Hearers only, deceiving, &c.— The Jews did indeed place much of their religion in going up at proper times to the synagogue to hear the law read; and there may possibly be an allusion to that disposition, The exact signification of the word παραλογιζομενοι, rendered deceiving, is, "imposing upon any, by a sophistical show of argument;" and here it is used with peculiar propriety. The Jews have a proverb, "That he who hears the law, and does not practise it, is like a man who ploughs and sows, but never reaps."
Related Commentaries of James 1:22
James 1:22
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.