σπαταλάω

From the study of James 5:5

Range of meaning

To live extravagantly, wastefully, voluptuously; to give oneself up to pleasure and comfort without restraint. The idea is waste and indulgence rather than sexual immorality specifically.

Against the English

BSB "self-indulgence" is good. KJV and YLT "been wanton" is a fair 1611 word, but modern readers hear "wanton" as sexual looseness or as pointless destruction ("wanton violence"). The Greek is about extravagant, pleasure-driven living.

How it drifted

In early modern English "wanton" covered unruly, self-indulgent, frolicsome or luxurious behaviour. Its meaning has since narrowed toward the sexual and the gratuitous.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Tim 5:6: the widow "who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives". In the Greek Old Testament, Ezek 16:49 describes Sodom's sin as pride, plenty of food and careless ease, with no help for the poor and needy, and uses this verb. Amos 6:4 uses the compound κατασπαταλάω of the rich lounging on ivory couches eating lambs and calves from the stall. Sirach 21:15 also uses it.

From the study of 1 Timothy 5:6

Range of meaning

To live luxuriously, extravagantly, or wastefully; to indulge oneself in comfort and plenty. The related noun σπατάλη means 'luxury, extravagance.' The core idea is soft, well-fed, self-pampering living, often with a hint of wastefulness and moral slackness. It is not a technical sexual term, though luxury and loose living were often linked in ancient moral writing.

Against the English

BSB and NIV have 'lives for pleasure,' KJV 'liveth in pleasure,' WEB 'gives herself to pleasure,' NASB 'gives herself to wanton pleasure,' ESV 'is self-indulgent,' YLT 'is given to luxury.' 'Pleasure' points toward enjoyment in general, or (to many modern ears) sensual or sexual pleasure. The Greek word is closer to YLT's 'luxury': a pampered, extravagant lifestyle.

How it drifted

From Latin through KJV, English 'pleasure' (Vulgate: 'in deliciis', 'in delights') has shifted. Today 'living for pleasure' can mean anything from hedonism to simply enjoying life, and 'wanton' adds a sexual tone. The Greek centres on luxury and self-indulgence funded by plenty.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only one other New Testament use, James 5:5: the rich 'lived in luxury (etryphēsate) and self-indulgence (espatalēsate)' on earth while cheating their workers. In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), Ezekiel 16:49 describes Sodom and her daughters living 'in pride, in fullness of bread and in prosperity, espatalōn' while not helping the poor. Sirach 21:15 says 'the one who lives in luxury' hears a wise word and dislikes it. Epistle of Barnabas 10:3 says of people likened to swine: 'when they live in luxury (spatalōsin) they forget the Lord.' Across these texts the word goes with wealth, comfort, neglect of others, and forgetting God.