What does Your Face Tell You? (James 1:23-24)

I was looking at James 1:23–24 and his call to not only hear the word but to do the word. “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at (κατανοοῦντι) his face (τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ) in a mirror and, after looking at (κατενόησεν) himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (NIV).

First of all, κατανοέω does not simply refer to looking. BDAG gives its semantic range as “1. notice, observe carefully; 2. to look at in a reflective manner, consider, contemplate; 3. to think about carefully, envisage, think about, notice. The simple “look” is simply not in its semantic range. Nevertheless, some translations say “look.” The ESV correctly says, “looks intently” and the NET has “gazes.” The NLT’s surprising “glancing” is clearly outside the range of meaning for κατανοέω.

It would not be surprising if someone merely glanced at themselves in the mirror, walked away, and forgot what they looked like. However, if a person stares intently at their own face, mulls it over, reflects on it, and then walks away, even then, he or she can forget what their reflection was like. That is what it is like to hear God’s word but not put it into practice. Even intense study is forgotten unless it is followed by action.

The other under-translation is a little more difficult. James doesn’t say “face”; he says τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ, “the face of his birth.” Granted, this is a difficult phrase to understand, and yet James could simply have said τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ; τῆς γενέσεως must have some meaning. I, for one, think it is best, especially when we are not sure what a word or phrase means, to find some translation and not merely omit the words. It probably means something like a “natural face,” the one you were born with, not the face you perhaps have covered up with makeup. This explains the translation, “natural face” (KJV, NASB, ESV, footnoted in the CSB).

Whatever it means, certainly taking a stab at it is better than dropping it and then leaving the rest of the exegetical process to the commentaries.

Periodically, all of us need to spend time looking intently at ourselves to understand who we are and what we need to become. When we honestly look at ourselves, do we see pride? If so, what steps can you take to grow in humility? Do we see anger? Then what is it in our personality or past that defaults to anger, and how can we overcome that? Whatever we struggle with, we need a close friend to whom we have permitted to be honest with us. Whatever it is, looking intently at our natural face must move us to action.