Ephesians 5:11

καὶ μὴ συγκοινωνεῖτε τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἀκάρποις τοῦ σκότους : and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. TWH again prefer the form συνκοινωνεῖτε. The verb has its usual force here, and takes us back to the συμμέτοχοι αὐτῶν of Ephesians 5:7. The only question is whether it governs the ἔργοις itself, or an αὐτοῖς or αὐτῶν understood. Looking to the συμμέτοχοι αὐτῶν above, the συγκοινωνήσαντές μου τῇ θλίψει of Philippians 4:14, etc., some prefer the latter, = “have no fellowship with them in the works”. But the gen. probably would then be the proper case for the things in which the participation took place; cf. the use of συγκοινωνεῖν with τινί τινος (Dio Cass., xxxvii., 41, etc.), and συγκοινωνὸς τῆς ῥίζης, etc. (Romans 11:17). Here, therefore, as in the case of the ἁμαρτίαις in Revelation 18:4 and even the θλίψει in Philippians 4:14, the verb is best understood as governing the ἔργοις directly. Elsewhere we read of ἔργα πονηρά (Colossians 1:21), and νεκρὰ ἔργα (Hebrews 6:1); here of ἔργα ἄκαρπα, works which result in no gain, yield nothing pleasant or profitable, bring no blessing or reward with them; cf. the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:22. μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐλέγχετε : but rather even reprove them. This rendering of the RV is on the whole the best. AV omits the even. The other old English Versions render similarly, except Wicl., who has “but more”; Genesis, 2, which gives “but even reprove them rather”; and Bish., “but even rebuke”. The formula μᾶλλον δὲ καί, combines the ideas of the corrective (μᾶλλον), the adversative (δέ) and the ascensive (καί), and means, therefore, “but rather even,” not merely “yea, much more”. Without the καί the phrase μᾶλλον δέ has the force of a corrective climax; cf. Mey. on Romans 8:34; Galatians 4:9, and Fritz. on Romans 8:34. It was not enough, therefore, for them simply to abstain from such works; they must even reprove them. The question, however, is what is the proper sense of ἐλέγχετε here, and what is the force of the whole sentence? Some give the verb the sense of reproving, but understand the reproof in view to be both in word and in deed (Olsh.), or only in deed, i.e., the reproof conveyed by the spectacle of a pure life and consistently moral walk. Others, looking to the following τὰ γὰρ κρυφῆ γινόμενα, etc., and thinking it incongruous to speak of an oral rebuke in connection with a statement of the shame it is even to speak of the sins in question, would give the verb the sense of exposing (Abb.). But both the context and the general idea connected with ἐλέγχειν in the Pauline writings (cf., e.g., 1 Corinthians 14:24; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9; Titus 1:13; Titus 2:15) point to the notion of oral reproof. The idea, therefore, is that these Christians were not at liberty to deal lightly with such sins, or connive at them, or be silent about them, but had to speak out against them and hold them up to rebuke, with the view of bringing their heathen neighbours to apprehend their turpitude and forsake them.