Ephesians 1:22

1:22 And God ¹  put ²  all things under Christ’s ³  feet, ⁴  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ⁵ 

Ephesians 5:24

5:24 But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians 5:22

Exhortations to Households

5:22 ⁶ Wives, submit ⁷  to your husbands as to the Lord,

Ephesians 1:10

1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up ⁸  all things in Christ – the things in heaven ⁹  and the things on earth. ¹⁰ 

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ¹¹  you formerly lived ¹²  according to this world’s present path, ¹³  according to the ruler of the kingdom ¹⁴  of the air, the ruler of ¹⁵  the spirit ¹⁶  that is now energizing ¹⁷  the sons of disobedience, ¹⁸ 

Ephesians 5:6

Live in the Light

5:6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. ¹⁹ 

Ephesians 6:6

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ²⁰  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ²¹ 

Ephesians 2:3

2:3 among whom ²²  all of us ²³  also ²⁴  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ²⁵  even as the rest… ²⁶ 

Ephesians 4:16

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ²⁷  through every supporting ligament. ²⁸  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

[1:22]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ² tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ⁴ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[5:22]  ⁶ tn Many scholars regard Eph 5:21 as the verse which introduces this section, rather than 5:22. This is due in part to the lack of a main verb in this verse (see tc note which follows). This connection is not likely, however, because it requires the participle ὑποτασσόμενοι (Jupotassomenoi, “submitting”) in 5:21 to act as the main verb of the section, and this participle more likely is linked to the command “be filled by the Spirit” in 5:18 as a participle of result (see sn above). In any case, 5:21 does form a strong link between 5:18-21 and what follows, so the paragraph division which has been placed between 5:21 and 22 should not be viewed as a complete break in the author’s thought.

[5:22]  ⁷ tc The witnesses for the shorter reading (in which the verb “submit” is only implied) are minimal (Ì⁴⁶ B Cl Hier^mss), but significant and early. The rest of the witnesses add one of two verb forms as required by the sense of the passage (picking up the verb from v. 21). Several of these witnesses have ὑποτασσέσθωσαν (Jupotassesqwsan), the third person imperative (so א A I P Ψ 0278 33 81 1175 1739 1881 al lat co), while other witnesses, especially the later Byzantine cursives, read ὑποτάσσεσθε (Jupotassesqe), the second person imperative (D F G Ï sy). The text virtually begs for one of these two verb forms, but the often cryptic style of Paul’s letters argues for the shorter reading. The chronology of development seems to have been no verb – third person imperative – second person imperative. It is not insignificant that early lectionaries began a new day’s reading with v. 22; these most likely caused copyists to add the verb at this juncture.

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn The precise meaning of the infinitive ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι (anakefalaiwsasqai) in v. 10 is difficult to determine since it was used relatively infrequently in Greek literature and only twice in the NT (here and Rom 13:9). While there have been several suggestions, three deserve mention: (1) “To sum up.” In Rom 13:9, using the same term, the author there says that the law may be “summarized in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.” The idea then in Eph 1:10 would be that all things in heaven and on earth can be summed up and made sense out of in relation to Christ. (2) “To renew.” If this is the nuance of the verb then all things in heaven and earth, after their plunge into sin and ruin, are renewed by the coming of Christ and his redemption. (3) “To head up.” In this translation the idea is that Christ, in the fullness of the times, has been exalted so as to be appointed as the ruler (i.e., “head”) over all things in heaven and earth (including the church). That this is perhaps the best understanding of the verb is evidenced by the repeated theme of Christ’s exaltation and reign in Ephesians and by the connection to the κεφαλή- (kefalh-) language of 1:22 (cf. Schlier, TDNT 3:682; L&N 63.8; M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:89-92; contra A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 32-33).

[1:10]  ¹² tn Grk “the heavens.”

[1:10]  ¹³ sn And the things on earth. Verse 10 ends with “in him.” The redundancy keeps the focus on Christ at the expense of good Greek style. Verse 11 repeats the reference with a relative pronoun (“in whom”) – again, at the expense of good Greek style. Although the syntax is awkward, the theology is rich. This is not the first time that a NT writer was so overcome with awe for his Lord that he seems to have lost control of his pen. Indeed, it happened frequently enough that some have labeled their christologically motivated solecisms an “apostolic disease.”

[2:2]  ¹⁶ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ²¹ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ²² tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ²³ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[5:6]  ²¹ sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.

[6:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

[6:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[2:3]  ³¹ sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ³² tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ³³ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ³⁴ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ³⁵ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.

[4:16]  ³⁶ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

[4:16]  ³⁷ tn Grk “joint of supply.”