3:20a

Now: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now simply connects 3:20 to the preceding verses. It is not a time word. Some of the more modern English versions do not translate it.

to Him: The pronoun Him refers to God. Even though Paul did not mention God by name, you may want to say “God” explicitly in your translation. For example:

Glory belongs to God (God’s Word)

3:20b

who is able to do so much more: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translated as so much more literally means “super-abundantly above.” So, the clause who is able to do so much more means that God has power to do much, much more than we can ever ask of him.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

who can do far more
-or-
He has power to do immeasurably more

3:20c

than all we ask or imagine: Paul is saying that God is able to do infinitely more than he or the Ephesians could ask or think to ask.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

than we could possibly think of to ask
-or-
than is even possible to request or even think of

General Comment on 3:20

Commentators are divided over whether Paul was referring to his requests in 3:16–19 or to requests in general.

Translations leave the reference here ambiguous and it is recommended that you translate this verse the same way.

3:20d

according to His power that is at work within us: God does more than people can ask or think. He does this according to or by the power of his Holy Spirit who works in the hearts of his people.

In some languages it may not be possible to say that God’s power “works” in us. You may have to say that God’s power “acts” or “moves” in us. Use whichever verb goes with power. Or you may have to say that God is working powerfully/mightily in us.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: (Good News Translation)

General Comment on 3:20a–d

It may be more natural in your language to change the order of 3:20a–d. For example:

20a Glory belongs to God, 20d whose power is at work in us. 20b–c By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine (God’s Word)

© 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.

4:31a

Get rid of all: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Get rid of all is literally “Let all (bitterness, rage, anger) be removed from you.” This is a passive. The Berean Standard Bible and some other translations have changed the passive form to an active form. This active form is a strong way of saying, “Eliminate all…” or “Stop being [bitter, angry…].”

This is a figure of speech similar to “put off” in 4:22a. It is as if the sins of bitterness and anger are physical objects that we can throw away.

Translate this command in a way that is natural in your language. The first two meaning lines of the Display are examples with an active form. The third meaning line is an example of a passive form.

4:31b

bitterness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bitterness means feeling resentful or hatred toward someone or something that happened.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

resentment
-or-
very bad feelings against others
-or-
hatred

rage and anger: The Greek words the Berean Standard Bible translates as rage and anger are very similar. The word translated as rage refers to a loud outburst of anger. The word translated as anger refers to an inward angry feeling.

Here are some ways to translate these words:

bad temper or anger (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
hot tempers, anger (God’s Word)
-or-
angry and mad (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
intense feeling of anger or wrath

4:31c

outcry: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as outcry refers to a loud shout of grief or anger.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

loud quarrelling (God’s Word)
-or-
harsh words (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
loud disputes

slander: The word slander refers to insults, or saying untrue things about people.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

insults (Good News Translation)
-or-
cursing (God’s Word)

4:31d

along with every form of malice: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as malice is a general word covering all kinds of evil or hateful behavior. Some other ways this phrase has been translated include:

all types of evil behavior (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
hateful feelings of any sort (Good News Translation)

General Comment on 4:31b–d

Think about idioms or natural ways to describe these kinds of behavior in your language. For example, “bitterness” may be “having a small liver,” “rage and anger” may be “Do not be angry and have bones in your heart” or “do not let your intestines be all knotted up.”

© 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.

5:31a

Verse 5:31a–b is a quotation from Genesis 2:24. It is also quoted in other places in the New Testament: Matt. 19:5, Mark 10:7–8, 1 Cor. 6:16. See how this quotation was translated in these verses and translate it here in a similar way. If you want to make it clear in your translation that this is a quotation, you can say:

As the Book of God says…”
-or-
As the scripture says (Good News Translation)
-or-
It’s written in the Bible like this

For this reason: This is the beginning of a quote from Genesis 2:24 and therefore the phrase For this reason refers to the fact that God had made woman from the rib of the man Adam. This does not give a reason for verse 30. If this is not clear in the translation you may want to include the implied information from what happened prior to this in Genesis. For example:

Because ⌊the woman was made from man’s rib⌋ a man will leave his father and mother

a man will leave his father and mother: There are several ways to translate this clause:

• As an indirect command. For example:

So a man should leave his father and mother…

• As a general statement about what usually happens:

This is why a man ⌊normally⌋ leaves his father and mother…

leave his father and mother: You can translate the phrase his father and mother as “his mother and ⌊his⌋ father” or “his parents”—whatever is natural in your language.

The phrase leave his father and mother can be translated “leave his parents’ house.” These words mean that a man’s primary relationship and duty is no longer with his parents, but with his wife. Your translation should not imply that a man should abandon or neglect his parents.

be united to his wife: He will form a close and permanent relationship with his wife. He will live with her and they will become a new family, a new household.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

and will be joined to his wife (NET Bible)
-or-
and he will live with his wife

5:31b

the two will become one flesh: The phrase the two will become one flesh means that the husband and wife will become like one person, or like one body. (Jesus uses this same figure in Matthew 19:4–6.) In God’s sight, it is like a husband and wife are no longer two separate people. It is like they are just one person.

Paul was making a very logical comparison: A husband should love his wife like Christ loves the church (5:25). That is, he should love her like he loves his own body (5:28). The church is part of Christ’s body (5:30), and since a husband and wife are one, (5:31), a wife is like part of the husband’s body.

one flesh: Here one flesh means “one person.” In the Greek, it is the same word the Berean Standard Bible translates as “body” in 5:29a. See flesh, Meaning 3 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.