エペソ人への手紙 4:18 JC

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:17-24

Exhortation resumed. "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord." It is characteristic of the apostle to sink his own personality, and to put forward Christ. He wishes it to be understood that it is not in his own thought, but in the thought of him whom he calls Lord, that he makes his statement and gives his solemn asseveration regarding their duty. I. EXHORTATION DIRECTED AGAINST GENTILISM . "That ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk." They had formerly been... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:17-32

Raw material for Christian unity. It comes upon us with something like a surprise, the exhortations of the present passage after the glories which have gone before. But they are instructive in that they bring out the raw material out of which Paul hoped to manufacture Christian unity. It is evident that he despaired of none, even supposing they had been guilty of the gravest crimes and characterized by the deepest pollution. Does not his grand hope rebuke our faint-heartedness? I. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:18

Being darkened in their understanding (second point of difference), and thus blind to all that is most vital—ignorant of God, of the way of salvation, of the love of Christ. Even at best the natural understanding cannot discover these things, and when it is not only imperfect but darkened—made more obscure than ever by sin (see after)—its guidance is altogether defective. It has been said truly that the youngest scholar in a Sunday school that has been taught the elements of the gospel has... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 4:18

Having the understanding darkened - That is, because they were alienated from the true God, and particularly because of “the blindness of their hearts.” The apostle does not say that this was a “judicial” darkening of the understanding; or that they might not have perceived the truth; or that they had no ability to understand it. He speaks of a simple and well-known fact - a fact that is seen now as well as then that the understanding becomes darkened by indulgence in sin. A man who is... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ephesians 4:17-19

Ephesians 4:17-19. This I say, therefore For your further instruction, how to walk worthy of your calling; (he returns to the subject which he began, Ephesians 4:1;) and testify in the Lord In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that ye, being now happily brought into the Christian Church, and made partakers of all the privileges and advantages belonging to its members; henceforth walk not as other Gentiles That ye live no longer as the unconverted heathen; in the vanity... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ephesians 4:17-32

The old and the new standards (4:17-32)Although believers have entered a new life through Christ, they still live in a society that does not know God and whose moral outlook is darkened by its ungodliness. The less Christian influence there is in the society, the lower the moral standards are. Christians, however, should not behave according to the commonly accepted practices of society. People without God, through repeatedly ignoring the warnings of conscience, can easily lose those feelings... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ephesians 4:18

Having . . . darkened = Having been darkened. Greek. skotizo. See Rom 1:21 . 2 Corinthians 4:4 . the understanding = in the understanding. See Ephesians 1:18 . being = having been. alienated . Greek. apallotrioomai. See Ephesians 2:12 . the life of God . Only occurrence. life . Greek. zoe. Only here in Eph. App-170 . through . App-104 .Ephesians 4:2 . ignorance . See Acts 3:17 . because of . App-104 .Ephesians 4:2 . blindness = hardness. Greek. poro s i s. Compare Romans 11:25 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ephesians 4:18

Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.Here is a reference to the pre-Christian Gentiles who at first knew God, rebelled against him, turned away from him, eventually being hardened, first through their own wickedness, and later receiving a judicial hardening of God himself who thus... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ephesians 4:18

Ephesians 4:18. Being alienated from the life of God,— The life of God seems to signify more than a life prescribed by God to his people, as some understand it. It intimates a life consisting in a righteous and holy imitation of his perfections, and a constant devotedness to his service; and perhaps it may also intimate its being originally derived from him; (see Ephesians 4:24.) they having been alienated in affection as well as in practice from the life of God—that noble principle of true... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 4:18

18. More literally, "Being darkened in their understanding," that is, their intelligence, or perceptions (compare Ephesians 5:8; Acts 26:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:5). alienated—This and "darkened," imply that before the fall they (in the person of their first father) had been partakers of life and light: and that they had revolted from the primitive revelation (compare 1 Thessalonians 5:5- :). life of God—that life whereby God lives in His own people: as He was the life and... read more