6:4 Fathers, 3 do not provoke your children to anger, 4 but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body 5 by human hands –
6:5 Slaves, 14 obey your human masters 15 with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ,
6:9 Masters, 23 treat your slaves 24 the same way, 25 giving up the use of threats, 26 because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, 27 and there is no favoritism with him.
1 tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”
2 tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).
3 tn Or perhaps “Parents” (so TEV, CEV). The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.b).
4 tn Or “do not make your children angry.” BDAG 780 s.v. παροργίζω states “make angry.” The Greek verb in Col 3:21 is a different one with a slightly different nuance.
4 tn Grk “in the flesh.”
5 tn The Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
6 tn Grk “So also.”
7 tn Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”
8 sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.
8 tn The translation of πλήν (plhn) is somewhat difficult in this context, though the overall thrust of the argument is clear. It could be an adversative idea such as “but,” “nevertheless,” or “however” (see NIV, NASB, NRSV), or it could simply be intended to round out and bring to conclusion the author’s discussion. In this latter case it could be translated with the use of “now” (so A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 384).
9 tn Grk “Nevertheless, you also, one by one, each his own wife so let him love as himself.” This statement is cumbersome and was cleaned up to reflect better English style.
10 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause was taken as imperatival, i.e., “let the wife respect….”
11 tn The Greek verb φοβέομαι (fobeomai) here has been translated “respect” and the noun form of the word, i.e., φόβος (fobos), has been translated as “reverence” in 5:21.
9 tn Traditionally, “Servants” (KJV). Though δοῦλος (doulos) is often translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
10 tn Grk “the masters according to the flesh.” In the translation above, the article τοῖς (tois) governing κυρίοις (kuriois) is rendered in English as a possessive pronoun (i.e., “your”) and the prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) is taken as modifying κυρίοις (indicating that the author is referring to human masters) and not modifying the imperative ὑπακούετε (Jupakouete, which would indicate that obedience was according to a human standard or limitation).
10 sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
11 tn Grk “we all.”
12 tn Or “even.”
13 sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”
14 sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.
11 tn The words “attaining to” were supplied in the translation to pick up the καταντήσωμεν (katanthswmen) mentioned earlier in the sentence and the εἰς (eis) which heads up this clause.
12 tn Grk “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” On this translation of ἡλικία (Jhlikia, “stature”) see BDAG 436 s.v. 3.
12 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
13 tn Though the Greek text only has αὐτούς (autous, “them”), the antecedent is the slaves of the masters. Therefore, it was translated this way to make it explicit in English.
14 tn Grk “do the same things to them.”
15 tn Grk “giving up the threat.”
16 tn Grk “because of both they and you, the Lord is, in heaven…”