“At one time you were darkness, but now (you are) light in the Lord” is how the first part of verse 8 reads in Greek. The two metaphors darkness and light stand for spiritual and moral conditions: death versus life, lost versus saved, evil versus goodness (see 2.11, 13 for the same contrast in the past … but now). For darkness as a figure of life apart from God see 4.18; Colossians 1.13; and for the figure of light see 1.18.

In a number of languages the figurative expressions darkness and light do not readily carry the significance of the biblical contrast. But it is surprising how quickly the significance of these terms is understood and appreciated. It is for that reason that some psychologists have regarded such a contrast as being a symbolic universal. It may, however, be necessary in a context such as this to employ “the darkness of night” in contrast with “the light of day.” In this way one may avoid some misinterpretations which might arise from people thinking about the darkness of a cave or a hole, in contrast with light coming from a fire or a lamp.

Since you have become the Lord’s people translates the Greek prepositional phrase “in the Lord” (compare Translator’s New Testament “now that you belong to the Lord”). “Now that you are united to the Lord” is another way this phrase can be translated.

So you must live like people who belong to the light: the rest of verse 8 in Greek is the command “walk as children of light”; for the verb “to walk” see 2.2, 10; 4.1, 17; 5.2; and for the phrase “children of light,” meaning people who belong to the light, see the similar “children of anger” in 2.3.

It is not difficult for people to conceive of how persons may “live in the light” or “be in the light,” but it may be far more difficult to conceive of a relationship involved in “belonging to the light.” It may therefore be preferable to translate who belong to the light as “who habitually live in the light.”

Verse 9 is a parenthetical addition; the sentence that begins in verse 8 in Greek goes directly from verse 8 to verse 10: “Walk as children of the light, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” Revised Standard Version, New International Version place verse 9 within parentheses and join verse 8 directly to verse 10. In many languages, however, it is not natural to put the parenthetical statement that is in verse 9 in the middle of a sentence that begins in verse 8 and continues at verse 10. So what Good News Translation has done may be better for such languages: for it is the light that brings a rich harvest…. Verse 9 in Greek is literally “for the fruit of light (is) in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” Light here is seen as a fertile field which produces fruit (see especially Gal 5.22 for similar figurative use of “fruit”).

As Good News Translation margin shows, there is a variant wording supported by some early Greek manuscripts, including (P46): “the fruit of the Spirit” (as in Gal 5.22) instead of “the fruit of light.” But this is clearly an inferior text.

Goodness, righteousness, and truth: the three qualities listed are all moral virtues, ethical qualities, which characterize people who “walk in the light” of God. See Barclay: “For light brings as its rich harvest everything that is good and right and true.”

There may be certain problems involved in the figurative language of verse 9, namely, it is the light that brings a rich harvest. The Greek implies that the result of the light is every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth, something which people actually produce in their lives. It may therefore be best to translate verse 9 as “it is this light which causes people to do everything that is good and right and true,” or else “for everything that is good and right and true comes from the light.” The expression “true” must be understood in the sense of genuine and sincere, not true in the sense of being in accordance with fact.

The word translated goodness occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Romans 15.14; Galatians 5.22; 2 Thessalonians 1.11. Righteousness and truth both occur in 4.24.

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 .