As the Hdb|fig:Table_EPH3-2.jpg translation shows, verse 3 begins with “that,” which introduces the content of the “grace” given Paul: God had revealed the secret to him, and it was his responsibility to proclaim this secret to the Gentiles.

“By revelation”: see 1.17. This simply states how the writer acquired his knowledge of the secret; it does not say when or how that revelation came to him. Good News Translation makes the actor explicit: God revealed.

“Was made known”: the passive has as its implicit actor God himself: God made it known (see the same verb in 1.9). In some languages it will be necessary to say “God made me to know it.”

In some languages there may be a problem involved in translating the verb revealed, for it may be necessary to specify whether this was a revelation by sight or by word. If one uses a verb meaning “to see,” it would appear as though God had shown Paul some kind of blueprint. In general, a verb for speaking and conversely for hearing would seem to be better. However, in some instances it is possible to translate “God caused me to know about his secret plan” or “… his plan which had not been made known before” or “… which people had not known about before.”

“The secret”: see 1.9, and see the secret of Christ in verse 4.

The thought logically progresses from here (“was made known to me the secret”) to the beginning of verse 6 “(that) the Gentiles are” (which gives the content of the secret); verses 3b-5 are a digression from the main thought. Moffatt actually places verses 3b-5 within parentheses, to make clear the progression of thought.

“As I wrote before”: this may refer (1) to the same document (so nearly all commentators; specifically 2.11-22, which describes the oneness of Jews and Gentiles in the church), or (2) to other documents (so Goodspeed, who thinks it refers to Paul’s letters; but “briefly” is hardly appropriate for all of Paul’s letters). Barclay translates “I have briefly written to you in the earlier part of this letter”; Translator’s New Testament says it more succinctly, “as I have already briefly said”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “I have just now spoken briefly of it.”

In many instances it is impossible to be ambiguous about the statement I have written briefly about this, for the tenses in the receptor language may require one to indicate whether the event took place only a short time before or quite a long period before. The temporal relationship can sometimes be made clear by translating the first part of verse 4 as “and if you read what I have just written” or “if you pay attention to what I have just said.”

If you will read; “by reading (it)”: quite often the Greek verb “to read” in the New Testament means “to read aloud in public”; so Colossians 4.16; 1 Thessalonians 5.27; Revelation 1.3 (see also Mark 13.14). In the passages cited the public occasion would be the worship service in the church. This may be the meaning here (so Barth and others); but Westcott and Beare take it to mean here private reading: “for study and contemplation” (Beare). It cannot be proven which of the two is correct; if in a given language a choice must be made, perhaps the first meaning is preferable.

In a number of languages it is quite impossible to be ambiguous concerning the nature of the reading, for the choice of terms indicates clearly whether the reading is “silent reading” or “voiced reading.” In some instances it may be important to translate if you will read as “if you will listen carefully to what has been read,” since presumably not everyone would be reading the same document aloud.

Learn about and understanding translate two related terms, the verb “to grasp, perceive, know” and the noun “insight, grasp” (see the verb “to understand” in 5.17). You can learn about my understanding may be expressed as “you can find out how I understand” or “you can come to learn how I regard.”

The secret of Christ: here the phrase can be almost a technical term for the Christian message as it is in Colossians 4.3. Barth takes the phrase to mean that Christ is the secret; Caragounis takes “of Christ” to be an objective genitive, “the mystery concerning Christ.” It seems better to understand the phrase to mean “the secret (plan) put into effect by Christ.” In this context it does not seem that Christ himself is the secret as such. So instead of translating the secret of Christ, as Good News Translation has done, it will be better to translate “God’s secret plan carried out by Christ,” or “God’s plan which was not known before but which Christ is now causing to happen.”

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 .