But now do ye put away indeed all these (things) (Colossians 3:9; Colossians 2:11; Ephesians 4:22, Ephesians 4:25; Romans 13:12; 1 Peter 2:1). The thought of the death of the old life gives place to that of the divesting of the old habit; the new life wears a new dress, Mark the triumphant emphasis in "but now!"
(opposed to the "once" of verse 8), characteristic of the writer (comp. Colossians 1:1-29, 21, 26; Romans 3:21; Romans 6:22, etc.). τὰ πάντα ("all these things," "the whole" of them) summarizes the vices specified in verse 5, and forms the starting point of another series, in which malice predominates, as impurity in the previous list; anger, wrath, malice, evil speaking, foul speech from your mouth (Ephesians 4:26-31; Ephesians 5:4; Romans 1:29-31; 1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:20, Galatians 5:21; Titus 3:3).
There is a similar order and division between these two chief classes of sin in the parallel passages. In Ephesians 4:31, Ephesians 4:32 and Ephesians 5:3-5 the order is reversed. "Anger" ( ὀργή) is ascribed to God in Ephesians 5:6 (comp.
Ephesians 4:26; Hebrews 10:30). (On "anger" and "wrath" (or "rage"), see Ephesians 5:6.) The latter is once ascribed to God by St. Paul (Romans 2:8), more frequently in the Apocalypse. In man it is universally condemned.
(For κακία, malignity, badness of disposition, comp. Romans 1:29; 1 Corinthians 14:20; Titus 3:3; see Trench's 'Synonyms.') βλασφημία, in its original sense, includes injurious speech of any kind, either against man or God (see Romans 3:8; Romans 14:16; 1 Corinthians 10:30; Titus 3:2).
αἰσχρὸς in αἰσχρολογία (only here in the New Testament) denotes, like the English "foul," either "scurrilous" or "filthy." The former kind of speech is suggested by the foregoing blasphemia; but especially in such an atmosphere as that of Greek city life, scurrility commonly runs into filthiness.
In Ephesians 5:4, where a slightly different word occurs, the latter idea is prominent. The two last vices, being sins of speech, must be put away "out of your mouth." "Your" bears the emphasis in the Greek; such utterance is quite unfit for a Christian mouth (comp.
Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:3, Ephesians 5:4; James 3:10; and the prohibition of lying in the next verse).