Efesus 2:9-10

2:9 it is not from ¹  works, so that no one can boast. ²  2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. ³ 

Efesus 4:26

4:26 Be angry and do not sin; ⁴  do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. ⁵ 

Efesus 2:11

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ⁶  by human hands –

Efesus 2:14

2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one ⁷  and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility,

Efesus 5:12

5:12 For the things they do ⁸  in secret are shameful even to mention.

Efesus 6:8

6:8 because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this ⁹  will be rewarded by the Lord.

Efesus 5:11

5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather ¹⁰  expose them. ¹¹ 

Efesus 2:15

2:15 when he nullified ¹²  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ¹³  out of two, ¹⁴  thus making peace,

Efesus 4:23

4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Efesus 6:9

6:9 Masters, ¹⁵  treat your slaves ¹⁶  the same way, ¹⁷  giving up the use of threats, ¹⁸  because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, ¹⁹  and there is no favoritism with him.

Efesus 4:19

4:19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ 

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 ²¹  with the washing of the water by the word,

Efesus 3:20

3:20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us ²²  is able to do far beyond ²³  all that we ask or think,

Efesus 4:28

4:28 The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.

Efesus 5:3

5:3 But ²⁴  among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, ²⁵  or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints. ²⁶ 

Efesus 6:21

Farewell Comments

6:21 Tychicus, my ²⁷  dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you too may know about my circumstances, ²⁸  how I am doing.

Efesus 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ²⁹  dead ³⁰  in your transgressions and sins,

Efesus 2:3

2:3 among whom ³¹  all of us ³²  also ³³  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ³⁴  even as the rest… ³⁵ 

Efesus 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ³⁶  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Efesus 5:9

5:9 for the fruit of the light ³⁷  consists in ³⁸  all goodness, righteousness, and truth –

Efesus 6:7

6:7 Obey ³⁹  with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord ⁴⁰  and not people,

Efesus 4:15

4:15 But practicing the truth in love, ⁴¹  we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.

Efesus 6:4

6:4 Fathers, ⁴²  do not provoke your children to anger, ⁴³  but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Efesus 1:12

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ⁴⁴  on Christ, ⁴⁵  would be to the praise of his glory.

Efesus 1:23

1:23 Now the church is ⁴⁶  his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. ⁴⁷ 

Efesus 2:21

2:21 In him ⁴⁸  the whole building, ⁴⁹  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

Efesus 4:12

4:12 to equip ⁵⁰  the saints for the work of ministry, that is, ⁵¹  to build up the body of Christ,

Efesus 4:24-25

4:24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image ⁵²  – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. ⁵³ 

4:25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, ⁵⁴  for we are members of one another.

Efesus 5:13

5:13 But all things being exposed by the light are made evident.

Efesus 5:18

5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, which ⁵⁵  is debauchery, ⁵⁶  but be filled by the Spirit, ⁵⁷ 

Efesus 6:14

6:14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening ⁵⁸  the belt of truth around your waist, ⁵⁹  by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,

Efesus 5:5

5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: ⁶⁰  that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Efesus 2:2

2:2 in which ⁶¹  you formerly lived ⁶²  according to this world’s present path, ⁶³  according to the ruler of the kingdom ⁶⁴  of the air, the ruler of ⁶⁵  the spirit ⁶⁶  that is now energizing ⁶⁷  the sons of disobedience, ⁶⁸ 

Efesus 2:5

2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ⁶⁹  –

Efesus 4:14

4:14 So ⁷⁰  we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. ⁷¹ 

Efesus 4:16

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ⁷²  through every supporting ligament. ⁷³  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

Efesus 5:6

Live in the Light

5:6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. ⁷⁴ 

Efesus 5:27-28

5:27 so that he ⁷⁵  may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. ⁷⁶  5:28 In the same way ⁷⁷  husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Efesus 6:6

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ⁷⁸  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ⁷⁹ 

Efesus 1:11

1:11 In Christ ⁸⁰  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ⁸¹  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

Efesus 2:12

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ⁸²  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ⁸³  having no hope and without God in the world.

[2:9]  ¹ tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ² tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”

[2:10]  ³ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).

[2:10]  sn So that we may do them. Before the devil began to control our walk in sin and among sinful people, God had already planned good works for us to do.

[4:26]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 4:4. Although several translations render the phrase Be angry and do not sin as “If you are angry, do not sin” such is unlikely on a grammatical, lexical, and historical level (see D. B. Wallace, “᾿Οργίζεσθε in Ephesians 4:26: Command or Condition?” CTR 3 [1989]: 352-72). The idea of vv. 26-27 is as follows: Christians are to exercise a righteous indignation over sin in the midst of the believing community (v. 26a; note that v. 25 is restricting the discussion to those in the body of Christ). When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted (v. 26b), for if the body of Christ does not address sin in its midst, the devil gains a foothold (v. 27). “Entirely opposite of the ‘introspective conscience’ view, this text seems to be a shorthand expression for church discipline, suggesting that there is a biblical warrant for δικαία ὀργή [dikaia orgh] (as the Greeks put it) – righteous indignation” (ExSyn 492).

[4:26]  ⁵ tn The word παροργισμός (parorgismo"), typically translated “anger” in most versions is used almost exclusively of the source of anger rather than the results in Greek literature (thus, it refers to an external cause or provocation rather than an internal reaction). The notion of “cause of your anger” is both lexically and historically justified. The apparently proverbial nature of the statement (“Do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger”) finds several remarkable parallels in Pss. Sol. 8:8-9: “(8) God laid bare their sins in the full light of day; All the earth came to know the righteous judgments of God. (9) In secret places underground their iniquities (were committed) to provoke (Him) to anger” (R. H. Charles’ translation). Not only is παροργισμός used, but righteous indignation against God’s own people and the laying bare of their sins in broad daylight are also seen.

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “who made the both one.”

[5:12]  ⁸ tn The participle τὰ…γινόμενα (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν (Jup’ autwn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.

[6:8]  ⁹ sn The pronoun “this” (τοῦτο, touto) stands first in its clause for emphasis, and stresses the fact that God will reward those, who in seeking him, do good.

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “rather even expose.”

[2:15]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[6:9]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:9]  ¹⁶ tn Though the Greek text only has αὐτούς (autous, “them”), the antecedent is the slaves of the masters. Therefore, it was translated this way to make it explicit in English.

[6:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “do the same things to them.”

[6:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “giving up the threat.”

[6:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “because of both they and you, the Lord is, in heaven…”

[4:19]  ²⁰ sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.

[5:26]  ²¹ 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.

[3:20]  ²² sn On the power that is working within us see 1:19-20.

[3:20]  ²³ tn Or “infinitely beyond,” “far more abundantly than.”

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn The term “But” translates the δέ (de) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3.

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn Grk “all impurity.”

[5:3]  ²⁶ tn Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The καθώς (kaqws) was rendered with “as” and the sense is causal, i.e., “for” or “because.” The negative particle “not” (“for these are not proper for the saints”) in this clause was supplied in English so as to make the sense very clear, i.e., that these vices are not befitting of those who name the name of Christ.

[6:21]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the.” The Greek article ὁ (Jo) was translated with the possessive pronoun, “my.” See ExSyn 215.

[6:21]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the things according to me.”

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ³⁰ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[2:3]  ³¹ sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ³² tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ³³ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ³⁴ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ³⁵ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.

[5:1]  ³⁶ tn Or “become.”

[5:9]  ³⁷ tc Several mss (Ì⁴⁶ D² Ψ Ï) have πνεύματος (pneumatos, “Spirit”) instead of φωτός (fwtos, “light”). Although most today regard φωτός as obviously original (UBS⁴ gives it an “A” rating), a case could be made that πνεύματος is what the author wrote. First, although this is largely a Byzantine reading (D² often, if not normally, assimilates to the Byzantine text), Ì⁴⁶ gives the reading much greater credibility. Internally, the φωτός at the end of v. 8 could have lined up above the πνεύματος in v. 9 in a scribe’s exemplar, thus occasioning dittography. (It is interesting to note that in both Ì⁴⁹ and א the two instances of φωτός line up.) However, written in a contracted form, as a nomen sacrum (pMnMs) – a practice found even in the earliest mss – πνεύματος would not have been easily confused with fwtos (there being only the last letter to occasion homoioteleuton rather than the last three). Further, the external evidence for φωτός is quite compelling (Ì⁴⁹ א A B D* F G P 33 81 1739 1881 2464 pc latt co); it is rather doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook πνεύματος for φωτός. In addition, πνεύματος can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, φωτός appears to be original, giving rise to the reading πνεύματος.

[5:9]  ³⁸ tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”

[6:7]  ³⁹ tn Though the verb does not appear again at this point in the passage, it is nonetheless implied and supplied in the English translation for the sake of clarity.

[6:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “serving as to the Lord.”

[4:15]  ⁴¹ tn The meaning of the participle ἀληθεύοντες (alhqeuonte"; from the verb ἀληθεύω [alhqeuw]) is debated. In classical times the verb could mean “to speak the truth,” or “to be true, to prove true.” In the LXX it appears five times (Gen 20:16; 42:16; Prov 21:3; Isa 44:26; Sir 34:4) and translates four different Hebrew words; there it is an ethical term used of proving or being true, not with the idea of speaking the truth. In the NT the only other place the verb appears is in Gal 4:16 where it means “to speak the truth.” However, in Ephesians the concept of “being truthful” is the best sense of the word. In contrast to the preceding verse, where there are three prepositional phrases to denote falsehood and deceit, the present word speaks of being real or truthful in both conduct and speech. Their deceit was not only in their words but also in their conduct. In other words, the believers’ conduct should be transparent, revealing the real state of affairs, as opposed to hiding or suppressing the truth through cunning and deceit. See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 564-65, and R. Bultmann, TDNT 1:251.

[6:4]  ⁴² tn Or perhaps “Parents” (so TEV, CEV). The plural οἱ πατέρες (Joi patere", “fathers”) can be used to refer to both the male and female parent (BDAG 786 s.v. πατήρ 1.b).

[6:4]  ⁴³ tn Or “do not make your children angry.” BDAG 780 s.v. παροργίζω states “make angry.” The Greek verb in Col 3:21 is a different one with a slightly different nuance.

[1:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “the Messiah.”

[1:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.

[1:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”

[1:23]  sn The idea of all in all is either related to the universe (hence, he fills the whole universe entirely) or the church universal (hence, Christ fills the church entirely with his presence and power).

[2:21]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ⁴⁹ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

[2:21]  tn Or “every building.” Although “every building” is a more natural translation of the Greek, it does not fit as naturally into the context, which (with its emphasis on corporate unity) seems to stress the idea of one building.

[4:12]  ⁵⁰ tn On the translation of πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων (pro" ton katartismon twn Jagiwn) as “to equip the saints” see BDAG 526 s.v. καταρτισμός. In this case the genitive is taken as objective and the direct object of the verbal idea implied in καταρτισμός (katartismo").

[4:12]  ⁵¹ tn The εἰς (eis) clause is taken as epexegetical to the previous εἰς clause, namely, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας (ei" ergon diakonia").

[4:24]  ⁵² tn Or “in God’s likeness.” Grk “according to God.” The preposition κατά used here denotes a measure of similarity or equality (BDAG 513 s.v. B.5.b.α).

[4:24]  ⁵³ tn Or “in righteousness and holiness which is based on truth” or “originated from truth.”

[4:25]  ⁵⁴ sn A quotation from Zech 8:16.

[5:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “in which.”

[5:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “dissipation.” See BDAG 148 s.v. ἀσωτία.

[5:18]  ⁵⁷ 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.”

[6:14]  ⁵⁸ sn The four participles fastening… putting on…fitting…taking up… indicate the means by which believers can take their stand against the devil and his schemes. The imperative take in v. 17 communicates another means by which to accomplish the standing, i.e., by the word of God.

[6:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “girding your waist with truth.” In this entire section the author is painting a metaphor for his readers based on the attire of a Roman soldier prepared for battle and its similarity to the Christian prepared to do battle against spiritually evil forces. Behind the expression “with truth” is probably the genitive idea “belt of truth.” Since this is an appositional genitive (i.e., belt which is truth), the author simply left unsaid the idea of the belt and mentioned only his real focus, namely, the truth. (The analogy would have been completely understandable to his 1st century readers.) The idea of the belt is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense in English.

[5:5]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").

[2:2]  ⁶¹ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ⁶² tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  sn The Greek verb translated lived (περιπατέω, peripatew) in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[2:2]  ⁶³ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  sn The word translated present path is the same as that which has been translated [this] age in 1:21 (αἰών, aiwn).

[2:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ⁶⁶ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ⁶⁸ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[4:14]  ⁷⁰ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ⁷¹ tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that the author is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.

[4:16]  ⁷² tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

[4:16]  ⁷³ tn Grk “joint of supply.”

[5:6]  ⁷⁴ sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.

[5:27]  ⁷⁵ tn The use of the pronoun αὐτός (autos) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.

[5:27]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”

[5:28]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “So also.”

[6:6]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

[6:6]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[1:11]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ⁸¹ 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).

[2:12]  ⁸² tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ⁸³ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”