1:2
Grace and peace to you: The clause Grace and peace to you was a common greeting among Christians at that time. Here Paul used these words as a prayer to wish God’s blessing on the Ephesians.
In the Greek, Grace and peace to you contains no verbs. In many languages, it may be more natural to add one or two verbs. For example:
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. (Good News Translation)
-or-
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ show you grace and give you peace ⌊in your hearts⌋.
In other languages, it may be better to translate Grace and peace as verbs, for example:
⌊I pray that⌋ God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will graciously help/bless you and help you to live well.
Grace: Grace here means that “God favors people” or that “he is kind to people even though they do not deserve it.” Paul used the word Grace to express his desire for God’s blessing on people and to wish them well. See grace, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
God’s favor
-or-
God’s gracious help
-or-
God’s generous help
peace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as peace refers to serenity and calm well-being. It often implies an absence of war or conflict. In the context of this Christian greeting, it probably implies the peace that comes from God for those who are in a relationship with him. Remember that the word peace has more than one meaning in the NT. You may need to translate it in different ways in different verses, according to the context.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
tranquility
-or-
untroubled relationships
-or-
calm life
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Since the pronoun our occurs with Father, consider whether it is more natural in your language to also say “our Lord” rather than “the Lord.” For example:
God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. (New Living Translation (2004))
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