Ephesians 1:11-14

1:11 In Christ ¹  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ²  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ³  on Christ, ⁴  would be to the praise of his glory. 1:13 And when ⁵  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ⁶  – you were marked with the seal ⁷  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁸  1:14 who is the down payment ⁹  of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, ¹⁰  to the praise of his glory.

¹ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

² tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

³ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

⁴ tn Or “the Messiah.”

⁵ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

⁶ tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

⁷ tn Or “you were sealed.”

⁸ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

⁹ tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “the possession.”