Greek: Ginesthe (2PPMM) de poietai logou kai me monon akroatai paralogizomenoi (PMPMPN) heautous.
Amplified: But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
ASV:  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
KJV: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
NLT:  And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: Don't I beg you, only hear the message, but put it into practice; otherwise you are merely deluding yourselves.  (Phillips: Touchstone)

BUT PROVE YOURSELVES DOERS OF THE WORD: Ginesthe (2PPMM) de poietai logou:

But (de)

A R Faussett writes that in this verse James gives the

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 (Mt 7:21–29).

Prove (1096)(ginomai)

The present imperative calls for doing of the word to be the habitual practice or lifestyle of his readers.

John MacArthur writes that here James

is describing characteristic behavior, not occasional activity. It is one thing to fight; it is something else to be a soldier. It is one thing to build a shed; it is something else to be a builder. James is not merely challenging his readers to do the Word; he is telling them that real Christians are doers of the Word. That describes the basic disposition of those who believe unto salvation. (Faith According To The Apostle James. In Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Volume 33, 1990)

Doers (4163)(poietes from poieo = to do, to make, to accomplish) describes one who does something as his occupation such as a producer, a poet or an author. The other sense describes a doer or a performer, speaking of one who does what is prescribed, such as one who keeps the law (see note Romans 2:13)

Those who belong to Jesus are marked in ear and foot, for not only do they hear God's voice in His Word of truth but they walk in His way.

There are seven NT uses of poietes (and none in the non-apocryphal Septuagint)...

Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'

Romans 2:13 (note) for not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

James 1:22 (note)  But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

James 1:23 (note)  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

James 1:25 (note) But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.

James 4:11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it.

Paul R VanGorder observed that...

Many Christians have allowed their knowledge of the truth to outdistance their practice. They remind me of a story in Glad Tidings by James Kallam. He tells of a young book salesman who was assigned to a rural area. Seeing a former seated in a rocking chair on his front porch, the young man approached him with all the zeal of a newly trained salesman. “Sir,” he said, “I have here a book that will tell you how to farm 10 times better than you are doing it now.” The farmer continued to rock. After a few seconds he stopped, looked at the young fellow and said, “Son, I don’t need your book. I already know how to farm 10 times better than I’m doing it now.” -

Word (3056)

The story is told of...

King Edward VI of England who attended worship service and stood while the Word of God was read taking notes which he later studied with great care. Throughout the week King Edward earnestly tried to apply them to his life. That’s the kind of serious-minded response to truth the James means when he says "Be doers of the Word...". A single revealed fact cherished in the heart and acted upon is more vital to our growth than a head filled with lofty ideas about God.

'Take Heed How Ye Hear It is important that we hear. It is important what we hear. It is important how we hear what we hear.

1. Consider the privilege of hearing the Word of God. We take it for granted in America. Few people would want to live where there are no churches but millions live as though there were no churches. Multitudes the world around cannot hear the truth of God for various reasons. As lightly as we regard it now, this privilege cost aplenty in days gone by. And how grateful we ought to be that God has spoken both in His Book and in His Son! What if He had remained silent and there were no word from heaven!

2. Along with privilege goes responsibility. Where much is given, much shall be required. Today sees a famine of the hearing of God's Word, not because we cannot hear it, but because we do not listen to it. Moreover, as the text declares, there is the duty of doing it when we hear it. Throughout the Bible runs the note, "My commandments to do them"; "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

3. Often overlooked in our text and almost never quoted is the penalty for not doing the Word we hear, "Deceiving your own selves." Away with the notion that it does not matter much how we hear! The man who hears and refuses to obey walks out of church having betrayed himself into deception. One cannot hear the truth and remain the same. (Vance Havner)

AND NOT MERELY HEARERS WHO DELUDE THEMSELVES: kai me monon akroatai paralogizomenoi (PMPMPN) heautous:

Not (3361) (me) is the relative negative

Hearers (202) (akroates from akroaomai = to listen or hear) first describes one who hears referring primarily to the perception of sounds by the sense of hearing.

Akroates is used 3 times by James here in chapter 1 (see notes James 1:22; 1:23 ; 1:25)

Romans 2:13 (note) for not (ou = absolute negation = no exceptions!) the hearers (akroates) of the Law are just (dikaios = rightly related to God) before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified (declared righteous).

Vincent comments on akroates in Romans 2:13:  Like the Jews, who heard it (the Law) regularly in the synagogues.... It brings out... the characteristic feature; those whose business is hearing. (The "business" of the Jews was to listen to the Word of God.)

MacArthur writes that akroates was

a term used to describe students who audited a class. An auditor usually listens to the lectures, but is permitted to treat assignments and exams as optional. Many people in the church today approach spiritual truth with an auditor’s mentality, receiving God’s Word only passively. But James’ point, shown by his illustrations in (see notes on) James 1:23; 24; 25; 26; 27, is that merely hearing God’s Word results in worthless religion (see note James 1:26). In other words, mere hearing is no better than unbelief or outright rejection. In fact, it’s worse! The hearer-only is enlightened but unregenerate. James is reiterating truth he undoubtedly heard firsthand from the Lord Himself. Jesus warned powerfully against the error of hearing without doing (see notes Matthew 7:21;  22;  23;  24;  25;  26; 27), as did the apostle Paul (see notes Romans 2:5). (MacArthur, J. The Gospel according to the Apostles:  Word Pub)

One source notes that...

In Classical Greek, the alternate akroázomai, to hear and the derivative akróama meant something heard, especially with pleasure, such as a piece read, recited, played, or sung. In the NT, it has the meaning of one just listening without practicing what one hears. (Zodhiates, S. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: NT)

Only (3440)

One that only hears and does nothing – Acts 26:22-29
An example of hearers and one doer – Matthew 13:1-23
An example of two doers and one hearer – Matthew 25:14-30

 

Delude (3884) (paralogizomai from para = beside, alongside + logizomai = to reason, to count) is literally to reason beside or alongside (think about it as reasoning with words "alongside, beside or against" the Truth), to beguile by mere probability that something is true and so to mislead. It pictures skewed logic and thus primarily means to reckon wrong, to reason falsely, and so to deceive by false reasoning.

Note the present tense indicates that they are continually in a state of spiritual delusion.

The Word of God is not meant to make us smarter sinners but more like the Savior, and thus it is not how much one is "in" the Word but really how much of the Word is "in" them, renewing and transforming their mind, as demonstrated by their changed behavior (not just hearing but doing).

from para, beside, contrary to, and logizomai, to reckon, and hence to conclude by reasoning. The deception referred to is, therefore, that into which one betrays himself by false reasoning — reasoning beside the truth.

John MacArthur explains that paralogizomai was a term used in mathematics meaning a miscalculation and concludes that...

Professing Christians who hear the Word without obeying it make a serious "spiritual miscalculation", which causes them to delude themselves. Such a man does not delude anyone but himself! They are self-deceived. An old Scottish expression speaks of such deluded professors as

“sermon tasters who never tasted the grace of God.”

Any response to the gospel that does not include obedience is self-deception. (Ed note: See related discussion - relationship of faith and obedience) If a profession of faith in Christ does not result in a changed life that hungers and thirsts for God’s Word and desires to obey that Word, the profession is only that - a mere profession. Satan, of course, loves such professions, because they give church members the damning notion that they are saved when they are not! They still belong to him, not God. (Macarthur J. James. Moody or Logos) (Ed note: This helps us understand Jesus' stern warning that "not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven" see notes - Matthew 7:21; 22; 23)

Robert Johnstone wrote

Knowing that the study of divine truth, through reading the Bible, giving attendance on the public ordinances of grace, and otherwise, is a most important duty, is, indeed, the road leading toward the gate of everlasting life, they allow themselves, through man’s natural aversion to all genuine spirituality, to be persuaded by the wicked one that this is the sum of all Christian duty, and itself the gate of life, so that in mere “hearing” they enter in, and all is well with them. To rest satisfied with the means of grace, without yielding up our hearts to their power as means, so as to receive the grace and exhibit its working in our lives, is manifestly folly of the same class as that of a workman who should content himself with possessing tools, without using them, madness of the same class as that of a man perishing with hunger, who should exult in having bread in his hands, without eating it, but folly and madness as immeasurably greater than these, as the “work of God” (John 6:29) transcends in importance the work of an earthly artisan, and “life with Christ in God” the perishable existence of earth. (Robert Johnstone, Lectures Exegetical and Practical on the Epistle of James (reprint, Minneapolis: Klock & Klock, 1978)

Andrew Murray wrote...

What a terrible delusion to be content with, to delight in hearing the word, and yet not do it. And how prevalent the sight of multitudes of Christians listening to the Word of God most regularly and earnestly, and yet not doing it! If a servant were to hear but not do, how quickly the judgment would be given. And yet, so complete is the delusion, that Christians never realize they are not living good Christian lives. Why are we deluded in this way? For one thing people mistake the pleasure they have in hearing the Word of God for Christianity and worship. The mind delights in having the truth presented clearly; the imagination is gratified by its illustration; the feelings are stirred by its application. To an active mind knowledge gives pleasure. A person may study some branch of science—say electricity—for the enjoyment the knowledge gives him, without the least intention of applying it practically. So people go to church, and enjoy the preaching, and yet do not do what God asks.

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Richard De Haan wrote about...

a man in New York City who died at the age of 63 without ever having had a job. He spent his entire adult life in college. During those years he acquired so many academic degrees that they “looked like the alphabet” behind his name. Why did this man spend his entire life in college? When he was a child, a wealthy relative died who had named him as a beneficiary in his will. It stated that he was to be given enough money to support him every year as long as he stayed in school. And it was to be discontinued when he had completed his education. The man met the terms of the will, but by remaining in school indefinitely he turned a technicality into a steady income for life—something his benefactor never intended. Unfortunately, he spent thousands of hours listening to professors and reading books but never “doing.” He acquired more and more knowledge but didn’t put it into practice. This reminds me of what James said: “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (1:22). If we read the Bible or listen as it is taught but fail to put to work what we have learned, we are as bad as that man with his string of degrees. His education was of no practical benefit to anyone. Hearing must be matched by doing. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

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Greek: hoti ei tis akroates logou estin (3SPAI) kai ou poietes, houtos eoiken (3SRAI) andri katanoounti (PAPMSD) to prosopon tes geneseos autou en esoptro;
Amplified: For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror;  (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
ASV:  For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:
KJV:  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
NLT:  For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: The man who simply hears and does nothing about it is like a man catching the reflection of his own face in a mirror. (Phillips: Touchstone)

FOR IF ANYONE IS A HEARER OF THE WORD AND NOT A DOER: hoti ei tis akroates logou estin (3SPAI) kai ou poietes:

For (3754)(hoti) is a conjunction that in this context has a causal meaning and could be translated "because". Remember when you see a "for" or "because" (term of explanation) determine what the writer is explaining and what is his explanation. James explains what a non-doing hearer of God's Word is like and uses the familiar illustration of a man or woman who looks at their face in a mirror, where the mirror is metaphorically speaking the Word of God. James gives a second illustration of the deception of a non-doing hearer in James 1:26 using the picture of a person with an unbridled tongue.

If (1487) introduces a conditional statement. See notes on conditional clauses which are usually identified in the English translation by beginning with the preposition "If".

Anyone (5100) (tis) means someone in this case who is identified by the action of listening to the Word but failing to obey what he or she has heard.

Hearer (202)

Word (3056) (logos from légō = to speak with words; English = logic, logical) means something said and describes a communication whereby the mind finds expression in words. Although Lógos is most often translated word which Webster defines as "something that is said, a statement, an utterance", the Greek understanding of lógos is somewhat more complex. In the present context word is used to stand for Scripture in general.

Not (3756)

Doer (4163)

HE IS LIKE A MAN WHO LOOKS AT HIS NATURAL FACE IN A MIRROR: houtos eoiken (3SRAI) andri katanoounti (PAPMSD) to prosopon tes geneseos autou en esoptro:

He is like (1503)

Man (435)

Looks (2657)

Natural face (4383)

Mirror  (2072)

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Greek: katenoesen (3SAAI) gar heauton kai apeleluthen (3SRAI) kai eutheos epelatheto (3SAMI) hopoios en. (3SIAI)
Amplified: For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.   (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
ASV:  for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
KJV:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
NLT:  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: He sees himself, it is true, bu