Ephesians 4:22

ἀποθέσθαι ὑμᾶς κατὰ τὴν προτέραν ἀναστροφὴν τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον : that ye put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man. This is best connected with the ἐδιδάχθητε. It gives the purport or contents of the instruction. The inf., therefore, is the objective inf. (cf. in μηκέτι περιπατεῖν, Ephesians 4:17 above, and Donald., Greek Gram., § 584). It has something of the force of an imperative, but is not to be taken as the same as an imperative, that use of the inf. being very rare in the NT, and found generally indeed only in the case of oracles, laws and the like (cf. Win.-Moult., p. 397). In such constructions as the present the inf. does not require the pronoun; but ὑμᾶς is introduced here with a view to lucidity, after the reference to Jesus in Ephesians 4:21 (so Ell., Alf., etc.). The figure in the ἀποθέσθαι is taken from the putting off of garments, and is parallel to the ἐνδύσασθαι of Ephesians 4:24. The κατὰ clause defines that in respect of which this putting off is to take effect, the prep. having here the general sense of “in reference to,” not that of “in conformity with”. τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, contrasted with the καινὸς ἄνθρωπος (Ephesians 4:24), the νέος ἄνθρωπος (Colossians 3:10), the καινὴ κτίσις (Galatians 6:15), is the former unregenerate self in its entirety (cf. Romans 6:6; Colossians 3:9). τὸν φθειρόμενον : which waxeth corrupt. The pres. part. marks the corruption as a process that goes on, a condition that progresses. The point is missed by the “is corrupt” of the AV, but is well put by “waxeth corrupt” (Ell., RV); cf. also Galatians 6:8. The “corruption,” however, is to be understood as “destruction”. The “old man” is in a condition of advancing destruction or ruin, and, therefore, should all the more be “put off”. Some (e.g., Meyer) take eternal destruction to be in view, the pres. part. expressing what is to issue in destruction or indicating the certainty of the future. κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης : according to the lusts of deceit. ἀπάτης is the gen. subj., not = “the deceitful lusts” (AV), but = the lusts which deceit uses or which are its instruments. The ἀπάτη is in contrast with ἀλήθεια, the article giving it the abstract force approaching a personification. κατά here = in accordance with. The process of corruption or ruin goes on in precise conformity with the nature of the lusts which the deceitful power of sin has in its service.