James 1:24

He beholdeth himself (katenohsen eauton). Usually explained as gnomic aorist like those in 2 Corinthians 1:11 , but the ordinary force of the tenses is best here. "He glanced at himself (katenohsen aorist) and off he has gone (apelhluqen perfect active) and straightway forgot (epelaqeto, second aorist middle indicative of epilanqanomai) what sort of a man he was" (opoio hn, back in the picture, imperfect tense). The tenses thus present a vivid and lifelike picture of the careless listener to preaching (Christ's wayside hearer).