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οἵτινες ἀπηλγηκότες ἑαυτοὺς παρέδωκαν τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ, εἰς ἐργασίαν ἀκαθαρσίας πάσης ἐν πλεονεξίᾳ.
RBT Greek Interlinear:
Strongs 3748  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
hoitines
οἵτινες
anyone who
RelPro-NMP
Strongs 524  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
apēlgēkotes
ἀπηλγηκότες
those who have cast off all feeling
V-RPA-NMP
Strongs 1438  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
heautous
ἑαυτοὺς
themselves
RefPro-AM3P
Strongs 3860  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
paredōkan
παρέδωκαν
have given up
V-AIA-3P
Strongs 3588  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus

τῇ
the
Art-DFS
Strongs 766  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
aselgeia
ἀσελγείᾳ
insolence
N-DFS
Strongs 1519  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
eis
εἰς
into
Prep
Strongs 2039  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
ergasian
ἐργασίαν
working
N-AFS
Strongs 167  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
akatharsias
ἀκαθαρσίας
filth
N-GFS
Strongs 3956  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
pasēs
πάσης
all/every
Adj-GFS
Strongs 1722  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
en
ἐν
within
Prep
Strongs 4124  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
pleonexia
πλεονεξίᾳ
greediness
N-DFS
RBT Hebrew Literal:
ἀπηλγηκότες ἑαυτοὺς - self-imposed condition of ethical deadening, Uncharming People
anyone who have emotionally desensitized their own selves, they handed over to the Insolence6 into a working of every filth within a greediness,
Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
Who no longer having had feeling delivered themselves to licentiousness, to the work of all uncleanness in overreaching.
LITV Translation:
who, having cast off all feeling, gave themselves up to lust, for the working of all uncleanness with greediness.
ESV Translation:
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Footnotes

6

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.