Ephesians 4:19
in Ephesians 4Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
KJV
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
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This verse in Ephesians 4
Commentary
15 notes on this verseDo you not see that of their own free will they became so insensible? "Having become callous," that is, having grown completely lazy, not wishing to do anything good, having reached complete insensibility and having become as if mad, "they gave themselves over to licentiousness." …
This site's exposition
walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind
on Ephesians 4:17-19
This I say therefore names the fourth beat of the walk thread, after the dead walk of 2:2, the prepared walk of 2:10, and the worthy walk of 4:1, now the walk not as other Gentiles walk. Vanity of their mind translates mataiotes, emptiness or futility, thinking that has lost its true object. The chain in verses eighteen and nineteen runs downward in careful steps, darkened understanding to alienation from the life of God to a hardened heart to being past feeling, apalgeo, calloused beyond the reach of pain, ending in lasciviousness pursued with greediness, pleonexia, a wanting that never reaches enough.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
They have lost their moral compass through lack of hope in a future life. Living now as if they had no future, they pollute their own lives with the foulest behaviors. They refuse to submit themselves to the most elementary requirement of faith, which brings …
A commentator
Theodoret of CyrusInterpretation of the Epistle to the Ephesians 4.19 · Written before 458.
proposed
At first their sickness was lawlessness. Then it became indulgence. Having slipped then into a lawless way of life, they gradually came to suffer from lack of remorse. Finally they ventured out toward every sin without fear, living the life of corruption beyond indulgence. This …
"Who being past feeling," saith he, "gave themselves up." Whenever then ye hear, that "God gave them up unto a reprobate mind," remember this expression, that "they gave themselves up." If then they gave themselves over, how did God give them over? and if again God gave them over, how did they give themselves over? Thou seest the seeming contradiction. The word, "gave them over," then, means this, He permitted them to be given over. Seest thou, that the impure life is the ground for like doctrines also? "Every one," saith the Lord, "that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light." For how could a profligate man, one more immersed in the practice of indiscriminate lewdness than the swine that wallow in the mire, and who is a lover of money, and has not so much as any desire after temperance, enter upon a life like this? They made the thing, saith he, their "work." Hence their "hardening," hence the "darkness of their understanding." There is such a thing as being in the dark, even while the light is shining, when the eyes are weak; and weak they become, either by the influx of ill humors, or by superabundance of rheum. And so surely is it also here; when the strong current of the affairs of this life overwhelms the perceptive power of the understanding, it is thrown into a state of darkness. And in the same way as if we were placed in the depths under water, we should be unable to see the sun through the quantity of water lying, like a sort of barrier, above us, so surely, in the eyes of the understanding also a blindness of the heart takes place, that is, an insensibility, whenever there is no fear to agitate the soul. […]
"With greediness," saith he. Here he has most completely taken away their excuse; for it was in their power, if at least they chose it, not to be "greedy," nor to be "lascivious," nor gluttonous, and yet to enjoy their desires. It was in their power to partake in moderation of riches, and even of pleasure and of luxury; but when they indulged the thing immoderately, they destroyed all.
"To work all uncleanness," saith he. Ye see how he strips them of all excuse by speaking of "working uncleanness." They did not sin, he means, by making a false step, but they worked out these horrid deeds, and they made the thing a matter of study. "All uncleanness"; uncleanness is all adultery, fornication, unnatural lust, envy, every kind of profligacy and lasciviousness.
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then the Apostle goes on to portray how their exterior manner of life was once they lost hope, a loss due to their alienation from life. "I have done with hope. I shall now live no longer" (Job 7:16). "And they said: We have no …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The sixth judgment of God is the judgment of despair, namely when the Lord takes away hope from man, and man believes himself to be deprived of eternal glory. Of such it is said: "Despairing, they gave themselves over to lasciviousness, unto the working of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who being past feeling,....
They made it their common practice to commit all sorts of uncleanness, and even the most unnatural and monstrous sins, and that with insatiable desires. Observe, When men's consciences are once seared, there are no bounds to their sins.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Who being past feeling - Wholly hardened in sin. There is a total want of all emotion on moral subjects. This is an accurate description of the state of a sinner. He has no “feeling,” no emotion. He often gives an intellectual assent to the truth, But it is without emotion of any kind. The heart is insensible as the hard rock. Have given themselves over - They have done it voluntarily. In Rom 1:24, it is said that “God gave them up.” There is no inconsistency.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"Lawless insolence, and wanton caprice" [TRENCH]. to work all uncleanness--The Greek implies, "with a deliberate view to the working (as if it were their work or business, not a mere accidental fall into sin) of uncleanness of every kind." with greediness--Greek, "in greediness." Uncleanness and greediness of gain often go hand in hand (Eph 5:3, 5;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
5. Who being past feeling - Οιτινες απηλγηκοτες. The verb απαλγειν signifies, 1. To throw off all sense of shame, and to be utterly devoid of pain, for committing unrighteous acts. 2. To be desperate, having neither hope nor desire of reformation; in a word, to be without remorse, and to be utterly regardless of conduct, character, or final blessedness. Instead of απηλγηκοτες, several excellent MSS. and versions have απηλπικοτες, being without hope; that is, persons who, from their manner of life in this world, could not possibly hope for blessedness in the world to come, and who might feel it their interest to deny the resurrection of the body, and even the immortality of the soul. 6. Have given themselves over unto lasciviousness - Lasciviousness, ασελγεια, is here personified; and the Gentiles in question are represented as having delivered themselves over to her jurisdiction. This is a trite picture of the Gentile world: uncleanness, lechery, and debauchery of every kind, flourished among them without limit or restraint. Almost all their gods and goddesses were of this character. 7. To work all uncleanness with greediness - This is a complete finish of the most abandoned character; to do an unclean act is bad, to labor in it is worse, to labor in all uncleanness is worse still; but to do all this in every case to the utmost extent, εν πλεονεξια, with a desire exceeding time, place, opportunity, and strength, is worst of all, and leaves nothing more profligate or more abandoned to be described or imagined; just as Ovid paints the drunken Silenus, whose wantonness survives his strength and keeps alive his desires, though old age has destroyed the power of gratification: - Te quoque, inextinctae Silene libidinis, urunt: Nequitia est, quae te non sinit esse senem. Fast., lib. i. v. […]
Modern Voices1 voice
He had a horrible fairness of the intellect that made me despair of his soul. A common, harmless atheist would have denied that religion produced humility or humility a simple joy: but he admitted both. He only said, "But shall I not find in evil …
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οἵτινες | oitines | who | G3748 → | 144 times |
| ἀπηλγηκότες | apelgekotes | having cast off all feeling | G524 → | |
| ἑαυτοὺς | he'autous | themselves | G1438 → | 322 times |
| παρέδωκαν | paredokan | they gave up | G3860 → | 119 times |
| τῇ | tea | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀσελγείᾳ | aselgeia | to sensuality | G766 → | |
| εἰς | eis | for | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| ἐργασίαν | ergasian | [the] working | G2039 → | |
| ἀκαθαρσίας | akatharsias | of impurity | G167 → | |
| πάσης | pases | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ἐν | en | with | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| πλεονεξίᾳ.¶ | pleonexia | greediness. | G4124 → |
οἵτινεςwho
oitinesG3748 →144 times
ἀπηλγηκότεςhaving cast off all feeling
apelgekotesG524 →
ἑαυτοὺςthemselves
he'autousG1438 →322 times
παρέδωκανthey gave up
paredokanG3860 →119 times
τῇ<the>
teaG3588 →19766 times
ἀσελγείᾳto sensuality
aselgeiaG766 →
εἰςfor
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἐργασίαν[the] working
ergasianG2039 →
ἀκαθαρσίαςof impurity
akatharsiasG167 →
πάσηςall
pasesG3956 →1235 times
ἐνwith
enG1722 →2738 times
πλεονεξίᾳ.¶greediness.
pleonexiaG4124 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Colossians 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
it leads to
- Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Galatians 5:24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Romans 6:13
Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of…
- Romans 8:13
Through
Jude 1:11Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:15
They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- 1 John 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
- Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food…
- 2 Peter 2:15
Where this verse is studied
About Ephesians
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.19; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2; GK Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles, The Diabolist (1909); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Ephesians 13; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretation of the Epistle to the Ephesians 4.19; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Ephesians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Ephesians.