Ephesians 4:11

4:11 It was he ¹  who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ² 

Ephesians 1:12

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ³  on Christ, ⁴  would be to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 6:15

6:15 by fitting your ⁵  feet with the preparation that comes from the good news ⁶  of peace, ⁷ 

Ephesians 1:22

1:22 And God ⁸  put ⁹  all things under Christ’s ¹⁰  feet, ¹¹  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ¹² 

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. ¹³ 

Ephesians 1:15

Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation

1:15 For this reason, ¹⁴  because I ¹⁵  have heard ¹⁶  of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love ¹⁷  for all the saints,

Ephesians 1:19

1:19 and what is the incomparable ¹⁸  greatness of his power toward ¹⁹  us who believe, as displayed in ²⁰  the exercise of his immense strength. ²¹ 

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. ²² 

Ephesians 1:18

1:18 – since the eyes of your ²³  heart have been enlightened ²⁴  – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, ²⁵  what is the wealth of his glorious ²⁶  inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 2:15

2:15 when he nullified ²⁷  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ²⁸  out of two, ²⁹  thus making peace,

Ephesians 6:12

6:12 For our struggle ³⁰  is not against flesh and blood, ³¹  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ³²  against the spiritual forces ³³  of evil in the heavens. ³⁴ 

[4:11]  ¹ tn The emphasis on Christ is continued through the use of the intensive pronoun, αὐτός (autos), and is rendered in English as “it was he” as this seems to lay emphasis on the “he.”

[4:11]  ² sn Some interpreters have understood the phrase pastors and teachers to refer to one and the same group. This would mean that all pastors are teachers and that all teachers are pastors. This position is often taken because it is recognized that both nouns (i.e., pastors and teachers) are governed by one article in Greek. But because the nouns are plural, it is extremely unlikely that they refer to the same group, but only that the author is linking them closely together. It is better to regard the pastors as a subset of teachers. In other words, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. See ExSyn 284.

[1:12]  ³ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Or “the Messiah.”

[6:15]  ⁵ tn The definite article τοῖς (tois) was taken as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “your,” since it refers to a part of the physical body.

[6:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “gospel.” However, this is not a technical term here.

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “in preparation of the gospel of peace.” The genitive τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (tou euangeliou) was taken as a genitive of source, i.e., “that comes from….”

[1:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ¹⁰ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[2:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”

[1:15]  ¹¹ sn The conjunctive phrase For this reason points back to the preceding section, vv. 3-14, which is also summed up in this verse in the expression because I have heard of your faith. In other words, the author’s prayer can be made for his audience because he knows that they are true believers.

[1:15]  ¹² tn Grk “even I.”

[1:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “having also heard.”

[1:15]  ¹⁴ tc Ì⁴⁶ א* A B P 33 1739 1881 2464 Hier lack “your love” (τὴν ἀγάπην, thn agaphn), while various other groups of mss have different arrangements of the phrase “your love toward all the saints” (τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, thn agaphn thn ei" panta" tou" Jagiou"). Most witnesses, especially the later ones (א² D¹ Ψ Ï latt sa), read τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους. Externally, the shorter reading is superior. Internally, the omission of τὴν ἀγάπην is a significantly harder reading, for the saints become an object of faith on par with the Lord Jesus. If this reading is authentic, however, the force of πίστις (pisti") is probably closer to “faithfulness,” a meaning that could perhaps be suitable toward both the Lord and the saints. Nevertheless, if the shorter reading is authentic, later scribes would no doubt have been tempted to alter it. With the parallel in Col 1:4 at hand, τὴν ἀγάπην would have been the most obvious phrase to add. (TCGNT 533 suggests that ἣν ἔχετε would have been added instead of the second τήν if the shorter reading were original, in conformity with Col 1:4, but this is not necessarily so: Scribes often altered the text as minimally as possible, and since the second τήν was already present, replacing it with ἣν ἔχετε, when the meaning was not significantly different from the second τήν, seems unlikely.) Further, ἀγάπην comes after “saints” (thus, τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγάπην) in some witnesses (81 104 326 365 1175), and the second τήν is lacking (thus, τὴν ἀγάπην εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους) in others (D* F G). Such a floating text normally indicates inauthenticity. On the other hand, τὴν ἀγάπην could easily have dropped out of the text by way of haplography, the Alexandrian scribes’ eyes skipping from τήν to τήν. The weak first declension feminine article-noun-article construction is common enough in the NT, occurring over 40 times, yet in four of these texts there is some ms evidence for an omission similar to Eph 1:15 (Rom 11:17; 2 Tim 3:10; Rev 11:2; 21:9). But in none of these places is the Alexandrian testimony united in the omission as it is here. Further, a wholesale Alexandrian omission of τὴν ἀγάπην presupposes a much stronger genealogical relation among the Alexandrian mss than many scholars would embrace. What seems to tip the scales in favor of the longer reading, however, is the intrinsic evidence: The question of whether πίστις could be used to mean faithfulness in the general sense toward both the Lord and the saints is quite problematic. All in all, a decision is difficult, but the longer reading is, with hesitation, preferred.

[1:19]  ¹³ tn Or “immeasurable, surpassing”

[1:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for, to”

[1:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “according to.”

[1:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “according to the exercise of the might of his strength.”

[5:6]  ¹⁵ 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.

[1:18]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially of the Byzantine and Western texttypes, though with a few important Alexandrian witnesses (א A D F G Ψ 0278 Ï latt sy), add ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) after καρδίας (kardias, “heart”), though it is clearly implied in the shorter (Alexandrian) reading (found in Ì⁴⁶ B 6 33 1175 1739 1881 pc). The longer reading thus looks to be a clarifying gloss, as is frequently found in the Byzantine and Western traditions. The translation above also uses “your” because of English requirements, not because of textual basis.

[1:18]  ¹⁸ tn The perfect participle πεφωτισμένους (pefwtismenou") may either be part of the prayer (“that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”) or part of the basis of the prayer (“since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened”). Although the participle follows the ἵνα (Jina) of v. 17, it is awkward grammatically in the clause. Further, perfect adverbial participles are usually causal in NT Greek. Finally, the context both here and throughout Ephesians seems to emphasize the motif of light as a property belonging to believers. Thus, it seems that the author is saying, “I know that you are saved, that you have had the blinders of the devil removed; because of this, I can now pray that you will fully understand and see the light of God’s glorious revelation.” Hence, the translation takes the participle to form a part of the basis for the prayer.

[1:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the hope to which he has called you.”

[1:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “of the glory of his inheritance.” Here “inheritance” is taken as an attributed genitive and the head noun, “glory,” is thus translated as an adjective, “glorious inheritance.”

[2:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargew) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.

[2:15]  ²⁰ tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.

[2:15]  ²¹ tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.

[6:12]  ²¹ tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”

[6:12]  ²² tn Grk “blood and flesh.”

[6:12]  ²³ tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.

[6:12]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.

[6:12]  ²⁵ sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.