Efesus 1:4

1:4 For ¹  he chose us in Christ ²  before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished ³  in his sight ⁴  in love. ⁵ 

Efesus 1:22

1:22 And God ⁶  put ⁷  all things under Christ’s ⁸  feet, ⁹  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ¹⁰ 

Efesus 3:11

3:11 This was according to ¹¹  the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

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 5:26

5:26 to sanctify her by cleansing her ¹²  with the washing of the water by the word,

Efesus 1:17

1:17 I pray that ¹³  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ¹⁴  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ¹⁵  in your growing knowledge of him, ¹⁶ 

Efesus 1:11

1:11 In Christ ¹⁷  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ¹⁸  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

Efesus 1:13

1:13 And when ¹⁹  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ²⁰  – you were marked with the seal ²¹  of the promised Holy Spirit, ²² 

Efesus 2:15

2:15 when he nullified ²³  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ²⁴  out of two, ²⁵  thus making peace,

[1:4]  ¹ tn Grk “just as.” Eph 1:3-14 are one long sentence in Greek that must be broken up in English translation. Verse 4 expresses the reason why God the Father is blessed (cf. BDAG 494 s.v. καθώς 3).

[1:4]  ² tn Grk “in him.”

[1:4]  ³ sn The Greek word translated unblemished (ἀμώμους, amwmous) is often used of an acceptable paschal lamb. Christ, as our paschal lamb, is also said to be unblemished (Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19). Since believers are in Christ, God views them positionally and will make them ultimately without blemish as well (Jude 24; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22).

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “before him.”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agaph, “in love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of ἀγάπη to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious actions toward believers, but it could be considered slightly redundant in that God’s predestination itself proves his love.

[1:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[3:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “according to.” The verse is a prepositional phrase subordinate to v. 10.

[5:26]  ¹² tn The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.

[1:17]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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”).

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ¹⁸ 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).

[1:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ²² tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:15]  ²³ tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargew) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.

[2:15]  ²⁴ tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.

[2:15]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.