Discovery BoxEphesians 1:11 
Context1:11 In Christ 1 we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, 2 since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will
Ephesians 2:2
Context2:2 in which 3 you formerly lived 4 according to this world’s present path, 5 according to the ruler of the kingdom 6 of the air, the ruler of 7 the spirit 8 that is now energizing 9 the sons of disobedience, 10
1 tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.
2 tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.
sn God’s own possession. Although God is not mentioned explicitly in the Greek text, it is clear from the context that he has chosen believers for himself. Just as with the nation Israel, the church is God’s chosen portion or possession (cf. Deut 32:8-9).
3 sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
4 tn Grk “walked.”
sn The Greek verb translated lived (περιπατέω, peripatew) in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.
5 tn Or possibly “Aeon.”
sn The word translated present path is the same as that which has been translated [this] age in 1:21 (αἰών, aiwn).
6 tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”
7 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
8 sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).
9 tn Grk “working in.”
10 sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.
