Ephesians 1:12-14

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ¹  on Christ, ²  would be to the praise of his glory. 1:13 And when ³  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ⁴  – you were marked with the seal ⁵  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁶  1:14 who is the down payment ⁷  of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, ⁸  to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:17

1:17 I pray that ⁹  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ¹⁰  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ¹¹  in your growing knowledge of him, ¹² 

[1:12]  ¹ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ² tn Or “the Messiah.”

[1:13]  ³ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “the possession.”

[1:17]  ⁷ tn The words “I pray” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify the meaning; v. 17 is a subordinate clause to v. 16 (“I pray” in v. 17 is implied from v. 16). Eph 1:15-23 constitutes one sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation in light of contemporary English usage.

[1:17]  ⁸ tn Or “glorious Father.” The genitive phrase “of glory” is most likely an attributive genitive. The literal translation “Father of glory” has been retained because of the parallelism with the first line of the verse: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.”

[1:17]  ⁹ tn Or “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” or “a spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Verse 17 involves a complex exegetical problem revolving around the Greek term πνεῦμα (pneuma). Some take it to mean “the Spirit,” others “a spirit,” and still others “spiritual.” (1) If “the Spirit” is meant, the idea must be a metonymy of cause for effect, because the author had just indicated in vv. 13-14 that the Spirit was already given (hence, there is no need for him to pray that he be given again). But the effect of the Spirit is wisdom and revelation. (2) If “a spirit” is meant, the idea may be that the readers will have the ability to gain wisdom and insight as they read Paul’s letters, but the exact meaning of “a spirit” remains ambiguous. (3) To take the genitives following πνεῦμα as attributed genitives (see ExSyn 89-91), in which the head noun (“S/spirit”) functions semantically like an adjective (“spiritual”) is both grammatically probable and exegetically consistent.

[1:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in the knowledge of him.”