Ephesians 3
For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations — the sentence breaks and is taken up at v.14. By revelation the mystery was made known to me — not made known to other generations: that the nations are fellow heirs, of the same body, fellow partakers of the promise. To me, less than the least, this grace was given: to bring the nations the untraceable riches of Christ, to give light on the management of the mystery hidden from the ages, so that the manifold wisdom of God be made known to the rules and authorities through the assembly. For this cause I bend my knees — that the inner man grow strong, that Christ dwell in the heart, rooted and founded in love, to grasp the breadth and length and height and depth, to know the love that surpasses knowledge, to be filled unto all the fullness of God. To him who can do beyond all measure above all we ask or perceive — glory to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.
Why this rendering
Eph.3.1 Observation
Syntactic observation
Τούτου χάριν ἐγὼ Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν — εἴ γε ἠκούσατε τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ … κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καθὼς προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ, πρὸς ὃ δύνασθε ἀναγινώσκοντες νοῆσαι τὴν σύνεσίν μου … ὃ ἑτέραις γενεαῖς οὐκ ἐγνωρίσθη τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὡς νῦν ἀπεκαλύφθη … εἶναι τὰ ἔθνη συγκληρονόμα καὶ σύσσωμα καὶ συμμέτοχα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας — For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations — if indeed you heard … the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote beforehand with little … you are able to perceive my understanding … which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed … that the nations are fellow heirs and of the same body and fellow partakers of the promise. Verse 1 breaks off without a verb (ἐγὼ Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος —); v.14 takes it up with the same opening, Τούτου χάριν. Τούτου χάριν is χάριν (Gal 3:19 ‘for the sake of’) placed after its noun. δέσμιος is the ‘prisoner’ of Matt 27:15 — ‘the prisoner of Christ Jesus’, the genitive unresolved. εἴ γε is the ‘if indeed’ of 2 Cor 5:3. ἐν ὀλίγῳ is Acts 26:28 ‘with little’ — no noun supplied. νοῆσαι τὴν σύνεσιν sets two words of knowing side by side — νοέω (perceive, Matt 15:17) · σύνεσις (understanding, Mark 12:33) — one root in Korean, two words in English. Three συν- in v.6 — συγκληρονόμα (Rom 8:17 fellow heirs) · σύσσωμα (once in the New Testament — of the same body) · συμμέτοχα (two places with Eph 5:7 — the word of Luke 5:7 μέτοχος, partners). Verse 3 ⸀κατά · ⸀ἐγνωρίσθη · v.6 ⸂ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ⸃.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The text breaks off and resumes at v.14; ‘bow my knees’ is not pulled up into v.1.
Basis The familiar smoothing.
Rejected The resumption at v.14 disappears.
Basis Matt 15:17 νοέω ‘perceive’ · Mark 12:33 σύνεσις ‘understanding’ as fixed; the Korean overlap is recorded.
Lost in translation
The break of v.1 — the dash carries the missing verb.
νοέω / σύνεσις — ‘perceive / understanding’ keep two words.
συν- ×3 (v.6) — ‘fellow · same · fellow’: the second loses the prefix.
Τούτου χάριν ×2 (v.1, v.14) — one ‘For this cause’.
Why this rendering
Eph.3.7 Observation
Syntactic observation
οὗ ἐγενήθην διάκονος κατὰ τὴν δωρεὰν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ … ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη — τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐαγγελίσασθαι τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ φωτίσαι πάντας τίς ἡ οἰκονομία τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένου ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων … ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ … ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ — of which I became a servant … to me, less than the least of all the holy ones, this grace was given: to bring to the nations the good news of the untraceable riches of the Christ, and to give light to all as to what is the management of the mystery hidden from the ages … so that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rules and the authorities in the heavenlies through the assembly … in whom we have the openness and access in confidence through the faith of him. ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ is a superlative (least) with a comparative ending added — once in the New Testament, a step beyond 1 Cor 15:9 ‘the least of the apostles’. ἀνεξιχνίαστος is the word of Rom 11:33 (untraceable). οἰκονομία in v.2 and v.9 (⸀ — the Received Text has κοινωνία in v.9). ἀποκεκρυμμένου is the perfect passive participle of 1 Cor 2:7; ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων ‘from the ages’. πολυποίκιλος occurs once in the New Testament — ποικίλος (Matt 4:24 ‘various’) with the prefix ‘many’. ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἐξουσίαι are the first two of 1:21 — here on the learning side, through the assembly. In v.12 πίστις αὐτοῦ is the genitive of Gal 2:16 — ‘the faith of him’, left open; παρρησία (Acts 4:29 openness) · πεποίθησις (2 Cor 1:15 confidence) · προσαγωγή (2:18 access). Verse 8 ⸀τοῖς · ⸂τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτος⸃ (neuter) · v.9 ⸀πάντας · ⸀κτίσαντι (the Received Text adds ‘through Jesus Christ’) · v.11 ⸀τῷ · v.12 ⸀καί.
Rendering options · 3
Basis ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ is a form the grammar does not allow, made by the letter — not levelled to ‘the very least’.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It flattens the stacked form and coincides with 1 Cor 15:9 ‘the least’.
Basis The decision of Gal 2:16 ‘the faith of Jesus Christ’ — not closed to ‘faith in him’.
Lost in translation
ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ — ‘less than the least’ carries both layers.
The genitive πίστις αὐτοῦ — ‘the faith of him’ keeps both readings.
The ‘many’ prefix of πολυποίκιλος — ‘manifold’ folds ‘many’ into one word and shows neither piece.
ἀνεξιχνίαστος ↔ ἴχνος (Rom 4:12 footsteps) — ‘untraceable’ keeps the trace.
Why this rendering
Eph.3.14 Observation
Syntactic observation
Τούτου χάριν κάμπτω τὰ γόνατά μου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀνομάζεται, ἵνα δῷ ὑμῖν … δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστὸν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν ἐν ἀγάπῃ· ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι, ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε καταλαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοις τί τὸ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ ὕψος καὶ βάθος, γνῶναί τε τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ — For this cause I bend my knees toward the Father, from whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named … to become strong with power through his Spirit in the inner man, that the Christ may dwell through the faith in your hearts, in love; rooted and founded … to grasp … what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of the Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. πατέρα / πατριά — father and family share a root, a play of v.15; ‘every family’ is anarthrous πᾶσα. κάμπτω γόνυ is Rom 11:4 ‘bend the knee’. ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος is the ‘inner man’ of Rom 7:22, 2 Cor 4:16. ἐρριζωμένοι (root — two places with Col 2:7) · τεθεμελιωμένοι (foundation — Matt 7:25 ‘founded’) — a plant and a house in one clause. Verse 18: breadth · length · height · depth — of what, the text does not say (the love, or the mystery). ἐξισχύω occurs once in the New Testament — ἰσχύω with ἐκ. καταλαβέσθαι is the middle of Acts 10:34 ‘grasp’. ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως, ‘surpassing knowledge’ — and that love is to be ‘known’ (γνῶναι), so the words of knowing stand piled. Verse 16 ⸀δῷ (the Received Text δώῃ) · ⸂τὸ πλοῦτος⸃ · v.18 ⸂ὕψος καὶ βάθος⸃ (order).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The text attaches no ‘of love’; love follows in v.19 and is not pulled forward.
Basis The familiar gloss.
Rejected It closes the four dimensions to one owner.
Basis ‘Family’ as fixed — the play on ‘Father’ (πατήρ) is a recorded loss.
Lost in translation
πατήρ / πατριά — ‘Father / family’ lose the play.
The four without an owner — kept unfilled.
γνῶσις / γνῶναι — ‘knowledge / know’ keep the root.
πληρωθῆτε / πλήρωμα — ‘filled / fullness’ keep the root.
Why this rendering
Eph.3.20 Observation
Syntactic observation
Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν — Now to him who is able to do beyond all measure above all that we ask or perceive, according to the power working in us — to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen. A doxology stands in the middle of the letter (end of ch. 3) — Rom 11:36 and 16:27 stand at a chapter’s end and the letter’s end. ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ is an adverb with two prefixes stacked (ὑπέρ + ἐκ + περισσοῦ) — three places with 1 Thess 3:10, 5:13 — and the same verse has ὑπὲρ πάντα besides. δυναμένῳ · δύναμιν — two on the root of power. αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν — asking and perceiving; νοέω is the verb of v.4. ἐνεργουμένην is middle (2 Cor 1:6 ‘work’) — the ἐνέργεια and ἐνήργηκεν of 1:19-20 return. εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων lays ‘all the generations’ on Gal 1:5 ‘to the ages of the ages’ — a frame found only here in the New Testament. ⸀καί (v.21 — the Received Text without ‘and’: ‘in the assembly through Christ Jesus’).
Rendering options · 3
Basis Korean doubles ‘overflow’ for the two prefixes; English has one phrase.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected Only περισσός survives; ὑπέρ and ἐκ vanish.
Basis ‘The age of the ages’ as fixed, with ‘all the generations’ laid on — not flattened to ‘for ever and ever’.
Lost in translation
The two prefixes of ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ — ‘beyond all measure’ carries one.
δυναμένῳ / δύναμιν — ‘is able / power’ lose the root.
νοοῦμεν (v.20) ↔ νοῆσαι (v.4) — one ‘perceive’.
αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων ↔ Gal 1:5 — ‘the age of the ages’ in the same words.