Re: GENESIS in James 1:23

Paul Zellmer (zellmer@isabela.faith.edu.ph)
Thu, 21 May 1998 07:45:25 -0800

Carl wrote:
>
>At 9:15 PM -0400 5/20/98, Paul Zellmer wrote:
>>What think ye about the meaning of TO PROSWPON THS GENESEWS AUTOU in
>>James 1:23? Several English translations render this "his own face,"
>>but that seems a bit weak to me. If we go with "his natural face,"
>>then are we contrasting it to his spiritual face? Or does it imply a
>>face that has imperfections (assuming that all "natural" things are
>>imperfect)? If it is "his living face" or the like, then what is
being
>>placed outside of his consideration--his "dead" face? If it is "his
>>original face," then is he going to have plastic surgery? Perhaps, in
>>the light of verse 24, GENESIS refers to his ancestry, and PROSWPON is
>>figurative. The words I "know." How they work together in this
>>situation, I'm unsure.
>
>How's about "the face he was born with" (as opposed to "the face he
>acquired via plastic surgery"); I think that's what is actually meant
in
>1:23. Presumably it is the one who has had plastic surgery, or who
fancies
>himself more handsome than he is, whose forgotten what that
mirror-image
>really showed him. Catullus has a cute little poem about a harlot who
>charges too much; I'll cite only the punch line (Catullus 43:7-8):
>
> non est sana puella, nec rogare
> qualis sit solet aes imaginosum.
>
> "The girl's out of her mind--and also out of the habit of
> asking a mirror what she actually looks like."
>

So, Carl, you're proposing that this is the opposite of the man who
never saw a mirror that he didn't like. It works, and leaves the
interpretation of significance to the reader. Thanks.

Paul

Paul and Dee Zellmer, Jimmy Guingab, Geoffrey Beltran
Ibanag Translation Project
Cabagan, Philippines

zellmer@faith.edu.ph