James 1:24 (DRB)

Passage

For he beheld himself and went his way and presently forgot what manner of man he was.

Nearby Context

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

James 1:23 For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.

James 1:24 For he beheld himself and went his way and presently forgot what manner of man he was.

James 1:25 But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "beheld", "himself", "went", "presently", "forgot", and "manner". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "beheld" 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 a man be a hearer..." into verse 25's "But he that hath looked into the...", so "beheld" 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 "beheld" and "himself" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.