Ephesians 4:18

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 the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 17So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20But you did not learn Christ in this way,

Ephesians 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

• beingεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• darkenedσκοτόωskotoō · to darkenG4656
• in their understandingδιάνοιαdianoia · mindG1271
• excludedἀπαλλοτριόωapallotrioō · to alienateG526
• from the lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• becauseδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• ignoranceἄγνοιαagnoia · ignoranceG52
• hardnessπώρωσιςpōrōsis · hardeningG4457
• of their heartκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588

Cross-references for Ephesians 4:18

• Psalms 74:20Consider the covenant; For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands.
• Isaiah 44:18They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
• Isaiah 46:5“To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike?
• Acts 17:30Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
• Acts 26:17rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,
• Romans 1:21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
• 2 Corinthians 4:4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• Galatians 4:8However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:5not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
• Ephesians 2:12remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
• Romans 8:7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
• Colossians 1:21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
• James 4:4You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
• Romans 2:19and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who 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

• Adultery
• Blindness
• Character
• Conscience
• Death
• Depravity of Man
• Gentiles
• Godlessness
• Heart
• Ignorance
• Lasciviousness
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Bitterness
• Blind
• Compact
• Dark
• Forbear
• Grieve
• Lasciviousness
• Lowliness

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