Efésios 5
Ambrosiaster · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Efésios 5:3
What a grave sin is covetousness, though we gloss over it when compared with fornication and uncleanness. We treat covetousness as a minor fault when in fact it is a grave matter. No one can be a saint in whom is found any of these things that he forbids. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.3
Efésios 5:5
To teach us that covetousness is such a dangerous thing, he calls it idolatry, no sin being greater than this. But why is covetousness called idolatry? Idolatry usurps the honor of God and claims it for the creature. The holy name of God, which belongs solely to the Creator, is thereby applied to creatures. Covetousness is viewed on a level with idolatry because the covetous person similarly usurps for himself what belongs to God and hides them away. Covetousness withholds the resources offered by God for the common use of all. It hoards them to itself so that others may not use them. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.5.1
Efésios 5:7-8
"Once you were darkness" suggests ignorance. No one sees clearly in shadows. The ignorance referred to is disbelief, harking back to pagan days. Those who lived in darkness have been drawn to faith by the grace of God, which has been brought to light, that is, truth. Things that exist are made apparent in the light. Paganism remains deluded as with covered eyes they celebrate their own mysteries as if in the shadows of a cave. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.8
Efésios 5:10
From the abundance of his holiness and goodness it is possible to know what works delight God. … In his holiness we are purified. In his mercy we are brought to full and perfect righteousness. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.10
Efésios 5:14
By sleep he signifies a stupor of the mind. The sleepers are lost from the true path. This estrangement is a kind of death, from which he calls them to rise that they may repent and acknowledge the truth, which is Christ. Thus the faithless and vicious, steeped as they are in mud without hope of life, are called to rise and come out and have a share in life with Christ, so as to pass from the shadows out to the light and from death to life. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.14
Efésios 5:15
Paul has previously ordained that false and vicious lives be exposed by the servants of God. He now adds a qualifier: they are to be exposed in a careful manner to avoid scandal. The faithful must be prudent in their conduct among the faithless, especially at a time when the faithless hold dominion, trusting in an unholy ruler. If then a Christian encounters a troubler who is turbulent and angry, he should be cautious in his presence so as not to incite him to blaspheme or raise a storm. He will utter his words where occasion offers. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.15.1
Efésios 5:17
Do what you have to do with moderation. This is the will of the Lord. Do not allow commotion and din or discord with bad feeling to give rise to estrangement. So Paul adds these words to what he has said about his wish that the servants of God should admonish wrongdoing. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.17
Efésios 5:18
It is good conduct that strikes fear in the wrongdoer. Only one who is sober is prepared to counsel another realistically and with confidence. The person being counseled feels less resentment when he knows how good is the actual conduct of the one who admonishes him. But where there is intoxication there is also debauchery, and debauchery causes base deeds. Therefore it is our duty to be sober, so that the requirements of good conduct may be observed. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.18
Efésios 5:19
If we are living well, we are always being filled with the Holy Spirit so as to confess and extol the gift of God. The Holy Spirit loves this way of life. This is especially expressed in songs, that praise may be sung to God by every tongue. If the Spirit is dwelling within someone, he is always meditating on the Spirit. It is not only his lips that burst forth but his heart. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.19
Efésios 5:20
We are told to give thanks to God for all his gifts. For God has stooped low to adopt us through Christ his own Son, through whom we know God. We have learned that God, being Spirit, is to be adored in the Spirit. So we submit ourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ, who commanded us to pursue humility. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.21
Efésios 5:24
Here is Paul's analogy: As the church takes its beginning from Christ and therefore is subject to him, so too does woman take hers from the man and is subject to him. There is a crucial difference, however, between Christ and the church as opposed to man and woman. The essential difference is that the woman is of the same nature as the man. The church, on the other hand, can participate in Christ in name but not in nature. — EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.24