Section 3:1–13

God sent Paul to preach the good news to the non-Jews

In 3:1, Paul was about to pray for the Christians. Instead, in 3:2 he stopped his sentence and began to write about the special work that God had given him. It was not until 3:14 that Paul resumed his prayer.

The special work that God had given Paul was to preach God’s message to the Gentiles. The blessings of God are for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews, but God had hidden this great truth for a long time. Then God gave Paul the task of telling people about this truth. In this way, everyone would know that God was very wise and loving because he saved both Jews and Gentiles and united them into one church.

Here are some other titles for this section:

God’s mysterious plan revealed (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Paul’s work in telling the Good News (New Century Version)
-or-
God’s plan to unite Jews and Gentiles in Christ is revealed to Paul

Paragraph 3:1–6

3:1

In the Greek, 3:1 is an incomplete sentence. The Berean Standard Bible shows this with an ellipsis at the end of the verse. Paul’s intention in 3:1 was probably to say something like:

For this reason I, Paul…pray for you.

Paul did not complete the sentence here. Instead, he inserted 3:2–13 where he described his ministry. In 3:14 Paul continued the prayer he started in 3:1.

It is recommended that you make this a complete sentence by adding the words “pray to God.”

Here is a way to translate this:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles, pray to God. (Good News Translation)

3:1a

For this reason: The phrase For this reason refers back to God’s grace towards the Gentiles in 2:11–22. Since God had blessed them so much, Paul began to pray that they would appreciate his grace.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

This is the reason… (God’s Word)
-or-
So… (New Century Version)

This phrase also occurred in 1:15a.

I, Paul: The words I, Paul are emphatic in the Greek. Paul began to talk about himself. Look for an expression in your language to show this emphasis.

3:1b

the prisoner of Christ Jesus: When Paul said that he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus, he meant that he was in prison “because he belonged to or served Jesus.” People who did not like him preaching about Jesus had put him in prison.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

who am imprisoned ⌊on account⌋ of ⌊my serving⌋ Christ Jesus
-or-
a prisoner ⌊because⌋ of ⌊my following⌋ Jesus Christ

Avoid translating in a way that could give the impression that Jesus had put him in prison, or that Jesus was keeping Paul in prison.

3:1c

for the sake of you Gentiles: Another reason Paul was in prison was because he had been preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

so that I could help you Gentiles (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
so that you Gentiles ⌊will believe in⌋ Christ Jesus

Gentiles: Here the word Gentiles refers to people who were not Jews.

See how you translated Gentiles in 2:11a. See Gentiles, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information.

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

4:12

This verse explains the purpose of Christ giving some of his people these special abilities that Paul mentioned in 4:11. The purpose is to give the ability to all God’s people to work for him, so that they all may grow and become stronger in their faith.

4:12a

to equip: The phrase to equip means to “make able and adequate” to a task. Paul intended that they would be up to the task and fit to serve God’s people.

Here is another way to translate this:

to equip God’s people to do his work (New Living Translation (2004))

the saints: A literal English translation of the Greek is “holy ones.” It means “people set apart for God.” This Greek word refers to every believer.

See how you translated the saints in 3:8a. See Holy, Meaning 1, special use in the Glossary for more information.

for works of ministry: The phrase works of ministry means “to work serving God.” Notice that Paul did not say that the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors are the ones who are equipped to work for God. He says that the apostles and others are to prepare “the saints” to work for God. All of God’s people are to work for him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the work of serving (New Century Version)
-or-
would learn to serve (Contemporary English Version)

4:12b

and to build up the body of Christ: This clause begins with and to. It tells why Christ appointed some people to be apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers (4:11). He appointed people to these positions so that they could prepare all of God’s people to work for him (4:12a).

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase and to :

for (Revised English Bible)
-or-
He did that so

build up the body of Christ: The body of Christ is a metaphor that refers to all Christians. To build up the body of Christ means to cause all Christians to become strong in their relationship with Christ (the head of the body) and with each other (other members of the body). If it is not clear what the body of Christ refers to, you can make it explicit. For example:

and build up the church, the body of Christ (New Living Translation (2004))

build up: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as build up is a verb meaning “to construct (a house).” He uses the same word in 2:22a and 4:16b. Paul is using the word in a figurative sense that means “cause to grow strong” or “make complete and mature.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and his body would grow strong (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
make the body of Christ stronger (New Century Version)
-or-
cause the assembly of Christians/believers to be more mature

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

5:12

The Good News Translation translates 5:12 in parentheses:

(12 It is really too shameful even to talk about the things they do in secret.)

The thought of 5:13 connects directly with 5:11. See how you translated 5:9, which many versions also translate in parentheses. Translate 5:12 in a way that is natural for your language.

For it is shameful even to mention: The clause For it is shameful even to mention means that Christians should feel ashamed or embarrassed to even talk about the evil deeds that non-Christians do.

what the disobedient do: The word disobedient is not in the Greek text. The Greek text literally says, “being done by them” which refers to those people who do evil deeds. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word disobedient in order to make the pronoun “them” more explicit.

Another way you could make the pronoun “them” more explicit, is to say:

those people
-or-
those ⌊unbelieving⌋ people

in secret: In the Greek text, this is literally “the hidden/secret things.”

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

the things people do which others cannot see
-or-
the things people do when other people cannot see them

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

6:11a

Put on the full armor of God: This is another command. The word armor is the general term for the protective clothing and equipment a soldier wears and the weapons he carries. In some languages, this may be called:

war stuff
-or-
fighting tools
-or-
soldier’s clothes and weapons

The pieces of armor that Paul mentions in 6:14–17 include the belt, breastplate, shoes and helmet that a soldier puts on, and the shield and the sword that he holds in his hands. So another way to translate this is:

take hold of the things that God has given you to fight the devil

full: The word full here means “complete.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

whole (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
all (Good News Translation)

armor of God: Paul calls this the armor of God, because God is the one who provides the armor.

armor of God is a metaphor. A soldier gets all his special clothing and weapons ready so he can fight. His armor protects him. In the same way we must use all the things that God has given us to protect us, so we can fight against the devil.

6:11b

so that you can make your stand: To make your stand means “to oppose,” “to successfully resist,” or “to fight back and not give in.” When a soldier is fighting well he does not go backwards or retreat. He stands where he is or moves forward.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

so that you will be able to stand firm (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
so that you will be able to stand up (Good News Translation)

against the devil’s schemes: The devil’s schemes refers to the devil’s/Satan’s tricks or tactics. Here Paul talked about the things Satan does to try to make us sin, to make us stop trusting in Jesus and to make us stop serving Jesus. He used the same word in 4:14d (“scheming”).

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

the devil’s strategies (God’s Word)
-or-
the Devil’s evil tricks (Good News Translation)

the devil: The devil is the ruler of all evil spirits. The name of the devil is Satan.

Here are some other ways to translate the devil :

chief of demons
-or-
ruler of the evil spirits
-or-
Satan

See devil in the Glossary for more information.

General Comment on 6:11b

Some languages might need to translate 6:11b as an “if-then” clause. For example

If you do, then Satan might do his trickery but you will remain standing, you won’t fall down.

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

2:2a

in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as walk refers to the way the Ephesians behaved in the past before they became Christians. It does not mean to be alive which is the opposite of being dead.

in which you used to walk: This phrase refers to the sinning behavior which the Ephesians used to do but no longer did at the time that Paul wrote them.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

You used to live in sin (New Living Translation (2004))

when you conformed to the ways of this world: The clause conformed to the ways of this world refers to living in a way that disregards God.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

You (plur.) lived in an evil way like the ⌊other⌋ people of this world
-or-
You behaved in evil ways like ⌊other⌋ people who do not know God
-or-
You did bad behavior like the people of this world do

For more discussion on the meaning of world, see world, Meaning 2 in the Glossary.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

world of evil people
-or-
ungodly people of this world
-or-
people who do not know God

2:2b

(Revised English Bible🙂 the commander of the spiritual powers of the air: In 2:2a Paul said that the Ephesian Christians used to follow “the ways of this world.” In 2:2b he added that they also followed the commander of the spiritual powers of the air. It may be clearer in your translation to begin a new sentence here at 2:2b, or at least to repeat the verb from 2:2a, for example:

2a At that time you followed the ways of the unbelieving people in this world, 2b ⌊and⌋ you followed the ⌊evil⌋ ruler who is the chief of the spirits in the air.

(Revised English Bible🙂 commander: The commander that Paul referred to is the devil Satan. For example:

You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. (Contemporary English Version)

Satan is the commander (chief, boss), the one who rules over the evil spirits. If your key term for Satan is something like “the king of evil spirits,” you may want to use it here. The important thing is that it is clear in your translation that Paul is talking about an evil ruler. See devil in the Glossary for more information.

(Revised English Bible🙂 spiritual powers of the air: The Greek word that the Revised English Bible translates as spiritual powers means “authorities.” There are two ways to understand this word.

(1) It refers to the spiritual powers that Satan rules, that is, the evil spirits. For example:

you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space (Good News Translation)

(Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

(2) It refers to the area where Satan has his power, that is, the kingdom of the air. For example:

according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air (NET Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, NET Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) because it fits the context better.

General Comment on 2:2b

You could translate the phrase “the commander of the spiritual powers of the air” as:

the evil ruler who is the king of the spirits in the sky
-or-
Satan who is the chief of the spirits who are as near as the sky

See kingdom in the Glossary for more information.

2:2c

the spirit: Here the word spirit refers to Satan. Paul called Satan a spirit because Satan is a supernatural being that people cannot see.

at work: The phrase at work means that Satan tries to control and affect the thinking and behavior of people who do not believe in Christ.

Here are some other ways the phrase has been translated:

has power over (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
rules over

in the sons of disobedience: The phrase in the sons of disobedience means those people who disobey God. It refers to the people who refuse to submit to God, who do not want to listen to and obey God.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the people who disobey God (Good News Translation)
-or-
of those who refuse to obey God (New Living Translation (2004))

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

3:12a

In Him and through faith in Him: The pronoun Him refers to Christ. See how you translated in Him at 2:22a.

One way to show how this phrase is connected to the rest of the verse is with the word “because.” For example:

Because we are united with Christ and because we believe in him
-or-
Because of our close relationship with Christ and because we believe in him

faith: The word faith refers here to the action of people trusting and believing in Jesus. See how you translated faith in 1:15b and 2:8a. See faith, Meaning 1 in the Glossary for more information.

3:12b

we may enter God’s presence: The clause we may enter God’s presence refers to believers praying to God and worshiping him; they approach him or “enter into his presence.” (Paul was not talking here about entering into God’s presence in heaven after we die.)

enter: The Greek word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as the verb enter is literally “we have…access.” This same Greek word was translated as “access” in 2:18. It means that we have the ability and right to enter God’s presence. As in 2:18, it is best in many languages to translate this phrase as a verb. For example:

go into God’s presence (Good News Translation)
-or-
we can come before God (New Century Version)

with boldness and confidence: The words the Berean Standard Bible has translated as boldness and confidence have a similar meaning. In this context, they are so close in meaning that they may be translated as a single noun with an adjective to strengthen it. For example:

bold confidence (God’s Word)

boldness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as boldness is literally “boldness.” It means that believers do not have to be afraid when they pray to God or worship him.

confidence: The word confidence means to have “complete trust; belief in one’s own or another’s ability.” In this context, it is similar in meaning to “boldness” and strengthens it.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

without fear (New Century Version)
-or-
trust

General Comment on 3:12a–b

In some languages, it will be more natural to reverse the order of 3:12a and 3:12b. For example:

12b We can go to God confidently and without fear 12a because we believe in Christ and are united with him.

In some languages, it might be more natural to make separate clauses out of the phrases “In Him” and “through faith in him.” For example:

Through the work of Christ we (incl.) can go close to God. Because we have believed in Jesus he has opened the way so we do not fear, we can go close ⌊to God⌋.

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

4:23

If you repeated the clause “You were taught…” at the beginning of 4:22a, you may also want to repeat it at the beginning of 4:23. See, for example:

However, you were taught to have a new attitude. (God’s Word)

to be renewed: The phrase to be renewed means to let God change you inside and make you into a new person in a spiritual sense. What Paul said here in 4:23 is similar to Romans 12:2 and Colossians 3:10.

in the spirit of your minds: Scholars interpret the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as the spirit of your minds in two ways:

(1) the phrase refers to one item; that is, the attitude of a person or the way a person thinks. They must allow God to renew their attitudes. For example:

Let the Spirit change your way of thinking (Contemporary English Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, God’s Word, English Standard Version, Contemporary English Version)

(2) the phrase refers to two items; that is, the spirit and the mind. They must allow God to renew their spirits and their minds. For example:

Your hearts and minds must be made completely new (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with the majority of English versions.

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

5:23a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the reason that wives are to submit to their husbands (5:22). In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder 5:22 and 5:23. For example:

23a The husband is the head of the wife…. That is the reason why 22 wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

the husband is the head of the wife: The word head is a metaphor here, as in other places in Ephesians. This means that the husband is the “leader” or “chief” of the wife, or he has authority over the wife. Some languages use the word head in this sense. For example, the village chief may be called the “head of the village.” But in many languages, it is confusing or means little to say, the husband is the head of the wife. If it will make the meaning clearer in your language, you could translate it:

A husband is ⌊like⌋ the head, ⌊for he has authority⌋ over his wife.
-or-
It is the husband who has authority over the wife.

The full meaning of the metaphor can be explained like this: “In a human body, the part on top that rules the body is the head. In the same way, the husband is like the head, because he has authority over his wife.” But you will probably not want to make all of this explicit in your translation.

In some languages, you cannot say “the husband” or “the wife,” these words must take a possessive form:

her husband
-or-

his wife
-or-
a woman’s husband

5:23b

as Christ is the head of the church, His body: There are two comparisons here: Christ is like the head of the church, and the church is like the body of Christ. Just as in our human body the head is the part that is on top and that rules the rest of our body, so also Christ rules over the church, that is, his people.

If the people in your area would not understand this comparison, you can translate it as:

Christ is the leader of the church, which belongs to Him.

This metaphor (Christ is the head, the church is His body) is also found in 1:22–23, 4:12, 4:15–16 and 5:30. You will want to translate it in a similar way in all these places.

the church: The church is the group of all believers in Christ throughout the world. In the New Testament, the word church does not refer to a building. See how you translated church in 1:22b, 3:10a, 3:21b. Also see church in the Glossary for more information.

His body: The phrase His body refers to the church. See how you translated this metaphor in 1:23a and 4:4a, 4:12b, and 4:16a.

Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

his people are like a body
-or-
his people who are united to him like his body is united to his head
-or-
those who belong to him
-or-
his people/disciples/followers

5:23c

of which He is the Savior: The Greek text that the Berean Standard Bible translates as of which He is the Savior is literally “and he-himself ⌊is⌋ the savior of the body.” This refers to Christ only, and not to husbands. You may want to make this clear in your translation. One way to do this is to make this clause a separate sentence in your translation:

Christ is the Savior
-or-
Christ is the one who saves his people
-or-
This same Christ rescues his people ⌊from their sins⌋

See save, Word 3 in the Glossary for more information.

General Comment on 5:23a–b

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior. (God’s Word)
-or-
A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. (New Living Translation (2004))

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.