Ephesians 5:5

τοῦτο γὰρ ἴστε γινώσκοντες. ‘Ye know by your own observation’ or ‘Observe and know.’ It is interesting to notice with Robinson that this combination is found once or perhaps twice in LXX. as the rendering of a familiar Hebrew idiom. It is even probable that the idiom may have suggested the combination to St Paul. None the less the phrase has a natural meaning of its own in Greek which is fuller than that of the Hebrew to which it corresponds. For the two words for knowing are distinct and are each used in their proper signification, εἰδέναι (to know) describes the result, γινώσκειν (to perceive) the process in the acquisition of knowledge. ‘You know the fact and you are daily observing instances of its application,’ or perhaps better as imperative (with Hort on James 1:19) ‘Take note of this fact by observing.’

πᾶς—οὐκ ἔχει. Cf. Ephesians 4:29. ‘Every—is excluded from.’ Similar lists are found in 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:21; Romans 1:29; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 3:2; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15; cf. Mark 7:22; Matthew 15:19. Some of these follow the lines of the Decalogue. But some are independent. As Robinson points out the language here and in Gal. and 1 Cor. suggests that there was a recognized body of moral teaching in use in the different Churches. The material however does not seem sufficient to enable us to determine its contents.

πλεονέκτης, ὅ ἐστιν εἰδωλολάτρης. Cf. Colossians 3:5 and Lightfoot’s note. The covetous man sets up another object of worship besides God. Though there is no trace of ‘Mammon’ as the object of any established cult, our Lord certainly in Matthew 6:24 (= Luke 16:13) treats it as claiming a service from men inconsistent with whole-hearted devotion to God, i.e. He implies that covetousness is idolatry. The reminder is necessary for those whether Jews or Gentiles who were tempted to imagine that there could be no question of their loyalty to Jehovah as long as they turned their backs on the established forms of heathenism.

οὐκ ἔχει κληρονομίαν. Cf. on Ephesians 1:14. The Kingdom and the inheritance come together in Matthew 25:34. In 1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:21 the inheritance is future.

ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ. References to the Kingdom are found in the records of St Paul’s preaching at Derbe etc. (Acts 14:22), Corinth (Acts 19:8), Ephesus (Acts 20:25) and Rome (Acts 28:23 and Acts 28:31). It is also mentioned by name in 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 4:20; 1 Corinthians 6:9 f., 1 Corinthians 15:24; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 5:21; Romans 14:17; Colossians 1:13; Colossians 4:11; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:18. It is sometimes definitely future as in 2 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 6:9 f., 1 Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 5:21; 2 Timothy 4:18 (τὴν ἐπουράνιον). It is sometimes present, 1 Corinthians 4:20; Romans 14:17; Colossians 1:13, as it seems to be here. In the other passages it is indeterminate. It is generally ‘the Kingdom of God.’ It some cases 1 Corinthians 15:24; Colossians 1:13; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:18 it is by implication the Kingdom of Christ. The actual title however ‘the Kingdom of Christ’ does not appear elsewhere. (Similarly αἱ ἐκκλησίαι τοῦ χριστοῦ is only found in Romans 16:16.)

τοῦ χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ, ‘of Christ and of God.’ This is better than the other possible rendering ‘of Him who is Christ and God.’ There is no clear instance in St Paul where Christ is called θεὸς absolutely. In Romans 9:5 the punctuation is at best uncertain. In relation to the Kingdom the Son expressly shares the sovereignty with His Father, Revelation 3:21; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 20:6.