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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Ephesians 4:18 - 4:18
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18. ἐσκοτωμένοι. Cf. Eph 5:8; Eph 5:11, Eph 6:12. Darkness is the condition of the Gentile world apart from Christ; cf. Act 26:18; Col 1:13, 1Pe 2:9; Eph 1:17. There is an O.T. background to the thought in Isa 9:1 = Mat 4:16; Luk 1:79. And in words of the Lord Joh 8:12; Joh 12:46. In Rom 1:21 the darkness is part of the judgement on idolatry. In 1Jn 2:11 it is the result of ‘hating the brother.’ Cf. Mat 6:23.
τῇ διανοίᾳ. Cf. Hort on 1Pe 1:13. In LXX. an alternative translation with καρδία for לֵב or לֵבָב for the centre of thought. The Gospel is here regarded primarily as a revelation of Truth.
ὄντες. Westcott Hort connect with ἐσκοτ., Robinson with ἀπηλ. In any case redundant.
ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι. Eph 2:12; Col 1:21.
τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ. In Eph 2:12 the alienation is from ‘the commonwealth of Israel,’ the communion of saints, here it is from the source of personal holiness. The phrase, ‘the life of God,’ does not seem to occur elsewhere. The thought is best illustrated by Psalms 36(35):9 (10), “With Thee is the well of life, and in Thy light shall we see light’ (for the life of God is self-communicating), and by the parable of the Vine, Joh 15:5. The life consists in and is imparted by communion with God, which is expressed on our side by ‘the knowledge of God’; cf. Joh 17:3. St Paul’s thought here is therefore parallel to Rom 1:28. For the relation of ‘life’ and ‘light’ cf. Joh 1:4; Joh 8:12. For the condition of ‘death’ in which the grace of God found them see Eph 2:1.
ἄγνοιαν like σκότος is a characteristic of the Gentile position: cf. Act 17:30; 1Pe 1:14. This ignorance is not to be regarded as an extenuation of their guilt. Cf. 1Co 15:34; 1Ti 1:13. It is self-caused (Rom 1:28).
διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν. Probably best taken as giving the source of the ignorance. The callousness of their hearts, their insensibility to the voice of conscience, shuts out the consciousness of His presence with them. The darkness blinded their eyes. Cf. 1Jn 2:11. πώρωσις, as Robinson shows, expresses the hardening which indicates irresponsiveness rather than wilful rebellion and so is practically equivalent to blindness. τῆς καρδίας virtually synonymous with διάνοια, the seat of moral illumination; cf. on Eph 1:18.