ἐπιλησμ-ονή G1953
forgetfulness, state of forgetting
A noun denoting the state or condition of forgetting. James 1:25 contrasts the forgetful hearer with the doer: one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, 'not being a hearer of forgetfulness (ἐπιλησμονῆς)' but a doer. The genitive describes a person characterized by forgetting—someone who hears the word but immediately loses it from memory, failing to act on it.
Senses
1. sense 1 — James uses 'hearer of forgetfulness' to describe ineffective engagement with God's word. The Spanish 'de olvido' and German 'Vergesslichkeit' capture the abstract noun. This person hears but does not retain, like someone glancing at a mirror and immediately forgetting their reflection. True blessing comes to the one who looks intently and persists, translating heard truth into lived obedience rather than letting it evaporate from memory. 1×
AR["نِسيانٍ"]·ben["বিস্মৃতির"]·DE["Vergesslichkeit"]·EN["of-forgetfulness"]·FR["ἐπιλησμονῆς"]·heb["שִׁכְחָה"]·HI["भूलने-का"]·ID["lupa"]·IT["epilēsmonēs"]·jav["saking-kelalen"]·KO["잊어버림-의"]·PT["de-esquecimento"]·RU["забвения"]·ES["de-olvido"]·SW["wa-kusahau"]·TR["unutkanlığın"]·urd["بھولنے"]
Related Senses
H3045 1. Qal: to know, perceive, understand (829×)H5315 1. soul, inner being (647×)H3820a 1. heart, inner self (mind/will/emotion) (572×)H4672 1. Qal: find, discover (289×)G1492 1. know facts or truths (285×)H3824 1. heart, inner self (mind/will/emotion) (250×)H1245 1. seek, search for (200×)G1097 1. know, be acquainted with (196×)H2142 1. Qal: remember, recall (173×)G2588 1. heart (inner self, mind, will) (158×)H0977 1. choose, select (Qal active) (145×)G2147 1. find, discover (144×)G5590 1. soul, inner self (100×)H4672 2. Niphal: be found, be discovered (99×)H1875 1. seek, search for (96×)H5315 2. life, vitality (94×)H1847 1. knowledge, discernment (90×)H2450 1. wise, prudent (84×)H7911 1. Qal: to forget (83×)H3684 1. fool, dullard (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἐπιλησμ-ονή, ἡ, forgetfulness, LXX:—also ἐπιλησμονείη (sic), 5th c.AD(?): Hesychius Legal icographus, and ἐπιλήσμη Refs