Bible Strands
Ephesians 4:27
and do not give the devil a foothold.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Ephesians in a sequence of ethical commands (4:25–32), placing this verse immediately after the warning against letting anger linger (v. 26).
The words — τοπός (topos) is literally "place," not the abstract "opportunity"; it carries the sense of a foothold, a point of entry where one can plant a foot and hold ground.
The thread — James 4:7 pairs submission to God with active resistance to the devil; 1 Peter 5:8 pictures him prowling for someone to devour; Ephesians 6:16 names his "flaming arrows" as the specific threats. All treat the devil as an adversary who acts through openings a person leaves unguarded.
Why it lands — The verse reframes sin as a strategic concession: unresolved anger, theft, or bitterness are not merely wrong in themselves but hand the devil a place to operate from. The reader is asked to close those openings deliberately, not as a matter of feeling but of discipline.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Neither give place to the devil.
Cross-references
- James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
- Ephesians 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
- 2 Corinthians 2:10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,
- Acts 5:3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?