Efesus 1:13-14

1:13 And when ¹  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ²  – you were marked with the seal ³  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁴  1:14 who is the down payment ⁵  of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, ⁶  to the praise of his glory.

Efesus 1:17

1:17 I pray that ⁷  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ⁸  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ⁹  in your growing knowledge of him, ¹⁰ 

Efesus 2:18

2:18 so that ¹¹  through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Efesus 3:5

3:5 Now this secret ¹²  was not disclosed to people ¹³  in former ¹⁴  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ¹⁵  the Spirit,

Efesus 3:16

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 3:20

3:20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us ¹⁷  is able to do far beyond ¹⁸  all that we ask or think,

Efesus 4:3-4

4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling,

Efesus 4:30

4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Efesus 5:18

5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, which ¹⁹  is debauchery, ²⁰  but be filled by the Spirit, ²¹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ² tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

[1:13]  ³ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”

[1:14]  sn Down payment. The Greek word ἀρραβών (arrabwn) denotes the first payment or first installment of money or goods which serves as a guarantee or pledge for the completion of the transaction. In the NT the term is used only figuratively of the Holy Spirit as the down payment of the blessings promised by God (it is used also in 2 Cor 1:22 and 5:5). In the “already – not yet” scheme of the NT the possession of the Spirit now by believers (“already”) can be viewed as a guarantee that God will give them the balance of the promised blessings in the future (“not yet”).

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “the possession.”

[1:17]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).

[3:5]  ¹² tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “other.”

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in.”

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

[3:20]  ¹⁷ sn On the power that is working within us see 1:19-20.

[3:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “infinitely beyond,” “far more abundantly than.”

[5:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in which.”

[5:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “dissipation.” See BDAG 148 s.v. ἀσωτία.

[5:18]  ²¹ tn Many have taken ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati) as indicating content, i.e., one is to be filled with the Spirit. ExSyn 375 states, “There are no other examples in biblical Greek in which ἐν + the dative after πληρόω indicates content. Further, the parallel with οἴνῳ as well as the common grammatical category of means suggest that the idea intended is that believers are to be filled by means of the [Holy] Spirit. If so there seems to be an unnamed agent. The meaning of this text can only be fully appreciated in light of the πληρόω language in Ephesians. Always the term is used in connection with a member of the Trinity. Three considerations seem to be key: (1) In Eph 3:19 the ‘hinge’ prayer introducing the last half of the letter makes a request that the believers ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’ (πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ). The explicit content of πληρόω is thus God’s fullness (probably a reference to his moral attributes). (2) In 4:10 Christ is said to be the agent of filling (with v. 11 adding the specifics of his giving spiritual gifts). (3) The author then brings his argument to a crescendo in 5:18: Believers are to be filled by Christ by means of the Spirit with the content of the fullness of God.”