Ephesians 1:20-23

1:20 This power ¹  he exercised ²  in Christ when he raised him ³  from the dead and seated him ⁴  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ⁵  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. 1:22 And God ⁶  put ⁷  all things under Christ’s ⁸  feet, ⁹  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ¹⁰  1:23 Now the church is ¹¹  his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. ¹² 

Acts 1:9

1:9 After ¹³  he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Acts 1:11

1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here ¹⁴  looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven ¹⁵  will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

Acts 1:1

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

1:1 I wrote ¹⁶  the former ¹⁷  account, ¹⁸  Theophilus, ¹⁹  about all that Jesus began to do and teach

Acts 3:16

3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ ²⁰  name, ²¹  his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The ²²  faith that is through Jesus ²³  has given him this complete health in the presence ²⁴  of you all.

Hebrews 4:14

Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest

4:14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

Hebrews 7:26

7:26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 8:1

The High Priest of a Better Covenant

8:1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: ²⁵  We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ²⁶ 

Hebrews 9:23-24

9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches ²⁷  of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, ²⁸  but the heavenly things themselves required ²⁹  better sacrifices than these. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation ³⁰  of the true sanctuary ³¹  – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.

¹ tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

² tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Grk “subjected.”

⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

¹⁰ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

¹¹ tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.

¹² tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”

¹³ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹⁴ tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹⁵ tc Codex Bezae (D) and several other witnesses lack the words εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν (ei" ton ouranon, “into heaven”) here, most likely by way of accidental deletion. In any event, it is hardly correct to suppose that the Western text has intentionally suppressed references to the ascension of Christ here, for the phrase is solidly attested in the final clause of the verse.

¹⁶ tn Or “produced,” Grk “made.”

¹⁷ tn Or “first.” The translation “former” is preferred because “first” could imply to the modern English reader that the author means that his previous account was the first one to be written down. The Greek term πρῶτος (prwtos) does not necessarily mean “first” in an absolute sense, but can refer to the first in a set or series. That is what is intended here – the first account (known as the Gospel of Luke) as compared to the second one (known as Acts).

¹⁸ tn The Greek word λόγος (logos) is sometimes translated “book” (NRSV, NIV) or “treatise” (KJV). A formal, systematic treatment of a subject is implied, but the word “book” may be too specific and slightly misleading to the modern reader, so “account” has been used.

¹⁹ tn Grk “O Theophilus,” but the usage of the vocative in Acts with ὦ (w) is unemphatic, following more the classical idiom (see ExSyn 69).

²⁰ tn Grk “in his name”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ sn Here is another example of appeal to the person by mentioning the name. See the note on the word name in 3:6.

²² tn Grk “see and know, and the faith.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated.

²³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁴ tn Or “in full view.”

²⁵ tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”

²⁶ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.

²⁷ tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.

²⁸ tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.

²⁹ tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

³⁰ tn Or “prefiguration.”

³¹ tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.