Ephesians 1:16

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

Ephesians 3:14

Prayer for Strengthened Love

3:14 For this reason ²  I kneel ³  before the Father, ⁴ 

Ephesians 3:4

3:4 When reading this, ⁵  you will be able to ⁶  understand my insight into this secret ⁷  of Christ.

Ephesians 3:13

3:13 For this reason I ask you ⁸  not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, ⁹  which ¹⁰  is your glory. ¹¹ 

Ephesians 6:19

6:19 Pray ¹²  for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak ¹³  – that I may confidently make known ¹⁴  the mystery of the gospel,

[1:16]  ¹ tn Grk “making mention [of you].”

[3:14]  ² sn For this reason resumes the point begun in v. 1, after a long parenthesis.

[3:14]  ³ tn Grk “I bend my knees.”

[3:14]  ⁴ tc Most Western and Byzantine witnesses, along with a few others (א² D F G Ψ 0278 1881 Ï lat sy), have “of our Lord Jesus Christ” after “Father,” but such an edifying phrase cannot explain the rise of the reading that lacks it, especially when the shorter reading is attested by early and important witnesses such as Ì⁴⁶ א* A B C P 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 co Or Hier.

[3:4]  ³ tn Grk “which, when reading.”

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “you are able to.”

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Or “mystery.”

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “I ask.” No direct object is given in Greek, leaving room for the possibility that either “God” (since the verb is often associated with prayer) or “you” is in view.

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “my trials on your behalf.”

[3:13]  ⁶ sn Which. The antecedent (i.e., the word or concept to which this clause refers back) may be either “what I am suffering for you” or the larger concept of the recipients not losing heart over Paul’s suffering for them. The relative pronoun “which” is attracted to the predicate nominative “glory” in its gender and number (feminine singular), making the antecedent ambiguous. Paul’s suffering for them could be viewed as their glory (cf. Col 1:24 for a parallel) in that his suffering has brought about their salvation, but if so his suffering must be viewed as more than his present imprisonment in Rome; it would be a general description of his ministry overall (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27). The other option is that the author is implicitly arguing that the believers have continued to have courage in the midst of his trials (as not to lose heart suggests) and that this is their glory. Philippians 1:27-28 offers an interesting parallel: The believers’ courage in the face of adversity is a sign of their salvation.

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Or “Or who is your glory?” The relative pronoun ἥτις (Jhti"), if divided differently, would become ἤ τίς (h ti"). Since there were no word breaks in the original mss, either word division is possible. The force of the question would be that for the readers to become discouraged over Paul’s imprisonment would mean that they were no longer trusting in God’s sovereignty.

[6:19]  ⁵ tn To avoid a lengthy, convoluted sentence in English, the Greek sentence was broken up at this point and the verb “pray” was inserted in the English translation to pick up the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseuxomenoi, “praying”) in v. 18.

[6:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “that a word may be given to me in the opening of my mouth.” Here “word” (λόγος, logo") is used in the sense of “message.”

[6:19]  ⁷ tn The infinitive γνωρίσαι (gnwrisai, “to make known”) is functioning epexegetically to further explain what the author means by the preceding phrase “that I may be given the message when I begin to speak.”