6:22a

I have sent him to you: When Paul wrote this letter, Tychicus was with him. They were probably in Rome, and Paul sent him to Ephesus where the people who received this letter were.

sent him: Some languages have a different word for “send things” and “send a person.” If the verb “send” in your language has the idea of forcing someone to go against his will, then you could say:

I am asking him to go to you
-or-
I am asking him to go to visit you

for this very purpose: The phrase this very purpose is restated in the following clause, “that you may know how we are.” Paul is restating what he said in 6:21b, but making it more general by including the people who were with him when he wrote the letter.

that you may know about us: As stated above, this clause is similar in meaning to the clause in 6:21b, “that you also may know how about me and what I am doing.” Here, Paul is including those who were with him when he was writing this letter to the Ephesians.

about us: The pronoun us refers to Paul and his companions.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

to tell you how all of us are getting along (Good News Translation)
-or-
to let you know how we are doing (New Living Translation (2004))

6:22b

that he may encourage your hearts: The clause that he may encourage your hearts means that Paul wanted Tychicus to comfort the Ephesian Christians and to cheer them up so they would not feel sad that Paul was in prison.

Your language may have an idiomatic expression that means encourage. For example:

strengthen your hearts
-or-
stand strong ⌊in the Lord⌋

General Comment on 6:21–22

In some languages it may be clearer to take the main clause of 6:22a, “I am sending him to you,” and state it at the beginning of 6:21. For example:

22a
⌊I have asked Tychicus to go to visit you,⌋ 21a so he can tell you all the news, 21b and so you will know how I am and what I am doing. 21a Tychicus is our relative in the faith whom I love, and he faithfully serves the Lord. 22a So, I am sending him so he can tell you what is happening to us here. 22b And in that way he can encourage you.

© 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.