Discovery BoxJames 1:18 
Context1:18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth 1 through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
James 1:21
Context1:21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly 2 welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.
James 1:23
Context1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone 3 who gazes at his own face 4 in a mirror.
1 tn Grk “Having willed, he gave us birth.”
2 tn Or “with meekness.”
3 tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”
4 tn Grk “the face of his beginning [or origin].”
