Efesus 5:30

5:30 for we are members of his body. ¹ 

Efesus 3:3

3:3 that ²  by revelation the divine secret ³  was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. ⁴ 

Efesus 5:16

5:16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Efesus 2:18

2:18 so that ⁵  through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Efesus 4:9

4:9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended ⁶  to the lower regions, ⁷  namely, the earth? ⁸ 

Efesus 4:25

4:25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, ⁹  for we are members of one another.

Efesus 5:23

5:23 because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church – he himself being the savior of the body.

Efesus 6:8

6:8 because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this ¹⁰  will be rewarded by the Lord.

Efesus 2:11-12

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 ¹¹  by human hands – 2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ¹²  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ¹³  having no hope and without God in the world.

Efesus 5:5

5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: ¹⁴  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 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 6:12

6:12 For our struggle ²⁰  is not against flesh and blood, ²¹  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ²²  against the spiritual forces ²³  of evil in the heavens. ²⁴ 

[5:30]  ¹ tc Most Western witnesses, as well as the majority of Byzantine mss and a few others (א² D F G Ψ 0278 0285^vid Ï lat), add the following words to the end of the verse: ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστέων αὐτοῦ (ek th" sarko" autou kai ek twn ostewn autou, “of his body and of his bones”). This is a (slightly modified) quotation from Gen 2:23a (LXX). The Alexandrian text is solidly behind the shorter reading (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B 048 33 81 1739* 1881 pc). Although it is possible that an early scribe’s eye skipped over the final αὐτοῦ, there is a much greater likelihood that a scribe added the Genesis quotation in order to fill out and make explicit the author’s incomplete reference to Gen 2:23. Further, on intrinsic grounds, it seems unlikely that the author would refer to the physical nature of creation when speaking of the “body of Christ” which is spiritual or mystical. Hence, as is often the case with OT quotations, the scribal clarification missed the point the author was making; the shorter reading stands as original.

[3:3]  ² tn Or “namely, that is.”

[3:3]  ³ tn Or “mystery.”

[3:3]  ⁴ tn Or “as I wrote above briefly.”

[3:3]  sn As I wrote briefly may refer to the author’s brief discussion of the divine secret in 1:9.

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).

[4:9]  ⁶ tc The majority of mss (א² B C³ Ψ Ï) read πρῶτον (prwton, “first”) here in conjunction with this verb: “he first descended.” The shorter reading, which lacks πρῶτον, should be considered original on the basis of both external and internal evidence: It has strong external support from the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (Ì⁴⁶ א* A C* D F G I^vid 082 6 33 81 1739 1881 pc); internally, the inclusion of πρῶτον is most likely an addition to clarify the sense of the passage.

[4:9]  ⁷ tc The Western texttype (D* F G it) lacks the plural noun μέρη (merh, “regions”); the shorter reading cannot be dismissed out of hand since it is also supported by Ì⁴⁶ (which often has strong affinities, however, with the Western text). The inclusion of the word has strong external support from important, early mss as well as the majority of Byzantine cursives (א A B C D² I Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï). Certain scribes may have deleted the word, thinking it superfluous; in addition, if the shorter reading were original one would expect to see at least a little variation in clarifying additions to the text. For these reasons the inclusion of μέρη should be regarded as original.

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “to the lower parts of the earth.” This phrase has been variously interpreted: (1) The traditional view understands it as a reference to the underworld (hell), where Jesus is thought to have descended in the three days between his death and resurrection. In this case, “of the earth” would be a partitive genitive. (2) A second option is to translate the phrase “of the earth” as a genitive of apposition: “to the lower parts, namely, the earth” (as in the present translation). Many recent scholars hold this view and argue that it is a reference to the incarnation. (3) A third option, which also sees the phrase “of the earth” as a genitive of apposition, is that the descent in the passage occurs after the ascent rather than before it, and refers to the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost (cf. Acts 4:11-16). Support for this latter view is found in the intertestamental and rabbinic use of Ps 68:18 (quoted in v. 8), which is consistently and solely interpreted as a reference to Moses’ ascent of Mt. Sinai to “capture” the words of the law. The probability, therefore, is that the comments here in v. 9 reflect a polemic against the interpretation of Ps 68:18 in certain circles as a reference to Moses. See W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ (AGJU 32), 46-54; 171-204.

[4:25]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Zech 8:16.

[6:8]  ¹⁰ 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.

[2:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[2:12]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[5:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").

[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…”

[6:12]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”

[6:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “blood and flesh.”

[6:12]  ²² tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.

[6:12]  sn The phrase world-rulers of this darkness does not refer to human rulers but the evil spirits that rule over the world. The phrase thus stands in apposition to what follows (the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens); see note on heavens at the end of this verse.

[6:12]  ²³ tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.

[6:12]  ²⁴ sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.