Ephesians 5:16

5:16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 4:30

4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 6:13

6:13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground ¹  on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 5:14

5:14 For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: ² 

“Awake, ³  O sleeper! ⁴ 

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you!” ⁵ 

Ephesians 2:12

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ⁶  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ⁷  having no hope and without God in the world.

¹ tn The term ἀνθίστημι (anqisthmi) carries the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone (BDAG 80 s.v.). In Eph 6:13, when used in combination with στῆναι (sthnai; cf. also στῆτε [sthte] in v. 14) and in a context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting, standing firm, and being able to stand your ground.

¹ sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

² tn Grk “Rise up.”

³ tn The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων (Jo kaqeudwn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. Thus, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”

⁴ sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19, 51:17, 52:1, and 60:1.

¹ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

² tn Or “covenants of the promise.”