Here the Holy Spirit is called “the guarantee of our inheritance” (Revised Standard Version). The word translated “guarantee” (also in 2 Cor 1.22; 5.5) is a down payment, a first installment, “a part given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid hereafter” (Robinson). Moulton & Milligan cite a second century B.C. papyrus that tells of a woman receiving 1,000 drachmas as a down payment on the sale of her cow. So something like “pledge” or “proof” may represent the meaning in some languages.

There may be some complications involved in the statement the Spirit is the guarantee, for literally it is not the Holy Spirit which guarantees that we shall receive what God has promised, but it is the fact that we possess the Spirit. Accordingly, one may translate the first part of verse 14 as “because we have God’s Spirit, we may be certain that we shall receive….”

What God has promised his people may be rendered as “what God has said he would give to his people.”

The whole amount is defined as “inheritance,” a term that goes back to the Old Testament concept of the land of Canaan as the “inheritance” of the people of Israel, that is, a gift from God. This concept became a figure of speech for all of God’s salvation, culminating in the eschatological establishment of his kingdom (see Col 3.24). So Good News Translation translates what God has promised his people. The word is used also in 1.18; 5.5.

The next clause, “for the redemption of the possession” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg), is grammatically the purpose or goal of the action described in the main verb “you were sealed” (see also in 4.30 “you were sealed for the day of redemption”); or else it is related to the “guarantee” (so Good News Translation; compare New American Bible “the first payment against the full redemption of a people God has made his own”). The Greek preposition translated “for” is taken by New English Bible, Translator’s New Testament in a temporal manner, “when God has … redeemed”; New International Version, Phillips have “until … the redemption,” which is possible, but it seems better to take it to indicate purpose or end (so Westcott; see Barclay “The final end of all this is the liberation”). For “redemption” see Eph. 1.7.

The introduction of purpose by the statement this assures us that is an effective means in English of relating the redemption to the preceding statement about the promised Holy Spirit as the guarantee of what we shall receive. This transitional phrase this assures us that may be rendered as “because of this we can be sure that” or “because of this we can certainly know that.”

In rendering give complete freedom to it is important to avoid the implication of “license” or “irresponsible action.” In some languages it may be better to use a negative expression, for example, “causes to no longer be bound” or even “causes us to no longer be slaves.”

“The possession” (see also 1 Peter 2.9) has God for actor: God possesses, and his people, those he had made his own, are his possession; compare New International Version “those who are God’s possession.” Revised Standard Version takes “we” as the subject of the noun: “until we acquire full possession of it”; this is possible, but does not seem as probable as the other interpretation. So Good News Translation translates those who are his. In this verse, we and us are inclusive referring to all of God’s people.

The ultimate purpose of the whole process of salvation is the praise offered to God: “for the praise of his glory” (see verses 6a, 12a). The clause itself does not specify who is to praise God’s glory, and many translations have retained this indefiniteness. However, in many languages it will be better to provide an actor, as Good News Translation has done: Let us praise his glory!

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .