Ephesians 1:11

1:11 In Christ ¹  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ²  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

Ephesians 3:7

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ³  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁴  the exercise of his power. ⁵ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ² tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[3:7]  ³ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ⁵ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.