EPHESIANS 5:16 "THE DAYS ARE EVIL"

I hate to be proved wrong, but I I have found that that my own interpretation of this phrase has less than overwhelming support among New Testament scholars. The whole sentence in which it occurs reads as follows in the NRSV: “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil.” My feeling was that the final phrase was some sort of idiomatic way of saying “time is running out,” “time is your enemy,” or “time is short,” expressing the general idea that each person is given only so many years to do Christ's work here on earth. Apparently, that is not the accepted meaning of the phrase according to most commentators. 

Translations and paraphrases do not help much here in supporting my view since they tended instead to emphasize the particular barriers to evangelism present for the particular situation of Paul's audience at the time of writing:

    J.B Phillips: “despite all the difficulties of these days.”

    Living Bible: “these are difficult days”

    The Message: “these are desperate times”

    Jerusalem Bible: “this may be a wicked age but...”

    Anchor Bible: “these days are evil”

Among those commentators who point to the particularly evil nature of a specific time period are the following:

    Hoehner: “The word [poneros] occurs...three times in Ephesians (5:16; 6:13,16)...with the same idea of that which is evil or bad, that which is opposed to God...The days are evil because they are controlled by the god of this age (2:2) who opposes God and his kingdom and who will try to prevent any opportunities for the declaration of God's program and purposes.”

    Kreitzer: “The present age is occasionally described as evil (poneros, Gal 1:4; Eph 5:16; 6:13), and the inhabitants of the world are a 'wicked and perverse generation' (Phil 2:15).”

    M. Barth: “In the face of onrushing evil, the saints are all the more called upon and equipped to consider the present period a time of salvation, to take up the good fight, and to carry it out successfully (6:10-17).”

In addition, some scholars take a decidedly eschatological view regarding the present age vs. the age to come:

    Aune: “In continuity with the temporal dualistic thought of Jewish apocalypticism, Paul also contrasted the present evil age with the coming age of salvation and believed that he was living at the end of the ages (I Cor 10:11).”

    Barth: “Verses 6:11,12,16 make it probable that forthcoming 'evil days' belong to the evil already felt at present. Current sufferings anticipate the final, eschatological tribulations, but both are embraced by the anticipation and ultimate fulfillment of redemption from all evil.”

    R.P. Martin applies the teachings to “days which precede the final crisis of the end of the Age.”

Lastly, are those commentators who either express the same preconceived notion I had or at least open the door for such an interpretation:

    Simpson: “Paul bids his readers walk warily not only in view of the brevity of life here below but of the precarious conditions environing them...The train of thought recalls the language of I Cor. 7:30,31, prefaced by the warning, 'the time is short.'”

    Morris: “Twice Paul speaks of 'redeeming the time' (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5)...They are to make the most of the time given them, the opportunities of service they encounter day by day.”

To bolster up my interpretation of the Ephesians passage, I felt I had located a parallel teaching in Jesus' words recorded in John 9:4 when he tells his followers: “Night is coming when no man can work.” But again, I also found various takes on that verse as well:

    On the one hand, Borchert says that Jesus was referring to the difficult time between Christ's death and reappearance to the disciples. That Jesus was only referring to that narrow window of time seems to be highly doubtful to me.

    In contrast, Morris agrees with my interpretation: “'The night cometh' speaks of the remorseless passage of time removing the present opportunity.”

    And thirdly, there is Blum who states, “Night is the limit set to do God's work. In Jesus' case it was His coming death.” The note in the Jerusalem Bible on this verse agrees: “The life of Jesus is compared to a day's work, 5:17, ending with the night of death. Cf. Lk 13:32”

    Guthrie brings up yet another interpretive possibility when he says that “if the reference is to the mission of Jesus...night would represent the close of the mission. Some, however, have understood the night to refer to the spiritual blindness of our Lord's enemies. The former seems preferable.”

Complicating the situation still further, the manuscript evidence is divided as to wording of the beginning of the passage: “We (or I) must do the the works of him who sent me (or us).” The noted textual critic Bruce Metzger admits that “it is difficult to choose among the readings.”

If the wording is all in the first person, then it would seem to refer to Jesus' ministry on earth, which terminated with his death. But O.M. Hendricks says, “Jesus includes his disciples in the fulfillment of his mission.” It turns out that of the translations and paraphrases I consulted, only the King James Version and the Jerusalem Bible opted for “I” and “me” as the correct wording. Nine other renderings all went for the plural pronouns, which leaves it an open question as to the exact meaning of the verse.

Whether or not these two particular “proof-texts” intended to teach that each of us is to use our time wisely in light of our inevitable death, the fact remains that it is still valuable advice.