Ephesians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ¹  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ²  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 3:4

3:4 When reading this, ³  you will be able to ⁴  understand my insight into this secret ⁵  of Christ.

Ephesians 3:11-12

3:11 This was according to ⁶  the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 3:12 in whom we have boldness and confident access ⁷  to God ⁸  because of ⁹  Christ’s ¹⁰  faithfulness. ¹¹ 

Ephesians 5:25

5:25 Husbands, love your ¹²  wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

Ephesians 5:32

5:32 This mystery is great – but I am actually ¹³  speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Ephesians 6:24

6:24 Grace be ¹⁴  with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. ¹⁵ 

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¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

² tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.

³ tn Grk “which, when reading.”

⁴ tn Grk “you are able to.”

⁵ tn Or “mystery.”

⁶ tn Grk “according to.” The verse is a prepositional phrase subordinate to v. 10.

⁷ tn Grk “access in confidence.”

⁸ tn The phrase “to God” is not in the text, but is clearly implied by the preceding, “access.”

⁹ tn Grk “through,” “by way of.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “his.”

¹¹ 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.

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.

¹² tn The Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹³ tn The term “actually” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to bring out the heightened sense of the statement.

¹⁴ tn Or “is.”

¹⁵ tc Most witnesses (א² D Ψ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of the letter. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. The earliest and best witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B F G 0278 6 33 81 1175 1241 1739* 1881 sa) lack the particle, giving firm evidence that Ephesians did not originally conclude with ἀμήν.

tn Grk “without corruption.” The term “love” is not found at the end of the sentence, but is supplied to clarify the sense in English. The term “undying” which modifies it captures the sense of the kind of love the author is referring to here. He is saying that God’s grace will be with those whose love for Jesus never ceases.