Discovery BoxEphesians 1:19--2:5 
Context1:19 and what is the incomparable 1 greatness of his power toward 2 us who believe, as displayed in 3 the exercise of his immense strength. 4 1:20 This power 5 he exercised 6 in Christ when he raised him 7 from the dead and seated him 8 at his right hand in the heavenly realms 9 1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 1:22 And God 10 put 11 all things under Christ’s 12 feet, 13 and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 14 1:23 Now the church is 15 his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 16
2:1 And although you were 17 dead 18 in your transgressions and sins, 2:2 in which 19 you formerly lived 20 according to this world’s present path, 21 according to the ruler of the kingdom 22 of the air, the ruler of 23 the spirit 24 that is now energizing 25 the sons of disobedience, 26 2:3 among whom 27 all of us 28 also 29 formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath 30 even as the rest… 31
2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! 32 –
1 tn Or “immeasurable, surpassing”
2 tn Or “for, to”
3 tn Grk “according to.”
4 tn Grk “according to the exercise of the might of his strength.”
sn What has been translated as exercise is a term used only of supernatural power in the NT, ἐνέργεια (energeia).
5 tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).
6 tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).
7 tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.
8 tc The majority of
9 sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.
10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Grk “subjected.”
12 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”
15 tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.
16 tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”
sn The idea of all in all is either related to the universe (hence, he fills the whole universe entirely) or the church universal (hence, Christ fills the church entirely with his presence and power).
17 tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.
18 sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.
19 sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
20 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.
21 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).
22 tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”
23 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
24 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).
25 tn Grk “working in.”
26 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.
27 sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
28 tn Grk “we all.”
29 tn Or “even.”
30 sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”
31 sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.
32 tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).
