Ephesians 3:14

Prayer for Strengthened Love

3:14 For this reason ¹  I kneel ²  before the Father, ³ 

Ephesians 3:17

3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 4:12

4:12 to equip ⁴  the saints for the work of ministry, that is, ⁵  to build up the body of Christ,

Ephesians 5:16

5:16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 6:24

6:24 Grace be ⁶  with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. ⁷ 

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

[3:14]  ² tn Grk “I bend my knees.”

[3:14]  ³ 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.

[4:12]  ⁴ tn On the translation of πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων (pro" ton katartismon twn Jagiwn) as “to equip the saints” see BDAG 526 s.v. καταρτισμός. In this case the genitive is taken as objective and the direct object of the verbal idea implied in καταρτισμός (katartismo").

[4:12]  ⁵ tn The εἰς (eis) clause is taken as epexegetical to the previous εἰς clause, namely, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας (ei" ergon diakonia").

[6:24]  ⁷ tn Or “is.”

[6:24]  ⁸ tc Most witnesses (א² D Ψ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of the letter. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. The earliest and best witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B F G 0278 6 33 81 1175 1241 1739* 1881 sa) lack the particle, giving firm evidence that Ephesians did not originally conclude with ἀμήν.