Ephesians 4:27

4:27 Do not give the devil an opportunity.

Ephesians 1:17

1:17 I pray that ¹  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ²  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ³  in your growing knowledge of him, ⁴ 

Ephesians 1:22

1:22 And God ⁵  put ⁶  all things under Christ’s ⁷  feet, ⁸  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ⁹ 

Ephesians 3:2

3:2 if indeed ¹⁰  you have heard of the stewardship ¹¹  of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

Ephesians 4:7-8

4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured ¹²  captives; he gave gifts to men.” ¹³ 

Ephesians 4:11

4:11 It was he ¹⁴  who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ¹⁵ 

Ephesians 3:7-8

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ¹⁶  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ¹⁷  the exercise of his power. ¹⁸  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ¹⁹  – this grace was given, ²⁰  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:16

3:16 I pray that ²¹  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, ²²  that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 6:19

6:19 Pray ²³  for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak ²⁴  – that I may confidently make known ²⁵  the mystery of the gospel,

[1:17]  ¹ tn The words “I pray” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify the meaning; v. 17 is a subordinate clause to v. 16 (“I pray” in v. 17 is implied from v. 16). Eph 1:15-23 constitutes one sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation in light of contemporary English usage.

[1:17]  ² tn Or “glorious Father.” The genitive phrase “of glory” is most likely an attributive genitive. The literal translation “Father of glory” has been retained because of the parallelism with the first line of the verse: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.”

[1:17]  ³ tn Or “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” or “a spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Verse 17 involves a complex exegetical problem revolving around the Greek term πνεῦμα (pneuma). Some take it to mean “the Spirit,” others “a spirit,” and still others “spiritual.” (1) If “the Spirit” is meant, the idea must be a metonymy of cause for effect, because the author had just indicated in vv. 13-14 that the Spirit was already given (hence, there is no need for him to pray that he be given again). But the effect of the Spirit is wisdom and revelation. (2) If “a spirit” is meant, the idea may be that the readers will have the ability to gain wisdom and insight as they read Paul’s letters, but the exact meaning of “a spirit” remains ambiguous. (3) To take the genitives following πνεῦμα as attributed genitives (see ExSyn 89-91), in which the head noun (“S/spirit”) functions semantically like an adjective (“spiritual”) is both grammatically probable and exegetically consistent.

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “in the knowledge of him.”

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

[1:22]  ² tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ⁴ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[3:2]  ¹ sn If indeed. The author is not doubting whether his audience has heard, but is rather using provocative language (if indeed) to engage his audience in thinking about the magnificence of God’s grace. However, in English translation, the apodosis (“then”-clause) does not come until v. 13, leaving the protasis (“if”-clause) dangling. Eph 3:2-7 constitute one sentence in Greek.

[3:2]  ² tn Or “administration,” “dispensation,” “commission.”

[4:8]  ¹ tn Grk “he led captive captivity.”

[4:8]  ² sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the LXX in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in HT and LXX. It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [AGJU 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 HT and LXX (68:18 ET), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.

[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.

[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]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ¹ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[4:29]  ¹ 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]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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.”