Ephesians 5:8
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Study Note
Study Note
The ontological declaration 'ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord' does not merely say believers were once in darkness but that they were darkness itself — a thorough moral and spiritual condition, not just a location. The transformation is grounded 'in the Lord' rather than in moral effort, indicating a change of status (transfer from one dominion to another) that precedes and grounds the ethical imperative 'walk as children of light.' The light-darkness dualism, prominent in Qumran's Rule of the Community, here receives a Christological resolution: light is not an abstract principle but participation in Christ who declared himself 'the light of the world' (John 8:12). The 'fruit of the Spirit' parallel in verse 9 (goodness, righteousness, truth) links Ephesians 5 to Galatians 5's fruit imagery and establishes the ethical texture of light-walk.
Other Translations
for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light
for ye were once darkness, and now light in the Lord; as children of light walk ye,
For you at one time were dark, but now are light in the Lord: let your behaviour be that of children of light
Cross References
Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow …
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee …
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out …
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that …
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of …
That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed …
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.