Ephesians 5:18 BSB — MannaFest

Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit;

KJV

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

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Commentary

4 voices

Ambrose of Milan

On the Sacraments 5.3.17 (397)

Hence the Apostle says: Do not get drunk with wine... but be filled with the Holy Spirit; for those who are drunk with wine stagger and stumble, but those who are intoxicated in the Spirit are rooted in Christ. And therefore, the excellent drunkenness, which operates the sobriety of the mind.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess - This is a farther allusion to the Bacchanalian mysteries; in them his votaries got drunk, and ran into all manner of excesses. Plato, though he forbade drunkenness in general, yet allowed that the people should get drunk in the solemnities of that god who invented wine. And indeed this was their common custom; when they had offered their sacrifices they indulged themselves in drunkenness, and ran into all kinds of extravagance.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2111: “Filling With the Spirit and Drunkenness With Wine” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1889)

WHILE I was reading to you just now, in the fourth and fifth chapters of Paul's letter to the Ephesian Believers, I could not help feeling that you could little understand the elevation and the purity of the precepts of the Apostle, as they must have appeared to the inhabitants of such a wicked city as Ephesus. When first read, these precepts must have seemed like an unearthly light. We have now a public sentiment which condemns drunkenness, lying, and many other vices which were scarcely considered worthy of censure by that degraded people.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

So also in ordinary Christians the Spirit dwells not in the mind that seeks the disturbing influences of excitement, but in the well-balanced prayerful mind. Such a one expresses his joy, not in drunken or worldly songs, but in Christian hymns of thankfulness.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
μεθύσκεσθε	methuskesthe	do be drunk	G3182 →
οἴνῳ,	oinō	with wine,	G3631 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
ᾧ	hō	which	G3739 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
ἀσωτία,	asōtia	debauchery,	G810 →
ἀλλὰ	alla	Instead	G235 →
πληροῦσθε	plērousthe	do be filled	G4137 →
ἐν	en	with	G1722 →
πνεύματι	pneumati	[the] Spirit	G4151 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Romans 13:13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
leads to
- Galatians 5:21
  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3–5
  For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
Through
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
leads to
- Hosea 4:11
  Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Isaiah 28:7
  These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling…
- 1 Corinthians 6:10
  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
- Proverbs 31:4
  It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
Through
Luke 1:15
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
leads to
- Jeremiah 1:5
  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
- Numbers 6:2–4
  “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Ephesians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Ephesians