Ephesians

This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ because God willed it. I am writing to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Note"Apostle" is the Greek apostolos, a person sent out with authority to act for the sender, something like an envoy or commissioned representative. "Saints" translates hagioi, "holy ones," meaning people set apart for God; it describes every member of the congregation, not a special class of exceptionally good people. Ephesus was a major port city on the west coast of what is now Turkey, capital of the Roman province of Asia and famous for its temple of Artemis. The words "at Ephesus" are missing from several of the oldest surviving copies of this letter, which has led many to think it was written as a circular for a group of churches.

2May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note"Grace and peace" fuses two greetings. Greek letters normally opened with chairein, "greetings"; Paul swaps in the similar-sounding charis, "grace," meaning undeserved generosity. "Peace" is the Hebrew shalom, which means not just absence of conflict but whole and settled well-being.

3Praise belongs to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

NoteIn Greek, verses 3 to 14 are a single unbroken sentence, a long burst of praise of a kind used in Jewish blessing prayers that begin "Blessed be God, who..." The two senses of "blessed" here are one word-root doing two jobs: we speak well of God, and God does good to us. "Heavenly places" renders a phrase found only in this letter, meaning the unseen realm where God, Christ and also hostile spiritual powers (see verse 21) are located.

4He did this because he chose us in Christ before the world was made, so that we would be holy and without blame in front of him, in love.

4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Note"Without blame" is a word used of sacrificial animals that had no defect and so were fit to be offered. "The foundation of the world" means the laying down or founding of the world, that is, before creation. The phrase "in love" at the end of the verse can attach either to what precedes (we are to be holy and blameless in love) or to what follows in verse 5 (in love he decided in advance); the Greek leaves it open.

5He decided in advance to adopt us as his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him.

5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Note"Predestinated" translates a verb meaning to mark out the boundaries of something beforehand, to decide its shape in advance. "Adoption of children" uses a term drawn from Roman law, where an adopted son was legally a new person with the adopter's name, full standing in the family and full rights of inheritance, and the arrangement could not be undone. The point is legal status, not sentiment.

6All of this brings praise to his grace, which shines with glory, the grace he freely gave us in the One he loves.

6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Note"Made us accepted" can mislead a modern reader: the verb is built on the same root as "grace," so it means roughly "graced us" or "poured out favor on us," not "found us acceptable." "The beloved" is a title for Christ, echoing the words spoken over Jesus at his baptism.

7In Christ we are set free through his blood, and our sins are forgiven. This matches how rich his grace is.

7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Note"Redemption" was an everyday commercial word for buying a person out of slavery or ransoming a prisoner of war by paying a price. "Through his blood" is standard ancient shorthand for a violent sacrificial death, not for blood as a substance.

8He poured that grace out on us without holding back, giving us all wisdom and good sense along with it.

8Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Note"Prudence" in 1611 meant practical intelligence and good judgment in handling real situations, not caution or primness. The Greek allows the phrase to go either way: God acted toward us with all wisdom and insight, or he gave us all wisdom and insight.

9He let us in on the secret of what he intends to do. This was his own good pleasure, the plan he settled on in Christ.

9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Note"Mystery" does not mean a puzzle nobody can solve. In Jewish and early Christian usage it means a secret that God kept hidden and has now deliberately disclosed. The emphasis falls on its being revealed.

10His plan is that when the time is fully ripe, he will bring everything together as one under Christ, all that is in heaven and all that is on earth, all of it in him.

10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Note"Dispensation" translates oikonomia, the running of a household or estate; hence an administration, a management plan. "The fulness of times" means the point when the allotted stretch of time has run its full course. "Gather together in one" renders a verb meaning to sum up under a single head, as an accountant adds a column of figures and writes the total at the top.

11In Christ we were also made God's own and given a share in what he is handing down. God decided this in advance, since he works out everything to fit the plan of his own will.

11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Note"We have obtained an inheritance" translates a verb related to casting lots and allotting shares. It can mean we were given our allotted share, or that we ourselves were claimed as God's allotted portion; translators have gone both ways. "Counsel of his own will" means a deliberate decision reached by God alone, not advice taken from anyone else.

12The purpose was that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, would bring praise to his glory.

12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Note"Who first trusted in Christ" more exactly means "who beforehand had hoped in Christ." The shift from "we" here to "ye also" in verse 13 is often read as Paul distinguishing Jewish believers, who had hoped in a coming Messiah, from the non-Jewish readers who came in later, though he does not say so outright.

13You put your hope in Christ too. You heard the message of truth, the good news that saves you. And when you believed, God marked you as his own with the Holy Spirit he had promised.

13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

NoteA seal was an impression pressed into wax or soft clay by a signet ring. Stamped on cargo, a document or a jar, it showed who owned the thing and guaranteed it had not been tampered with. To be "sealed" is to be marked as belonging to God and certified as genuine.

14That Spirit is the down payment on what we will inherit, guaranteeing it until God completes the release of the people he has bought for himself. This too brings praise to his glory.

14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Note"Earnest" here has nothing to do with being sincere. The Greek arrabon was a legal and commercial term for a down payment: money handed over as the first installment of a larger sum, which both guaranteed the rest would follow and was itself part of it. "The purchased possession" continues the slave-market image of verse 7: a people God has bought and will take full delivery of later.

15So, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's holy people,

15Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16I have never stopped thanking God for you. I mention you when I pray.

16Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17I ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father to whom glory belongs, would give you a spirit of wisdom and of insight into what he reveals, so that you may know him.

17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Note"Revelation" translates apokalypsis, an uncovering or pulling back of a veil from something previously hidden. The Greek word for "spirit" here can be read either as the Holy Spirit or as a disposition God gives, and translators divide over which is meant.

18I pray that the eyes of your understanding would be filled with light, so that you may know what hope he called you to, and how rich and glorious the inheritance is that he has among his holy people,

18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

NoteGreek reads "the eyes of your heart." In biblical usage the heart is the seat of thinking, deciding and willing, the inner person as a whole, not just the emotions. "His inheritance in the saints" is genuinely ambiguous: it may be the inheritance God gives to his people, or the inheritance God himself receives, namely the people.

19and how far beyond measure his power is toward us who believe. It is the same power that his mighty strength puts to work,

19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Note"To us-ward" is old English for "toward us." The second half of the verse piles up four different Greek words for power, force, might and strength in a single phrase, a deliberate heaping-up for effect that no English wording can reproduce neatly.

20the strength he used in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand in the heavenly realms.

20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

NoteThe seat at a king's right hand was the place of highest honor in an ancient court, occupied by the person who exercised the king's own authority. The wording deliberately echoes Psalm 110:1, "Sit thou at my right hand."

21There Christ is far above every ruler, every authority, every power, and every lord, and above every name that can be named, not only in this present age, but also in the age to come.

21Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Note"Principality, and power, and might, and dominion" are four terms for ranks of invisible powers, angelic or hostile, in the way Jewish writers of the period spoke of the spirit world. Ephesus was known across the empire for magic and for dealings with such powers. "Every name that is named" means every title of rank that exists. "This world" translates aion, meaning an age, a stretch of time, rather than a place: the present age as against the age still to come.

22God has put everything under Christ's feet, and has given him to the church as the head over everything.

22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Note"Put all things under his feet" quotes Psalm 8:6. The picture behind it is a victorious king setting his foot on a defeated enemy, a standard image of total subjection in the ancient Near East.

23The church is his body, the full expression of the one who fills everything everywhere.

23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Note"Fulness" translates pleroma, that which fills something or the full measure of it. The relationship is left open in the Greek: the church may be what fills Christ out, or what is filled by him. "Filleth all in all" is equally open, meaning something like fills everything completely, or fills all things in every way.