As Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg shows, the Greek has “even as he chose us … before the foundation of the world.” The initial adverb “even” introduces the long and detailed description of the way in which God blessed us. As Caragounis says (pages 82-83), verse 4 makes specific the truth that is stated in general terms in verse 3.

The temporal clause “before the foundation of the world” indicates that God’s decision was made in eternity, before time and creation. The word “foundation” depicts the creation of the world in terms of a building. The meaning of the temporal clause is expressed simply by before the world was made or “before God created the world.” In some instances it may be necessary to introduce the temporal clause by an expression involving “not yet,” for example, “God had not yet created the world.” In some languages there is no highly specialized term for “create,” and therefore it may be necessary to use a more general term such as “to make.”

The concept of God’s choosing his people goes back to Israel’s experience in the Old Testament, where again and again the point is made that Israel’s “election” (from the Greek verb meaning “to choose”) is due only to God’s decision and action, not to Israel’s work or choice. Yahweh chose Israel to be his own people; Israel did not choose Yahweh. The initiative was his alone (see Deut 7.6-8). Us here includes all of God’s people, which in the New Testament are thought of as being the Christians. The Greek middle voice of the verb “to choose” allows the translation “God chose for himself.” Westcott comments: “the middle voice emphasizes … the selection of the person chosen to the special purpose of him who chooses.” The idea of a choice inevitably involves discrimination, but the biblical emphasis on God’s choice of some (and not of others) is that such choice is not for privilege but for service, and is the means whereby God intends to redeem all humanity.

In any choice of a word to translate “choose” or “select,” it is important to check the connotation, for many times a term for “choose” may suggest a selection based upon a desire to eliminate or to discard rather than to choose because of some value or worth. At the same time one would not want to use a term for “choose” based upon the special worthiness of the object chosen, since this would violate the whole theological implications of God’s choice of his people. Therefore, the implication of any verb meaning “to choose” must point to some purpose for the person who does the choosing and should not be dependent upon the idea of worthiness in the individual chosen.

The prepositional phrase “in him” (see Revised Standard Version) again emphasizes the relation of Christians to Christ in the experience of salvation; Twentieth Century New Testament has “in our union with Christ.” The simple “in Christ” in English, at least, does not convey any specific meaning; see New English Bible “In Christ he chose us before the world was founded.”

It may be relatively easy to render our union with Christ as “our being united with Christ” or “in close fellowship with Christ.” But what is perhaps more difficult with the phrase is the manner in which it is to be combined with the statement God had already chosen us to be his. Some scholars assume that through our union with Christ could be combined directly with had … chosen. But the Good News Translation relates through our union with Christ more closely to the fact of our belonging to God. In the Greek text there is only the term “choose,” but the implication of this choice is the believer’s special relationship to God. It therefore may be appropriate in some languages to render the phrase through our union with Christ as a type of means (often expressed as cause), as in the following statement: “God had already chosen us to belong to him by means of our being united with Christ” or “… because of our being one with Christ.”

For we would be holy and without fault: the two Greek adjectives are here used in an ethical sense and are largely synonymous. The second one means “without defect, blemish, or imperfection”; the idea is based on the requirement in the Hebrew sacrificial system that an animal offered in sacrifice to God had to be perfect, without any defect or blemish. The two adjectives occur together also in 5.27, and the whole clause here is closely related to Colossians 1.22, “to present us as holy, blameless, and faultless before him.”

It may be appropriate to render holy by “as God would want us to be.” Though the meaning of holy in this context is primarily ethical, it is more than just “good.” In some languages the word traditionally used for “holy” means “taboo.” This idea should be avoided here, and a word or expression that means “clean” or “pure” should be used, if it is clearly understood that spiritual or moral purity is meant. The phrase without fault is simply a negative way of stating essentially what is stated positively in the term holy. In many languages without fault is translated simply “without any sin” or “without any guilt.”

The phrase before him refers to God; the Christian life is lived in his sight, his presence, open to his scrutiny. It is important to avoid in a rendering of before him the idea that the believers are without fault only after they go to heaven. In some instances the closest equivalent of before him is “as he looks upon us” or “as he sees us.”

The last two words in verse 4 of the Greek text, meaning “in love,” may be taken with what precedes or with what follows. (1) If it is taken with what precedes (so Good News Translation), “in love” more naturally refers to human love; so New English Bible, New American Bible (New American Bible) “to be full of love”; Jerusalem Bible “to live through love” (so Westcott, who takes the word here to refer specifically to Christians’ love for one another; also Barth, Salmond, Lightfoot). Caragounis takes it to mean Christians’ love for God: “and love him.” Caragounis lists the different possibilities, and based on stylistic and syntactical considerations favors taking “in love” with what precedes; on semantic grounds, however, in the body of the commentary (pages 85-86) he inclines toward joining it with what follows. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch takes it to refer to God’s love for us, and so translates the beginning of verse 4: “Already before he made the world God loved us….” (2) If it is taken with what follows (specifically, the aorist participle “having predestined”), then the words apply to God: “Because God loved us he predestined us….” This is the meaning preferred by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and other translations; also Beare, Abbott.

No one can be dogmatic about which is correct, but it would seem better to take the phrase “in love” with what follows.

In a number of languages there is no specific word for love, but the content can often be expressed in a figurative manner, for example, “God hid us in his heart” or “God’s heart went away with us” or “God was sweet in his stomach for us.” In a number of languages it is obviously impossible to use the term “heart,” since it may not be at all related to emotions. Therefore one may need to employ terms referring to “bowels,” “stomach,” “liver,” or even “throat.” Languages actually refer to a number of different organs since the emotional reactions experienced in certain parts of the body are simply the result of the response of the sympathetic nervous system.

God had already decided … make us his sons; Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg “in love having predestined us to sonship through Jesus Christ”: the aorist participle translated “having predestined” is related to the main verb “he chose (us)” in verse 4. It expresses either antecedent action or else, which seems more likely, the manner or means by which the choice was made: “He chose us … by predestining us….” Caragounis (page 87) vigorously contends that this is impossible and argues that the (aorist) participle is subsequent in time to the main verb “he chose” (in verse 4). He says “the ptcp. is sometimes used loosely, just carrying on the argument.” So the action of “predestining” in verse 5 would be in addition to that of “choosing” in verse 4: “he chose us … and predestined us.”

The Greek verb translated “predestined” is a compound verb meaning “to mark out beforehand (or, ahead of time).” It appears in the New Testament in Romans 8.29, 30; Acts 4.28; 1 Corinthians 2.7; Ephesians 1.5, 11. It is used only of God, and it serves to emphasize God’s sole and complete initiative and authority in the experience of salvation, his independence of action based on a decision already made in the past, in God’s own eternal time. The full theological implication of the word is brought out in Romans 8.29-30.

Theological considerations on the relation between God’s sovereign power and man’s freedom of choice inevitably arise, but such matters cannot influence a translator’s choice of a word to translate the Greek verb. In English “planned” (Phillips) is too weak; some translations have “destined”; New International Version “predestined” seems better; Bible de Jérusalem “determining in advance” is good; Translator’s New Testament “he set us apart (for himself)” does not give sufficient value to the temporal element expressed in the Greek prefix meaning “before.”

It may be difficult to find some expressions which will appropriately render “predestined.” If one uses a phrase such as “he decided ahead of time to set us aside,” this may have quite a negative value, for in many languages “to set aside” implies some type of rejection or lack of appreciation. The connotation of such an expression may be made somewhat less objectionable because believers are predestined to be his own sons. In some instances, translators have tried to build an expression for “predestined” on a more or less literal translation of the Greek term, namely, “to mark out ahead of time.” But this often suggests some kind of restriction or encirclement. In a number of cases the best way of dealing with “having predestined us to be his own sons” is to translate “having decided ahead of time to make us his own sons” or “… to cause us to be his sons.”

Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg “for him (God)” goes with the participle, “Having predestined us … to himself,” that is, in connection with “to sonship”: “having predestined us to be his (own) sons.”

The Greek noun “sonship” means “adoption as son,” a legal term used exclusively in a religious sense in the New Testament; of Israel, Romans 9.4; of believers in Christ, Romans 8.15, 23; Galatians 4.5; and here. An adopted son had all the privileges and rights enjoyed by a natural son. Barclay uses the phrase “adoption into his own family.”

It may be difficult in some languages to use a literal rendering of sons since this might exclude women completely. Therefore a more appropriate expression would be “his children.” Since believers become God’s children not by biological means but by a kind of theological adoption, it may be necessary in some instances to use a term for “children” which indicates the adopted status. Otherwise there may be an implication that God is somehow involved in sexual activity.

The phrase through Jesus Christ gives the means or agency God used in making us his (adopted) children.

Through Jesus Christ may be rendered as “Jesus Christ made this possible” or “Jesus Christ caused this to happen” or “God made us his sons because of what Jesus Christ did.” Some languages have used the expression “by Jesus Christ” which may mean either that he is the agent or that he is the Father. For such cases an unambiguous expression for agency should be used, for example, “by the hand of Jesus Christ.”

The final part of verse 5, this was his pleasure and purpose, gives the basis or standard of God’s action in making us his children. Logically there seems to be no need for saying this, since at the beginning of the sentence it has already been stated that God did this because of his love. But one of the characteristics of this letter is the repetition of such qualifying clauses (see in verse 9 “according to his pleasure,” and in verse 11 “according to the decision of his will”). No great difference in meaning is to be found between pleasure and purpose (or “will”); the clause could be simply expressed by “according to his good pleasure,” “in keeping with his gracious will.” Caragounis suggests: “This was in accordance with what He considered good and willed/decided upon.” Most English translations use a combination of “will, pleasure, purpose.” An equivalent in some languages is “this is what he wanted to do.” Some translators have used an expression equivalent to “this is what God decided he wanted to do.”

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 .