SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2019 – Page 7

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))

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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))

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 4:22

4:22–24

In these verses, Paul listed some of the things that the Ephesians were taught. Some English versions repeat the verb “You were taught…” (from 4:21a) at the beginning of 4:22. The Berean Standard Bible does not do this, but continues the sentence on from 4:21b. If, in your translation, you follow the example of those English versions that begin a new sentence here (like the New International Version), you may also want to repeat “You were taught…” at the beginning of 4:23.

Here is another way to translate 4:22–24 is as a direct command:

(4:22a) Stop behaving like you used to…
-or-
(4:24a) Let God make you a new person

4:22a–b

to put off your former way of life, your old self: The phrase your former way of life means “the way you used to live” or “the way you previously behaved ⌊when you did not yet know Christ⌋.” The clause your old self is a figure of speech. It means “your former character” or “the behavior you used to do.” This is contrasted with “your new self” in 4:24.

The words put off in 4:22a and “put on” in 4:24 are words usually used to mean take off and put on clothes. A person can take off old, dirty clothes and put on new, clean clothes. In the same way, the Ephesian Christians should “take off” (stop doing) the dirty behavior they used to do, and “put on” (start doing) clean, Christian behavior.

your old self: The phrase your old self refers to “your former/previous character” or “the way you used to behave.” Paul was telling the Ephesians to no longer live the way they did before they became Christians. When a person becomes a Christian, it is as if he becomes a new person (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

In translating this clause, it may be necessary to translate this figure of speech directly. For example:

change the way you were living (God’s Word)
-or-
give up your old way of life (Contemporary English Version)

4:22c

which is being corrupted: The word which refers back to “old self” in 4:22b.

is being corrupted: The word corrupted can mean to “rot away,” “decay,” “ruin” or “destroy.” To say that a person is being corrupted means he is becoming controlled by evil, until finally he is destroyed. He is like a tree that gets more and more rotten on the inside until it dies and is destroyed.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

being destroyed (Good News Translation)
-or-
being ruined

by its deceitful desires: The phrase deceitful desires refers to evil things the Ephesians wanted to do that led them away from the truth/Christ. In many languages it will probably be clearer to translate deceitful and desires as verbs, for example:

You desired to do evil things, and these things deceived you.

Paul meant that the evil desires in people’s hearts caused them to believe the wrong things and follow their own way instead of following God’s way. 4:22c can be translated:

The things you wanted to do were wrong and deceived you, and so they ruined/spoiled your hearts.

General Comment on 4:22a–c

You may want to translate 4:22c as a new sentence. For example:

The way you used to live at that time was ruining your life…

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:22

5:22

Wives, submit to your husbands: The words Wives and husbands are plural. But take care that your translation does not sound like some wives have more than one husband. You may want to say:

Wives, each of you must submit to your own husband.

Also, think about how a person speaking your language would speak to a group of people to give advice or teaching like this. Some may use “we husbands(inclusive) ” for this kind of teaching. Others may use “you(plural),” others “you(singular) ”.

as to the Lord: There are various views as to the meaning of this phrase. The two main views are:

(1) It means that the wife should submit to her husband like she submits to the Lord or in the same way as she submits to the Lord. For example:

Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord’s authority. (God’s Word)

(NLT98, New Century Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version)

(2) It means that when a wife submits to her husband it is as though she is submitting to the Lord. In other words, when a wife obeys her husband, she is obeying the Lord, because this is what the Lord has asked her to do. For example:

Wives, be subject to your husbands as though to the Lord

(Revised English Bible, SSA)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). See 6:5c where Paul used a similar construction.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 6:21

Section 6:21–24

Paul asked God to bless the believers

Before Paul ended his letter, he added some words about a man named Tychicus. Tychicus carried Paul’s letter to Ephesus and gave the Ephesian Christians news about Paul. Finally, Paul closed his letter by asking God’s blessing on them all. Ephesians 6:21–22 is almost identical to Colossians 4:7–8.

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

Final Greetings (Good News Translation)
-or-
Final greetings from Paul

Paragraph 6:21–24

6:21a

Tychicus: Tychicus is the name of a man.

the beloved brother: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beloved means “one whom I love.”

brother: Since God is the Father of all Christians, all Christians are like brothers and sisters. Therefore, people in the NT frequently use the Greek word for brother when referring to a fellow Christian. You should translate this term literally in your translation if possible. However, in some languages the word brother can only refer to a blood relative. If this is true in your language, you could use a term meaning:

fellow Christian
-or-
brother in Christ
-or-
fellow believer
-or-
dear friend (Contemporary English Version)

faithful servant in the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as faithful means “reliable, dependable, loyal.”

servant in the Lord: The phrase servant in the Lord means “he serves the Lord” or “person who does the Lord’s work.”

Here are some other ways to translate “faithful servant in the Lord”:

he serves the Lord very well
-or-
he continues doing work for the Lord

6:21b

will tell you everything: The word everything here refers to Paul’s living situation when he was writing the letter to the Ephesians. It probably included his living conditions and his personal health. Some other ways everything has been translated include:

all the news about me (Good News Translation)
-or-
everything that is happening to me (New Century Version)
-or-
how I am and every work I am doing

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 1:3

Section 1:3–14

God has done good things for us by means of Christ

Paul praised God for all the blessings that come to his people through Christ. Before God created the world, he chose us and then he redeemed us through Christ. God also revealed his plan to us. His plan is to unite everything in the world in the future with Christ as the Head. To show that we are his people, God gave us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the guarantee that God will give us all the good things he has promised us.

In Greek, 1:3–14 is all one long sentence. Most translations break this sentence into several shorter sentences. In your translation, you can use a few long sentences or many shorter sentences, whichever sounds best.

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

Spiritual blessings in Christ
-or-
God blesses us because we are joined to Christ

Paragraph 1:3–6

Paul praised God for all the blessings that come to us believers through Christ. Long ago before God created the world, he chose us to be his people, because he wanted to adopt us as his children. He did all this because he loved us, because he wanted to show us favor (help us), in order that we might become holy people.

1:3a

Blessed be: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Blessed be is literally “blessed.” It was common for the Jews to use a phrase like this as a formal way to “bless” God. In such contexts, the word “bless” means “praise.” It indicates that people should praise God by telling others how wonderful and excellent he is.

In the Greek text there is no verb (be) after the word “blessed.” See the note on “blessed” in 1:3b below for more information. Most English versions have added a verb to make the phrase more natural.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

• as an exhortation for the Ephesians to praise God. For example:

Praise (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Let us praise/thank

• as a statement about God. For example:

God is worthy of our praise/blessing

• As a blessing to God. For example:

May God be praised/blessed

See bless, Meaning 1 in the Glossary.

the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Paul was saying that God is both:

(a) the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and

(b) the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In order to make this meaning clear you may need to say something like:

⌊Let us⌋ praise God. He is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is also Christ’s Father.
-or-
He is both the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

1:3b

who has blessed us: The word who refers to God. When Paul said God has blessed us, it means “God has done good things for us” or “God has given good things to us.” See bless, Meaning 2 in the Glossary for more information.

in Christ: There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) It tells us the means/way by which God gave us these blessings: he blessed us “by uniting us with Christ.” For example:

Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing… (God’s Word)

(Good News Translation, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Contemporary English Version)

(2) It tells us the reason he gave us these blessings. For example:

…who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing…because we are united with Christ. (New Living Translation (2004))

While many English versions leave the phrase in Christ ambiguous, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Also, see how you translated “in Christ Jesus” in 1:1d.

with every spiritual blessing: There are two ways to interpret the phrase spiritual blessing :

(1) It may mean that the blessings are spiritual, not physical or material. In other words, Paul was not talking about things like food or money. Rather he was talking about things like eternal life and forgiveness, which he discussed in the next verses.

(2) It may mean blessings from the Holy Spirit.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

Here are some ways to translate this phrase:

• Translate it literally like most English versions.

• Translate it as:

with blessings that help our spirit
-or-
with blessings from heaven
-or-
God-given help

blessing: Here blessing refers to the good things that God does for his people. See bless, Meaning 3 in the Glossary.

in the heavenly realms: The phrase in the heavenly realms means “in the spiritual world.” It is a general term, which includes all that exists in the invisible world. This includes heaven where God reigns, but it also includes the realms where all types of spirits live.

This expression occurs only five times in the New Testament, and all of them are in Ephesians (see also 1:20b, 2:6b, 3:10a–b, 6:12c).

In many languages, it will be best to follow the order of the Greek and put the phrase in the heavenly realms after the phrase “every spiritual blessing.” For example:

…he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. (Good News Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:12

2:12a

remember: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word remember here. It occurred in 2:11a. It is repeated here to emphasize what Paul said in 2:12. He told the Ephesians to remember. Translate remember in a way that is natural in your language.

at that time: The phrase at that time refers to the word “formerly” in 2:11a. This was before the Ephesians had become Christians.

separate from Christ: The phrase separate from Christ means that they did not know him, and they had no relationship with him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

without Christ (God’s Word)
-or-
did not know about Christ (Contemporary English Version)

2:12b

alienated from the commonwealth of Israel: The clause alienated from the commonwealth of Israel means they were foreigners/aliens and were not part of God’s chosen people.

alienated: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as alienated means “kept from” or “not a part of.” It occurs only three places in the New Testament: here, in 4:18b and in Colossians 1:21.

2:12c

strangers to the covenants of the promise: The word strangers here means the same as “excluded” in 2:12b. Those people who were not Jews were not included in the agreements between God and his chosen people.

covenants of the promise: The phrase covenants of the promise means the agreements/oaths that God made with all the people, in which he made a promise to them. See covenant in the Glossary for more information.

covenants: A “covenant” is an agreement or contract that binds two people or two groups.

Here the word covenants refers to the agreements that God made with Abraham and the agreements he made with the Jews. The Gentiles were excluded from these covenants that God had made with the Jews. The Gentiles were foreigners in the sense that they were on the outside. They were not part of the group with which God had made these covenants.

Here are some other ways to translate the word covenants :

binding agreements
-or-
pacts
-or-
promises

the promise: There is an interpretation issue here:

• Most commentators believe that the promise refers to the salvation provided to mankind through God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ and the blessings associated with his kingdom.

• Others believe it refers to God’s blessings in general, or to the promise that God made to Abraham, to make him a great nation.

Each of these interpretations is possible. So it is recommended that your translation be general to allow for these different interpretations as the English versions do.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

binding agreements ⌊in which God gave⌋ a promise
-or-
pacts ⌊made by God⌋ with an oath that he would do something

2:12d

without hope: The phrase without hope indicates that the Ephesians had no hope of being saved from their sins, and they had no hope of eternal life. In other words, they did not expect to live forever with God in heaven.

hope: As in 1:18b, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hope means “to confidently expect and wait for something wonderful to happen that we know will happen.” Christian hope includes the ideas that God is actively working in the lives of all believers and that they will live forever with him in heaven. See how you translated hope in 1:18b.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

confident expectation
-or-
assurance ⌊that God will do what he says⌋

and without God: The phrase without God means that the Ephesians did not know about God, and they had no relationship with God.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

and you did not know God (New Century Version)
-or-
and you were ignorant of who God was

in the world: Here the word world refers to this world where sin and evil are present. See world, Meaning 3 in the Glossary for more information.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2019

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 6:10

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:1

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 3:11

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 4:22

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:22

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 6:21

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 1:3

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 2:12

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