Psalms 88:4-5

88:4 They treat me like ¹  those who descend into the grave. ² 

I am like a helpless man, ³ 

88:5 adrift ⁴  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ⁵ 

Ephesians 2:1-5

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ⁶  dead ⁷  in your transgressions and sins, 2:2 in which ⁸  you formerly lived ⁹  according to this world’s present path, ¹⁰  according to the ruler of the kingdom ¹¹  of the air, the ruler of ¹²  the spirit ¹³  that is now energizing ¹⁴  the sons of disobedience, ¹⁵  2:3 among whom ¹⁶  all of us ¹⁷  also ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  even as the rest… ²⁰ 

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ²¹  –

Colossians 2:13

2:13 And even though you were dead in your ²²  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless ²³  made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ²⁴  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ²⁵ 

Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ²⁶  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ²⁷  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

[88:4]  ¹ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ² tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ³ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[2:1]  ⁶ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ⁷ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[2:2]  ⁸ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ¹² tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ¹³ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ¹⁵ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:3]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ¹⁹ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ²⁰ 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.

[2:5]  ²¹ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[2:13]  ²² tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ²³ tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).

[2:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[1:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ²⁷ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.