[B-Greek] James 1:25 KATENOHSEN GAR hEAUTON (Follow-up)
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Sep 11 12:24:19 EDT 2003
After sending my reply this morning it occurred to me that a Latin poem of
Catullus written about a century or more (probably more) earlier than the
letter of James illuminates the way, "see one's self in the mirror" is
being used in James 1:24 (not 1;25); the item is Catullus carmen #41
1 Ameana puella defututa
2 tota milia me decem poposcit,
...
5 propinqui, quibus est puella curae,
6 amicos medicosque convocate:
7 non est sana puella, nec rogare
8 qualis sit solet aes imaginosum.
The poem is an invective addressed to the mistress of Julius Caesar's chief
engineer with the army in Gaul (it's really an attack against Caesar
himself, of course). The poet 'claims' that this woman asked an absurd sum
for her services; in verses 5ff. Catullus says, "Kinsmen who should worry
about the woman, do call her friends and physicians: the woman isn't in her
right mind; she never thinks of consulting her mirror to find out what
she's worth (lit. "she isn't in the habit of asking the mirror what kind of
person she is)."
At 10:17 AM -0400 9/11/03, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>At 7:02 AM -0400 9/11/03, Jonathan Robie wrote:
>>I have a question about the phrase KATENOHSEN GAR hEAUTON in James 1:25.
>>The word KATANOEW can mean "to look at in a reflective manner", 'consider',
>>'contemplate', and seems to be translated this way in some translations -
>>"he regards himself", "he looked carefully at himself", etc.
>>
>>However, in this context, it seems that (1) KATENOHSEN is in the Aorist,
>>(2) the mirrors of the time were made of polished metal, and gave a much
>>less distinct image, and (3) this man goes away and immediately forgets
>>what he looks like.
>>
>>I'm inclined to say the force of this phrase is something like: "he glanced
>>at himself". Am I wrong? If I'm not clearly wrong, am I clearly right?
>
>
>The text is preceded by: hOTI EI TIS AKROATHS LOGOU ESTIN KAI OU POIHTHS,
>hOUTOS EOIKEN ANDRI KATANOOUNTI TO PROSWPON AUTOU EN ESOPTRWi", which I
>take to mean, "For anyone who hears the word and does not do it is like a
>man who looks in the mirror at the face he was born with," and the text
>then goes on: KATENOHSEN GAR hEAUTON KAI APELHLUQEN KAI EUQEWS EPELAQETO
>hOPOIOS HN. "he looked at himself and went away and immediately forgot what
>he looked like."
>
>I think that the simile is to be understood literally, and then its
>implications are to be considered: The guy doesn't know who he is, doesn't
>grasp his authentic identity; that means, I think, that he is "play-acting"
>the role of one who has said "yes" to the gospel proclamation. I guess the
>question is more precisely: how is the simile to be understood in terms of
>that original proposition stated in verse 23, of "being a hearer of the
>word and not a doer."
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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