Ephesians 4:23

4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Ephesians 4:17

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist ¹  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility ²  of their thinking. ³ 

Ephesians 2:3

2:3 among whom ⁴  all of us ⁵  also ⁶  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ⁷  even as the rest… ⁸ 

Ephesians 4:18

4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, ⁹  being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Ephesians 1:9

1:9 He did this when he revealed ¹⁰  to us the secret ¹¹  of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth ¹²  in Christ, ¹³ 

Ephesians 1:16

1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you ¹⁴  in my prayers.

Ephesians 4:2

4:2 with all humility and gentleness, ¹⁵  with patience, bearing with ¹⁶  one another in love,

Ephesians 3:9

3:9 and to enlighten ¹⁷  everyone about God’s secret plan ¹⁸  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ¹⁹  in God ²⁰  who has created all things.

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ²¹  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ²²  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

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 ²³  by human hands –

Ephesians 4:14

4:14 So ²⁴  we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. ²⁵ 

[4:17]  ¹ tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

[4:17]  ² tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

[4:17]  ³ tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”

[2:3]  ¹ sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ² tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ³ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ⁴ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ⁵ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.

[4:18]  ¹ tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to περιπατεῖ (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.

[1:9]  ¹ tn Or “He did this by revealing”; Grk “making known, revealing.” Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8; the adverbial participle could be understood as temporal (“when he revealed”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “lavished,” or as means (“by revealing”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:9]  ² tn Or “mystery.” In the NT μυστήριον (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.

[1:9]  ³ tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “in him”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:16]  ¹ tn Grk “making mention [of you].”

[4:2]  ¹ tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).

[4:2]  ² tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

[3:9]  ¹ tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

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

[3:9]  ⁴ 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.

[6:18]  ¹ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ² tn Grk “and toward it.”

[2:11]  ¹ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[4:14]  ¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ² tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.