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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - Ephesians 4:2 - 4:2
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
lowliness - In classic Greek, the meaning is meanness of spirit: the Gospel has elevated the word to express a Christian grace, namely, the esteeming of ourselves small, inasmuch as we are so; the thinking truly, and because truly, therefore lowlily, of ourselves [Trench].
meekness - that spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us without disputing and resisting; and also the accepting patiently of the injuries done us by men, out of the thought that they are permitted by God for the chastening and purifying of His people (2Sa 16:11; compare Gal 6:1; 2Ti 2:25; Tit 3:2). It is only the lowly, humble heart that is also meek (Col 3:12). As “lowliness and meekness” answer to “forbearing one another in love” (compare “love,” Eph 4:15, Eph 4:16), so “long-suffering” answers to (Eph 4:4) “endeavoring (Greek, ‘earnestly’ or ‘zealously giving diligence’) to keep (maintain) the unity of the Spirit (the unity between men of different tempers, which flows from the presence of the Spirit, who is Himself ‘one,’ Eph 4:4) in (united in) the bond of peace” (the “bond” by which “peace” is maintained, namely, “love,” Col 3:14, Col 3:15 [Bengel]; or, “peace” itself is the “bond” meant, uniting the members of the Church [Alford]).