Ezekiel 20:9

20:9 I acted for the sake of my reputation, ¹  so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, ²  before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ³ 

Ezekiel 20:14

20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 20:22

20:22 But I refrained from doing so, ⁴  and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 36:21-22

36:21 I was concerned for my holy reputation ⁵  which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.

36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation ⁶  which you profaned among the nations where you went.

Psalms 79:9

79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!

For the sake of your glorious reputation, ⁷  rescue us!

Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! ⁸ 

Psalms 115:1

Psalm 115 ⁹ 

115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us!

But to your name bring honor, ¹⁰ 

for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness. ¹¹ 

Ephesians 1:6

1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace ¹²  that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. ¹³ 

Ephesians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁴  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], ¹⁵  the faithful ¹⁶  in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:16

1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you ¹⁷  in my prayers.

¹ tn Heb “for the sake of my name.”

² tn Heb “before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were.”

³ tn Heb “to whom I made myself known before their eyes to bring them out from the land of Egypt.” The translation understands the infinitive construct (“to bring them out”) as indicating manner. God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt was an act of self-revelation in that it displayed his power and his commitment to his promises.

⁴ tn Heb “drew my hand back.” This idiom also occurs in Lam 2:8 and Ps 74:11.

⁵ tn Heb “name.”

⁶ sn In Ezek 20:22 God refrained from punishment for the sake of his holy name. Here God’s reputation is the basis for Israel’s restoration.

⁷ tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

⁸ tn Heb “your name.”

⁹ sn Psalm 115. The psalmist affirms that Israel’s God is superior to pagan idols and urges Israel to place their confidence in him.

¹⁰ tn Or “give glory.”

¹¹ sn The psalmist asks the Lord to demonstrate his loyal love and faithfulness, not simply so Israel may benefit, but primarily so that the Lord will receive honor among the nations, who will recognize, contrary to their present view (see v. 2), that Israel’s God is committed to his people.

¹² tn Or “to the praise of his glorious grace.” Many translations translate δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (doxh" th" carito" autou, literally “of the glory of his grace”) with τῆς χάριτος as an attributed genitive (cf., e.g., NIV, NRSV, ESV). The translation above has retained a literal rendering in order to make clear the relationship of this phrase to the other two similar phrases in v. 12 and 14, which affect the way one divides the material in the passage.

¹³ tn Grk “the beloved.” The term ἠγαπημένῳ (hgaphmenw) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.

¹⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

¹⁵ tc The earliest and most important mss omit “in Ephesus” (Ì⁴⁶ א* B* 6 1739 [Mcion^T,E]), yet the opening line of this epistle makes little sense without the phrase (“to the saints who are and are faithful…”? or perhaps “to the saints who are also faithful,” though with this sense the οὖσιν [ousin] is redundant and the καί [kai] is treated somewhat unnaturally). What is interesting is Marcion’s canon list which speaks of the letter to the Laodiceans among Paul’s authentic epistles. This, coupled with some internal evidence that the writer did not know his audience personally (cf. 1:15; 3:2; absence of personal names throughout), suggests that Ephesians was an encyclical letter, intended for more than one audience. Does this mean that the shorter reading is to be preferred? Yes and no. A plausible scenario is as follows, assuming Pauline authorship (though this is strongly contested today; for arguments on behalf of Pauline authorship, see M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:36-50; P. T. O’Brien, Ephesians, 4-47; and H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 2-61): Paul sent the letter from Rome, intending it first to go to Ephesus. At the same time, Colossians was dispatched. Going counterclockwise through Asia Minor, this letter would first come to Ephesus, the port of entry, then to Laodicea, then Colossae. Tychicus’ instructions may well have been for each church to “fill in the blank” on the address line. The church at Ephesus would have certainly made the most copies, being Paul’s home base for nearly three years. Hence, most of the surviving copies have “in Ephesus” in v. 1 (so א² A B² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1881 Ï latt sy co). But one might expect a hint of evidence that Laodicea also made a few copies: Both Marcion’s list and Col 4:16 may well imply this. What is to account for the early Alexandrian evidence, then? These mss were perhaps made from a very early copy, one reflecting the blank line before each church filled it in. Although it is of course only speculation (as is necessary in a historical investigation lacking some of the pieces to the puzzle), this scenario accounts for all of the data: (1) “in Ephesus” in most mss; (2) Laodicea in Marcion’s list and Col 4:16; (3) the lack of an addressee in the earliest witnesses; (4) why the earliest witnesses’ reading must be rejected as too hard; and (5) why the author seems not to know the readership. In sum, is “in Ephesus” original? Yes and no. Some address belongs there; ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ (en Efesw) is the predominant address, but several other churches also received this circular letter as their own. For this reason the phrase has been placed in single brackets in the translation. NA²⁷ also lists the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

¹⁶ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style [and even if this letter is not by Paul it follows the general style of Paul’s letters, with some modifications]) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated. See M. Barth, Ephesians (AB 34), 1:68 and ExSyn 282.

¹⁷ tn Grk “making mention [of you].”