SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2019 – Page 11

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:32

5:32a

This mystery is profound: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as This mystery is profound is literally “this mystery is great.”

Here is another way to translate this clause:

This is a great mystery (Contemporary English Version)

This: The pronoun This refers back to 5:31b. The great “mystery” is that “the two will become one flesh.”

mystery: Here the word mystery means “a truth that is not easy to understand or explain.” It is something that God had previously hidden from man but has now revealed to him. See how you translated mystery in 1:9a, 3:4–6 and 3:9a.

Here are some other ways to translate mystery :

secret (Good News Translation)
-or-
truth that is difficult to understand
-or-
this talk is hidden

profound: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as profound is literally “great.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

There is a deep secret truth (Good News Translation)
-or-
This is a truth that is very difficult to understand

General Comment on 5:32a

Some English versions end 5:32a with a dash “—.” This is to show that the following verse, 5:32b is a comment inserted by the author. Most other versions translate this verse without a dash, as the Berean Standard Bible also does. Translate it in a way that is natural in your language.

5:32b

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but introduces an explanation of another way Paul interprets the quoted passage from Genesis. Some other English versions translate this word as “and.” Still other versions do not translate this conjunction. Translate it in a way that is natural in your language.

I am speaking about Christ and the church: The quote from Genesis is talking about the relationship between a man and his wife. But Paul interprets the quote to also refer to Christ and the church. Here is one way to translate this:

but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church (NET Bible)

church: The church is the group of all believers in Christ throughout the world. See how you translated church in 5:29b.

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SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 1:13

1:13a, c

And …you: The word And here indicates that the same thing that happened to the Jews also happened to the Gentiles. Just as the Jews became Christ’s people, the Gentiles also became Christ’s people.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

You as well
-or-
And you also (New International Version)

1:13a

And in Him: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And in Him is literally “in whom.” This is the first phrase in the verse and is repeated later in it. Scholars have different views about how these two occurrences of “in whom” are related to the other words in the context. See how you have translated the phrase “in him” or “in Christ” in other verses in this chapter (1:4a, 1:7a, 1:9b, 1:11a, 1:12a). Scholars have different views about how this phrase is connected to the rest of the sentence. The main views are:

(1) The phrase in Him is connected to the main verb (literally “sealed”) in 1:13c. It is repeated twice in Greek because other clauses come between the subject “you” and the main verb. (Notice that the God’s Word does not repeat “in him.”.) For example:

you were sealed in Him (New American Standard Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, English Standard Version, God’s Word, New Century Version)

(2) The phrase in Him is connected to an implied form of the verb “to be,” that is, “you also (are) in him.” English versions that follow this interpretation express it in different ways. For example:

were included in Christ (New International Version)
-or-
became God’s people (Good News Translation)

(3) The phrase in Him is connected to the verb “believed/trusted” in 1:13a. For example:

In whom ye also [trusted] (King James Version)

(King James Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004))

(4) The phrase in Him is connected to the verb “heard.” For example:

Now you too, in him, have heard the message (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, probably Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This fits the structure of the Greek text and does not require a translator to supply another verb. However, it may be more natural in many languages to translate the phrase “in him” only once.

If this is true in your language, you may be able to follow an example like the God’s Word as you translate this verse:

13a–e You heard and believed the message of truth, the Good News that he has saved you. In him you were sealed with the Holy Spirit whom he promised. (God’s Word)

having heard and believed: In some languages it may be necessary to specify what the Gentiles had hear and believed. In this context there are two possibilities:

(a) They heard and believed in the true message, the gospel of their salvation.

(b) They heard and believed in Christ.

The meaning of (a) and (b) are almost the same, because the gospel is about Christ. Both options have good support. If you must make one of these options explicit, you may use whichever is more natural in your language in this context.

the word of truth: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the word of truth is literally “message of truth.” It is the first part of a parallelism with “the gospel of your salvation in 1:13b. It means “the word that is true” or “the true message ⌊from God ⌋ , ” and refers to the gospel or Good News. See the note below in 1:13b on “the gospel of your salvation” for examples of how the word of truth has been translated.

1:13b

the gospel of your salvation: The phrase the gospel of your salvation means “the good news that saved you.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase along with “word of truth” in 1:13a:

the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation (Good News Translation)
-or-
the truth, the Good News that God saves you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved (Contemporary English Version)

For more information, see gospel and save, Word 2, in the Glossary.

1:13c

you were sealed: The phrase you were sealed is the translation of one Greek verb. This verb is passive. In some languages it may be necessary to make it active and supply the agent “God.” For example:

⌊God⌋ marked you with a seal

In NT times a person used a special symbol to mark something that belonged to him. That was called his “seal.” Here Paul uses “seal” as a metaphor to describe the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit that God gives his people is the seal to show they belong to him.

Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Use a verb or noun in your language that means seal. For example:

tribal mark
-or-
mark (put on animals) to show ownership

• Use a simile. If a metaphor is not clear (“God sealed you with the Holy Spirit”), you can say:

When in Christ God gave you the Holy Spirit, it was like he put his seal/mark on you.

• If this figure of speech is confusing, you may have to translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example you could say:

In Christ God gave you the Holy Spirit to show that you belong to him.

you: Here, the pronoun you refers to the Gentiles. To make clear the contrast with the Jews in 1:12, you could say:

you non-Jews
-or-
you foreigners

1:13d

the promised Holy Spirit: The phrase the promised Holy Spirit means “the Holy Spirit that God had promised to give to his people.” See Holy, Meaning 3 in the Glossary for more information.

General Comment on 1:13e

There is implied information here. The purpose of the believers being marked with the seal (the promised Holy Spirit) was to show themselves and/or other people that they belonged to God. If this purpose is not clear, you may want to make it explicit. For example:

were given the promised Holy Spirit to show that you belong to God (Contemporary English Version)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:22

2:22a

in Him: The phrase in Him means “because you are united in/with Christ.” See how you translated it in 2:21a.

you too are being built together: This is a passive. If it would be more natural in your language to make this active, you can supply the word “Christ” as the agent and say this:

⌊Christ⌋ is building you together

you too: The pronoun you refers to “you Gentiles.” The Gentiles are also being built and joined into the temple along with the Jews.

built together: The phrase built together is a figure of speech. It is part of the metaphor Paul used. See the above note for 2:20–22 for more information. Here, it means that the Gentiles who believe in Christ are being joined together in one group with Jews who believe in Christ.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

And you ⌊Gentile believers⌋ are also being joined together ⌊with all of God’s other people⌋.
-or-
And ⌊Christ⌋ is also joining you ⌊Gentile believers⌋ together ⌊with all of God’s other people⌋.

2:22b

a dwelling place for God: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a dwelling place for God is literally “dwelling-place of God.” This is another way of saying “holy temple in the Lord” in 2:21. But here, it is a figure of speech. Paul is saying that the believers together are like a building that can be compared to the temple.

in His Spirit: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in His Spirit is literally “in spirit.” This phrase tells how God lives in this house—that is, in us. He lives in us by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. In other words, because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we can say that God dwells in us.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

And you are part of that building Christ has built as a place for God’s own Spirit to live (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Because you are in Christ, God will come and take both of you Jews and Gentiles and build you together into one house where the Spirit will live with you.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 4:11

4:11a

In this verse Paul resumes the thoughts he was expressing in 4:7–8.

And it was He who gave some to be apostles: In this clause, Paul continues his thought in 4:8 of giving gifts to men. According to Paul, Christ gave the church these apostles as a gift to benefit the church. So it was Christ who chose or appointed them to their different positions.

apostles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as apostles is literally “sent ones.” See how you translated apostles in 2:20a and 3:5c. See apostle in the Glossary for more information.

General Comment on 4:11–12

Some English versions have made explicit Paul’s reference to “gifts to men” in 4:8d to Christ’s giving officers to the church in 4:11. For example:

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-

11 He also gave apostles, prophets, missionaries, as well as pastors and teachers as gifts [ to his church ] (God’s Word)
-or-

11 It was he who “gave gifts to people”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. (Good News Translation)

You may want to follow one of these examples in your translation.

4:11b

some to be prophets: The word prophets refers to people to whom God gave a special spiritual gift. This gift enabled the person to speak a message from God. See how you translated prophets in 2:20a and 3:5c. See prophet in the Glossary for more information.

some to be evangelists: The word evangelists refers to people who preach the good news. See evangelist in the Glossary if you want more information. Another way to translate evangelists is:

people who preach the good news
-or-
some to go and tell the Good News (New Century Version)

4:11c

some to be pastors and teachers: The word pastors literally means “shepherds.” Here, it refers to people who look after and care for the believers.

pastors: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pastors literally means shepherds, that is, people who take care of sheep. Here it is used figuratively to refer to leaders of the church who care for their fellow believers.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

leaders who care for other believers
-or-
spiritual overseers
-or-
leaders who oversee their congregations

teachers: The word teachers means spiritual teachers, or people who teach God’s truth. They are not school teachers.

The word teachers does not mean a completely separate group of people from “pastors.” Paul linked “pastors” and teachers together because they do similar jobs. You could translate “pastors and teachers” as:

people who care for the believers and teach them

See both pastor and teacher in the Glossary for more information.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:11

5:11a

Have no fellowship with: The clause Have no fellowship with means “Do not participate in…” or “Take no part in….”

It is also similar in meaning to Paul’s words in 5:7 “do not be partners with” people who do evil. In 5:7, Paul said that the Ephesians should not be included in the group of those who do evil. Here in 5:11, he said that they should not be involved in their deeds.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Do not participate in (NET Bible)
-or-
Take no part in (Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004))

the fruitless deeds of darkness: This clause contains two metaphors and is parallel to “fruit of the light” in 5:9.

fruitless deeds: This refers to worthless, sinful acts. If you dropped the figure of fruit in 5:9, you will probably also have to drop the figure of fruitless here. However, if possible, try to keep the metaphor of darkness in your translation.

If in your translation you want to make explicit the people who do the deeds, you could say:

Do not join in doing the deeds of people who are in the darkness.

darkness: The word darkness is a metaphor. It refers to being disobedient and separated from the will and purposes of God. See how you translated it in 5:8a and translate it the same way here.

In some languages, it may be natural to change the order of these two clauses. For example:

People who don’t walk in the light don’t bear fruit, stay far away ⌊from them⌋

5:11b

but rather: The phrase but rather introduces a contrast between 5:11a and 5:11b. This is the type of negative-positive contrast, “Don’t do…but instead do…” In 5:11a Paul encouraged the Ephesians to not participate in “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” Now he is exhorting them to show others that the “fruitless deeds of darkness” are evil.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

But instead (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
But (New Century Version)
-or-
But, on the contrary (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Instead

expose them: Here and in 5:13 (where the context is “light”) the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as expose means, “bring into the open,” or “bring into the light.” When a person says to someone “What you are doing is evil, it is against God’s teaching,” it is like shining a light on his or her evil deeds, thus “exposing” the fruitless deeds.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

bring them out to the light (Good News Translation)
-or-
show that they are wrong (New Century Version)
-or-
make it clear ⌊to people⌋ that this kind of behavior ⌊is wrong⌋

them: The pronoun them refers to “the fruitless deeds of darkness.”

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 6:10

Section 6:10–20

Paul told believers how to fight against Satan

In this section, Paul compared the Christian to a soldier fighting in a war. The Christian’s enemies are not human, but supernatural. Christians are fighting against the devil and all the powers of evil, and they must use all the weapons that God gives them. Paul described six pieces of equipment that the Roman soldier of that time used (see the picture below), and he compared each one to something spiritual that will help Christians to overcome Satan. Then Paul also reminded Christians to pray at all times. He told them to pray for their fellow believers and to pray for him so that he would be able to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Wear the full armour of God (New Century Version)
-or-
Put on all the armour that God supplies (God’s Word)
-or-
Christians should prepare and fight against evil spiritual forces

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:1

Section 2:1–10

God saved us by his grace

In this section Paul explained how the power of God, which he described in 1:19–20, changed the lives of the Ephesians. 2:1–3 describes their condition before they became believers. 2:4–10 describes the new life that God gave to them. Paul stressed that God has done many things for them because he is kind, so they should not be proud.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Made alive in Christ (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
From Death to life (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God Saved Us Because of His Great Love for Us (God’s Word)
-or-
Because God is loving and kind he saved us (incl.)

Paragraph 2:1–3

In this paragraph, Paul described the condition of the Ephesians before they became Christians. They were spiritually “dead” because of their sins, Satan controlled them, and God was angry with them.

To begin this paragraph, a good model to follow is the Good News Translation. The Good News Translation starts this paragraph with the phrase “in the past” to show that Paul was talking about the former condition of the Ephesians. The Contemporary English Version and New Century Version also begin this paragraph in the same way. Some other ways you can make this implied information clear are:

As for you, ⌊formerly⌋ you were dead
-or-
As for you, ⌊before you believed⌋ you were dead

2:1–2

The Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions translate 2:1–2 as one long sentence. Other versions such as the New Living Translation (2004) and the Contemporary English Version divide these verses into three sentences. You may want to divide 2:1–2 into two or three sentences as well.

2:1

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins: In the Greek text, the pronoun you is emphatic. It refers to the Ephesian Christians. Try to show this emphasis in your language in a way that is natural. This sentence means “you (plur.) were dead because of your transgressions and sins.”

dead: Here the word dead refers to spiritual death, not physical death. Because of their sins, they were like dead people as far as the things of God were concerned. They could not respond to God at all. In many languages, it is better to translate this as a simile. For example:

you were like dead people
-or-
it was as if you were dead

In some languages, it may be necessary to make the point of comparison explicit. For example:

you were as unable to please God as a dead person is

trespasses and sins: These two words are similar in meaning and are a doublet. In translating these words, you have at least the following choices:

• Find synonyms to translate both trespasses and sins. One way to translate trespasses is “disobedience.” For example:

because of your disobedience and sins (Good News Translation)

Here are some other ways to translate these two words:

you sinned and fought against God (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
your sins and the things you did against God (New Century Version)

• If your language would not use doublets in this case or does not have synonyms for trespasses and sins, you can translate these two words as one concept. For example:

because of your many sins (New Living Translation (1996))

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 3:11

3:11a

It may be better to begin a new sentence here. For example:

God did this according to his eternal purpose. (Good News Translation)

The word “this” in the Good News Translation (and in the Display of 3:11a) refers to 3:9b–10b. That is, it refers to God’s plan to save mankind, both Gentiles and Jews.

according to the eternal purpose: Here the word eternal refers primarily to the past not the future. So the phrase eternal purpose means that God had planned (to save Gentiles and Jews) from eternity past or from the beginning. He planned it before he created the world.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

eternal plan (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
God’s plan for all of history (God’s Word)
-or-
the purpose God had since the beginning of time (New Century Version)

3:11b

that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord: The word accomplished means “to get something done.” God accomplished or achieved his plan through Christ Jesus.

in Christ Jesus our Lord: Another way to express this is that God accomplished his plan by means of what Christ has done.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

because of all that Christ Jesus our Lord had done (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord (New Living Translation (2004))

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2019

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:32

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 1:13

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:22

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 4:11

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:11

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 6:10

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:1

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 3:11

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