Ephesians 2:11

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ¹  by human hands –

Ephesians 5:12

5:12 For the things they do ²  in secret are shameful even to mention.

Ephesians 4:8

4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured ³  captives; he gave gifts to men.” ⁴ 

Ephesians 5:14

5:14 For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: ⁵ 

“Awake, ⁶  O sleeper! ⁷ 

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you!” ⁸ 

Ephesians 5:32

5:32 This mystery is great – but I am actually ⁹  speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Ephesians 4:17

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist ¹⁰  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility ¹¹  of their thinking. ¹² 

[2:11]  ¹ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[5:12]  ² tn The participle τὰ…γινόμενα (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν (Jup’ autwn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.

[4:8]  ³ tn Grk “he led captive captivity.”

[4:8]  ⁴ sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the LXX in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in HT and LXX. It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [AGJU 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 HT and LXX (68:18 ET), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.

[5:14]  ⁴ sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[5:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “Rise up.”

[5:14]  ⁶ tn The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων (Jo kaqeudwn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. Thus, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”

[5:14]  ⁷ sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19, 51:17, 52:1, and 60:1.

[5:32]  ⁵ tn The term “actually” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to bring out the heightened sense of the statement.

[4:17]  ⁶ tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

[4:17]  ⁷ tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

[4:17]  ⁸ tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”