¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
²tc The earliest and most important manuscripts omit “in Ephesus” (Ì46 Í* B* 6 1739 and apparently Marcion’s list), yet the opening line of this epistle makes little sense without them (“to the saints who are and are faithful…”? or perhaps “to the saints who are also faithful,” though with this sense the ou\sin [ousin] is redundant and the kaiv [kai] is treated somewhat unnaturally). What is interesting is Marcion’s canon list which offers the letter to the Laodiceans among Paul’s authentic epistles. This, coupled with some internal evidence that the writer did not know his audience personally (cf. 1:15; 3:2; absence of personal names throughout), suggests that Ephesians was an encyclical letter, intended for more than one audience. Does this mean that the shorter reading is to be preferred? Yes and no. A plausible scenario is as follows: Paul sent the letter from Rome, intending it first to go to Ephesus. At the same time, Colossians was dispatched. Going counter-clockwise through Asia Minor, this letter would first come to Ephesus, the port of entry, then to Laodicea, then Colossae. Tychicus’ instructions may well have been for each church to “fill in the blank” on the address line. The church at Ephesus would have certainly made the most copies, being Paul’s home base for nearly three years. Hence, most of the surviving copies have “in Ephesus” in v. 1. But we might expect a hint of evidence that Laodicea also made a few copies: both Marcion’s list and Col 4:16 may well imply this. What is to account for the early Alexandrian evidence, then? These manuscripts were probably made from a very early copy, one reflecting the blank line before each church filled it in. Although it is of course only speculation (as is necessary in a historical investigation lacking some of the pieces to the puzzle), this scenario accounts for all of the data: (1) “in Ephesus” in most manuscripts; (2) Laodicea in Marcion’s list and Col 4:16; (3) the lack of an addressee in the earliest witnesses; (4) why the earliest witnesses’ reading must be rejected as too hard; and (5) why Paul seems not to know the readership. In sum, is “in Ephesus” original? Yes and no. Some address belongs there; ejn jEfevsw/ (en Efesw) is the predominant address; but several other churches also received this circular letter as their own.
³tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the kaiv (kai) is best left untranslated. See Barth, Ephesians, 1.68 and Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 282.
⁴tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
⁵sn Eph 1:3-14 comprises one long sentence in Greek, with three major sections. Each section ends with a note of praise for God (vv. 6, 11, 14), focusing on a different member of the Trinity. After an opening summary of all the saints’ spiritual blessings (v. 3), the first section (vv. 4-6) offers up praise that the Father has chosen us in eternity past; the second section (vv. 7-11) offers up praise that the Son has redeemed us in the historical past (i.e., at the cross); the third section (vv. 12-14) offers up praise that the Holy Spirit has sealed us in our personal past, at the point of conversion.
⁶sn The verb is lacking in Greek; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The indicative suggests that the blessedness is an intrinsic part of God’s character, while the optative suggests that he ought to be praised or blessed. Although a decision is difficult, both the Hebrew equivalents and the general Pauline style (of beginning with statements and moving to obligations) argues for the indicative. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3.
⁷tn Or “enriched,” “conferred blessing.”
⁸tn Grk “just as.” Eph 1:3-14 are one long sentence in Greek that must be broken up in English translation. Verse 4 expresses the reason why God the Father is blessed (cf. BAGD 391 s.v. kaqwv" 3).
⁹tn Grk “in love,” at the end of the verse. This prepositional phrase may modify one of three words or phrases: “chose,” “holy and unblemished,” or “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love.
¹⁰tn Grk “in him.”
¹¹sn The Greek word translated unblemished (ajmwvmou", amwmous) is often used of an acceptable paschal lamb. Christ, as our paschal lamb, is also said to be unblemished (Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19). Since believers are in Christ, God views them positionally and will make them ultimately without blemish as well (Jude 24; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22).
¹²tn Grk “before him.”
¹³tn Grk “by predestining.” Verse 5 begins with an aorist participle dependent on the main verb in v. 4 (“chose”).
sn By predestining. The aorist participle may be translated either causally (“because he predestined,” “having predestined”) or instrumentally (“by predestining”). A causal nuance would suggest that God’s predestination of certain individuals prompted his choice of them. An instrumental nuance would suggest that the means by which God’s choice was accomplished was by predestination. The instrumental view is somewhat more likely in light of normal Greek syntax (i.e., an aorist participle following an aorist main verb is more likely to be instrumental than causal).
¹⁴tn Grk “to himself” after “through Jesus Christ.”
¹⁵sn Adoption as his sons (Greek uiJoqesivan, Juioqesian) is different from spiritual birth as children. All true believers have been born as children of God and will be adopted as sons of God. The adoption is both a future reality, and in some sense, already true. To be adopted as a son means to have the full rights of an heir. Thus, although in the ancient world, only boys could be adopted as sons, in God’s family all children—both male and female—are adopted.
¹⁶tn Or “good pleasure.”
¹⁷tn Grk “the beloved.” The term hjgaphmevnw/ (hgaphmenw) means “beloved,” but often bears connotations of “only beloved” in an exclusive sense. “His dearly loved Son” picks up this connotation.
sn God’s grace can be poured out on believers only because of what Christ has done for them. Hence, he bestows his grace on us because we are in his dearly loved Son.
¹⁸tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.
¹⁹tn Grk “making known, revealing” (for “He did this when he revealed”). Verse 9 begins with a participle dependent on “lavished” in v. 8.
²⁰tn Or “mystery.” In the NT musthvrion (musthrion) refers to a divine secret previously undisclosed.
²¹tn Or “purposed,” “publicly displayed.” Cf. Rom 3:25.
²²tn Grk “in him.” The referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
sn In Christ. KJV has “in himself” as though the antecedent were God the Father. Although possible, the notion of the verb set forth (Greek protivqhmi, protiqhmi) implies a plan that is carried out in history (cf. Rom 1:13; 3:25) and thus more likely refers to Christ.
²³tn The precise meaning of the infinitive ajnakefalaiwvsasqai (anakefalaiwsasqai) in v. 10 is difficult to determine since it was used relatively infrequently in Greek literature and only twice in the NT (here and Rom 13:9). While there have been several suggestions, three deserve mention: (1) “To sum up.” In Rom 13:9, using the same term, Paul says that the law may be “summarized in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.” The idea then in Eph 1:10 would be that all things in heaven and on earth can be summed up and made sense out of in relation to Christ. (2) “To renew.” If this is the nuance of the verb then all things in heaven and earth, after their plunge into sin and ruin, are renewed by the coming of Christ and his redemption. (3) “To head up.” In this translation the idea is that Christ, in the fullness of the times, has been exalted so as to be appointed as the ruler (i.e., “head”) over all things in heaven and earth (including the church). That this is perhaps the best understanding of the verb is evidenced by the repeated theme of Christ’s exaltation and reign in Ephesians and by the connection to the kefalhv- (kefalh-) language of 1:22 (cf. Schlier, TDNT 3.682; LN 63.8; Barth, Ephesians, 1.89-92; contra Lincoln, Ephesians, 32-33).
²⁴tn Grk “the heavens.”
²⁵sn And the things on earth. Verse 10 ends with “in him.” The redundancy keeps the focus on Christ at the expense of good Greek style. Verse 11 repeats the reference with a relative pronoun (“in whom”)—again, at the expense of good Greek style. Although the syntax is awkward, the theology is rich. This is not the first time that a NT writer was so overcome with awe for his Lord that he seems to have lost control of his pen. Indeed, it happened frequently enough that some have labeled their Christologically motivated solecisms an “apostolic disease.”
²⁶tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.
²⁷sn God’s own possession. The notion of the verb klhronomevw (klhronomew) in the OT was to “obtain a portion by lot.” In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were obtained as a portion.” Just as with the nation Israel, the church is God’s portion or possession (cf. Deut 32:8-9).
²⁸tn Or “who had already hoped.”
²⁹tn Or “the Messiah.”
³⁰tn Grk “in whom when you also,” continuing the sentence from v. 12.
³¹tn Grk “in whom also having believed.”
³²tn Or “you were sealed.”
³³tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.”
³⁴tn Or “down payment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”
³⁵tn Grk “the possession.”
³⁶sn The conjunctive phrase For this reason points back to the preceding section, vv. 3-14, which is also summed up in this verse in the expression since I have heard of your faith. In other words, Paul’s prayer can be made for his audience because he knows that they are true believers.
³⁷tn Grk “even I.”
³⁸tn Grk “having also heard.”
³⁹tn Grk “making mention [of you].”
⁴⁰tn Grk “that”; v. 17 is a subordinate clause to v. 16 (“I pray” in v. 17 is implied from v. 16). Eph 1:15-23 constitutes one sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation in light of contemporary English usage.
⁴¹tn Or “glorious Father.” The genitive “of glory” is most likely attributive.
⁴²tn Or “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” or “a spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Verse 17 involves a complex exegetical problem revolving around the Greek term pneu'ma (pneuma). Some take it to mean “the Spirit,” others “a spirit,” and still others “spiritual.” (1) If “the Spirit” is meant, the idea must be a metonymy of cause for effect, because Paul had just indicated in vv. 13-14 that the Spirit was already given (hence, there is no need for him to pray that he be given again). But the effect of the Spirit is wisdom and revelation. (2) If “a spirit” is meant, the idea may be that the readers will have the ability to gain wisdom and insight as they read Paul’s letters, but the exact meaning of “a spirit” remains ambiguous. (3) To take the genitives following pneu'ma as attributed genitives (see Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 89-91), in which the head noun (“S/spirit”) functions semantically like an adjective (“spiritual”) is both grammatically probable and exegetically satisfying.
⁴³tn Grk “in the knowledge of him.”
sn The point of the knowledge of him has nothing to do with what God knows, but with what believers are to know (hence, “your…knowledge”). Further, Paul’s prayer is that this knowledge of God would increase, not simply be initiated, since he is writing to believers who already know God (hence, “your growing knowledge of him”).
⁴⁴tc There is a textual problem here involving uJmw'n (Jumwn). Most witnesses add uJmw'n after kardiva" (kardias), though it is clearly implied in the shorter (Alexandrian) reading (found in Ì46 B 33 1739 1881 et pauci). The longer reading thus looks to be a clarifying gloss, as is frequently found in the Byzantine and Western traditions.
tn Grk “the.”
⁴⁵tn The perfect participle pefwtismevnou" (pefwtismenou") may either be part of the prayer (“that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”) or part of the basis of the prayer (“since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened”). Although the participle follows the i{Jna (Jina) of v. 17, it is awkward grammatically in the clause. Further, perfect adverbial participles are usually causal in NT Greek. Finally, the context both here and throughout Ephesians seems to emphasize the motif of light as a property belonging to believers. Thus, it seems that Paul is saying, “I know that you are saved, that you have had the blinders of the devil removed; because of this, I can now pray that you will fully understand and see the light of God’s glorious revelation.” Hence, we take the participle to form a part of the basis for the prayer.
⁴⁶tn “the hope to which he has called you.”
sn The hope of his calling. The translation is more formally equivalent for this and the following two phrases, because of the apparently intentional literary force of the original. There is a natural cadence to the three genitive expressions (hope of his calling, wealth of his glorious inheritance, and extraordinary greatness of his power). The essence of Paul’s prayer is seen here. Paraphrased it reads as follows: “Since you are enlightened by God’s Spirit, I pray that you may comprehend the hope to which he has called you, the spiritual riches that await the saints in glory, and the spiritual power that is available to the saints now.” Thus, the prayer focuses on all three temporal aspects of our salvation as these are embedded in the genitives—the past (calling), the future (inheritance), and the present (power toward us who believe).
⁴⁷tn Grk “of the glory of his.” “Of the glory” is taken as an attributive genitive and is thus translated as an adjective.
⁴⁸tn Or “immeasurable, surpassing”
⁴⁹tn Or “for, to”
⁵⁰tn Grk “according to.”
⁵¹tn Grk “according to the exercise of the might of his strength.”
sn What we have translated as exercise is a term used only of supernatural power in the NT, ejnevrgeia (energeia).
⁵²tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).
⁵³tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ejnergevw, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ejnevrgeia, energeia).
⁵⁴tn The Western and Byzantine texttypes have the indicative ejkavqisen (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for kaqivsa" (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ejnhvrghsen (enhrghsen, “he raised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle, on the other hand, is coordinate with ejgeivra" (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: he exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe. The Byzantine text was simply influenced by the Western at this juncture, and has no separate voice in the matter.
⁵⁵sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.
⁵⁶tn Grk “he.”
⁵⁷tn Grk “subjected.”
⁵⁸tn Grk “his.”
⁵⁹tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”
⁶⁰tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear.
⁶¹tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”
sn The idea of all in all is either related to the universe (hence, he fills the whole universe entirely) or the church universal (hence, Christ fills the church entirely with his presence and power).
¹tn The adverbial participle “being” (o[nta", ontas) is taken concessively.
²sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.
³sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
⁴tn Grk “walked.”
sn The Greek verb translated lived (peripatevw, peripatew) in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.
⁵tn Or possibly “Aeon.”
sn The word translated present path is the same as that which is translated [this] age in 1:21 (aijwvn, aiwn).
⁶tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”
⁷tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
⁸sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 100).
⁹tn Grk “working in.”
¹⁰sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.
¹¹sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ejn ai{" [en ais], ejn oi{" [en ois]). By the structure, Paul is building an argument for our hopeless condition: we lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
¹²tn Grk “we all.”
¹³tn Or “even.”
¹⁴sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”
¹⁵sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.
¹⁶tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).
¹⁷tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”
¹⁸tn Or “upon.”
¹⁹tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.
²⁰tn The feminine article is found before pivstew" (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Y 1881 et pauci. Perhaps for some scribes it was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere Paul uses the phrase diaV th'" pivstew" (dia th" pistew") for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Gal 3:26; Eph 3:17; though there are other possible interpretations of these texts too). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (Í B D F G 6 33 1739 et pauci) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning is “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.”
²¹tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”
²²tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).
sn So that we may do them. Before the devil began to control our walk in sin and among sinful people, God had already planned good works for us to do.
²³tn Grk “in the flesh.”
²⁴tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
²⁵tn Or “covenants of the promise.”
²⁶tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”
²⁷tn Grk “who made the both one.”
²⁸tn Or “rendered inoperative.”
²⁹tn Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. What is rendered “the purpose of this was” is in Greek a subordinate clause expressing purpose.
³⁰tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”
³¹tn Or “for.” BAGD gives the consecutive o{ti (oti) as a possible category of NT usage (s.v. o{ti 1.d.g).
³²tn Grk “having been built.”
³³sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.
³⁴tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”
³⁵tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).
³⁶tn Or “every building.” Although “every building” is a more natural translation of the Greek, it does not fit as naturally into the context, which (with its emphasis on corporate unity) seems to stress the idea of one building.
¹sn If indeed. Paul is not doubting whether his audience has heard, but is rather using provocative language (if indeed) to engage his audience in thinking about the magnificence of God’s grace. However, in English translation, the apodosis (“then”-clause) does not come until v. 13, leaving the protasis (“if”-clause) dangling. Eph 3:2-7 constitute one sentence in Greek.
²tn Or “administration,” “dispensation,” “commission.”
³tn Or “namely, that is.”
⁴tn Or “mystery.”
⁵tn Or “as I wrote above briefly.”
sn As I wrote briefly may refer to Paul’s brief discussion of the divine secret in 1:9.
⁶tn Grk “which, when reading.”
⁷tn Grk “you are able to.”
⁸tn Or “mystery.”
⁹tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.
¹⁰tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom).
¹¹tn Grk “other.”
¹²tn Or “in.”
¹³sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.
¹⁴tn Grk “and fellow members.”
¹⁵tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”
¹⁶tn Grk “according to.”
¹⁷sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.
¹⁸sn In Paul saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.
¹⁹tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.
²⁰tn Grk “what is the plan of the divine secret.” Earlier Paul had used oijkonomiva (oikonomia; here “plan”) to refer to his own stewardship (v. 2). But now he is speaking about the content of this secret, not his own activity in relation to it.
²¹tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.
²²tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.
²³tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”
²⁴tn Grk “according to.” The verse is a prepositional phrase subordinate to v. 10.
²⁵tn Grk “access in confidence.”
²⁶tn “to God” is not in the text, but is clearly implied by the preceding, “access.”
²⁷tn Grk “through,” “by way of.”
²⁸tn Grk “his.”
²⁹tn Or “faith in him.” The genitive construction pivstew" aujtou' (pistew" autou) is taken as a subjective genitive (“his faithfulness”) rather than an objective genitive (“faith in him”). There are only a few places in the New Testament in which a personal noun in the genitive after pivsti" (pistis) should be taken as an objective genitive, and apparently none in Paul. Cf. the discussion of pivsti" Cristou' (pisti" Cristou) at Rom 3:22.
sn Because of Christ’s faithfulness. Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.
³⁰tn Grk “I ask.” No direct object is given in Greek, leaving room for the possibility that either “God” (since the verb is often associated with prayer) or “you” is in view.
³¹tn Grk “my trials on your behalf.”
³²sn Which. The antecedent (i.e., the word or concept to which this clause refers back) may be either “what I am suffering for you” or the larger concept of the recipients not losing heart over Paul’s suffering for them. The relative pronoun “which” is attracted to the predicate nominative “glory” in its gender and number (feminine singular), making the antecedent ambiguous. Paul’s suffering for them could be viewed as their glory (cf. Col 1:24 for a parallel) in that his suffering has brought about their salvation, but if so his suffering must be viewed as more than his present imprisonment in Rome; it would be a general description of his ministry overall (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27). The other option is that Paul is implicitly arguing that the believers have continued to have courage in the midst of his trials (as not to lose heart suggests) and that this is their glory. Philippians 1:27-28 offers an interesting parallel: the believers’ courage in the face adversity is a sign of their salvation.
³³tn Or “Or who is your glory?” The relative pronoun h{ti" (hti"), if divided differently, would become h[ tiv" (h ti"). Since there were no word breaks in the original manuscripts, either word division is possible. The force of the question would be that for the readers to become discouraged over Paul’s imprisonment would mean that they were no longer trusting in God’s sovereignty.
³⁴sn For this reason resumes the point begun in v. 1, after a long parenthesis.
³⁵tn Or “by.”
³⁶tn Or “the whole family.”
³⁷tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.
³⁸tn Or “its” (referring to love).
³⁹tn Or “with.”
⁴⁰sn On the power that is working within us see 1:19-20.
⁴¹tn Or “infinitely beyond,” “far more abundantly than.”
¹tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.
²sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. Paul is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.
³tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).
⁴tn Or “putting up with.”
⁵tn Grk “captured.”
⁶sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18.
⁷sn The phrase the lower parts of the earth has been variously interpreted: (1) The traditional view understands this as a reference to the underworld (hell), where Jesus is thought to have descended in the three days between his death and resurrection. In this case, of the earth would be a partitive genitive. (2) A second option is to translate the phrase to the lower parts, the earth. Many recent scholars hold this view and argue that it is a reference to the incarnation. In this case of the earth would be a genitive of apposition. (3) A third option, which also sees the phrase of the earth as a genitive of apposition, is that the descent in the passage occurs after the ascent rather than before it, and refers to the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost (cf. Acts 4:11-16). Support for this latter view is found in the intertestamental and rabbinic use of Ps 68:18 (quoted in v. 8), which is consistently and solely interpreted as a reference to Moses’ ascent of Mt. Sinai to “capture” the words of the law. The probability, therefore, is that Paul’s comments here reflect a polemic against the interpretation of this passage in certain circles as a reference to Moses. See W. Hall Harris, The Descent of Christ, AGJU 32 (Leiden: Brill, 1996).
⁸tn The Greek text lays specific emphasis on “He” through the use of the intensive pronoun, aujtov" (autos). This is reflected in the English translation through the use of “the very one.”
⁹tn The emphasis on Christ is continued through the use of the intensive pronoun, aujtov" (autos), and is rendered in English as “it was he” as this seems to lay emphasis on the “he.”
¹⁰sn Some interpreters have understood the phrase pastors and teachers to refer to one and the same group. This would mean that all pastors are teachers and that all teachers are pastors. This position is often taken because it is recognized that both nouns (i.e., pastors and teachers) are governed by one article in Greek. But because the nouns are plural, it is extremely unlikely that they refer to the same group, but only that the apostle Paul is linking them closely together. It is better to regard the pastors as a subset of teachers. In other words, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. See Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 284.
¹¹tn On the translation of proV" toVn katartismoVn tw'n aJgivwn (pro" ton katartismon twn Jagiwn) as “to equip the saints” see BAGD 418 s.v. katartismov". In this case the genitive is taken as objective and the direct object of the verbal idea implied in katartismov" (katartismo").
¹²tn The eij" (eis) clause is taken as epexegetical to the previous eij" clause, namely, eij" e[rgon diakoniva" (ei" ergon diakonia").
¹³tn The words “attaining to” were added in the English to pick up the katanthvswmen (katanthswmen) mentioned earlier in the sentence and the eij" (eis) which heads up this clause.
¹⁴tn Grk “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” On hJlikiva" (Jhlikia", “stature”) see BAGD 345 s.v. 2.
¹⁵tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
¹⁶tn While the sense of the passage is clear enough, translation in English is somewhat difficult. The Greek says: “by the trickery of men, by craftiness with the scheme of deceit.” The point is that Paul is concerned about Christians growing into maturity. He is fearful that certain kinds of very cunning people, who are skilled at deceitful scheming, should come in and teach false doctrines which would in turn stunt the growth of the believers.
¹⁷tn The Greek participle sumbibazovmenon (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.
¹⁸tn Grk “joint of supply.”
¹⁹tn On the translation of martuvromai (marturomai) as “insist” see BAGD 494 s.v. 2.
²⁰tn On the translation of mataiovth" (mataioth") as “futility” see BAGD 495.
²¹tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”
²²tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to peripatei' (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.
²³sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.
²⁴tn An alternative rendering for the infinitives in vv. 22-24 (“to lay aside… to be renewed… to put on”) is “that you have laid aside… that you are being renewed… that you have put on”). The three infinitives of vv. 22 (ajpoqevsqai, apoqesqai), 23 (ajnaneou'sqai, ananeousqai), and 24 (ejnduvsasqai, endusasqai), form part of an indirect discourse clause; they constitute the teaching given to the believers addressed in the letter. The problem in translation is that one cannot be absolutely certain whether they go back to indicatives in the original statement (i.e., “you have put off”) or imperatives (i.e., “put off!”). Every other occurrence of an aorist infinitive in indirect discourse in the NT goes back to an imperative, but in all of these examples the indirect discourse is introduced by a verb that implies a command. The verb didavskw (didaskw) in Paul may be used to relate the indicatives of the faith as well as the imperatives. This translation implies that the infinitives go back to imperatives, though the alternate view that they refer back to indicatives is also a plausible interpretation. For further discussion, see Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 605.
²⁵tn Or “in righteousness and holiness which is based on truth” or “originated from truth.”
²⁶sn A quotation from Zech 8:16.
²⁷sn A quotation from Ps 4:4. Although several translations render the phrase Be angry and do not sin as “If you are angry, do not sin” such is unlikely on a grammatical, lexical, and historical level (see D. B. Wallace, “*Orgivzesqe in Ephesians 4:26: Command or Condition?” CTR 3 [1989] 352-72). The idea of vv. 26-27 is as follows: Christians are to exercise a righteous indignation over sin in the midst of the believing community (v. 26a; note that v. 25 is restricting the discussion to those in the body of Christ). When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted (v. 26b), for if the body of Christ does not address sin in its midst, the devil gains a foothold (v. 27). “Entirely opposite of the ‘introspective conscience’ view, this text seems to be a shorthand expression for church discipline, suggesting that there is a biblical warrant for dikaiva ojrghv [dikaia orgh] (as the Greeks put it)—righteous indignation” (Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 492).
²⁸tn The word parorgismov" (parorgismo"), typically translated “anger” in most versions is used almost exclusively of the source of anger rather than the results in Greek literature (thus, it refers to an external cause or provocation rather than an internal reaction). The notion of “cause of your anger” is both lexically and historically justified. The apparently proverbial nature of the statement (“Do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger”) finds several remarkable parallels in Ps Sol 8:8-9: “(8) God laid bare their sins in the full light of day; All the earth came to know the righteous judgments of God. (9) In secret places underground their iniquities (were committed) to provoke (Him) to anger” (R. H. Charles’ translation). Not only is parorgismov" used, but righteous indignation against God’s own people and the laying bare of their sins in broad daylight are also seen.
²⁹tn Grk “but if something good for the building up of the need.” The final genitive th'" creiva" (th" creia") may refer to “the need of the moment” or it may refer to the need of a particular person or group of people as the next phrase “give grace to those who hear” indicates.
³⁰tn Or “forgiving.”
¹tn Or “become.”
²tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (peripatevw, peripatew) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).
³tc A number of important witnesses have uJma'" (Jumas, “you”; e.g., Í* A B P 0159 81 326 1175 et alii). Other, equally important witnesses read hJma'" (Jhmas, “us”; Ì46 Ͳ D F G Y 0278 33 1739 1881 lat et plu). It is possible that hJma'" was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (hjgavphsen, hgaphsen). On the other hand, uJma'" may have been motivated by the preceding uJmi'n (Jumin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being original.
⁴tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, prosforaVn kaiV qusivan (prosforan kai qusian), is probably a hendiadys and is translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, eij" ojsmhVn eujwdiva" (ei" osmhn euwdia", “as a smell of fragrance”) is translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BAGD 586 s.v. ojsmhv 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English we have: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”
⁵tn The term “But” translates the dev (de) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3.
⁶tn Grk “all impurity.”
⁷tn Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The kaqwv" (kaqws) was rendered with “as” and the sense is causal, i.e., “for” or “because.” The negative particle “not” (“for these are not proper for the saints”) in this clause was added in English so as to make the sense very clear, i.e., that these vices are not befitting of those who name the name of Christ.
⁸tn Grk “be knowing this” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: tou'to prw'ton ginwvskonte" (touto prwton ginwskonte").
⁹tn The expression “sons of disobedience” is a typically Jewish way of saying “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.
¹⁰tn The genitive aujtw'n (autwn) is translated as a genitive of association because of its use with summevtocoi (summetocoi)—a verb which implies association in the suvn (sun) prefix.
¹¹tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is added in the English translation to make it clear.
¹²tc Several manuscripts (Ì46 D² Y et pauci) have pneuvmato" (pneumatos, “Spirit”) for fwtov" (fwtos, “light”). Although most today regard fwtov" as obviously original (UBS4 gives it an “A” rating), a case could be made that pneuvmato" is what the apostle wrote. First, although this is largely a Byzantine reading (D² often, if not normally, assimilates to the Byzantine text), Ì46 gives the reading much greater credibility. Internally, the fwtov" at the end of v. 8 could have lined up above the pneuvmato" in v. 9 in a scribe’s exemplar, thus occasioning dittography. (It is interesting to note that in both Ì49 the two instances of fwtov" line up.) However, written in a contracted form, as a nomen sacrum (pn=s)—a practice found even in our earliest manuscripts—pneuvmato" would not have been easily confused with fwtos (there being only the last letter to occasion homoioteleuton rather than the last three). Further, the external evidence for fwtov" is quite compelling (Ì49 Í A B D* F G P 33 81 1739 1881 latt et alii); it is rather doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook pneuvmato" for fwtov". In addition, pneuvmato" can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, fwtov" appears to be original, giving rise to the reading pneuvmato".
¹³tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”
¹⁴tn BAGD 202 s.v. dokimavzw 1 translates dokimavzonte" (dokimazonte") in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”
¹⁵tn The Greek conjunction kaiV (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”
¹⁶tn Grk “rather even expose.”
¹⁷tn The participle taV…ginovmena (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase uJp j aujtw'n (Jup’ autwn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simply the English style.
¹⁸tn Grk “Rise up.”
¹⁹tn The articular nominative participle oJ kaqeuvdwn (Jo kaqeudwn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. Thus, it is translated as “O sleeper.”
²⁰sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19, 51:17, 52:1, and 60:1.
²¹tn “become wise by understanding”; Grk “understanding.” The imperative “be wise” is apparently implied by the construction of vv. 15-21. See the following text-critical note for discussion.
²²tc The best witnesses read the imperative here (so Ì46 A B P 0278 6 33 365 1739 et pauci). The participle is found primarily in the Western and Byzantine texttypes (D² Y 1881 latt et alii [D* F G are slightly different, but support the participial reading]). But the participle is superior on internal grounds; the structure of v. 17 almost requires an imperative after ajllav (alla), for this gives balance to the clause: “Do not become foolish, but understand…” If the participle is original, it may be imperatival (and thus should be translated just like an imperative), but such is quite rare in the NT. More likely, there is an implied imperative as follows: “Do not become foolish, but become wise, understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Either way, the participle is the harder reading and ought therefore to be considered original. It is significant that seeing an implied imperative in this verse affords a certain symmetry to the apostle’s thought in vv. 15-21: there are three main sections (vv. 15-16, v. 17, vv. 18-21), each of which provides a negative injunction, followed by a positive injunction, followed by a present adverbial participle. If sunivete (suniete) is original, this symmetry is lost. Thus, even though the external evidence for sunievnte" (sunientes) is not nearly as weighty as for the imperative, both the transcriptional and intrinsic evidence strongly support it.
²³tn Grk “in which”
²⁴tn Or “dissipation.” See BAGD 119 s.v. ajswtiva.
²⁵tn Many have taken ejn pneuvmati (en pneumati) as indicating content, i.e., one is to be filled with the Spirit. Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 375, says, “There are no other examples in biblical Greek in which ejn + the dative after plhrovw indicates content. Further, the parallel with oi[nw/ as well as the common grammatical category of means suggest that the idea intended is that believers are to be filled by means of the [Holy] Spirit. If so there seems to be an unnamed agent. The meaning of this text can only be fully appreciated in light of the plhrovw language in Ephesians. Always the term is used in connection with a member of the Trinity. Three considerations seem to be key: (1) In Eph 3:19 the ‘hinge’ prayer introducing the last half of the letter makes a request that the believers ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’ (plhrwqh'te eij" pa'n plhvrwma tou' qeou'). The explicit content of plhrovw is thus God’s fullness (probably a reference to his moral attributes). (2) In 4:10 Christ is said to be the agent of filling (with v. 11 adding the specifics of his giving spiritual gifts). (3) The author then brings his argument to a crescendo in 5:18: Believers are to be filled by Christ by means of the Spirit with the content of the fullness of God.”
²⁶tn See BAGD 891 s.v. yavllw.
²⁷tn Or “with.”
²⁸tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.
²⁹sn Eph 5:19-21. In Eph 5:18 Paul gives the command to be filled by means of the Holy Spirit. In 5:19-21 there follows five participles: (1) speaking; (2) singing; (3) making music; (4) giving thanks; (5) submitting. These participles have been variously interpreted, but perhaps the two most likely interpretations are (1) the participles indicate the means by which one is filled by the Spirit; (2) the participles indicate the result of being filled by the Spirit. The fact that the participles are present tense and follow the command (i.e., “be filled”) would tend to support both of these options. But it seems out of Paul’s character to reduce the filling of the Spirit to a formula of some kind. To the extent that this is true, it is unlikely then that Paul is here giving us the means for being filled by the Spirit. Because it is in keeping with Paul’s theology and has good grammatical support, it is better to take the participles as indicating certain results of being filled by the Spirit. See Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 639.
³⁰tc The witnesses for the shorter reading (in which the verb “submit” is only implied) are minimal (Ì46 B Clement^1/2 Origen Jerome^mss Theodore), but significant and early. The rest of the witnesses add one of two verb forms as required by the sense of the passage (picking up the verb from v. 21). The earliest of these witnesses have uJpotassevsqwsan (Jupotassesqwsan), the third person imperative (so Í A I lat et alii), while later witnesses read uJpotavssesqe (Jupotassesqe), the second person imperative (D F G). The text virtually begs for one of these two verb forms, but Paul’s often cryptic style argues for the shorter reading. The chronology of development seems to have been: no verb—third person imperative—second person imperative. It is not insignificant that early lectionaries began a new day’s reading with v. 22; these most likely caused copyists to add the verb at this juncture.
³¹tn The Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun (Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 215).
³²tn The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been added in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.
³³tn The use of the pronoun aujtov" (autos) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.
³⁴tn Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”
³⁵tn Grk “So also.”
³⁶tn Grk “flesh.”
³⁷tc Most Western witnesses (e.g., D F G), as well as the majority of Byzantine witnesses, add the following words to the end of the verse: ejk th'" sarkoV" aujtou' kaiV ejk tw'n ojstevwn aujtou' (ek th" sarko" autou kai ek twn ostewn autou, “of his body and of his bones”). This is a (slightly modified) quotation from Gen 2:23a (LXX). The Alexandrian text is solidly behind the shorter reading (Ì46 Í* A B 33 81 1739 1881). Although it is possible that an early scribe’s eye skipped over the final aujtou', there is a much greater likelihood that a scribe added the Genesis quotation in order to fill out and make explicit Paul’s incomplete reference to Gen 2:23. Further, on intrinsic grounds, it seems unlikely that Paul would refer to the physical nature of creation when speaking of the “body of Christ” which is spiritual or mystical. Hence, as is often the case with OT quotations, the scribal clarification missed the point Paul was making; the shorter reading stands as original.
³⁸tn Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”
³⁹sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.
⁴⁰tn The term “actually” is not in the Greek text, but is added in the English translation to bring out the heightened sense of the statement.
⁴¹tn The translation of plhvn (plhn) is somewhat difficult in this context, though the overall thrust of the argument is clear. It could be an adversative idea such as “but,” “nevertheless,” or “however” (see NIV, NASB, NRSV), or it could simply be intended to round out and bring to conclusion Paul’s discussion. In this latter case it could be translated with the use of “now.” (so Lincoln, Ephesians, 384).
⁴²tn Grk “Nevertheless, you also, one by one, each his own wife so let him love as himself.” This statement is cumbersome and was cleaned up to reflect better English style.
⁴³tn The i{na (ina) clause was taken as imperatival, i.e., “let the wife respect….”
⁴⁴tn The Greek verb fobevomai (fobeomai) here is translated “respect” and the noun form of the word, i.e., fovbo" (fobos), is translated as “reverence” in 5:21.
¹tn The use of the article tav (ta) with tevkna (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with guvnai'ke" (gunaikes) in 5:22, a[ndre" (andres) in 5:25, dou'loi (douloi) in 6:5, and kuvrioi (kurioi) in 6:9.
²sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.
³tn Grk “be.”
⁴tn Grk “will be.”
⁵sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.
⁶tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
⁷tn Grk “the masters according to the flesh.” In the translation above, the article toi'" (tois) governing kurivoi" (kuriois) is rendered in English as a possessive pronoun (i.e., “your”) and the prepositional phrase kataV savrka (kata sarka) is taken as modifying kurivoi" (indicating that Paul is referring to human masters) and not modifying the imperative uJpakouvete (Jupakouete, which would indicate that obedience was according to a human standard or limitation).
⁸tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”
⁹tn Grk “from the soul.”
¹⁰tn Though the verb does not appear again at this point in the passage, it is nonetheless implied and added in the English translation for the sake of clarity.
¹¹tn Grk “serving as to the Lord.”
¹²sn The pronoun “this” (tou'to, touto) stands first in its clause for emphasis, and stresses the fact that God will reward those, who in seeking him, do good.
¹³tn Here kaiv (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
¹⁴tn Though the Greek text only has aujtouv" (autous, “them”), the antecedent is the slaves of the masters. Therefore, it was translated this way to make it explicit in English.
¹⁵tn Grk “do the same things to them.”
¹⁶tn Grk “giving up the threat.”
¹⁷tn Grk “because of both they and you, the Lord is, in heaven…”
¹⁸tn Or “craftiness.” See BAGD 499 s.v. meqodeiva.
¹⁹tn BAGD 606 s.v. pavlh says: “struggle, lit. ‘wrestling’; the opponent is introduced by proV" w. the acc. against…”
²⁰tn Grk “blood and flesh.”
²¹tn BAGD 445 s.v. kosmokravtwr suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.
sn The phrase world-rulers of this darkness does not refer to human rulers but the evil spirits that rule over the world. The phrase thus stands in apposition to what follows (the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens); see note on heavens at the end of this verse.
²²tn BAGD 679 s.v. pneumatikov" 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.
²³sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.
²⁴tn The term ajnqivsthmi (anqisthmi) carries the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone. See BAGD 67 s.v. 3. In Eph 6:13, when used in combination with sth'nai (sthnai; cf. also sth'te [sthte] in v. 14) and in a context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting, standing firm, and being able to stand your ground.
²⁵sn The four participles fastening… putting on…fitting…taking up… indicate the means by which believers can take their stand against the devil and his schemes. The imperative take in v. 17 communicates another means by which to accomplish the standing, i.e., by the word of God.
²⁶tn Grk “girding your waist with truth.” In this entire section Paul is painting a metaphor for his readers based on the attire of a Roman soldier prepared for battle and its similarity to the Christian prepared to do battle against spiritually evil forces. Behind the expression “with truth” is probably the genitive idea “belt of truth.” Since this is an appositional genitive, (i.e., belt which is truth) Paul simply left unsaid the idea of the belt and mentioned only his real focus, namely, the truth. (The analogy would have been completely understandable to his first century readers.) The idea of the belt is added in translation to clarify the sense in English.
²⁷tn The definite article toi'" (tois) was taken as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “your,” since it refers to a part of the physical body.
²⁸tn Grk “gospel.”
²⁹tn Grk “in preparation of the gospel of peace.” The genitive tou' eujaggelivou (tou euangeliou) was taken as a genitive of source, i.e., “that comes from….”
³⁰tn Grk “in everything.”
³¹sn The Greek word translated shield (qureov", qureos) refers to the Roman soldier’s large rectangular wooden shield, called in Latin scutum, about 4 ft (1.2 m) high, covered with leather on the outside. Before a battle in which flaming arrows might be shot at them, the soldiers wet the leather covering with water to extinguish the arrows. The Roman legionaries could close ranks with these shields, the first row holding theirs edge to edge in front, and the rows behind holding the shields above their heads. In this formation they were practically invulnerable to arrows, rocks, and even spears.
³²sn An allusion to Isa 59:17.
³³sn The Greek term translated sword (mavcaira, macaira) refers to the Roman gladius, a short sword about 2 ft (60 cm) long, used for close hand-to-hand combat. This is the only clearly offensive weapon in the list of armor mentioned by Paul (he does not, for example, mention the lance (Latin pilum).
³⁴tn Grk “and toward it.”
³⁵tn To avoid a lengthy, convoluted sentence in English, the Greek sentence was broken up at this point and the verb “pray” was inserted in the English translation to pick up the participle proseucovmenoi (proseuxomenoi, “praying”) in v. 18.
³⁶tn The infinitive gnwrivsai (gnwrisai, “to make known”) is functioning epexegetically to further explain what the apostle means by “the message may be given me in the opening of my mouth.”
³⁷tn Grk “the.” The Greek article oJ (Jo) was translated with the possessive pronoun, “my.” See Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 215.
³⁸tn Grk “the things according to me.”
³⁹tn Grk “the things concerning us.”
⁴⁰tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BAGD 16 s.v. ajdelfov" 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ajdelfoiv [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
⁴¹tn Or “is.”
⁴²tn Grk “without corruption.” The term “love” is not found at the end of the sentence, but is added to clarify the sense in English. The term “undying” to modify it captures the sense of the kind of love Paul is referring to here. He is saying that God’s grace will be with those whose love for Jesus never ceases.