Ephesians 4:18

ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ, ὄντες ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν·

RBT Greek Interlinear:

Strongs 4656; eskotōmenoi; ἐσκοτωμένοι; those who have been darkened; V-RPM/P-NMP

Strongs 3588; tē; τῇ; the; Art-DFS

Strongs 1271; dianoia; διανοίᾳ; thinking; N-DFS

Strongs 1510; ontes; ὄντες; those who are being; V-PPA-NMP

Strongs 526; apēllotriōmenoi; ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι; those who have been alienated from; V-RPM/P-NMP

Strongs 3588; tēs; τῆς; the; Art-GFS

Strongs 2222; zōēs; ζωῆς; life; N-GFS

Strongs 3588; tou; τοῦ; the; Art-GMS

Strongs 2316; Theou; Θεοῦ; God; N-GMS

Strongs 1223; dia; διὰ; across; Prep

Strongs 3588; tēn; τὴν; the; Art-AFS

Strongs 52; agnoian; ἄγνοιαν; ignorance; N-AFS

Strongs 3588; tēn; τὴν; the; Art-AFS

Strongs 1510; ousan; οὖσαν; she who is being; V-PPA-AFS

Strongs 1722; en; ἐν; within; Prep

Strongs 846; autois; αὐτοῖς; to themselves; PPro-DN3P

Strongs 1223; dia; διὰ; across; Prep

Strongs 3588; tēn; τὴν; the; Art-AFS

Strongs 4457; pōrōsin; πώρωσιν; hardness; N-AFS

Strongs 3588; tēs; τῆς; the; Art-GFS

Strongs 2588; kardias; καρδίας; heart; N-GFS

Strongs 846; autōn; αὐτῶν; of themselves; PPro-GN3P

RBT Hebrew Literal:

those who are being ones who have been darkened by the Dialectical Thinking,⁵ those who have been estranged away from the Zoe-Life of the God because of the Ignorant One, the one who is being within themselves because of the Callousness of the Heart of themselves,

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
Being darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God by ignorance being in them, by the hardness of their heart;

LITV Translation:
having been darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them because of the hardness of their heart,

ESV Translation:
Error retrieving verse.

Footnotes

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The phrase ἐσκοτωμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ (Eph. 4:18) presents a syntactic and semantic ambiguity. Grammatically, σκοτόω ("to darken") is a transitive verb that typically takes a direct object in the accusative—thus, "to darken the thinking" would ordinarily appear as τὴν διάνοιαν σκοτοῦν. However, here the noun διάνοια appears in the dative, raising the question of construction.

The dative is construed as (a) a dative of instrument or cause ("darkened by the thinking"), or (b) less precisely, a dative of sphere or reference ("darkened in thinking"), which is the more interpretive rendering, despite lacking an explicit preposition such as ἐν. The former reading is grammatically stricter—suggesting the διάνοια itself as the agent of obscuration—while the latter is semantically idiomatic, portraying the seat or domain of the impairment.