{He beholdeth himself} (kateno(8873)en heauton). Usually
explained as gnomic aorist like those in 1:11 , but the ordinary
force of the tenses is best here. "He glanced at himself
(kateno(8873)en aorist) and off he has gone (apel(886c)uthen perfect
active) and straightway forgot (epelatheto, second aorist
middle indicative of epilanthanomai) what sort of a man he was"
(hopoios (886e), 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).
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