Ephesians 1:19

1:19 and what is the incomparable ¹  greatness of his power toward ²  us who believe, as displayed in ³  the exercise of his immense strength. ⁴ 

Ephesians 6:10

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Ephesians 1:21

1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 3:7

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ⁵  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁶  the exercise of his power. ⁷ 

Ephesians 3:20

3:20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us ⁸  is able to do far beyond ⁹  all that we ask or think,

Ephesians 3:16

3:16 I pray that ¹⁰  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ¹¹  you formerly lived ¹²  according to this world’s present path, ¹³  according to the ruler of the kingdom ¹⁴  of the air, the ruler of ¹⁵  the spirit ¹⁶  that is now energizing ¹⁷  the sons of disobedience, ¹⁸ 

Ephesians 3:18

3:18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ 

Ephesians 4:3

4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 1:20

1:20 This power ²⁰  he exercised ²¹  in Christ when he raised him ²²  from the dead and seated him ²³  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ²⁴ 

Ephesians 4:19

4:19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁵ 

Ephesians 3:19

3:19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to ²⁶  all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ²⁷  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ²⁸  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Ephesians 4:16

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ²⁹  through every supporting ligament. ³⁰  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

¹ tn Or “immeasurable, surpassing”

² tn Or “for, to”

³ tn Grk “according to.”

⁴ tn Grk “according to the exercise of the might of his strength.”

⁵ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

⁶ tn Grk “according to.”

⁷ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

⁹ sn On the power that is working within us see 1:19-20.

¹⁰ tn Or “infinitely beyond,” “far more abundantly than.”

¹³ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

¹⁷ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

¹⁸ tn Grk “walked.”

¹⁹ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

²⁰ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

²¹ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

²² sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

²³ tn Grk “working in.”

²⁴ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

²¹ sn The object of these dimensions is not stated in the text. Interpreters have suggested a variety of referents for this unstated object, including the cross of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem (which is then sometimes linked to the Church), God’s power, the fullness of salvation given in Christ, the Wisdom of God, and the love of Christ. Of these interpretations, the last two are the most plausible. Associations from Wisdom literature favor the Wisdom of God, but the immediate context favors the love of Christ. For detailed discussion of these interpretive options, see A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC), 207-13, who ultimately favors the love of Christ.

²⁵ tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

²⁶ tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

²⁷ tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

²⁸ tc The majority of mss, especially the Western and Byzantine mss (D F G Ψ Ï b r Ambst), have the indicative ἐκάθισεν (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for καθίσας (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ἐνήργησεν (enhrghsen, “he exercised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle (found in Ì^92vid א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 al), on the other hand, is coordinate with ἐγείρας (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: He exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe, which made its way in the Byzantine text.

²⁹ sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.

²⁹ sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.

³³ tn Or “with.”

³⁷ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

³⁸ tn Grk “and toward it.”

⁴¹ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

⁴² tn Grk “joint of supply.”