Ephesians 4:28 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:25-32

The abjured and the enjoined in Christian life. "Wherefore," etc. In the preceding verses, as we have seen, under the head of The true method of studying Christianity , the apostle exhorted the Ephesians "to put off the old man and to put on the new man." He here proceeds to particularize and urge this the great practical work of Christianity. He abjures the elements of the old man and enjoins the elements of the new. Our subject is the abjured and the enjoined in the Christian... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:28

Let the stealer stem no more . ὁ κλέπτων may be translated either as a noun or as the present participle. In either case it implies that even Christians might continue to steal, and that they had to be warned against the habit. This may seem strange to us, but not to those who consider how little theft was thought of among the pagans, and how liable such habits are to remain among converts from heathenism. Where there is a low moral tone and an uneducated conscience, very great... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:28

Warning against theft: a plea for honest work. It may seem strange that such an admonition should be addressed to believers. It is no more strange than admonitions against fornication. "Flee fornication" ( 1 Corinthians 6:18 ). It is a warning against dishonesty, which often assumes insidious disguises that conceal the true character of the injury done to our neighbors. I. THEFT IS ONE OF THOSE SINS WHICH OUGHT NOT EVEN TO BE NAMED AMONG CHRISTIANS . It... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 4:28

Let him that stole steal no more - Theft, like lying, was, and is, almost a universal vice among the pagan. The practice of pilfering prevails in, probably, every pagan community, and no property is safe which is not guarded, or so locked up as to be inaccessible. Hence, as the Christian converts at Ephesus had been long addicted to it, there was danger that they would fall into it again; and hence the necessity of special cautions on that head. We are not to suppose that “pilfering” was a... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ephesians 4:28

Ephesians 4:28. Let him that stole While he was in his heathen condition of ignorance and vice; steal no more Under a conviction that God is the avenger of all such injuries, 1 Thessalonians 4:6. Stealing, as Macknight justly observes, “is a vice most pernicious to the thief himself. For finding it more easy to supply his necessities by stealing than by working, he falls into a habit of idleness, which, among the lower classes of mankind, is an inlet to all manner of wickedness. Next, the... 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 4:28

labour . As Acts 20:35 . the thing = that. give . See Romans 12:8 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ephesians 4:28

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.The ignorant person called upon to read this chapter publicly almost broke up the meeting when he read:Let him that stole, steal; no more let him labor with his hands!This is repeated here to show how much depends, at times, upon the proper punctuation; and it should always be remembered that the original writers of the New Testament... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ephesians 4:28

Ephesians 4:28. Let him that stole steal no more:— Stealing properly signifies private thefts, or frauds, in distinction from public or violent robbery: and as in many of the Gentile nations theft was thought to be no sin; so, perhaps, some of the Ephesian converts had not perfectly divested themselves of their own immoral notions concerning it, and must, of course, have been sometimes under strong temptations to the commission of it. Instead of, working with his hands the thing which is good,... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 4:28

28. Greek, "Let him that stealeth." The imperfect or past tense is, however, mainly meant, though not to the exclusion of the present. "Let the stealing person steal no more." Bandits frequented the mountains near Ephesus. Such are meant by those called "thieves" in the New Testament. but rather—For it is not enough to cease from a sin, but the sinner must also enter on the path that is its very opposite [CHRYSOSTOM]. The thief, when repentant, should labor more than he would be called on to... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:25-32

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:28

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 4:28

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 4:28

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ephesians 4:28

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ephesians 4:17-32

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ephesians 4:28

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ephesians 4:28

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ephesians 4:28

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 4:28

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