4:3a–b

and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: The basic meaning of this verse is this: the Holy Spirit has united believers into one group, so they must do all they can to maintain this unity by living in peace with each other.

This verse has several difficult phrases that contain abstract nouns. To make it easier to understand, you may have to translate these nouns as verbs. For example:

with diligence: You can restate as:

Do your best (Good News Translation)
-or-
Try hard
-or-
Use all your strength

to preserve the unity of the Spirit: You can restate this as:

to maintain/preserve the harmony which the Holy Spirit gives
-or-
the Holy Spirit has united you all into one group. Continue to be one group

through the bond of peace: This is a metaphor. Peace is compared to a rope or something that binds two objects together. So, the idea here is that peace binds Christians together and keeps them unified the way a rope binds or ties two objects together. You can restate this metaphor as:

Through the peace that ties you together (God’s Word)
-or-
by living together in peace which binds/holds us together
-or-
by the peace that binds/ties us together ⌊like a rope that binds/ties two objects together⌋

4:4–6

In verses 4:4–6, Paul listed some of the things that unite all believers:

• they have become one body/group

• they have received the same Holy Spirit

• they confidently expect to receive the same blessings from God

• they have the same Lord

• they believe the same truths

• they have received the same baptism

Furthermore, there is only one God who is the Father of all people.

Paul used the word “one” six times in 4:4–6 to stress that Christians are united. In your language, it may not be possible to use “one” with things like “faith” and “baptism.” This is especially true if you translate these words as verbs instead of nouns. Think of a natural way to translate these verses so that Paul’s emphasis on unity is clear. For example, you could translate “one Spirit” as:

we all have received the same Spirit

In 4:4, Paul uses the pronoun “you.” But the things he says in 4:4–6 are true not only for the Ephesians, but also for Paul and all believers. Because of this, some translators use “we (incl.) ” in these verses.

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