Efesus 2:13-14

2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹  2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one ²  and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility,

Efesus 2:19

2:19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

Efesus 3:6

3:6 namely, that through the gospel ³  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ⁴  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

Efesus 3:13

3:13 For this reason I ask you ⁵  not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, ⁶  which ⁷  is your glory. ⁸ 

[2:13]  ¹ tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”

[2:13]  sn See the note on “his blood” in 1:7.

[2:14]  ² tn Grk “who made the both one.”

[3:6]  ³ sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “and fellow members.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “I ask.” No direct object is given in Greek, leaving room for the possibility that either “God” (since the verb is often associated with prayer) or “you” is in view.

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “my trials on your behalf.”

[3:13]  ⁷ sn Which. The antecedent (i.e., the word or concept to which this clause refers back) may be either “what I am suffering for you” or the larger concept of the recipients not losing heart over Paul’s suffering for them. The relative pronoun “which” is attracted to the predicate nominative “glory” in its gender and number (feminine singular), making the antecedent ambiguous. Paul’s suffering for them could be viewed as their glory (cf. Col 1:24 for a parallel) in that his suffering has brought about their salvation, but if so his suffering must be viewed as more than his present imprisonment in Rome; it would be a general description of his ministry overall (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27). The other option is that the author is implicitly arguing that the believers have continued to have courage in the midst of his trials (as not to lose heart suggests) and that this is their glory. Philippians 1:27-28 offers an interesting parallel: The believers’ courage in the face of adversity is a sign of their salvation.

[3:13]  ⁸ tn Or “Or who is your glory?” The relative pronoun ἥτις (Jhti"), if divided differently, would become ἤ τίς (h ti"). Since there were no word breaks in the original mss, either word division is possible. The force of the question would be that for the readers to become discouraged over Paul’s imprisonment would mean that they were no longer trusting in God’s sovereignty.