The three positive virtues listed here are also given in Colossians 3.12-13, where nouns are used, whereas here the first two qualities are indicated by adjectives. For kind see “kindness” in 2.7 (Good News Translation love). The admonition to be kind may be expressed as “do good to people” or “be helpful to people.”

Tender-hearted translates an adjective used only here and in 1 Peter 3.8 in the New Testament; the word means “compassionate.” It may often be expressed idiomatically as “show how your heart feels toward others” or “let your heart go out to others” or “feel sorrow in your heart for others.”

Forgiveness here is enjoined as a duty laid on Christians by the prior fact that God has forgiven you through Christ; see the closely parallel statement in Colossians 2.13, where the same Greek verb is used. Through Christ takes the Greek prepositional phrase “in Christ” to mean instrumentality, means; it could be taken to mean “in your union with Christ.” Most translations, which simply have “God in Christ,” seem to take it in the sense that God is present in Christ, that is, he is active, working, forgiving, in Christ’s person.

The conjunction as may be expanded in the sense of “in the same way as” or “just like.” The phrase through Christ may be rendered as “Christ made this possible” or “Christ made that 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 .