American Standard Version
Ephesians 4:18
18being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
Ephesians 4:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
- New International Version (NIV)They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
- New King James Version (NKJV)having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
Context of Ephesians 4:18
16from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. 17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; 19who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20But ye did not so learn Christ;
Read all of Ephesians 4Ephesians 4:18 word by word
ἐσκοτωμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὄντες, ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν·Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Ephesians 4:18
- Psalms 74:20Have respect unto the covenant; For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
- Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
- Isaiah 44:18They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
- Isaiah 46:5To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
- Acts 17:30The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:
- Acts 26:17delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee,
- Romans 1:21because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.
- 1 Corinthians 1:21For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.
- Galatians 4:8Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods:
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God;
- Ephesians 2:12that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
- Romans 8:7because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be:
- Colossians 1:21And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
- James 4:4Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
- Romans 2:19and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness,
Commentaries on Ephesians 4:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 182. Having the understanding darkened - This is the second instance alleged by the apostle of the degradation of the Gentiles. Having no means of knowledge, the heart, naturally dark, became more and more so by means of habitual transgression; every thing in the Gentile system having an immediate tendency to blind the eyes and darken the whole soul. 3. Being alienated from the life of God - The original design of God was to live in man; and the life of God…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Having the understanding darkened - That is, because they were alienated from the true God, and particularly because of “the blindness of their hearts.” The apostle does not say that this was a “judicial” darkening of the understanding; or that they might not have perceived the truth; or that they had no ability to understand it. He speaks of a simple and well-known fact - a fact that is seen now as well as then that the understanding becomes darkened by…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 17-24 The apostle charged the Ephesians in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that having professed the gospel, they should not be as the unconverted Gentiles, who walked in vain fancies and carnal affections. Do not men, on every side, walk in the vanity of their minds? Must not we then urge the distinction between real and nominal Christians? They were void of all saving knowledge; they sat in darkness, and loved it rather than…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Their minds are full of darkness because their minds are closed and hearts are hard (see 2 Corinthians 4:4). This means they cannot understand spiritual truths clearly. Their minds are "closed," which means they are unwilling or unable to accept God's truth. Their hearts are "hard," which means they have become insensitive to God's guidance.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. More literally, "Being darkened in their understanding," that is, their intelligence, or perceptions (compare Ep 5:8; Ac 26:18; 1Th 5:4, 5). alienated--This and "darkened," imply that before the fall they (in the person of their first father) had been partakers of life and light: and that they had revolted from the primitive revelation (compare Ep 2:12). life of God--that life whereby God lives in His own people: as He was the life and light in Adam…Read the comment
Topics related to Ephesians 4:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ephesians 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries