Efesus 1:2-3

1:2 Grace and peace to you ¹  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

1:3 Blessed ²  is ³  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed ⁴  us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

Efesus 1:16-17

1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you ⁵  in my prayers. 1:17 I pray that ⁶  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ⁷  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ⁸  in your growing knowledge of him, ⁹ 

Efesus 2:18

2:18 so that ¹⁰  through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Efesus 3:14-16

Prayer for Strengthened Love

3:14 For this reason ¹¹  I kneel ¹²  before the Father, ¹³  3:15 from ¹⁴  whom every family ¹⁵  in heaven and on the earth is named. 3:16 I pray that ¹⁶  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Efesus 4:6

4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Efesus 5:20

5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other ¹⁷  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Efesus 5:31

5:31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become ¹⁸  one flesh. ¹⁹ 

Efesus 6:1-2

6:1 Children, ²⁰  obey your parents in the Lord ²¹  for this is right. 6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” ²²  which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

Efesus 6:4

6:4 Fathers, ²³  do not provoke your children to anger, ²⁴  but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Efesus 6:23

6:23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, ²⁵  and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:2]  ¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:3]  ² sn Eph 1:3-14 comprises one long sentence in Greek, with three major sections. Each section ends with a note of praise for God (vv. 6, 12, 14), focusing on a different member of the Trinity. After an opening summary of all the saints’ spiritual blessings (v. 3), the first section (vv. 4-6) offers up praise that the Father has chosen us in eternity past; the second section (vv. 7-12) offers up praise that the Son has redeemed us in the historical past (i.e., at the cross); the third section (vv. 13-14) offers up praise that the Holy Spirit has sealed us in our personal past, at the point of conversion.

[1:3]  ³ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos), the author’s intention at this point in the epistle, and the literary genre of this material must all come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. The meaning “blessed” would be more naturally paired with an indicative verb here and would suggest that blessedness is an intrinsic part of God’s character. The meaning “praised” would be more naturally paired with an optative verb here and would suggest that God ought to be praised. Pauline style in the epistles generally moves from statements to obligations, expressing the reality first and then the believer’s necessary response, which would favor the indicative. However, many scholars regard Eph 1:3-14 as a berakah psalm (cf. A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 10-11). Rooted in the OT and Jewish worship, berakah psalms were songs of praise in which the worshiper gave praise to God; this would favor the optative (although not all scholars are agreed on this genre classification here; see H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 153-59, for discussion and an alternate conclusion). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the indicative seems to fit all the factors better. The author seems to be pointing to who God is and what he has done for believers in this section; the indicative more naturally fits that emphasis. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Or “enriched,” “conferred blessing.”

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “making mention [of you].”

[1:17]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “in the knowledge of him.”

[1:17]  sn The point of the knowledge of him has nothing to do with what God knows, but with what believers are to know (hence, “your…knowledge”). Further, the author’s prayer is that this knowledge of God would increase, not simply be initiated, since he is writing to believers who already know God (hence, “your growing knowledge of him”).

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).

[3:14]  ¹¹ sn For this reason resumes the point begun in v. 1, after a long parenthesis.

[3:14]  ¹² tn Grk “I bend my knees.”

[3:14]  ¹³ tc Most Western and Byzantine witnesses, along with a few others (א² D F G Ψ 0278 1881 Ï lat sy), have “of our Lord Jesus Christ” after “Father,” but such an edifying phrase cannot explain the rise of the reading that lacks it, especially when the shorter reading is attested by early and important witnesses such as Ì⁴⁶ א* A B C P 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 co Or Hier.

[3:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “by.”

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the whole family.”

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[5:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.

[5:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”

[5:31]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.

[6:1]  ²⁰ tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ²¹ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[6:2]  ²² sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.

[6:4]  ²³ tn Or perhaps “Parents” (so TEV, CEV). The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.b).

[6:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “do not make your children angry.” BDAG 780 s.v. παροργίζω states “make angry.” The Greek verb in Col 3:21 is a different one with a slightly different nuance.

[6:23]  ²⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).