Efesus 1:11-13

1:11 In Christ ¹  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ²  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ³  on Christ, ⁴  would be to the praise of his glory. 1:13 And when ⁵  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ⁶  – you were marked with the seal ⁷  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁸ 

Efesus 1:19-21

1:19 and what is the incomparable ⁹  greatness of his power toward ¹⁰  us who believe, as displayed in ¹¹  the exercise of his immense strength. ¹²  1:20 This power ¹³  he exercised ¹⁴  in Christ when he raised him ¹⁵  from the dead and seated him ¹⁶  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ¹⁷  1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

[1:11]  ¹ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ² tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[1:11]  sn God’s own possession. Although God is not mentioned explicitly in the Greek text, it is clear from the context that he has chosen believers for himself. Just as with the nation Israel, the church is God’s chosen portion or possession (cf. Deut 32:8-9).

[1:12]  ³ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Or “the Messiah.”

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:19]  ⁹ tn Or “immeasurable, surpassing”

[1:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for, to”

[1:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “according to.”

[1:19]  ¹² tn Grk “according to the exercise of the might of his strength.”

[1:19]  sn What has been translated as exercise is a term used only of supernatural power in the NT, ἐνέργεια (energeia).

[1:20]  ¹³ tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

[1:20]  ¹⁴ tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

[1:20]  ¹⁵ tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:20]  ¹⁶ tc The majority of mss, especially the Western and Byzantine mss (D F G Ψ Ï b r Ambst), have the indicative ἐκάθισεν (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for καθίσας (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ἐνήργησεν (enhrghsen, “he exercised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle (found in Ì^92vid א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 al), on the other hand, is coordinate with ἐγείρας (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: He exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe, which made its way in the Byzantine text.

[1:20]  ¹⁷ sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.