3:16

Verses 3:16–19 are the contents of Paul’s prayer. Be sure that this is clear in your translation. Another way to introduce the contents of this prayer is:

I ask God… (Good News Translation)

3:16a

I ask that: The words I ask are not in the original Greek. The Berean Standard Bible (and many other English versions) has added them here, and in 3:17c, to make the translation clearer.

out of the riches of His glory: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as out of the riches of His glory is literally “according to the wealth of the glory of him.” Both “wealth” and “glory” refer here to God’s unlimited resources, to everything he has and is. He is infinite in his goodness, power, and love. See glory, Meaning 4 in the Glossary.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

from his glorious, unlimited resources (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
from the wealth of his glory (Good News Translation)

Because this is Paul’s prayer to God, it may be more natural to use direct speech here. For example:

I pray ⌊to God⌋ for you like this, “God, from out of the many many things you(sg) have”…

3:16b

He may strengthen you with power: The phrase He may expresses Paul’ wish for the Ephesians. It is what he wanted for the Ephesians It does not express doubt in his thinking.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

he will (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he would (God’s Word)

strengthen you with power: The words strengthen and power are a doublet. The Greek language uses doublets to emphasize an idea.

Here are some ways to translate this phrase:

⌊I pray that he will⌋ mightily empower you
-or-

⌊I pray that he will⌋ give you power so you will be spiritually strong

through His Spirit: It should be clear in your translation that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Some other ways to translate this are:

by means of His Holy Spirit
-or-
his Spirit will make you (Contemporary English Version)

inner being: The inner being includes the heart, mind, will and spirit of a person. It is similar to “heart” in 3:17.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

your inner selves (Good News Translation)
-or-
the inner person (NET Bible)
-or-
inwardly (New Century Version)
-or-
inner minds

General Comment on 3:16

Here is how to translate 3:16 using direct speech:

⌊God, I pray,⌋ “Take the many many things you have and send ⌊them⌋ through your Spirit so that the peoples’ inside minds might be strengthened and made strong.”

© 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.

4:27

If it is natural in your language, you may want to follow the model of some English versions which connect 4:27 with 4:26 (See 4:26–27 in the New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004)).

Here are some ways to connect these two verses:

26 Do not let the sun do down while we are still angry, 27 because if we do we will give the devil an opportunity to tempt us to sin.
-or-

26 Stop being angry before the end of the day, 27 so that you do not give the Devil an opportunity….

and do not give the devil a foothold: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as do not give the devil a foothold is literally “do not give the devil a place.” This means “do not give the devil a chance or opportunity ⌊to deceive you⌋ ” or “do not make it easy for the devil to tempt you to do wrong.”

the devil: The devil is the ruler of all evil spirits. The name of the devil is Satan. See devil in the Glossary for more information.

Here are some other ways to translate this sentence:

Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work. (God’s Word)
-or-
and don’t give the devil a chance (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
And don’t allow Satan to take advantage of ⌊your anger⌋ ⌊to lead you into sin⌋

© 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.

5:27a

to present her to Himself: This is the second purpose Christ gave himself for the church (5:25b). He gave himself for the church in order to present her to Himself.

The picture of marriage continues. The church is compared to a beautiful bride. In a Jewish wedding, the groom’s friend brings the bride to meet the groom at the wedding party. Christ is like the husband or groom, and the church is like his bride. Christ is also like the groom’s friend, because he himself will come and take us and bring us to be with himself.

Usually we give something to another person, not to ourselves. But Paul says that Christ died for the church to present her (the church) to himself. Most commentators think that Paul is talking about what will happen when Christ comes back to earth. He will give us (the church) new bodies and set us free from sin and all that is bad. Then he will take us to be with him, and we will be “radiant…holy and blameless.”

as a glorious church: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glorious means “beautiful, splendid, radiant.” God will give his people wonderful new life.

Here are some other ways to translate glorious :

radiant (New International Version)
-or-
in all her beauty (Good News Translation)

church: The church refers to the group of all believers in Christ throughout the world. See how you translated church in 5:25b.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

group of all Christ-believers
-or-
Christ’s people
-or-
people who follow Christ
-or-
community of Christ-followers

5:27b

without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish: The words stain, wrinkle, and blemish are figures of speech that represent different kinds of faults and sins. Christ does not want any bad thing to be in his church. He compares his church to a beautiful woman wearing beautiful clean clothes who has no dirt or wrinkles on her clothes and no blemishes (ugly spots) on her skin. That is a comparison of how the church will be: beautiful, perfect, with no sins or faults.

stain: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stain can also be translated as “spot.” It refers to a small dirty area on a cloth, a rug, etc.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

dirty spot
-or-
soiled clothes

wrinkle: The word wrinkle refers to a small crease, as in some cloth or one’s skin.

blemish: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as blemish is literally “any such things.” It refers back to “stain” and “wrinkle.” This refers to any defects or imperfections. For example:

any other imperfection (Good News Translation)

If it would not be natural or clear in your translation to translate the terms “stain,” “wrinkle,” and blemish, you may want to translate the meaning directly. For example:

have absolutely no fault/lack
-or-
with no evil or sin or any other wrong thing in it (New Century Version)
-or-
nothing evil would be found against them

5:27c

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here marks a contrast between 5:27b and 5:27c. Translate this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

but rather
-or-
instead

holy and blameless: These are the same words Paul used to describe believers in 1:4b.

holy: The word holy here means “pure” or “without sin.” We will be holy/pure, because he made us holy/pure. (In Greek the word “sanctify” in 5:26a is related to the word holy here.)

Here are some other ways to translate holy :

pure (Good News Translation)
-or-
without sin

See holy, Meaning 2 in the Glossary for more information.

blameless: The word blameless means that there is nothing bad in a person’s behavior that God (or other people) could accuse the person of doing. Some other ways to translate blameless are:

without fault (New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
-or-
innocent

General Comment on 5:27a–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of 5:27b–c. For example:

27a in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty—27c pure and faultless, 27b without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection (Good News Translation)

© 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.