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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comAdam Clarke Commentary - Ephesians 5:16 - 5:16
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Redeeming the time - Εξαγοραζομενοι τον καιρον· Buying up those moments which others seem to throw away; steadily improving every present moment, that ye may, in some measure, regain the time ye have lost. Let time be your chief commodity; deal in that alone; buy it all up, and use every portion of it yourselves. Time is that on which eternity depends; in time ye are to get a preparation for the kingdom of God; if you get not this in time, your ruin is inevitable; therefore, buy up the time.
Some think there is an allusion here to the case of debtors, who, by giving some valuable consideration to their creditors, obtain farther time for paying their debts. And this appears to be the sense in which it is used by the Septuagint, Dan 2:8 : Επ’ αληθειας οιδα εγω, ὁτι καιρον ὑμεις εξαγοραζετε· I know certainly that ye would gain or buy time - ye wish to have the time prolonged, that ye may seek out for some plausible explanation of the dream. Perhaps the apostle means in general, embrace every opportunity to glorify God, save your own souls, and do good to men.
Because the days are evil - The present times are dangerous, they are full of trouble and temptations, and only the watchful and diligent have any reason to expect that they shall keep their garments unspotted.