Ephesians 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 –

Ephesians 3:6

3:6 namely, that through the gospel ⁵  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ⁶  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:16

3:16 I pray that ⁷  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Ephesians 4:16

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ⁸  through every supporting ligament. ⁹  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

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

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).

² tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”

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.”

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.

⁴ tn Or “good pleasure.”

⁵ sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.

⁶ tn Grk “and fellow members.”

⁷ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

⁸ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

⁹ tn Grk “joint of supply.”