Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
All Commentaries on Ephesians 4:29 Go To Ephesians 4
Jerome
AD 420
A good word is one that serves to build upon the occasion, communicating grace to the hearers because it teaches them to pursue virtues and shun vices. An evil word is one that prompts them to sin and rather drives them headlong into disaster…. Whenever we say what is not in season or inappropriate for the context, or that which does not contribute to the good of the hearers, an evil word proceeds from our mouth…. Even if we do no direct harm, yet we are not thereby building up. We shall pay the penalty of an evil word. .
