What Does Ephesians 5:5 Mean?
For this you know, that no fornicator, nor unclean one, nor grasper for more, who serves an image, has any portion in the governance of the Anointed One and of God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.THE KEY
This verse names covetousness as idolatry: the grasp for a larger share becomes the allegiance that governs a life.
THE MEANING
You know that sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greedy grasping have no share in the inheritance within the governance of Christ and God. Here, coveting is idolatry: the desire for more becomes a rival allegiance. The inheritance is participation in that governance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that greed is only a private appetite, unrelated to worship.
THE ROOT
πλεονέκτης
pleonektēs
GROWS FROM
πλεονεκτ- (pleonekt-), from πλέον (pleon, more) + ἔχω (echō, have)
To have or claim more; to reach for a greater share.
“grasper for more” in this verse is pleonektēs. The word carries more than desire: it pictures someone reaching for an increased share. By calling this person an idolater, the verse reveals that greed can become devotion to what promises “more.”
ALSO GROWS
pleonexia: Greed; covetousness.
πλεονεξία
This related noun names the appetite itself, the same grasping desire the verse calls idolatry.
pleonekteō: To take advantage of; to defraud.
πλεονεκτέω
This verb shows how reaching for more can mean taking another person’s share, not simply possessing plenty.
εἰδωλολάτρης
eidōlolatrēs
GROWS FROM
εἴδωλον (eidōlon, idol or image) + λατρεύω (latreuō, serve in worship)
One who serves an idol; a person devoted to an image or object of worship.
“one who serves an image” in this verse is eidōlolatrēs. The word combines an idol or image with service in worship. Calling the covetous person an idolater reveals that what is grasped for can take the place of what is served.
ALSO GROWS
eidōlon: An idol or image.
εἴδωλον
It names the object of devotion, showing that idolatry has an object toward which a person’s service is directed.
latreuō: To serve or render worship.
λατρεύω
This verb brings out the allegiance in idolatry and clarifies why coveting is described as worship.
κληρονομία
klēronomia
GROWS FROM
κληρονόμ- (klēronom-), related to κλῆρος (klēros, lot or share) + νέμω (nemō, apportion)
An apportioned share received as an inheritance.
“portion” in this verse is klēronomia. Inheritance carries the sense of a share apportioned to an heir. The verse speaks about participation in the governance of Christ and God, not merely about possession of property.
ALSO GROWS
klēronomos: An heir.
κληρονόμος
The related word identifies the person who receives the share, sharpening the verse’s language of participation.
klēronomeō: To inherit; to receive as an inheritance.
κληρονομέω
This verb makes inheritance an act of receiving a share, the participation the verse says greed does not possess.
THE PATTERN
A grasping desire can become worship, and the allegiance a life serves determines its share in God’s governance.
You shall not desire your neighbor's house. You shall not desire your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will hold fast to one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.Put to death therefore your limbs that are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, the seizure, evil craving, and grasping for more, which is the service of images.THE THREAD
Put to death therefore your limbs that are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, the seizure, evil craving, and grasping for more, which is the service of images.Colossians uses πλεονεξία (pleonexia, greed or covetousness) and directly calls it idolatry. That shared word reveals the same mechanism in Ephesians: the reach for more has become service to an idol.
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