The section begins with an exhortation to the readers to conduct themselves as Christians should. Then serves to connect what follows with what precedes; exhortation follows upon exposition; the imperatives of Christian conduct are based on the indicative of God’s saving presence in Christ. Some languages will say “Because of all this” or “Because of what God has done for you by means of Christ.”
Using language already employed in 3.1, the writer calls himself I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord, which translates the Greek “I the prisoner in the Lord.” Revised Standard Version, New International Version have “a prisoner for the Lord”; Goodspeed, New English Bible, Translator’s New Testament “a prisoner for the Lord’s sake.” It may be useful to invert the order of the first part of verse 1 as “I, who am now a prisoner because I serve the Lord, urge you….”
I urge (also New International Version, Barclay); Revised Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament “beg”; New English Bible “entreat”; New American Bible “plead”; Jerusalem Bible “implore.” A problem with the discourse often arises because the writer identifies himself as a prisoner in the same sentence in which he urges his readers to lead a life worthy of their calling. This awkwardness comes because it is not possible in many languages to say I urge you without immediately saying what one is urged to do. One possibility would be to insert a dummy, or neutral, object: “Therefore, I urge you to do this thing, I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord. I urge you to live the life….” Another possibility would be, “For this reason, I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord, I urge you to live the life….”
Live a life translates the Greek, literally, “to walk” (Revised Standard Version). See 2.2, 10. The Greek text continues: “to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called”; the adverb “worthily” implies a standard, a measure, to which the readers are expected to conform; this measure is “the calling,” the event of salvation seen as an invitation from God and human response to it. See the similar language in Colossians 1.10 “to walk worthily of the Lord”; 1 Thessalonians 2.12 Good News Translation to live the kind of life that pleases God. For the noun “calling” see 1.18; Good News Translation has made explicit that it is God who “calls.”
It is often impossible to speak of “living a life,” but it is frequently possible to say “to live in such a way that….”
That measures up to the standard may be somewhat difficult to render, at least in a more or less literal form. Sometimes the latter part of verse 1 may be rendered as “live in a way that is equal to the way God said you should live when he called you.” But as in other contexts when he called you may be better rendered as “when he invited you to become one of his own” or “when he invited you to put your trust in him” or “… your trust in Christ.”
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 .