Ephesians 4:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ephesians 4:14
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
not speaking · adjective — nominative plural masculine
fro
κλυδωνιζόμενοιkludōnizomenoi
G2831
to surge · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
about
περιφερόμενοιperipheromenoi
G4064
to convey around · verb — present passive participle, nominative plural masculine
every
παντὶpanti
G3956
all · adjective — dative singular masculine
wind
ἀνέμῳanemō
G417
wind · noun — dative singular masculine
doctrine
διδασκαλίαςdidaskalias
G1319
instruction (the function or the information) · noun — genitive singular feminine
by
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
sleight
κυβείᾳkubeia
G2940
gambling · noun — dative singular feminine
men
ἀνθρώπωνanthrōpōn
G444
from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive plural masculine
craftiness
πανουργίᾳpanourgia
G3834
adroitness · noun — dative singular feminine
whereby
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
they
τῆςtēs
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — genitive singular feminine
wait
μεθοδείανmethodeian
G3180
travelling over · noun — accusative singular feminine
deceive
πλάνης,planēs
G4106
objectively · noun — genitive singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, whi…
Romans 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
1 Corinthians 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hebrews 5:12-14 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; an…
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ephesians 4:2-16
Here the apostle proceeds to more particular exhortations. Two he enlarges upon in this chapter: - To unity an love, purity and holiness, which Christians should very much study. We do not walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called if we be not faithful friends to all Christians, and sworn enemies to all sin.
This section contains the exhortation to mutual love, unity, and concord, with the proper means and motives to promote them. Nothing is pressed upon us more earnestly in the scriptures than this. Love is the law of Christ's kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. Observe,
I. The means of unity: Lowliness and meekness, long-suffering, and forbearing one anot…
Translate, "To the end that"; the aim of the bestowal of gifts stated negatively, as in Eph 4:13 it is stated positively.
tossed to and fro--inwardly, even without wind; like billows of the sea. So the Greek. Compare Jam 1:6.
carried about--with every wind from without.
doctrine--"teaching." The various teachings are the "winds" which keep them tossed on a sea of doubts (Heb 13:9; compare Mat 11:7).
by--Greek, "in"; expressing "the evil atmosphere in which the varying currents of doctrine exert their force" [ELLICOTT].
sleight--literally, "dice playing." The player frames his throws of the dice so that the numbers may turn up which best suit his purpose.
of men--contrasted with C…
Be no more children - Children, here, are opposed to the perfect man in the preceding verse; and the state of both is well explained by the apostle's allusions. The man is grown up strong and healthy, and has attained such a measure or height as qualifies him for the most respectable place in the ranks of his country.
The child is ignorant, weak, and unsteady, tossed about in the nurse's arms, or whirled round in the giddy sports or mazes of youth; this seems to be the apostle's allusion. Being tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, refers to some kind of ancient play, but what I cannot absolutely determine; probably to something similar to a top, or to our paper k…
The Church Fathers
And again in another speech Paul condemneth the heretics and sheweth that all their doctrine standeth in cunning. "Let us not be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of the deceitful doctrines of the children of men, who in their cunning act craftily to lead astray; but let us be firm in our love that we may make to grow up everything of ours in Christ."
These are they that "stretch the warp and weave nothing," says the Scripture; prosecuting a bootless task, which the apostle has called "cunning craftiness of men whereby they lie in wait to deceive." "For there are," he says, "many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers:" Wherefore it was not said to all, "Ye are the salt of the earth." For there are some even of the hearers of the word who are like the fishes of the sea, which, reared from their birth in brine, yet need salt to dress them for food.
"That we may be no longer."-The word, "no longer," shows that they had of old been in this case, and he reckons himself moreover as a subject for correction, and corrects himself. For this cause, he would say, are there so many workmen, that the building may not be shaken, may not be "carried about," that the stones may be firmly fixed. For this is the character of children, to be tossed to and fro, to be carried about and shaken. "That we may be no longer," saith he, "children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error." "And carried about," saith he, "with every wind." He comes to this figure of speech, to point out in how great peril doubting souls are. "With every wind," saith he, "by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error." The word "sleight" means the art of gamesters. Such are the "crafty," whenever they lay hold on the simpler sort. For they also change and shift about everything. He here glances also at human life.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Child — This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Gen. 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he…
Reed — (1.) “Paper reeds” (Isa. 19:7; R.V., “reeds”). Heb. ‘aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places. (2.) Heb. kaneh (1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a “cane,” a…
Deceit · Impose on others by — Impose on others by
Decision · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Doctrines · FALSE — FALSE
Doctrines, False · Should be avoided by: Saints — Should be avoided by: Saints
Edification · Described — Described
Instability · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Perseverance · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Wind · .Of heresy — .Of heresy
Wind, The · Illustrative: Of false doctrines — Illustrative: Of false doctrines
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
That we henceforth be no more children,.... Meaning not children of men, for grace does not destroy natural relations; nor children of God, which is a privilege, and always continues; nor indeed children of disobedience, though the saints cease to be such upon conversion; but in such sense children, as they were when first converted, newborn babes, little children: there are some things in which they should be children still, namely, with respect to an ardent and flaming love to God and Christ, and to the saints; and with regard to their eager desire after the sincere milk of the word; and as to pride, malice, envy, evil speakings, guile and hypocrisy; in these things it becomes them to be c…
Ephesians 4:11-14
11. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
11. Et ipse dedit alios quidem apostolos, alios autem prophetas, alios vero evangelistas, alios pastores et doctores,
12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
12. Ad instaurationem sanctorum, in opus ministerii, in aedificationem corporis Christi,
13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
13. Usquedum occurramus omnes in unitatem fidei, et cognitionis Filii Dei, in virum per…
We won’t be tossed and blown about: Mature Christians, with a well-grounded knowledge of the Good News and of Christ himself, will be able to discern and resist false teaching (see Gal 1:6-7; 3:1; Col 2:8-23; 1 Tim 1:3-7; 4:1-3; 6:3-5, 20; 2 Tim 4:3-4; Titus 1:11).
