Efesus 1:5

1:5 He did this by predestining ¹  us to adoption as his ²  sons ³  through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure ⁴  of his will –

Efesus 4:11

4:11 It was he ⁵  who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ⁶ 

Efesus 6:9

6:9 Masters, ⁷  treat your slaves ⁸  the same way, ⁹  giving up the use of threats, ¹⁰  because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, ¹¹  and there is no favoritism with him.

Efesus 2:6

2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Efesus 3:5

3:5 Now this secret ¹²  was not disclosed to people ¹³  in former ¹⁴  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ¹⁵  the Spirit,

[1:5]  ¹ tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).

[1:5]  sn By predestining. The aorist participle may be translated either causally (“because he predestined,” “having predestined”) or instrumentally (“by predestining”). A causal nuance would suggest that God’s predestination of certain individuals prompted his choice of them. An instrumental nuance would suggest that the means by which God’s choice was accomplished was by predestination. The instrumental view is somewhat more likely in light of normal Greek syntax (i.e., an aorist participle following an aorist main verb is more likely to be instrumental than causal).

[1:5]  ² tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”

[1:5]  ³ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as…sons.”

[1:5]  sn Adoption as his sons is different from spiritual birth as children. All true believers have been born as children of God and will be adopted as sons of God. The adoption is both a future reality, and in some sense, already true. To be adopted as a son means to have the full rights of an heir. Thus, although in the ancient world, only boys could be adopted as sons, in God’s family all children – both male and female – are adopted.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Or “good pleasure.”

[4:11]  ⁵ tn The emphasis on Christ is continued through the use of the intensive pronoun, αὐτός (autos), and is rendered in English as “it was he” as this seems to lay emphasis on the “he.”

[4:11]  ⁶ sn Some interpreters have understood the phrase pastors and teachers to refer to one and the same group. This would mean that all pastors are teachers and that all teachers are pastors. This position is often taken because it is recognized that both nouns (i.e., pastors and teachers) are governed by one article in Greek. But because the nouns are plural, it is extremely unlikely that they refer to the same group, but only that the author is linking them closely together. It is better to regard the pastors as a subset of teachers. In other words, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. See ExSyn 284.

[6:9]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:9]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “do the same things to them.”

[6:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “giving up the threat.”

[6:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “because of both they and you, the Lord is, in heaven…”

[3:5]  ¹² tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “other.”

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in.”