Ephesians 3:5-10

3:5 Now this secret ¹  was not disclosed to people ²  in former ³  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ⁴  the Spirit, 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. 3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ⁷  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁸  the exercise of his power. ⁹  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ¹⁰  – this grace was given, ¹¹  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 3:9 and to enlighten ¹²  everyone about God’s secret plan ¹³  – a secret that has been hidden for ages ¹⁴  in God ¹⁵  who has created all things. 3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ¹⁶  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ¹⁷  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 3:17-21

3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 3:18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁸  3:19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to ¹⁹  all the fullness of God.

3:20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us ²⁰  is able to do far beyond ²¹  all that we ask or think, 3:21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

---

¹ tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.

² tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

³ tn Grk “other.”

⁴ tn Or “in.”

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 “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

⁸ tn Grk “according to.”

⁹ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

¹⁰ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

¹¹ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

¹² tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

¹⁷ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”

¹⁸ sn The object of these dimensions is not stated in the text. Interpreters have suggested a variety of referents for this unstated object, including the cross of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem (which is then sometimes linked to the Church), God’s power, the fullness of salvation given in Christ, the Wisdom of God, and the love of Christ. Of these interpretations, the last two are the most plausible. Associations from Wisdom literature favor the Wisdom of God, but the immediate context favors the love of Christ. For detailed discussion of these interpretive options, see A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC), 207-13, who ultimately favors the love of Christ.

¹⁹ tn Or “with.”

²⁰ sn On the power that is working within us see 1:19-20.

²¹ tn Or “infinitely beyond,” “far more abundantly than.”