Ephesians 5:4 – rather thanksgiving

…and vileness and stupid speaking or insinuendo, which are not proper, but rather thanksgiving.

In the previous verse Paul mentioned three examples of sexual behaviour, opposed to “what is becoming in saints”. In this verse he mentions three examples of verbal behaviour – i.e. the tongue.

Vileness should let us think of obnoxious and obscene use of language. Stupid speaking doesn’t need much explanation: it refers to speaking without content, taste and sense. The Greek word that here is displayed with insinuendo (the only time that It’s used in the NT), points to nasty innuendo’s.

Everyone feels that all this kind of speaking is inappropriate. In any case for the saints. Paul doesn’t even try to prove it; for him it’s obvious. But also here Paul puts something positive toward it: thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is in Greek ‘eucharistia’, and that is composed by the words for ‘good’ and ‘joy (for free)’, i.e. ‘grace’.  Thanksgiving is not dishonourable, but enjoyable. Not stupid, but rich of content and sense. Not insinuendo, but constructive. Thanksgiving points upwards. Thanksgiving makes conscious of GOD. Thanksgiving makes happy, because it makes the human looking upwards.

Delen: