Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Ephesians 4:19

ἀπηλγηκότες, ‘in a state of moral insensibility.’ ‘Past feeling.’

ἑαυτοὺς παρέδωκαν. Just as in Exodus the narrative speaks at times of Pharaoh’s hardening his heart, and at times of the Lord as hardening Pharaoh’s heart, so here the Gentiles are said ‘to give themselves up,’ whereas in Romans 1:24; Romans 1:26; Romans 1:28 with solemn iteration we read παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεός. Cp. also Wisdom 14; 1 Peter 4:3 for parallel pictures of the moral degradation of heathenism.

τῇ�. Romans 13:13; 1 Peter 4:3 : ‘lasciviousness’ with the further thought of passion unrestrained by any sense of propriety, shocking public decency.

εἰς ἐργασίαν�, ‘to consummate in act’ rather than ‘to make a business of.’

ἐν πλεονεξίᾳ, ‘with greediness,’ ‘with a miser’s greed’ (Lightfoot). Lust is inherently insatiable and selfish. The word is often used in close connexion with uncleanness, cp. Ephesians 5:3; Ephesians 5:5; 1 Corinthians 5:10, but this is not inherent in the word itself, but is due rather to the common root from which the vices spring. See further on Ephesians 5:3.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Ephesians 4:19

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