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The Epistle of Paul to the
EPHESIANS
1
Salutation
1 Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus,* I take it that Paul is claiming to be Christ's apostle to them, so he is writing with specific apostolic authority. Less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality (demonstrably so), omit ‘at Ephesus’ [such is the basis for the nasty footnotes in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.]. that is, the faithful in Christ Jesus:† Paul defines what he means by “saints”. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Sovereign Jesus Christ.‡ The alternation between “Jesus Christ” and “Christ Jesus” appears to be stylistic, without doctrinal implication.
Some concentrated theology
A paean of doctrinal praise
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,§ The full name of Jehovah the Son is now ‘The Lord Jesus Christ’. Where ‘Lord’ occurs without the definite article or a possessive pronoun I often render ‘Sovereign’. who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms* “In the heavenly realms” appears to be a synonym for Heaven; the blessings are there, ready to be distributed. in Christ;† The blessings are only for those who are in Christ. Unbelievers may receive some spinoff benefits. 4 just as He[F]‡ Here the pronoun refers to the Father, not ‘Christ’. Below, whenever the referent changes I will indicate this by [F] or [S], which will be good until the next change. chose us in Him[S] before the foundation of the world,§ This one is difficult for our poor little finite minds to handle. If I was chosen before Creation, then I am part of a PLAN that antedates that Creation, just like the slain Lamb (1 Peter 1:19-20). So He knows who I am and calls me by name (John 10:3). When faced with a ‘God-thing’ that exceeds our understanding, we can either accept or reject—I choose to accept [there are consequences]. And let's not forget to give thanks. that we should be holy and blameless before Him[F], in love,* The syntax is ambiguous: does “in love” go with the preceding clause, or the following one? If the preceding, then it would be our love for Him; if the following, His love for us. When the Text is ambiguous I like to allow for both possibilities, which is why I place a comma before and after. Since both are true, why not teach both? 5 having predestined us into an adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, into Him[S], according to the good pleasure of His[F] will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved; 7 in whom we have the redemption through His[S] blood,† Without the shed blood of God's Lamb there is no redemption. the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His[F] grace, 8 that He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligent design,‡ I take it that many people, as they contemplate the mess the world is in, doubt that the Creator [if He exists] knew what He was doing. One day we will agree that the design is marvelous. 9 having made known to us the ‘secret’ of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him[S], 10 with a view to administering the fullness of the times,§ The reference is not so much to chronological time as to occasions or epochs. Believe it or not, human history is being “administered”. so as to bring all things together under one head in Christ—those on the heavens* “On the heavens”—that is what the Text says. I take the reference to be to beings and things that are not an integral part of Heaven, temporary appendages—of course any beings and things on the earth are not an integral part of Heaven either. They all will jointly be subordinated to the Christ. and those on the earth—in Him[S], 11 in whom we were also assigned an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him[F] who works all things according to the decision of His will, 12 so that we should be to the praise of His glory,† This is the main point of the whole exercise—the praise of His glory! (Isaiah 43:7.) we who first trusted in the Christ; 13 about whom, to be sure, we had heard the true Word‡ A majority of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, have “we”, rather than the familiar ‘you’. Being unexpected, many scribes may have made the change (of one letter) almost without thinking. The Gospel of Christ is ‘the true Word’.—the Gospel of your salvation; by whom, since you also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the down payment on our inheritance until the release of the possession,§ We receive “the release of the possession” in Glory. From the beginning of the epistle both the Father and the Son have been referred to repeatedly—here the Holy Spirit is introduced. to the praise of His glory.* Verses 3-14 form a single sentence in the Greek Text, which is why I translate the same way.
Some doctrinal praying
15 Because of this, having heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I really do not stop giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,† To be the ‘Father’ of glory is to be the Source of all true glory. may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation‡ Revelation provides us with true information, and wisdom shows us what to do with it. in the real knowledge§ I finally settled on ‘real knowledge’ as the best way to render επιγνωσις, the heightened form of γνωσις, ‘knowledge’. Real knowledge is more than mere intellectual knowledge, or even true theoretical knowledge—it involves experience. The Text goes on to say, “the eyes of your heart having been enlightened”. Real knowledge changes your ‘heart’, who you are. of Himself, 18 the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know* Paul wants us to know three things, that I have indicated with a number before ‘what’. 1) what is the hope of His[F] calling,† His calling gives us true hope. and 2) what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,‡ We normally concentrate on ‘our’ inheritance, what we are going to get. More important is God's inheritance, what He is going to get. 19 and 3) what the exceeding greatness of His power into§ “Into us”—that is what the Text says. Note that ‘believing’ is in the present tense. Please see the note at 3:20 below. us who are believing, according to the demonstration of the extent of His might 20 which He exercised in the Christ when He raised Him[S] from among the dead and seated Him at His[F] right, in the heavenly realms, 21 far above every ruler and authority and power and dominion* It is generally understood that the reference is to the angelic hierarchy. The two thirds that remained faithful to God were never a problem, so presumably the special point is that Christ defeated Satan, with his one third, and is now (as the God/man, the second Adam) seated ‘far above’ that enemy. Please see the note at 2:6 below.—even every name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the next. 22 In short, He[F] placed everything under His[S] feet, and appointed Him to be Head over everything in the Church,† Would it not be wonderful if the Church recognized that Headship in practice! Where εκκλησια refers to the whole body of Christ, as here, I render ‘Church’; where it refers to a local assembly I render ‘congregation’. 23 which is His body, the complement‡ Just as a wife complements her husband (when things are like they are supposed to be), God's purpose is that the Bride complement the Groom (even if we don't understand why Someone who “fills everything in every way” needs complementing). of Him who fills everything in every way.

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*1:1 I take it that Paul is claiming to be Christ's apostle to them, so he is writing with specific apostolic authority. Less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality (demonstrably so), omit ‘at Ephesus’ [such is the basis for the nasty footnotes in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.].

†1:1 Paul defines what he means by “saints”.

‡1:2 The alternation between “Jesus Christ” and “Christ Jesus” appears to be stylistic, without doctrinal implication.

§1:3 The full name of Jehovah the Son is now ‘The Lord Jesus Christ’. Where ‘Lord’ occurs without the definite article or a possessive pronoun I often render ‘Sovereign’.

*1:3 “In the heavenly realms” appears to be a synonym for Heaven; the blessings are there, ready to be distributed.

†1:3 The blessings are only for those who are in Christ. Unbelievers may receive some spinoff benefits.

‡1:4 Here the pronoun refers to the Father, not ‘Christ’. Below, whenever the referent changes I will indicate this by [F] or [S], which will be good until the next change.

§1:4 This one is difficult for our poor little finite minds to handle. If I was chosen before Creation, then I am part of a PLAN that antedates that Creation, just like the slain Lamb (1 Peter 1:19-20). So He knows who I am and calls me by name (John 10:3). When faced with a ‘God-thing’ that exceeds our understanding, we can either accept or reject—I choose to accept [there are consequences]. And let's not forget to give thanks.

*1:4 The syntax is ambiguous: does “in love” go with the preceding clause, or the following one? If the preceding, then it would be our love for Him; if the following, His love for us. When the Text is ambiguous I like to allow for both possibilities, which is why I place a comma before and after. Since both are true, why not teach both?

†1:7 Without the shed blood of God's Lamb there is no redemption.

‡1:8 I take it that many people, as they contemplate the mess the world is in, doubt that the Creator [if He exists] knew what He was doing. One day we will agree that the design is marvelous.

§1:10 The reference is not so much to chronological time as to occasions or epochs. Believe it or not, human history is being “administered”.

*1:10 “On the heavens”—that is what the Text says. I take the reference to be to beings and things that are not an integral part of Heaven, temporary appendages—of course any beings and things on the earth are not an integral part of Heaven either. They all will jointly be subordinated to the Christ.

†1:12 This is the main point of the whole exercise—the praise of His glory! (Isaiah 43:7.)

‡1:13 A majority of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, have “we”, rather than the familiar ‘you’. Being unexpected, many scribes may have made the change (of one letter) almost without thinking. The Gospel of Christ is ‘the true Word’.

§1:14 We receive “the release of the possession” in Glory. From the beginning of the epistle both the Father and the Son have been referred to repeatedly—here the Holy Spirit is introduced.

*1:14 Verses 3-14 form a single sentence in the Greek Text, which is why I translate the same way.

†1:17 To be the ‘Father’ of glory is to be the Source of all true glory.

‡1:17 Revelation provides us with true information, and wisdom shows us what to do with it.

§1:17 I finally settled on ‘real knowledge’ as the best way to render επιγνωσις, the heightened form of γνωσις, ‘knowledge’. Real knowledge is more than mere intellectual knowledge, or even true theoretical knowledge—it involves experience. The Text goes on to say, “the eyes of your heart having been enlightened”. Real knowledge changes your ‘heart’, who you are.

*1:18 Paul wants us to know three things, that I have indicated with a number before ‘what’.

†1:18 His calling gives us true hope.

‡1:18 We normally concentrate on ‘our’ inheritance, what we are going to get. More important is God's inheritance, what He is going to get.

§1:19 “Into us”—that is what the Text says. Note that ‘believing’ is in the present tense. Please see the note at 3:20 below.

*1:21 It is generally understood that the reference is to the angelic hierarchy. The two thirds that remained faithful to God were never a problem, so presumably the special point is that Christ defeated Satan, with his one third, and is now (as the God/man, the second Adam) seated ‘far above’ that enemy. Please see the note at 2:6 below.

†1:22 Would it not be wonderful if the Church recognized that Headship in practice! Where εκκλησια refers to the whole body of Christ, as here, I render ‘Church’; where it refers to a local assembly I render ‘congregation’.

‡1:23 Just as a wife complements her husband (when things are like they are supposed to be), God's purpose is that the Bride complement the Groom (even if we don't understand why Someone who “fills everything in every way” needs complementing).

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD