G R E E K W O R D S T U DY
WITHOUT GREEK
Paul on Dirty Jokes:
Crude Joking
in Ephesians 5:4
A N D R E W
B .
In previous word
studies, we’ve devoted
a good deal of space to
the important principle
that one must study
all the occurrences of
a word in their various
contexts as part of
determining word
meaning in a particular
verse. That works well
when a word is used
more than once. But
what about a situation
when a word only
occurs one time and
you can’t compare any
other usages in the
Bible? What do we do
then? That’s precisely
the problem in Eph 5:4.
The frequency of
eutrapelia can be
determined by searching
for the word in Bible
software, or by looking
up “joking” in Strong’s
and counting the
occurrences listed with
the number 2160.
A lexicon is an in-depth
dictionary of a specific
collection of writings.
Lexicons provide detailed
definitions and insight into
a word’s usage in a range of
Greek writings.
Go to Logos.com/BDAG
May : June | 41
P errin
STEP 1
In Eph 5:4, Paul warns readers, “Let there be no filthiness nor
foolish talk nor crude joking.” Two of these words are what
scholars call a hapax legomenon—a word that appears only
one time in a body of literature. In this issue’s word study,
we’re going to focus on one of these words as a means of
illustrating how to study a word that only occurs once.
Make the Switch to Greek and Establish a Preliminary Definition
Using The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear
New Testament look directly below the English
translation “crude joking” in Eph 5:4. Here we
find the topic of our investigation, the Greek
word eutrapelia (εὐτραπελία).
Screenshot of Logos Bible Software's ESV English-Greek Reverse
Interlinear New Testament at Eph 5:4 (Mac version).
STEP 2
We can also establish a preliminary definition
using the reverse interlinear. Take note of the
number 2160 next to eutrapelia and look it up in
the numerically keyed Greek Dictionary-Index
appended to The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible. This resource also
reveals how many times a given word occurs
in the New Testament, since it lists the
occurrences.
Another strategy is to right-click eutrapelia
in your Bible software and look-up the word
in Strong’s dictionary which suggests that
eutrapelia means “coarse joking” or “vulgar
jesting.” You may be wondering how that
translation or definition was determined since
our word appears only once. We’ll touch on that
in a moment. For now, what we find in Strong’s
is an acceptable starting point.
Briefly Track the Word through Greek Literature
Since our word only appears once, it may not be
included in all types of lexicons. For example, in
the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
(Abridged in One Volume), there is no article for
eutrapelia. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
(bdag) contains an entry for our word, so that
will be our source for tracking its usage in other
Greek literature. (In Logos, we can double-click
on eutrapelia in our reverse interlinear and the
entry in our preferred lexicon opens.)
bdag notes that several ancient authors used
eutrapelia positively, for “wittiness.” Josephus (a
first-century ad Jewish historian) used eutrapelia
to describe the ice-breaking impudent humor
of an emissary from the Jerusalem temple who
won over the Roman King Ptolemy (Jewish
Antiquities 12.173). bdag also notes that, for
Aristotle, the word described a kind of humor
between “buffoonery” and “boorishness.” This
is contrary to the “crude joking” of the esv
and our beginning definition from Strong’s,
so it is apparent that the meaning of the word
underwent a shift from the earlier period to
the time of the New Testament. This doesn’t
really help us determine the word’s meaning in
Eph 5:4, but instead alerts us to another problem
with word studies: word meanings change over
time. We need to be wary, therefore, of assigning
certainty to any meaning from a time period
removed from the New Testament.
Three easy steps for working with the original text of your Bible.
STEP 3
Survey the Usage of the Word in the Old Testament & Context
This step may seem odd since we are dealing with
a single occurrence of a word. Despite having
only Eph 5:4, we can still examine the immediate
context of the occurrence. The prohibition
against foolish or silly talk (
)
immediately before eutrapelia in Eph 5:4 is
consistent with pre-New Testament meanings for
eutrapelia. Since it also is a hapax legomenon, it
isn’t much help on its own for justifying the “crude
joking” idea we find in English translations. In
Eph 5:3-5, Paul appears concerned with proper
sexual conduct, condemning sexual immorality
(porneia,
) and impurity (akatharsia,
) twice (Eph 5:3, 5). It is this immediate
context that has led translators and interpreters
to gravitate toward the notion of crude (sexual)
talk for the meaning of eutrapelia in Eph 5:4.
This choice is not entirely foreign outside the New
Testament. Returning to bdag, we note that the
lexicon includes one citation from Isocrates (fourth
century bc) that the editors deem has the meaning
of “coarse jesting, risqué wit.” bdag considers this a
similar meaning in context to Eph 5:4.
CONCLUSION
As with other words that occur only once, we
don’t have much to go on to determine meaning
with certainty. We therefore have to exercise
caution in our conclusions. Lexicons are limited
in space, and so eutrapelia may occur many other
times in Greek material with a broader range of
meanings than indicated in bdag. Likewise the
immediate context of Eph 5:3-5 includes more
elements than sexual immorality and impurity.
Paul also mentions covetousness, ingratitude, and
idolatry in these verses. This compels us to admit
that Paul’s understanding of eutrapelia may have
been conditioned by those other terms. We can
conclude that the immediate context and at least
one reference outside the New Testament supports
the association of eutrapelia with sexuality and
impurity. We cannot conclude that this is the only
reasonable possibility.
Andrew B. Perrin
is a candidate for
an m.a. in Biblical
Studies at Trinity
Western University.
He is the Research
Assistant to the
Canada Research
Chair in Dead Sea
Scrolls Studies.
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