Efesus 3:9-10

3:9 and to enlighten ¹  everyone about God’s secret plan ²  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ³  in God ⁴  who has created all things. 3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ⁵  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ⁶  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

[3:9]  ¹ tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

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

[3:9]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

[3:10]  ⁶ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”