James 1:22

“But be ye doers of the word, etc.] And they are such, who spiritually understand it; gladly receive it; and from the heart obey it, and make a sincere and ingenuous profession of it; and who submit to the ordinances it directs to, and keep them as they have been delivered; and live, and walk, becoming their profession of it. The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, “be ye doers of the law”; and so one of Stephens's copies, as in ( <450213>Romans 2:13) and not hearers only; though the word should be heard swiftly and readily, and received with meekness; yet it should not be barely heard, and assented to; but what is heard should be put in practice; and especially men should not depend upon…”

“Qualification of the precept, "Be swift to hear": "Be ye doers . . . not hearers only"; not merely "Do the word," but "Be doers" systematically and continually, as if this was your regular business. James here again refers to the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 7:21-29). deceiving your own selves--by the logical fallacy (the Greek implies this) that the mere hearing is all that is needed.”

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only - Obey the gospel, and do not merely listen to it. Compare Matthew 7:21. Deceiving your own selves - It is implied here, that by merely hearing the word but not doing it, they would deceive their own souls. The nature of this deception was this, that they would imagine that that was all which was required, whereas the main thing was that they should be obedient. If a man supposes that by a mere punctual attendance on preaching, or a respectful attention to it, he has done all that is required of him, he is laboring under a most gross self-deception. And yet there are multitudes who seem to imagine that they have done all that is demanded of…”

“1:22-23 In several places, James appears to be reflecting on Jesus’ teachings. These verses reflect the teaching of Jesus (Matt 7:24, 26; Luke 6:46, 49). 1:22 don’t just listen to God’s word: Reading the scriptures was an important part of worship (Luke 4:16-17; Acts 13:13-16; Col 4:16; 1 Tim 4:13). Since most people could not read and copies were not readily available, they listened to the readings in public worship.”

“be: Jam 4:17; Mat 7:21-25, Mat 12:50, Mat 28:20; Luk 6:46-48, Luk 11:28, Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48; Joh 13:17; Rom 2:13; Phi 4:8; Col 3:17; Jo1 2:3, Jo1 3:7; Jo3 1:11; Rev 22:7 deceiving: Jam 1:26; Isa 44:20; Oba 1:3; Co1 3:18, Co1 6:9, Co1 15:33; Gal 6:3, Gal 6:7; Ti2 3:13; Tit 3:3; Pe2 2:13; Jo1 1:8; Rev 12:9 James 1:23”