Ezekiel 22:25

22:25 Her princes ¹  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ²  within it.

Ephesians 4:14

4:14 So ³  we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. ⁴ 

Ephesians 4:2

4:2 with all humility and gentleness, ⁵  with patience, bearing with ⁶  one another in love,

Ephesians 2:14

2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one ⁷  and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility,

¹ tn Heb “a conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst.” The LXX reads “whose princes” rather than “a conspiracy of prophets.” The prophets are mentioned later in the paragraph (v. 28). If one follows the LXX in verse 25, then five distinct groups are mentioned in vv. 25-29: princes, priests, officials, prophets, and the people of the land. For a defense of the Septuagintal reading, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:720, n. 4.

² tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.

³ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁴ tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.

⁵ tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).

⁶ tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

⁷ tn Grk “who made the both one.”