Ephesians 2:16

2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. ¹ 

Ephesians 5:20

5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other ²  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 3:9

3:9 and to enlighten ³  everyone about God’s secret plan ⁴  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ⁵  in God ⁶  who has created all things.

Ephesians 5:2

5:2 and live ⁷  in love, just as Christ also loved us ⁸  and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering ⁹  to God.

[2:16]  ¹ tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”

[5:20]  ² tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.

[3:9]  ³ tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “what is the plan of the divine secret.” Earlier the author had used οἰκονομία (oikonomia; here “plan”) to refer to his own “stewardship” (v. 2). But now he is speaking about the content of this secret, not his own activity in relation to it.

[3:9]  ⁵ tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Or “by God.” It is possible that ἐν (en) plus the dative here indicates agency, that is, that God has performed the action of hiding the secret. However, this usage of the preposition ἐν is quite rare in the NT, and even though here it does follow a perfect passive verb as in the Classical idiom, it is more likely that a different nuance is intended.

[5:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripatew) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).

[5:2]  ⁵ tc A number of important witnesses have ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; e.g., א* A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally important witnesses read ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, hgaphsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (Jumin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being original.

[5:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosforan kai qusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (ei" osmhn euwdia", “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”