I fall on my knees; “I bend my knees” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH3-13.jpg): this is the position of prayer. New English Bible, Translator’s New Testament, Barclay have “I kneel in prayer.” If in a translation a difference is made between the two kneeling postures commonly practiced today, this kneeling would probably be on both knees, not on one (see especially Barth, pages 377-379).
A strictly literal translation of I fall on my knees before the Father may be misleading, since it might suggest some accidental collapse or stumbling. One may, of course, use an expression such as “I kneel before the Father,” but it may also be possible to translate merely “I pray to the Father,” since in some societies it is not the normal practice to kneel when praying. As in other instances, it may not be possible to translate literally before the Father, if the term “father” must be possessed. In many instances one must indicate that this is the heavenly Father. Therefore before the Father may be rendered as “before our Father in heaven.”
The Father: the Textus Receptus adds “of our Lord Jesus Christ” (see King James Version), which is not in the best and oldest manuscripts. The writer makes a play on words, patera … patria “father … family”; the latter word denotes a group of people who have the same ancestor, so it can mean a clan or tribe (or even a nation) as well as a family.
King James Version translates “the whole family” (likewise New International Version, which may be defended on the same grounds as the whole building is defended for a similar Greek construction in 2.21; but the qualifying words in heaven and on earth make it quite improbable that “the whole family” is meant. The only way to understand “(a family) in heaven” is to take it to refer to angels and whatever other heavenly beings are thought to exist. By “(a family) on earth” the writer is probably not thinking primarily of what is today called the nuclear family (father, mother, children), but of clan, race, or even nation (see especially Beare); see “all the patriai of earth” in Acts 3.25.
In a number of languages a term for family normally refers to an extended family comprising often an entire clan or significant subdivision of a tribe. In such cases this type of term is fully satisfactory for verse 15. But in other instances it may be far better to use an expression applicable to a “nation.”
Jerusalem Bible translates in heaven and on earth by “spiritual or natural,” which is not recommended, since “a spiritual family” may be understood to indicate spiritual ties among human beings. Even though family in heaven probably refers to angels and other heavenly beings, it would be better in translation to avoid saying that specifically, but rather to keep the expression of the text, family in heaven.
Receives its true name: name here stands for identity, character; Murray comments: “derives its nature and its name” (so Translator’s New Testament). For the verb “to name” see 1.21. The main point that is being made is that God is the Father of all animate beings, whether heavenly or earthly; there is no group of beings which does not owe its existence to him.
It is rare that the expression receives its true name can be adequately understood in a more or less literal translation. Furthermore, it is difficult to see the figurative significance in God naming all the nations. Accordingly, the clause from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name may be rendered effectively as “who causes every group in heaven and earth to exist.”
Good News Translation has restructured verses 14 and 15 so that they are one sentence, with verse 15 dependent on verse 14. Some languages cannot easily structure in the same way and will use instead a new sentence at the beginning of verse 15: “He is the one who gives every family in heaven and on earth its true name.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .