Ephesians 3:7-8

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ¹  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ²  the exercise of his power. ³  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁴  – this grace was given, ⁵  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:16

3:16 I pray that ⁶  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Ephesians 4:29

4:29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, ⁷  that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 6:19

6:19 Pray ⁸  for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak ⁹  – that I may confidently make known ¹⁰  the mystery of the gospel,

[3:7]  ¹ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ² tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ³ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:8]  ⁴ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[4:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive τῆς χρείας (th" creia") may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.

[6:19]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.”