Ephesians 4:18

Amplified Bible

for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
They have no understanding, and they know nothing because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives.

Revised Standard Version
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;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
blynded in their vnderstondynge beynge straungers from the lyfe which is in god thorow the ignorancy that is in them because of the blyndnes of their hertes:

Hebrew Names Version
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;

New American Standard Bible
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;

New Century Version
They do not understand, and they know nothing, because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives.

Update Bible Version
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;

Webster's Bible Translation
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:

English Standard Version
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.

World English Bible
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, by the ignorance that is in them, through the hardness of their hearts:

Weymouth's New Testament
with darkened understandings, having by reason of the ignorance which is deep-seated in them and the insensibility of their moral nature, no share in the Life which God gives.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that han vndurstondyng derkned with derknessis, and ben alienyd fro the lijf of God, bi ignoraunce that is in hem, for the blyndenesse of her herte.

English Revised Version
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;

Berean Standard Bible
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Contemporary English Version
Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right,

American Standard Version
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;

Bible in Basic English
Whose thoughts are dark, to whom the life of God is strange because they are without knowledge, and their hearts have been made hard;

Complete Jewish Bible
Their intelligence has been shrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance in them, which in turn comes from resisting God's will.

Darby Translation
being darkened in understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their hearts,

International Standard Version
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.Acts 26:18; Romans 1:21; Galatians 4:8; Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:5;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
and are darkened in their understandings, and are alienated from the life of Aloha on account of their ignorance, [fn] and on account of the blindness of their hearts;

Murdock Translation
and they are dark in their understandings, and are alienated from the life of God, because there is not in them knowledge, and because of the blindness of their heart.

King James Version (1611)
Hauing the vnderstanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindnesse of their heart:

New Living Translation
Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

New Life Bible
Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him.

New Revised Standard
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Hauing their vnderstanding darkened, and being strangers from the life of God through the ignorace that is in them, because of the hardnesse of their heart:

George Lamsa Translation
And whose understanding is dark, and who are alienated from the life of God, because they have no knowledge, and because of the blindness of their hearts;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God - by reason of the ignorance that existeth within them, by reason of their hearts being turned into stone,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Having their understanding darkened: being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Darkened in cogitation, being alienated from the lyfe of God by the ignoraunce that is in them, by the blindnesse of their heartes.

Good News Translation
and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn.

Christian Standard Bible®
They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

King James Version
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:

Lexham English Bible
being darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart,

Literal Translation
having been darkened in the intellect, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them because of the hardness of their heart,

Young's Literal Translation
being darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
blynded in their vnderstondinge, beynge straungers fro the life which is in God thorow the ignoraunce that is in them, because of the blyndnes of their hert:

Mace New Testament (1729)
which are overspread with darkness, and averse to a religious life, thro' their innate ignorance and obduracy:

New English Translation
They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

New King James Version
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;

Simplified Cowboy Version
Their minds are as foggy as a humid valley morning. They don't know sic 'em from come here. They have shut their eyes and ears and now their hearts are like stone against him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
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;

Legacy Standard Bible
being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷So this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls], ¹⁸for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.¹⁹And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand]. ²⁰But you did not learn Christ in this way! ²¹If in fact you have [really] heard Him and have been taught by Him, just as truth is in Jesus [revealed in His life and personified in Him], ²²that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, ²³and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude], ²⁴and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God's image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation]. ²⁵Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ]. ²⁶BE ANGRY [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], YET DO NOT SIN; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the understanding: Psalms 74:20, Psalms 115:4-8, Isaiah 44:18-20, Isaiah 46:5-8, Acts 17:30, Acts 26:17, Acts 26:18, Romans 1:21-23, Romans 1:28, 1 Corinthians 1:21, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Galatians 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:5

alienated: Ephesians 2:12, Romans 8:7, Romans 8:8, Galatians 4:8, Colossians 1:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:5, James 4:4

because: Romans 1:21, Romans 2:19, 1 John 2:11

blindness: or, hardness, Daniel 5:20, Matthew 13:15, John 12:40, Romans 11:25, *marg.

Reciprocal: Leviticus 11:16 - General Deuteronomy 29:4 - General Psalms 14:4 - Have Isaiah 25:7 - he will Isaiah 30:11 - cause Isaiah 44:9 - their own Lamentations 4:14 - have wandered Ezekiel 12:2 - which Ezekiel 14:5 - estranged Hosea 4:14 - therefore Matthew 6:23 - thine Mark 3:5 - hardness Romans 1:24 - God Romans 11:10 - their eyes 1 Corinthians 12:2 - that Ephesians 5:8 - ye were Colossians 1:13 - the power 1 Peter 1:14 - not

Cross-References

Genesis 5:21
When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah.

Genesis 36:2
Esau took his [three] wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Having the understanding darkened,.... Not that the natural faculty of the understanding is lost in men, nor the understanding in things natural and civil, and which is quick enough, especially in things that are evil; but in things spiritual it is very dark and ignorant, as about the nature and perfections of God, his holiness and righteousness; about sin and the consequences of it; about Christ, his person, office, and work, and salvation by him; about the Spirit, and his work of grace upon the soul; and about the Scripture, and the doctrines contained in it; and so it came to be by sin: the understanding of man was at first filled both with natural and divine knowledge; but man was not content with this, and being ambitious of more, even of being as God, lost what he had; for on account of his sin he was banished from the divine presence, which brought not only a darkness upon him, but upon all his posterity; and which is increased by personal iniquity, and oftentimes by Satan the god of this world, who blinds the minds of men; and sometimes men are given up in just judgment by God, to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart; and which issues in utter darkness, in blackness of darkness for evermore:

being alienated from the life of God; not that which God lives in himself, but that which he lives in his people; nor that natural life which men receive from him, but a spiritual life, a life of grace, faith and holiness; and which may be called the life of God, because it is infused by the Spirit of God, and the word of God is the means of it, and it is supported and secured by the power of God, and is according to the will of God, and is directed to his glory: now wicked and unconverted men are alienated from this life; they are estranged from God the fountain of it; and go astray from the law, the rule of an holy life; and are entirely destitute of a principle of life, from whence men can only act and are utterly unacquainted with the pleasures and sweetness of the life of faith and holiness; nor do they approve of such a life, but have the utmost aversion to it:

through the ignorance that is in them; every unregenerate man is an ignorant man, and especially the Gentiles were very ignorant of God, and of divine things; ignorance is natural to men, it comes by sin, and is itself sinful, and is sometimes the punishment of sin, and also the cause of it, as here of alienation from the life of God; for where is ignorance of God, there can be no desire after him, no communion with him, no faith in him, had dependence on him; no true worship of him, or living according to his will, and to his glory: and this ignorance is,

because of the blindness of their hearts, or "the hardness of it"; there is a natural hardness of the heart, the heart is naturally stony, and so it remains till grace takes away the stony heart, and gives an heart of flesh; it is insensible and inflexible, and not susceptive of any impression; and there is a voluntary hardness of it, men willingly harden themselves against the Lord, and make their hearts like an adamant stone, all sin is of an hardening nature; and there is a judicial hardness, which God gives up men unto; and when and where this is the case, in either sense, it is no wonder men should be so ignorant of God, and so alienated from the life of him:

סמיות הלב, "blindness of heart" c, is a Rabbinical phrase.

c T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 105. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Having 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 indulgence in sin. A man who is intemperate, has no just views of the government of the appetites. A man who is unchaste, has no perception of the loveliness of purity. A man who is avaricious or covetous, has no just views of the beauty of benevolence. A man who indulges in low vices, will weaken his mental powers, and render himself incapable of intellectual effort. Indulgence in vice destroys the intellect as well as the body, and unfits a man to appreciate the truth of a proposition in morals, or in mathematics, or the beauty of a poem, as well as the truth and beauty of religion.

Nothing is more obvious than that indulgence in sin weakens the mental powers, and renders them unfit for high intellectual effort. This is seen all over the pagan world now - in the stolid, stupid mind; the perverted moral sense; the incapacity for profound or protracted mental effort, as really as it was among the pagans to whom Paul preached. The missionary who goes among the pagan has almost to create an “intellect” as well as a “conscience,” before the gospel will make an impression. It is seen, too, in all the intellect of the bar, the senate, the pulpit, and the medical profession, that is ruined by intemperance, and in the intellect of multitudes of young men wasted by licentiousness and drunkenness. I know that under the influence of ambition and stimulating drinks, the intellect may seem to put forth unnatural efforts, and to glow with an intensity nowhere else seen. But it “soon burns out” - and the wastes of such an intellect become soon like the hardened scoriae of the volcano, or the cinders of the over-heated furnace. Learn hence, that if a man wishes to be blessed with a clear understanding, he should he a “good man.” He who wishes a mind well balanced and clear, should fear and love God; and had Christianity done no other good on earth than to elevate the “intellect” of mankind, it would have been the richest blessing which has ever been vouchsafed to the race. It follows, too, that as man has debased his “understanding” by sin, it is needful to make an exertion to elevate it again: and hence a large part of the efforts to save people must consist in patient “instruction.” Hence, the necessity of schools at missionary stations.

Being alienated - see the notes on Ephesians 2:12.

From the life of God - From a life “like” that of God, or a life of which he is the source and author. The meaning is, that they lived a life which was “unlike” God, or which he could not approve. Of the truth of this in regard to the pagan everywhere, there can be no doubt; see the notes on Romans 1:0.

Through the ignorance that is in them - The ignorance of the true God, and of what constituted virtue; compare notes on Romans 1:20-23.

Because of the blindness of their heart - Margin, “hardness.” Hardness is a better word. It is a better translation of the Greek; and it better accords with the design of the apostle. Here the reason is stated why they lived and acted as they did, and why the “understanding” was blinded. It is not that God has enfeebled the human intellect by a judicial sentence on account of the sin of Adam, and made it incapable of perceiving I the truth. It is not that there is any I deficiency or incapacity of natural powers. It is not that the truths of religion are so exalted that man has no natural ability to understand them, for they may be as well understood as any other truth; see the notes on 1 Corinthians 1:14. The simple reason is, “the hardness or the heart.” That is the solution given by an inspired apostle, and that is enough. A man who has a blind and hard heart sees no beauty in truth, and feels not its force, and is insensible to all its appeals. Learn, then:

(1) That people are to blame for the blindness of their understanding. Whatever proceeds from a “wicked heart” they are responsible for. But for mere “inferiority of intellect” they would not be to blame.

(2) They are under obligation to repent and love God. If it was required of them to enlarge their intellects, or create additional faculties of mind, they could not be bound to do it. But where the whole thing required is to have a “better heart,” they may be held responsible.

(3) The way to elevate the understandings of mankind is to purify the heart. The approach must be made through the affections. Let people “feel” right toward God, and they will soon “think” right; let the heart be pure, and the understanding will be clear.

(Doubtless there is a reciprocal influence between the dark mind and depraved heart. The one acts on the other. Admitting that the understanding is affected “first,” through the will or heart, and that it is a bad heart which makes a spiritually dark mind, still the fact remains the same, that “in consequence of our union with Adam, in consequence of the fall,” all our faculties, understanding, will, affections, have been corrupted. See the supplementary notes, Romans 5:0)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 18. 2. 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 in the soul of man was that by which God intended to make man happy, and without which true happiness was never found by any human spirit: from this through the ignorance that was in them, δια την αγνοιαν την ουσαν, through the substantial or continually existing ignorance, which there was nothing to instruct, nothing to enlighten; for the most accurate writings of their best philosophers left them entirely ignorant of the real nature of God. And if they had no correct knowledge of the true God they could have no religion; and if no religion, no morality. Their moral state became so wretched that they are represented as abhorring every thing spiritual and pure, for this is the import of the word απηλλοτριωμενοι (which we translate alienated) in some of the best Greek writers. They abhorred every thing that had a tendency to lay any restraint on their vicious passions and inclinations.

4. Blindness of their heart — δια την πωρωσιν. Because of the callousness of their hearts. Callous signifies a thickening of the outward skin of any particular part, especially on the hands and feet, by repeated exercise or use, through which such parts are rendered insensible. This may be metaphorically applied to the conscience of a sinner, which is rendered stupid and insensible by repeated acts of iniquity.