Efesus 1:17

1:17 I pray that ¹  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ²  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ³  in your growing knowledge of him, ⁴ 

Efesus 3:5

3:5 Now this secret ⁵  was not disclosed to people ⁶  in former ⁷  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ⁸  the Spirit,

Efesus 4:18

4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, ⁹  being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Efesus 5:4

5:4 Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving.

[1:17]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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”).

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

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

[3:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “other.”

[3:5]  ⁸ tn Or “in.”

[4:18]  ⁹ tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to περιπατεῖ (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.