1:17a

that: The word that here introduces what Paul prayed for. Many English versions start a new sentence here and add the words “I ask” or “I pray” because they are implied from 1:16. For example:

I keep asking that (New International Version)

the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father: These two phrases form a parallelism. They both refer to God the Father. This should be clear in your translation. See the second meaning line of the Display for ways you can make this explicit.

the glorious Father: A literal English translation of the Greek is “Father of glory.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the Father who has great glory
-or-
the Father who is very great
-or-
the Father who is wonderful/majestic

See how you translated “glorious grace” in 1:6a and “glory” in 1:12b and 1:14c. Also see glory, Meaning 4 in the Glossary for more information.

1:17b

a spirit of wisdom: There are several ways to interpret the word spirit here. It may refer to:

(1) the spirit of man. According to this interpretation, the phrase spirit of wisdom means “spiritual wisdom” or “thinking in a wise way.” For example:

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ…may give you spiritual wisdom…. (NET Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, King James Version, God’s Word, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, English Standard Version)

(2) the Holy Spirit. For example:

I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand… (Contemporary English Version)

(New International Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and the majority of English translations. In some languages, it will be more natural to translate spirit of wisdom as “spiritually wise.”

and revelation: The word revelation generally refers to something that has been made known. In this context it refers to God making himself known to people. In some languages, it will be more natural to translate the noun revelation as the verb “reveal.” Paul prayed that God would reveal himself to the Ephesian Christians. For example:

reveal God to you (Good News Translation)

1:17c

in your knowledge of Him: In this context, the pronoun Him refers to God the Father. If this is not clear in your translation, you may want to make it explicit. You can say for example:

in your knowledge of ⌊God⌋
-or-
as it regards the way that you know ⌊God⌋

General Comment on 1:17

You may need to translate this verse as several sentences, as in the second meaning line of the Display.

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