Verse 11 in Greek is another “according to” clause, which modifies the action expressed in verse 10. Translations will find it useful to begin a new sentence here, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done.

Purpose translates a Greek noun used also in 1.11, and the phrase “the ages” was last seen in verse 9. What God did was in keeping with his eternal purpose, and he achieved his purpose through Christ Jesus our Lord. Achieved translates the Greek verb “to do, make”; here the word may mean “to plan, conceive, decide on” (so Caragounis, Murray, Robinson, Abbott; also Barclay, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible); or else “to realize” (Revised Standard Version) or “to achieve” (Good News Translation; see also Salmond, Westcott, Beare, Barth; Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, and others).

The statement God did this according to his eternal purpose may be expressed as “God did this just as he had always planned to” or “what God did was according to the way he had planned it right from the beginning.”

The causative clause which he achieved through Christ Jesus our Lord may be expressed as “he caused Christ Jesus our Lord to make this happen” or “he used Christ Jesus our Lord to make this take place.”

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 .