Ephesians 4:19

who being past feeling The Gr. relative pronoun indicates a certain conditionality; almost as if it were, "as being thosewho." But the shade is too slight for translation. "Past feeling" :lit., "having got over the pain," as when mortification sets in; a deeply suggestive metaphor.

have given themselves over Lit., did give over themselves. An ideal crisis is in view, reflected in many a sad actual crisis in individual lives. "Themselves" is emphatic by position. The perverted willis the traitor, the "giver over." However deep the mystery of its perversion, it is always the will, and speaks as such the decisive "yes" to temptation.

lasciviousness The Gr. word occurs in N.T. 11 times. See e.g.Mark 7:22; Romans 13:13 (A.V., "wantonness"); Galatians 5:19. The root-idea of the word is not specially fleshly impurity, but rebellion against restraint as such; petulance, wantonness, as shewn e.g.in violence. Abp Trench (N. T. Synonyms, on this word), recommends accordingly wantonness as a better rendering than "lasciviousness," which is but one manifestation of the tendency denoted.

to work Lit., to the working of. The Gr. noun occurs elsewhere in N.T. Luke 12:58 (A.V., "diligence"); Acts 16:16; Acts 16:19 (A.V., "gain"); Acts 19:24 (A.V., "gain"), Rom 25 (A.V., "craft"). The idea of business thus adheres to the word. The suggestion conveyed by it here is that sin becomes to the deliberate sinner an earnest pursuit, an occupation. Cp. Romans 13:14 (" forethoughtfor the flesh"). The R.V. gives in its margin here, "to make a trade of."

uncleanness The connexion of the Gr. word is mainly with fleshly impurity, and so probably here. But it is not quite confined to this; one passage (1 Thessalonians 2:3) giving the thought rather of "impure motives" in the sense of insincerity.

greediness The Gr. word is rendered "covetousness," Luke 12:15. But it means much more than the desire of money, or property, with which we specially associate "covetousness." It occurs (or its cognate verb or adjective) in close connexion with the subject of fleshly impurity1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:6; and below, Ephesians 5:3; Ephesians 5:5. See too Colossians 3:5. "Greed" has a strong and terrible connexion with impurity, as is obvious. Bp Lightfoot shews (on Colossians 3:5) that the present word never of itselfdenotes "lust," while it is, of course, rightly used to denote the horrible grasp and plunder which lust involves.

In this verse the Apostle depicts, as universal among "the Gentiles," an abandoned licentiousness. Contemporary literature gives mournful testimony to the charge, as regards society in general, indicating a large social toleration of the most hideous vices, and a significant readiness to import vicious imagery into refined spheres of thought. But the accusation of this passage, surely, transcends the limits of any one age, or state of society; it is levelled at unregenerate Man. And the explanation of it, so viewed, is to be sought in the study of those tendenciesof evil which reside in the fallen "heart" as such. The action of outrageous sinningdoes but illustrate the underlying principle of sin;a principle with which absolutely nothing but "the life of God" can effectually deal. See further Romans 3:10-18, and notes in this Series.