translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: EPH

label: NET translator note

text: Or “become.”


text: Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” ( περιπατέω , peripatew ) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4 ; Gal 5:16 ; Col 4:5 ).


text: D F G Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word ( ἠγάπησεν , hgaphsen ). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν ( 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.


text: Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν ( prosforan kai qusian ), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ( ei" osmhn euwdia" , “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”


text: The term “But” translates the δέ ( de ) in a contrastive way in light of the perfect obedience of Jesus in vv. 1-2 and the vices mentioned in v. 3 .


text: Grk “all impurity.”


text: Grk “just as is fitting for saints.” The καθώς ( 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 supplied 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.


text: Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες ( touto prwton ginwskonte" ).


text: The genitive αὐτῶν ( autwn ) has been translated as a genitive of association because of its use with συμμέτοχοι ( summetocoi ) – a verb which implies association in the σύν- ( sun- ) prefix.


text: The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.


text: א A B D* F G P 33 81 1739 1881 2464 pc latt co); it is rather doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook πνεύματος for φωτός . In addition, πνεύματος can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, φωτός appears to be original, giving rise to the reading πνεύματος .


text: Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”


text: BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 translates δοκιμάζοντες ( dokimazonte" ) in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”


text: The Greek conjunction καὶ ( 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!”


text: Grk “rather even expose.”


text: The participle τὰ … γινόμενα ( ta … ginomena ) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν ( Jup ’ autwn ), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.


text: Grk “Rise up.”


text: The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων ( Jo kaqeudwn ) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. Thus, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”


text: “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.


text: Ψ 1881 Ï latt [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 ἀλλά ( 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 author’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 συνίετε ( suniete ) is original, this symmetry is lost. Thus, even though the external evidence for συνιέντες ( sunientes ) is not nearly as weighty as for the imperative, both the transcriptional and intrinsic evidence support it.


text: Grk “in which.”


text: Or “dissipation.” See BDAG 148 s.v. ἀσωτία .


text: Many have taken ἐν πνεύματι ( en pneumati ) as indicating content, i.e., one is to be filled with the Spirit. ExSyn 375 states, “There are no other examples in biblical Greek in which ἐν + the dative after πληρόω indicates content. Further, the parallel with οἴνῳ 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 πληρόω 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’ ( πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ ). The explicit content of πληρόω 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.”


text: See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω .


text: Or “with.”


text: Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.


text: Many scholars regard Eph 5:21 as the verse which introduces this section, rather than 5:22 . This is due in part to the lack of a main verb in this verse (see tc note which follows). This connection is not likely, however, because it requires the participle ὑποτασσόμενοι ( Jupotassomenoi , “submitting”) in 5:21 to act as the main verb of the section, and this participle more likely is linked to the command “be filled by the Spirit” in 5:18 as a participle of result (see sn above). In any case, 5:21 does form a strong link between 5:18-21 and what follows, so the paragraph division which has been placed between 5:21 and 22 should not be viewed as a complete break in the author’s thought.


text: ), 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 ). Several of these witnesses have ὑποτασσέσθωσαν ( Jupotassesqwsan ), the third person imperative (so א A I P Ψ 0278 33 81 1175 1739 1881 al lat co), while other witnesses, especially the later Byzantine cursives, read ὑποτάσσεσθε ( Jupotassesqe ), the second person imperative (D F G Ï sy). The text virtually begs for one of these two verb forms, but the often cryptic style of Paul’s letters 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.


text: The Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun ( ExSyn 215).


text: The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.


text: The use of the pronoun αὐτός ( autos ) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.


text: Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”


text: Grk “So also.”


text: Grk “flesh.”


text: א * A B 048 33 81 1739* 1881 pc ). Although it is possible that an early scribe’s eye skipped over the final αὐτοῦ , there is a much greater likelihood that a scribe added the Genesis quotation in order to fill out and make explicit the author’s incomplete reference to Gen 2:23 . Further, on intrinsic grounds, it seems unlikely that the author 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 the author was making; the shorter reading stands as original.


text: Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”


text: The term “actually” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to bring out the heightened sense of the statement.


text: The translation of πλήν ( 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 the author’s discussion. In this latter case it could be translated with the use of “now” (so A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC] , 384).


text: 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.


text: The ἵνα ( Jina ) clause was taken as imperatival, i.e., “ let the wife respect ….”


text: The Greek verb φοβέομαι ( fobeomai ) here has been translated “respect” and the noun form of the word, i.e., φόβος ( fobos ), has been translated as “reverence” in 5:21 .