With meekness (év wpaitn7e). Lit., “7m meekness ;” posed to malice.
op-
Engrafted (€udutov). Only here in New Testament. Bet- ter, and more literally, as Rev., ¢mplanted. It marks a char- acteristic of the word of truth (ver. 18). It is cmplanted , divinely given, in contrast with something acquired by study. Compare Matt. xiii. 19, “the word of the kingdom—sown in his heart.” Grafted or graffed is expressed by a peculiar word, employed by Paul only, éycevtpif, from xévtpov, a sharp point, thus emphasizing the fact of the incision required in grafting. See Rom. xi. 17, 19, 23, 24.
Which is able to save (Tov duvduevov cdcat). Compare Rom, i. 16, ‘the power of God unto salvation.”
22. Hearers (axpoarai). Used by James only.
134. WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Ca. L.
Deceiving (apadoyitouevor). From apd, beside, contrary to, and Aoyifouas, to reckon, and hence to conclude by reasoning. The deception referred to is, theretore, that into which one betrays himself by false reasoning—reasoning beside the truth.
93. Beholding (xaravooby7e). With the notion of attentively considering (kara, down into, or through ; compare els, ento, ver. 25). Compare Luke xii. 24, 27; Heb. ii. 1. So that the contrast is not between a hasty look and a careful contempla- tion (ver. 25, looketh). It is not mere careless hearing of the word which James rebukes, but the neglect to carry into prac- tice what is heard. One may be an attentive and critical hearer of the word, yet not a doer.
His natural face (7d mpécwmov tis yevécews). Lit., the countenance of his birth ; the face he was born with.
In a glass (ev écér7p@). Better, Rev., @ mirror ; a metallic mirror. The word occurs only here and 1 Cor. xii. 12.
94. He beholdeth (xcatevoncev). The aorist tense, throwing the sentence into a lively, narrative form: he beheld himself and forgot. Compare ver. 11.
25. Whoso looketh (6 wapaxinpas). Rev., more strictly, he that looketh. See on 1 Pet. i. 12. The verb is used of one who stoops sideways (mapa) to look attentively. The mirror is con- ceived as placed on a table or on the ground. Bengel quotes Wisdom of Sirach xiv. 23: “He that prieth in at her (Wis- dom’s) windows shall also hearken at her doors.” Coleridge remarks: ‘ A more happy or forcible word could not have been chosen to express the nature and ultimate object of reflection, and to enforce the necessity of it, in order to discover the living fountain and spring-head of the evidence of the Christian faith in the believer himself, and at the same time to point out the seat and region where alone it is to be found ” (“ Aphorisms”).
Into (eis). Denoting the penetration of the look into the very essence of the law.