he observed
    2. -
    3. 26570
    5. katanoeō
    6. V-IAA3··S
    7. ˱he˲ observed
    8. ˱he˲ observed
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146815
    1. himself
    2. -
    3. 14380
    5. heautou
    6. R-···3AMS
    7. himself
    8. himself
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146817
    1. and
    2. but
    3. 25320
    5. kai
    6. C-·······
    7. and
    8. and
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146818
    1. has gone away
    2. -
    3. 5650
    5. aperχomai
    6. V-IEA3··S
    7. ˓has˒ gone_away
    8. ˓has˒ gone_away
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146819
    1. and
    2. -
    3. 25320
    5. kai
    6. C-·······
    7. and
    8. and
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146820
    1. immediately
    2. immediately
    3. 21120
    5. eutheōs
    6. D-·······
    7. immediately
    8. immediately
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146821
    1. he forgot
    2. -
    3. 19500
    5. epilanthanomai
    6. V-IAM3··S
    7. ˱he˲ forgot
    8. ˱he˲ forgot
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146822
    1. what kind
    2. -
    3. 36970
    5. hopoios
    6. R-····NMS
    7. what_kind
    8. what_kind
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146823
    1. he was
    2. -
    3. 15100
    5. eimi
    6. V-IIA3··S
    7. ˱he˲ was
    8. ˱he˲ was
    9. -
    10. Y60
    11. 146824

OET (OET-LV) For/Because he_observed himself and has_gone_away, and immediately he_forgot what_kind he_was.

OET (OET-RV) but goes away after having a look and then immediately forgets what they looked like.

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

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← YAC (JAM) 1:24 ↑ → ► ║ ©