OET interlinear YAC (JAM) 1:24

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

γὰρ

for

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]

κατενόησεν & ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀπελήλυθεν, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν

˱he˲_observed & himself and /has/_gone_away and immediately ˱he˲_forgot what_kind ˱he˲_was

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 2 topic: writing-pronouns

κατενόησεν & ἑαυτὸν

˱he˲_observed & himself

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 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

καὶ ἀπελήλυθεν, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο ὁποῖος ἦν

and /has/_gone_away and immediately ˱he˲_forgot what_kind ˱he˲_was

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”