For this reason relates what follows to what has come before; the prayer is made as a consequence of all that God has done for the readers in the salvation he wrought through Christ. In some languages the phrase For this reason may be best expressed as “Because of all that God has done.” In this way one may refer to all that has been said in the previous verses. The writer recalls the readers’ faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all of God’s people (see Col 1.4; Philemon 5). Translator’s New Testament translates the first phrase by “the faith you have because Jesus is your Lord,” saying that the preposition “in” does not mean in the New Testament the goal or object of faith (which is always indicated by “upon” or “into” with the verb “to have faith”) but the realm of faith. But translators as a whole have not so understood the expression “faith in”; Barth translates “faithfulness … to the Lord Jesus.”

Your faith in the Lord Jesus may be conveniently expressed in some languages as “how you trusted in the Lord Jesus.” In a number of languages the concept of “faith,” “trust,” or “believe in” is expressed idiomatically, for example, “to put one’s whole weight on” or “to lean against” or “to hand oneself over to.” What is important in such a context is to indicate the degree of commitment and dependence and to avoid expressing merely intellectual acceptance of some truth. Similarly, your love for all of God’s people may also be restructured as a clause, for example, “how you love all God’s people” or “how you love all those who belong to God.”

Some very important Greek manuscripts have in verse 15 “your faith in the Lord Jesus and for all the saints” (omitting the Greek expression for “the love”); this makes for a strange phrase in Greek, and it seems likely that the omission of “the love” was accidental. But Beare says that “the love” should unquestionably be omitted as a later addition, and he translates the text: “the faith which prevails among you, which rests on the Lord Jesus and is shown toward all the saints.” Certainly the text without “the love” is the harder reading and therefore more likely to be the correct one; it is much easier to understand why “the love” would have been inserted into the text than why it would have been deleted from the text, if it was originally a part of it.

I have not stopped giving thanks: this is admittedly an exaggerated way of saying that the writer, whenever he prays, always thanks God for the readers (see Col 1.9). The expression not stopped involves a kind of double negative with respect to giving thanks, and therefore it may be best to use a positive expression, for example, “I am always giving thanks.” Such a positive expression may also provide a means of avoiding what might be regarded as an undue exaggeration in the literal statement “I have not stopped.”

At the end of verse 16 remember means “make mention of, speak (to God) about.” The writer always mentions the readers whenever he prays to God. A literal rendering of I remember you in my prayers might suggest that he had conveniently forgotten about the believers, except in his prayers. Therefore, I remember you in my prayers may be expressed as “whenever I pray to God I mention you” or “… speak to him about you.”

Verses 17-19a give the content of the prayer on behalf of the readers. The conjunction at the beginning of verse 17 in Greek does not express the purpose of the prayer but gives its contents. Good News Translation, in order to make the proper transition, has used a verb and ask (compare New English Bible “I pray that”).

The prayer is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also called “the Father of glory” (Revised Standard Version); see the similar phrase in Acts 7.2 and “the Lord of glory” in 1 Corinthians 2.8. The genitive phrase “of glory” functions as an attributive adjective, the glorious Father. The noun “glory,” with reference to God, always has an implicit reference to the visible manifestation among his people of God’s saving power. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “the Father to whom belongs the glory,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the one to whom belong all power and glory.”

The expression the God of our Lord Jesus Christ involves some very subtle problems for some languages. The phrase of our Lord Jesus Christ suggests a kind of possessive relationship, but in many languages it is impossible to speak of God being possessed. For example, one cannot say “my God” but only “the God whom I worship.” Similarly, the statement the God of our Lord Jesus Christ must be rendered in many languages as “the God whom our Lord Jesus Christ worshiped.” Furthermore, in some languages a term for “God” is so exclusively unique that one cannot use the definite article “the” in connection with “God.” Therefore, one may need to translate the first part of verse 17 as “I ask God, whom our Lord Jesus Christ worshiped” or “… worships.”

There is also a difficulty involved in the phrase the glorious Father. In many languages one cannot speak of “the … Father,” since a term for “father” must always be possessed, for example, “his father” or “my father” or “their father,” etc. A person is a father only because of the relationship to an offspring. It would, of course, be possible to render the glorious Father as “his glorious Father,” thus referring to Jesus Christ, but it is more likely that the phrase the glorious Father refers in this context to one who is related as Father to believers. The glorious Father may thus be rendered as “our Father who is wonderful” or even “our Father in heaven who is wonderful,” in order to avoid a wrong reference to an earthly father.

It is also important in the rendering of the glorious Father to indicate clearly that this is in apposition to God and not to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The phrase that follows, “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-14.jpg), may refer to the readers’ own spirit (Beare, Abbott); so, apparently, Revised Standard Version “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation” (also Twentieth Century New Testament, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “to give you wisdom”). But most take “spirit” here to mean God’s Spirit (so Salmond, Robinson); some translate “the spiritual gifts of wisdom and insight” (Translator’s New Testament; also Phillips, New English Bible); the Spanish common language translation (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) has “spiritual wisdom to understand his revelation.” Good News Translation and others take it to mean God’s Spirit. Translators will have to decide whether or not the word “Spirit” alone is enough or whether it will be better to say explicitly “God’s Spirit.” “Wisdom” here is understanding of spiritual realities, God’s truth. So “make you wise in spiritual things” is one way of translating this; another way would be “make you wise in things of God.” Good News Translation has make you wise and reveal God to you. Barclay has “make you wise in heavenly things.” The Greek word for “revelation” means “disclosure, uncovering.” Here it refers to the action of the Spirit in disclosing spiritual truths. It seems impossible, given the meaning of the word and its use elsewhere in the New Testament (see its use in 3.3), to take it to mean a person’s own “insight” or “vision” (as New English Bible, New American Bible, Phillips, Translator’s New Testament translate it). As Salmond says, the word can only refer to the divine action (and so “spirit” here is God’s Spirit, not the human spirit); so Good News Translation reveal God to you.

In some languages it is necessary to use the phrase “Holy Spirit” rather than merely “Spirit,” since the term “Spirit” without some qualification would most likely refer to some evil spirit.

It is important to avoid a statement which will suggest merely the accumulation of knowledge, for wisdom implies the correct use or application of knowledge and not merely the accumulation of facts.

A literal rendering of reveal God to you might be “to cause you to see God,” but this is not what is intended. It is, therefore, better to translate reveal God to you as “cause you to know the truth about God” or “cause you to know who God really is.”

At the end of verse 17, “in the knowledge of him” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-14.jpg) refers to knowledge of God, and this is the purpose or goal of the action of God’s Spirit in making the readers wise and revealing God to them, so Good News Translation renders so that you will know him. Some want to understand the compound Greek noun to mean “complete knowledge” (see especially the use of the compound verb in 1 Cor 13.12), but it seems better to take it to mean here “directed knowledge,” that is, knowledge directed toward a particular truth.

In rendering so that you will know him, it is important to avoid an expression which will mean merely “so that you will recognize him.” In this type of context the phrase “knowledge of him” means more than “facts about.” The implication is that an individual should have some essential experience of God. When, for example, the Scriptures speak of “knowing suffering” or “knowing joy,” this is not information about suffering or joy but the actual experience of such states.

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 .