James 1:24 (DBY)

Passage

for he has considered himself and is gone away, and straightway he has forgotten what he was like.

Nearby Context

James 1:22 But be ye doers of [the] word and not hearers only, beguiling yourselves.

James 1:23 For if any man be a hearer of [the] word and not a doer, *he* is like to a man considering his natural face in a mirror:

James 1:24 for he has considered himself and is gone away, and straightway he has forgotten what he was like.

James 1:25 But *he* that fixes his view on [the] perfect law, that of liberty, and abides in [it], being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of [the] work, *he* shall be blessed in his doing.

James 1:26 If any one think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this man's religion is vain.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "considered", "himself", "gone", "away", "straightway", "forgotten", and "like". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "considered" and "himself", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "For if any man be a hearer..." into verse 25's "But he that fixes his view on...", so "considered" and "himself" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "considered" and "himself" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.