Efesus 3:7-12

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ¹  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ²  the exercise of his power. ³  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁴  – this grace was given, ⁵  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 3:9 and to enlighten ⁶  everyone about God’s secret plan ⁷  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ⁸  in God ⁹  who has created all things. 3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ¹⁰  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ¹¹  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 3:11 This was according to ¹²  the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 3:12 in whom we have boldness and confident access ¹³  to God ¹⁴  because of ¹⁵  Christ’s ¹⁶  faithfulness. ¹⁷ 

[3:7]  ¹ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ² tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ³ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:8]  ⁴ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[3:9]  ⁶ tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “what is the plan of the divine secret.” Earlier the author had used οἰκονομία (oikonomia; here “plan”) to refer to his own “stewardship” (v. 2). But now he is speaking about the content of this secret, not his own activity in relation to it.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Or “by God.” It is possible that ἐν (en) plus the dative here indicates agency, that is, that God has performed the action of hiding the secret. However, this usage of the preposition ἐν is quite rare in the NT, and even though here it does follow a perfect passive verb as in the Classical idiom, it is more likely that a different nuance is intended.

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

[3:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”

[3:11]  ¹² tn Grk “according to.” The verse is a prepositional phrase subordinate to v. 10.

[3:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “access in confidence.”

[3:12]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “to God” is not in the text, but is clearly implied by the preceding, “access.”

[3:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “through,” “by way of.”

[3:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “his.”

[3:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “faith in him.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pisti" Cristou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.

[3:12]  sn Because of Christ’s faithfulness. Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.