Ephesians 5:4

Ephesians 5:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
• New International Version (NIV)Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
• New King James Version (NKJV)neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Context of Ephesians 5:4

2Show that you love other people. Remember how much Christ loved us. He gave himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. He offered himself in a way that pleased God, like a sacrifice with a lovely smell. 3So, as God's people, you must never have sex with anyone that you are not married to. Do not do any kind of disgusting thing like that. Do not want many things for yourselves, just to make you happy. That is not how God's people should live. Do not speak in a way which uses dirty words. Do not talk about silly things, like fools do. It is not right for God's people to talk like that. Instead, you should speak in a way which shows that you are thanking God. 5You can be sure about this: If anyone has sex in a wrong way, that person does not belong to God's people. Nobody who does any kind of disgusting thing belongs to God's people. People who want many things just to please themselves are like people who worship an idol. They also do not belong to God's people. Nobody like that belongs to the kingdom where Christ and God rule. They will not receive the good things that God has prepared for his people. 6Do not let anyone have a chance to deceive you with a false message about those kinds of bad things. God will certainly punish people who do not obey him.

Ephesians 5:4 word by word

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία ἢ εὐτραπελία ἃ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Neitherκαίkai · andG2532
• filthinessαἰσχρότηςaischrotēs · obscenityG151
• foolish talkingμωρολογίαmōrologia · foolish talkG3473
• norἤē · orG2228
• jestingεὐτραπελίαeutrapelia · vulgar jestingG2160
• whichὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• areἀνήκωanēkō · be fittingG433
• notοὐou · noG3756
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• ratherμᾶλλονmallon · more: ratherG3123
• giving of thanksεὐχαριστίαeucharistia · thankfulnessG2169

Cross-references for Ephesians 5:4

• Ephesians 4:29Do not say bad things that hurt or insult people. Instead, say only good things that will help people. Your words should help people to become strong when they hear them.
• Proverbs 12:23Careful people keep quiet about how much they know. But foolish people show everyone how silly they are.
• Proverbs 15:2When wise people speak, they show that knowledge is good. But when fools speak, they only say foolish things.
• Ecclesiastes 10:13When a fool starts to speak, he says silly things. When he finishes, he is saying crazy things that are wicked.
• Matthew 12:34You are like the children of dangerous snakes. You cannot say good things when your thoughts are bad. When you speak, your words show what is in your mind.
• Mark 7:22They have sex with another man's wife. They are greedy. They are cruel to other people. They deceive people. They live like wild animals. They are jealous of other people. They say bad things about other people. They are proud and foolish.
• Colossians 3:8But now you must refuse to do all kinds of things like that. Do not become angry with people or shout at them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people. Do not speak any bad or disgusting words.
• James 3:4Also, think about ships that sail on the sea. They are very large. Strong winds push them with great power. But we fix a piece of wood at the back of the ship. With this small piece of wood, the master can cause the ship to go anywhere that he wants it to go.
• 2 Peter 2:7But God saved Lot from danger. Lot was a good man. He was very sad because the people in Sodom did not obey God's laws. They lived in a very bad way.
• Jude 1:10But these false teachers speak bad things against anything that they do not understand. They are like animals that cannot think properly. They just do the things that their nature causes them to do. Those are the things that are destroying them.
• Romans 1:28Those people decided that they did not need to know anything about God. So God let their minds become spoiled. As a result, they do bad things that people ought not to do.
• Philemon 1:8I want to ask you to do something. I am sure that Christ has given me authority. So I could tell you strongly what you should do.
• Ephesians 5:19He will help you to speak to each other with all kinds of spiritual songs. Sing psalms from the Bible, and Christian songs. Praise the Lord with songs from inside yourselves.
• Ephesians 1:16I am always thanking God because of you. Whenever I pray to God, I always ask him to help you.
• Psalms 33:1You righteous people, sing to praise the Lord, and be happy! It is right for good, honest people to do that.
• Psalms 92:1It is good to thank the Lord! We sing to praise your name, Most High God.

Commentaries on Ephesians 5:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Neither filthiness - · Any thing base or vile in words or acts. Foolish talking - · Scurrility, buffoonery, ridicule, or what tends to expose another to contempt. Nor jesting - · Artfully turned discourses or words, from , well or easily, and , I turn; words that can be easily turned to other meanings; double entendres; chaste words which, from their connection, and the manner in which they are used, convey an obscene or offensive meaning. It also means…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Neither filthiness - That is, obscene, or indecent conversation. Literally, that which is shameful, or deformed - ̓́ aischrotēsThe word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. Nor foolish talking - This word - ́ mōrologia- does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It means that kind of talk which is insipid, senseless, stupid, foolish; which is not suited to instruct, edify, profit - the idle “chitchat” which is so common in the world. The…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-14Verses 3-14 Filthy lusts must be rooted out. These sins must be dreaded and detested. Here are not only cautions against gross acts of sin, but against what some may make light of. But these things are so far from being profitable. that they pollute and poison the hearers. Our cheerfulness should show itself as becomes Christians, in what may tend to God's glory. A covetous man makes a god of his money; places that hope, confidence, and delight, in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4God’s people should speak in ways that show they are thankful to God (see 4:29; 5:3, 12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. filthiness--obscenity in act or gesture. foolish talking--the talk of fools, which is folly and sin together. The Greek of it, and of "filthiness," occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. nor--rather, "or" (compare Ep 5:3). jesting--Greek, "eutrapelia"; found nowhere else in the New Testament: implying strictly that versatility which turns about and adapts itself, without regard to principle, to the shifting circumstances of the moment, and to the…Read the comment

Topics related to Ephesians 5:4

• Commandments
• Jesting
• Speaking
• Thankfulness

In the dictionaries

• Arise
• Awake
• Dear
• Fellowship
• Flesh
• Fruit
• Light
• Melody
• Redeem
• Reverence

Commentaries on Ephesians 5

• 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