Ephesians 4:19

Uncharming

While ἀσέλγεια is traditionally rendered in English as licentiousness, lasciviousness, or wantonness, these glosses miss the affective dimension of the Greek—namely, that the behavior is not merely indulgent but distasteful, even offensive to others. In this sense, ἀσέλγεια connotes a gross, aggressive moral indecency that repels rather than seduces—a distinction lost in smoother idiomatic translation.

The ancient lexica (especially Etymologicum Magnum and Suda) present competing etymologies, which reflect this ambiguity:

1. ἀ- (privative) + σέλγω (cf. θέλγω “to charm, enchant”)

• Meaning: “un-charming”, i.e., what fails to beguile or please.

• Extended sense: “exciting aversion or disgust”, not pleasure.

• This is the currently preferred derivation, especially as θέλγω often implies magical or erotic charm.
  
  Thus, ἀσελγής → "lacking enchantment" → coarse, repellent behavior.

2. ἆ- (intensive) + σαλάσσειν / σαλάζειν ("to shake, disturb, agitate")

• Meaning: “violently turbulent,” “disruptively indecent”

• Possibly indicates the aggressive, boisterous, and obscene nature of the conduct, particularly in speech or sexuality.