Has authority (both times) translates “is the head” (both times); for the figure of Christ as the head and the church as his body see 1.22-23; 4.15. In Romans 11.13 Paul uses the same figure of “head” to define the relationship between husband and wife.

In a number of languages there is no easy way to translate more or less literally has authority over, but the closest natural equivalent may be “for a husband has the right to tell his wife what to do just as Christ has the right to tell the church what to do” or “for a husband has the right to command his wife just as Christ has the right to command the church” or “… the believer.”

The last part of the verse in Greek is added without any formal connection with what precedes: “he himself savior of the body.” It seems to explain why and in what sense Christ is head of the church: his authority over the church is the result of his having saved the church, his body. This is, of course, a shorthand way of saying “he saved those who compose the church,” since the church, as an entity, does not exist as a group of unsaved people. Christ’s authority derives from his love for the church and his self-sacrifice on its behalf (see verse 25). This aspect of the relationship of Christ to the church has no counterpart in the relationship of the husband to the wife; the analogy between the two relationships is not exact.

A literal translation of Christ is himself the Savior of the church could be misleading, for it might suggest either rescuing a particular congregation from trouble or saving the institution of the church from some type of threat of destruction. For this reason it may be essential to translate the second part of verse 23 as “Christ is the one who has saved the people of the church.” The final appositional phrase his body may be made into a clause, for example, “which is his body.” If, however, a simile is required in order to make sense, it may be possible to say “which is, as it were, his body” or “which is like his body.”

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 .

Without a break the text continues: “for the praise of the glory of his (God’s) grace” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg). A variation of this is found also in verses 12a, 14c. This is the final result of God’s salvation through Christ: his people will praise him. The expression Let us praise is not a request for permission but a kind of exhortation and is equivalent in many languages to an expression of obligation, for example, “we should praise” or “we must praise.”

The word “glory” is used in the Bible to describe the manifestation of God’s presence with his people, his saving presence, his redemptive power. It is usually described in terms of a brilliant light (see Exo 16.10; 1 Kgs 8.10-11; Ezek 10.3-4; Col 1.11).

In the New Testament the word grace refers to God’s uncaused, unmerited, unconditioned love (see 1.2).

The phrase “the glory of his grace” can be taken to mean “the glorious manifestation/revelation of his unmerited love” (compare Twentieth Century New Testament “the glorious manifestation of his loving-kindness”). But it is possible also to take the phrase as meaning his glorious grace (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others).

In a number of languages grace must be expressed as an event and as such is normally a verb phrase such as “showed kindness” or “showed goodness to” or “was good to because of his love” or “loved and was good to”; but it may then be difficult to introduce the qualifying word glorious. This can sometimes be done by a phrase, for example, “the wonderful way in which he showed kindness to us.”

The free gift he gave us translates a verb which is used only here and in Luke 1.28 in the New Testament, and which means “to give generously.” Good News Translation has the free gift he gave us, since it seems more natural to speak of “a gift” as the object of the verb “to give” rather than “his grace.” Most translations, however, find nothing unnatural in this.

In order to express the concept of “generous giving” involved in the Greek verb, one can emphasize either (1) the attitude of the giver by such terms as “generous” or “free” or (2) the abundance of the gift as “so much.” Accordingly, “which he generously gave us” may be expressed as “which he gave us because of his good heart.” But if one wishes the emphasis to be upon the abundance of the gift, he may say “which he gave us so abundantly” or “… to such a great extent.”

In his dear Son: it was by means of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son (see Mark 1.11, the heavenly voice at the baptism of Jesus), that God manifested his grace to mankind. The Greek uses the perfect passive participle of the verb “to love” (see Revised Standard Version “the Beloved”); here only is this participle used of Christ in the New Testament. The phrase “in the beloved” may be rendered as “by means of what was done by his Son whom he loves.” In some instances, means is expressed by a term or phrase which indicates the possibility of something happening or existing. Therefore, “in the beloved” may be rendered as “God’s dear Son made this possible.”

It would seem that the way in which Good News Translation has restructured the various items in verses 5-6 is fairly apparent and needs no further comment.

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 .

Good News Translation picks up The secret is from verses 3, 5; the Greek text begins the verse with “the Gentiles are” (literally “to be the Gentiles”), which is the content of “the secret” in verse 3a. (As has already been noted, verses 3b-5 are a digression from the main line of thought.) It should be noticed that King James Version (King James Version) here “That the Gentiles should be” is quite misleading. Most translations would do well to start a new sentence in verse 6, as Good News Translation has done. The statement The secret is that … may be stated explicitly in some languages as “That which has not as yet been known is that…” or “What God didn’t reveal before is that…” or “What God did not reveal before but has now revealed is that….”

Three compound nouns are used to describe the new condition the Gentiles are in: sun-klēronoma, sun-sōma, and sun-metocha; here, as in “fellow citizens” in 3.9, the Greek preposition sun, “together with,” means that the Gentiles, together with the Jews, have these blessings: (1) they are also “heirs” of God’s blessings (see “inheritance” in 1.14, 18); this same compound is used also in Romans 8.17; Hebrews 11.9; 1 Peter 3.7; (2) they are the same “body,” by implication, the body of Christ, the church; and (3) they are also “partakers” of the promise (see the Greek word for “partner” in Luke 5.7; Heb 1.9; 3.1, 14; 6.4; 12.8). Good News Translation has represented these three Greek nouns by means of verbal phrases: (1) the Gentiles have a part with the Jews; (2) they are members of the same body; and (3) (they) share in the promise.

The statement the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings is much more complex in meaning than what might appear to be the case. To say that the Gentiles have a part with the Jews may be rendered as “the Gentiles and the Jews together share” or “the Gentiles are together with the Jews in receiving,” or “the Gentiles have received the same blessings as the Jews.” One of the difficulties in the use of the verb “to share” is the possible implication that the Jews and Gentiles mutually exchange blessings.

The phrase in God’s blessings may simply be expressed “in what God gives to them” or “in the good things which God does for them.”

If one wishes to retain the figurative meaning of the same body, it may be necessary to introduce a simile, for example, “they are members, so to speak, of the same body” or “… part of the same body.”

Rather than share in the promise it may be necessary to say “they received together what has been promised,” or “… what God has promised.”

The promise that God made through Christ Jesus; “of the promise in Christ Jesus”: this goes with the immediately preceding “coparticipants” and refers in a general sense to the promise of salvation, new life, or however else the Good News is defined. Caragounis and Abbott take the phrase “in Christ Jesus” to mean “by being united with Christ Jesus,” modifying all three compound nouns. This is quite possible and may be preferred to Good News Translation. If a translation prefers this interpretation, the following may be said: “By being united with Christ Jesus, the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings, etc.”

The relationship of primary and secondary agents in the statement that God made through Christ Jesus may sometimes be expressed as “God caused the promise to be made and Christ Jesus said it.” However, the relationship of Christ Jesus to the promise may involve more than merely announcing the promise. In a sense he is the one who causes the promise to be fulfilled. Therefore through Christ Jesus may be rendered as “Christ Jesus caused the promise to come true” or “Christ Jesus made happen what God had promised.”

“Through the gospel”: Good News Translation takes this last phrase in the verse to modify the whole verse, and so places it early in the verse: that by means of the gospel the Gentiles … (also New English Bible, New International Version, Barclay). But it may be taken only with the immediately preceding “the promise in Christ Jesus,” as Translator’s New Testament does: “and share in God’s promise fulfilled in Christ Jesus by means of the Good News he brought” (similarly Jerusalem Bible).

The position of the phrase by means of the gospel depends upon the way in which this phrase is related to the content of the entire verse. If the phrase is associated with all the various events, the phrase may very well come at the end of the verse as “all of this was possible because of the Good News” or even “this is what the Good News was all about.” If, however, one relates the phrase by means of the gospel to the first part of verse 6, the translation may be “the secret is that the gospel has made it possible for both the Gentiles and the Jews to receive God’s blessing.”

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 .

Commentators disagree on whether occasional or full-time thievery is implied; the positive injunction to work, however, would seem to indicate that the writer is talking about people who would support themselves by stealing. The new life in Christ requires a new way of making a living. The Greek verb “to steal” is the one used in the Septuagint to translate the commandment Do not steal (Exo 20.15), quoted in Matthew 19.18; Mark 10.19; Luke 18.20; Romans 13.9.

In English the word rob refers technically to taking possessions from someone by threat or force, while thievery or stealing implies taking possession without the owner knowing about it. However, the verb rob is often used to include both types of wrongdoing. But it would be more in keeping with the Greek text to translate “the man who is constantly stealing from others should stop stealing.”

In Greek the positive injunction is stated: “he is to toil, working with his own hands the good.” The first verb means “to work hard, to labor,” and the second verb “to work” is followed by the phrase “with his own hands,” as in 1 Corinthians 4.12; 1 Thessalonians 4.11. Good News Bible places the adjective idiais “own” within brackets. For the translator the sense is not affected by the absence of the adjective; the phrase still means “with his hands.” here means simply “to work hard”; it does not mean that only manual labor is recommended. And “the good” means “honestly”; Twentieth Century New Testament translates “let him toil with his hands at honest work.”

Start working may be expressed in some languages as “get a permanent job” or “start working at a job each day.”

To earn an honest living for himself may be made somewhat more specific by translating “to earn money by the good work that he has done and in this way support himself” or “… and in this way pay his expenses” or “… pay for what is needed.”

To be able to help the poor translates “in order that he might have (something) to share with the one having need.” It should be remembered that this applies primarily to the poor in the Christian fellowship; Barth takes it to have a wider application, including anyone who is in need.

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 .

As in the case of “fathers” in verse 4, it may be necessary here to say “I am speaking now to those of you who are slaves,” or, more simply, “You who are slaves.”

This verse is quite similar to Colossians 3.22 (see the Handbook on Colossians). Human masters translates “masters according to the flesh.”

In some languages it may be completely misleading to speak of human masters, since the equivalent of masters is “owner,” and certainly all owners of slaves were human beings. Accordingly, it may be less confusing to translate “obey your master” or “obey your owners.”

The bound phrase fear and trembling occurs also in 1 Corinthians 2.3; 2 Corinthians 7.15; Philippians 2.12 (and see the related verbs in Mark 5.23). New International Version, Barclay translate “respect and fear”; Jerusalem Bible “deep respect.” This phrase is essentially a type of idiom indicating respect and obedience, and therefore it may be appropriate to translate it as “you should respect your owners and obey them completely.”

A sincere heart translates “in singleness of heart,” that is, sincerely, honestly, with no ulterior motive or hidden intention. In a number of instances the meaning may be best expressed negatively, for example, “without just pretending to do so” or “without making your owners just think that you respect them.”

As though you were serving Christ translates the Greek “as to Christ” (Revised Standard Version), that is, with the same attitude that obedience to Christ requires. Beare takes the phrase to mean “viewing it as service done to Christ.” Abbott comments “so that your service to your master is regarded as service to Christ.” Translator’s New Testament translates “as you would to Christ”; New International Version “just as you would obey Christ.” The translation should not imply that the writer is doubtful whether the Christian slaves’ obedience to Christ is a fact; obedience to Christ is the standard by which to measure obedience to human masters.

As though you were serving Christ may be translated as “you should do what they say, even as you would do what Christ says” or “… do as Christ says.”

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 .

Actually all of us were like them: here the writer says that all people were in that same sinful condition: “among whom also we all used to live.” In the Greek prepositional phrase “among whom,” the relative pronoun seems to be masculine, so the meaning would be (as Revised Standard Version translates) “among these (people)”; Robinson, however, takes it to be neuter “among which” (the two forms in Greek are identical), referring to “the transgressions” in verse 1. This seems a bit forced, however, and it is better to take the prepositional phrase as joining “also we all” (that is, Christians of Jewish origin) to the readers (Christians of Gentile origin) spoken of in verses 1-2; the moral condition of both groups had been the same. Some translations have taken “among these (people)” to mean that “we” (that is, the Christians) lived in their midst, surrounded by them; rather, the meaning is that “we” were like them, living as they did.

In a number of languages the equivalent of Actually is “The truth is….” In other instances Actually all of us were like them may be rendered as “All of us were really like them.” It is important that the reference to them should point clearly to the people who disobey God and not to the powers and rulers in the sky.

It may, however, be important to indicate that the likeness between those who disobey God and all people before they came to a knowledge of Jesus Christ is in terms of behavior, and therefore all of us were like them may be best rendered as “all of us acted like them” or “all of us behaved just like they did” or “… like they do.”

Our natural desires translates the phrase “the desires of our flesh.” The Greek word for “flesh” (also in 2.11, 14; 5.29, 31; 6.5, 12) is not to be thought of simply as the sexual or carnal appetite of a person; in Paul’s letters, and here as well, it stands for a person as he or she is, sinful, mortal, weak, apart from God’s redemptive power. Translator’s New Testament, Phillips, Barclay translate “lower nature.” Many translations will say something like “We did the things our bodies wanted” or “We followed the desires we have as men.”

All of us … lived according to our natural desires may be rendered as “all of us … lived just like we wanted to” or “… did whatever we wanted to do.”

Our natural desires is further defined as “(we were) doing the wills of flesh and of thoughts”; here the two nouns “flesh and thoughts” (also 4.18) clearly indicate “bodies and minds,” “physical and intellectual” (desires).

Doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds may be rendered as “we did whatever our bodies or minds told us to do” or “we did whatever our bodies wished or whatever our minds imagined.”

The condition of Jews, no less than Gentiles (“we … as also the others”) is briefly stated: “we were by nature children of wrath” (Revised Standard Version). The word “nature” describes them as they were then, that is, in our natural condition (as sinners); so Good News Translation, New English Bible; most English versions have “by nature,” which is not very clear.

In our natural condition we, like everyone else may be rendered as “since we were just human beings like everybody else” or “since we were people like everybody else.”

We … were destined to suffer God’s anger: the idiom “children of wrath” (like “sons of disobedience” in verse 2) means “people who are the object of God’s wrath.” A misunderstanding of the semitic phrase “children of (God’s) anger” and a misinterpretation of “by nature” led some commentators in the past to take this passage to mean that from birth even children are the object of God’s anger. Some translations represent the meaning by “people who were characterized as those with whom God was angry.” God’s anger (also 5.6) is not in the New Testament spoken of as an attitude which reflects spite or hatred but is his condemnation of sin and his punishment of the sinner. It is significant that in the New Testament the verb “to be angry” is never used of God, but only the noun “anger.” On the part of some scholars there is a reluctance to use the word “anger” (or “wrath”) of God because of its connotations; Dodd here defines it “not the emotion of anger in the mind of God, but a process of retribution in history.” It would be out of keeping with biblical thought, however, to think of God’s anger as the mechanical operation of a disembodied principle. What happens is caused by God, and such things happen because God is angry, that is, he is affected; he is not distant and unmoved by human sin but expresses his attitude by punishing sinners. So in some languages it may be possible to speak of God’s “punishing” people, not of his “being angry” with them.

We … were destined may be expressed as “it was inevitable that we would” or “it was bound to happen that we.”

To suffer God’s anger may be expressed as “to suffer because God was angry with us” or “to be punished because God was angry because of our sins.” It may be important to indicate the basis for God’s anger, namely, “because of sin,” rather than to suggest that suffering resulted merely from God’s irritability or peevishness.

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 .

This verse in Greek is a participial clause, related to the sentence that begins in verse 8. Try to learn translates a Greek verb which means primarily “to put to the test, try, prove,” and (as a result of such a test) “to approve, commend, accept as good.” Here the first meaning is indicated; Christians are called upon to find out by testing, experimenting, trying, what is well-pleasing to the Lord (see similar use of the verb in Rom 12.2). Barth translates “Find out by experience.”

What pleases the Lord may be rendered in some instances as “what causes the Lord to be happy.” But it may be more appropriate in some languages to render the clause as “what the Lord wants you to do.”

Probably the Lord here is God; as Beare points out, the Greek adjective “pleasing” (see its use in Col 3.20) is often used in the context of a sacrifice that “is pleasing” to God (see Rom 12.1; Phil 4.18).

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 .