As Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg shows, the Greek has “even as he chose us … before the foundation of the world.” The initial adverb “even” introduces the long and detailed description of the way in which God blessed us. As Caragounis says (pages 82-83), verse 4 makes specific the truth that is stated in general terms in verse 3.

The temporal clause “before the foundation of the world” indicates that God’s decision was made in eternity, before time and creation. The word “foundation” depicts the creation of the world in terms of a building. The meaning of the temporal clause is expressed simply by before the world was made or “before God created the world.” In some instances it may be necessary to introduce the temporal clause by an expression involving “not yet,” for example, “God had not yet created the world.” In some languages there is no highly specialized term for “create,” and therefore it may be necessary to use a more general term such as “to make.”

The concept of God’s choosing his people goes back to Israel’s experience in the Old Testament, where again and again the point is made that Israel’s “election” (from the Greek verb meaning “to choose”) is due only to God’s decision and action, not to Israel’s work or choice. Yahweh chose Israel to be his own people; Israel did not choose Yahweh. The initiative was his alone (see Deut 7.6-8). Us here includes all of God’s people, which in the New Testament are thought of as being the Christians. The Greek middle voice of the verb “to choose” allows the translation “God chose for himself.” Westcott comments: “the middle voice emphasizes … the selection of the person chosen to the special purpose of him who chooses.” The idea of a choice inevitably involves discrimination, but the biblical emphasis on God’s choice of some (and not of others) is that such choice is not for privilege but for service, and is the means whereby God intends to redeem all humanity.

In any choice of a word to translate “choose” or “select,” it is important to check the connotation, for many times a term for “choose” may suggest a selection based upon a desire to eliminate or to discard rather than to choose because of some value or worth. At the same time one would not want to use a term for “choose” based upon the special worthiness of the object chosen, since this would violate the whole theological implications of God’s choice of his people. Therefore, the implication of any verb meaning “to choose” must point to some purpose for the person who does the choosing and should not be dependent upon the idea of worthiness in the individual chosen.

The prepositional phrase “in him” (see Revised Standard Version) again emphasizes the relation of Christians to Christ in the experience of salvation; Twentieth Century New Testament has “in our union with Christ.” The simple “in Christ” in English, at least, does not convey any specific meaning; see New English Bible “In Christ he chose us before the world was founded.”

It may be relatively easy to render our union with Christ as “our being united with Christ” or “in close fellowship with Christ.” But what is perhaps more difficult with the phrase is the manner in which it is to be combined with the statement God had already chosen us to be his. Some scholars assume that through our union with Christ could be combined directly with had … chosen. But the Good News Translation relates through our union with Christ more closely to the fact of our belonging to God. In the Greek text there is only the term “choose,” but the implication of this choice is the believer’s special relationship to God. It therefore may be appropriate in some languages to render the phrase through our union with Christ as a type of means (often expressed as cause), as in the following statement: “God had already chosen us to belong to him by means of our being united with Christ” or “… because of our being one with Christ.”

For we would be holy and without fault: the two Greek adjectives are here used in an ethical sense and are largely synonymous. The second one means “without defect, blemish, or imperfection”; the idea is based on the requirement in the Hebrew sacrificial system that an animal offered in sacrifice to God had to be perfect, without any defect or blemish. The two adjectives occur together also in 5.27, and the whole clause here is closely related to Colossians 1.22, “to present us as holy, blameless, and faultless before him.”

It may be appropriate to render holy by “as God would want us to be.” Though the meaning of holy in this context is primarily ethical, it is more than just “good.” In some languages the word traditionally used for “holy” means “taboo.” This idea should be avoided here, and a word or expression that means “clean” or “pure” should be used, if it is clearly understood that spiritual or moral purity is meant. The phrase without fault is simply a negative way of stating essentially what is stated positively in the term holy. In many languages without fault is translated simply “without any sin” or “without any guilt.”

The phrase before him refers to God; the Christian life is lived in his sight, his presence, open to his scrutiny. It is important to avoid in a rendering of before him the idea that the believers are without fault only after they go to heaven. In some instances the closest equivalent of before him is “as he looks upon us” or “as he sees us.”

The last two words in verse 4 of the Greek text, meaning “in love,” may be taken with what precedes or with what follows. (1) If it is taken with what precedes (so Good News Translation), “in love” more naturally refers to human love; so New English Bible, New American Bible (New American Bible) “to be full of love”; Jerusalem Bible “to live through love” (so Westcott, who takes the word here to refer specifically to Christians’ love for one another; also Barth, Salmond, Lightfoot). Caragounis takes it to mean Christians’ love for God: “and love him.” Caragounis lists the different possibilities, and based on stylistic and syntactical considerations favors taking “in love” with what precedes; on semantic grounds, however, in the body of the commentary (pages 85-86) he inclines toward joining it with what follows. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch takes it to refer to God’s love for us, and so translates the beginning of verse 4: “Already before he made the world God loved us….” (2) If it is taken with what follows (specifically, the aorist participle “having predestined”), then the words apply to God: “Because God loved us he predestined us….” This is the meaning preferred by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and other translations; also Beare, Abbott.

No one can be dogmatic about which is correct, but it would seem better to take the phrase “in love” with what follows.

In a number of languages there is no specific word for love, but the content can often be expressed in a figurative manner, for example, “God hid us in his heart” or “God’s heart went away with us” or “God was sweet in his stomach for us.” In a number of languages it is obviously impossible to use the term “heart,” since it may not be at all related to emotions. Therefore one may need to employ terms referring to “bowels,” “stomach,” “liver,” or even “throat.” Languages actually refer to a number of different organs since the emotional reactions experienced in certain parts of the body are simply the result of the response of the sympathetic nervous system.

God had already decided … make us his sons; Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg “in love having predestined us to sonship through Jesus Christ”: the aorist participle translated “having predestined” is related to the main verb “he chose (us)” in verse 4. It expresses either antecedent action or else, which seems more likely, the manner or means by which the choice was made: “He chose us … by predestining us….” Caragounis (page 87) vigorously contends that this is impossible and argues that the (aorist) participle is subsequent in time to the main verb “he chose” (in verse 4). He says “the ptcp. is sometimes used loosely, just carrying on the argument.” So the action of “predestining” in verse 5 would be in addition to that of “choosing” in verse 4: “he chose us … and predestined us.”

The Greek verb translated “predestined” is a compound verb meaning “to mark out beforehand (or, ahead of time).” It appears in the New Testament in Romans 8.29, 30; Acts 4.28; 1 Corinthians 2.7; Ephesians 1.5, 11. It is used only of God, and it serves to emphasize God’s sole and complete initiative and authority in the experience of salvation, his independence of action based on a decision already made in the past, in God’s own eternal time. The full theological implication of the word is brought out in Romans 8.29-30.

Theological considerations on the relation between God’s sovereign power and man’s freedom of choice inevitably arise, but such matters cannot influence a translator’s choice of a word to translate the Greek verb. In English “planned” (Phillips) is too weak; some translations have “destined”; New International Version “predestined” seems better; Bible de Jérusalem “determining in advance” is good; Translator’s New Testament “he set us apart (for himself)” does not give sufficient value to the temporal element expressed in the Greek prefix meaning “before.”

It may be difficult to find some expressions which will appropriately render “predestined.” If one uses a phrase such as “he decided ahead of time to set us aside,” this may have quite a negative value, for in many languages “to set aside” implies some type of rejection or lack of appreciation. The connotation of such an expression may be made somewhat less objectionable because believers are predestined to be his own sons. In some instances, translators have tried to build an expression for “predestined” on a more or less literal translation of the Greek term, namely, “to mark out ahead of time.” But this often suggests some kind of restriction or encirclement. In a number of cases the best way of dealing with “having predestined us to be his own sons” is to translate “having decided ahead of time to make us his own sons” or “… to cause us to be his sons.”

Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg “for him (God)” goes with the participle, “Having predestined us … to himself,” that is, in connection with “to sonship”: “having predestined us to be his (own) sons.”

The Greek noun “sonship” means “adoption as son,” a legal term used exclusively in a religious sense in the New Testament; of Israel, Romans 9.4; of believers in Christ, Romans 8.15, 23; Galatians 4.5; and here. An adopted son had all the privileges and rights enjoyed by a natural son. Barclay uses the phrase “adoption into his own family.”

It may be difficult in some languages to use a literal rendering of sons since this might exclude women completely. Therefore a more appropriate expression would be “his children.” Since believers become God’s children not by biological means but by a kind of theological adoption, it may be necessary in some instances to use a term for “children” which indicates the adopted status. Otherwise there may be an implication that God is somehow involved in sexual activity.

The phrase through Jesus Christ gives the means or agency God used in making us his (adopted) children.

Through Jesus Christ may be rendered as “Jesus Christ made this possible” or “Jesus Christ caused this to happen” or “God made us his sons because of what Jesus Christ did.” Some languages have used the expression “by Jesus Christ” which may mean either that he is the agent or that he is the Father. For such cases an unambiguous expression for agency should be used, for example, “by the hand of Jesus Christ.”

The final part of verse 5, this was his pleasure and purpose, gives the basis or standard of God’s action in making us his children. Logically there seems to be no need for saying this, since at the beginning of the sentence it has already been stated that God did this because of his love. But one of the characteristics of this letter is the repetition of such qualifying clauses (see in verse 9 “according to his pleasure,” and in verse 11 “according to the decision of his will”). No great difference in meaning is to be found between pleasure and purpose (or “will”); the clause could be simply expressed by “according to his good pleasure,” “in keeping with his gracious will.” Caragounis suggests: “This was in accordance with what He considered good and willed/decided upon.” Most English translations use a combination of “will, pleasure, purpose.” An equivalent in some languages is “this is what he wanted to do.” Some translators have used an expression equivalent to “this is what God decided he wanted to do.”

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 .

Verse 7 in Greek begins with a relative clause, “in whom we have the redemption” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg). It is quite easy and natural to make a break here and start a new sentence. “In whom” refers to “the Beloved” of verse 6 and names him as the one who achieves our redemption; the “we” is all-inclusive, referring to all believers.

The Greek “through his blood” indicates the way in which redemption was achieved. “Blood” here is a way of speaking of Christ’s death on the cross, which is seen as the voluntary sacrifice of his life to God as an offering to achieve the forgiveness of the sins of mankind. In the first three editions of the Good News Translation New Testament the Greek term “blood” was translated death, which was criticized by persons who felt that the atoning work of Christ was being belittled. In many contexts the Greek word for “blood” means “death,” for it is a figurative substitute for the term “death.” But in speaking of “the blood of Jesus Christ” there is something more than merely “death,” since in this type of context “blood” reflects the sacrificial system of the Old Testament to which Christ’s death is constantly related in New Testament passages. Accordingly, Good News Translation now uses the phrase “sacrificial death” as an attempt to communicate fully the significant aspects of “blood” in Greek. Twentieth Century New Testament, New English Bible, have the more traditional phrase “the shedding of his blood,” an expression preferred by many translators because it allows them to keep the biblical symbol of blood and yet make clear in this context that it is the death of Christ on the cross that is being talked about. Translator’s New Testament has simply “Christ’s death” while Barclay has “the sacrifice of his life.” Caragounis (page 91, footnote 64) quotes Behm: “The interest of the New Testament is not in the material blood of Christ, but in His shed blood as the life violently taken from Him. Like the cross … the ‘blood of Christ’ is simply another and even more graphic phrase for the death of Christ in its soteriological significance.”

We are set free translates a Greek noun meaning “redemption” (Revised Standard Version); the word appears further in 1.14; 4.30; Romans 3.24; 8.23; Colossians 1.14. The Greek word has here no idea in it, as has been sometimes suggested, of a ransom paid to someone for the freeing of the captive; it stresses the result of the action of liberation. Instead of the present tense we are set free (or “we are free”), some translations prefer the past tense, “we have been set free.”

That is, our sins are forgiven: this redemption is further defined as “the forgiveness of sins.” Here the Greek word means “transgressions” (see Revised Standard Version), while in the parallel Colossians 1.14 the more general word “sins” is used. The two are synonymous and refer in a general way to disobedience to God’s will.

Some translators have wanted in all contexts to render the Greek term “redemption” as “to buy back.” There are certain passages in which such a meaning is in focus. But more often than not the term is used in the sense of “deliverance,” and in this meaning it often refers to the deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt. It is for that reason that Good News Translation employs the phrase “are set free.” One of the difficulties involved in translating the Greek term by “to buy back” or even “to pay for” is the requirement in many languages to specify to whom such a payment is made. This would force a translator to introduce elements into a translation which would be completely contrary to the teaching of scripture. This did happen at certain times during the Middle Ages when people assumed that God in redeeming people had to make a payment to the Devil. Any and all translations which would imply this aspect of redemption are, of course, wrong and misleading.

In a number of languages the phrase “the forgiveness of sins” must be expressed as a verb phrase, either in the passive form “our sins are forgiven,” or “God has forgiven us our sins.” In some languages a very important distinction is made between the meaning of “sins” (as the actual deed) and “guilt” which is the result of sinning. In such languages what is forgiven is the guilt. The concept of forgiveness is often expressed by means of figurative language, for example, “to throw a person’s sins away” or “to throw a person’s sins behind one’s back” or “not to remember any longer a person’s sins” or “to blot out a person’s sins.” Some translators, however, have endeavored to construct expressions for forgiveness based on a literal rendering of the Hebrew term meaning literally “to cover.” But this often leads to a wrong meaning, since “to cover sins” often implies “to cover up sins,” that is to say, to keep other people from knowing about one’s sins.

Verse 7 in Greek ends with the clause “according to the wealth of his (God’s) grace” (see Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg; Good News Translation How great is the grace of God): this is the basis or standard of God’s action in redeeming us (see the similar “according to” clause in verse 5b). The genitive phrase “the wealth of his grace” is resolved into “his abundant grace,” “his immense love.” It is important to avoid a word such as “wealth” or “riches” which would refer to material possessions. Here “wealth” means that God’s grace is plentiful and abundant. It is because his grace (or, love) is so abundant that he has set us free and forgiven our sins.

Verse 8 in Greek begins with the relative clause “which he lavished on us”; this is similar to the relative clause in verse 6 “which he generously gave us.” Good News Translation has made a break at the end of verse 7a and represented the “according to…” clause by a complete sentence, an exclamation How great is the grace of God…. In some languages, however, such an expression of exclamation may be rendered as “God has indeed been good to us!” A rhetorical question may also be used, for example, “Has not God been very good to us?” Translator’s New Testament has “How abundantly rich is his grace, which he has showered upon us!” New English Bible also has a complete sentence: “Therein lies the richness of God’s free grace….” On grammatical grounds this may be contested, but in terms of essential meaning and of impact on the reader it may be defended as a faithful translation of the Greek.

In the first part of verse 8, Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg “lavished” translates the Greek verb “to cause to abound,” “to multiply,” which is formed from an adjective meaning “more than enough,” “beyond the usual (amount or size).” The clause which he gave to us in such large measure may be represented in some languages as “which he showed to us very much” or “which he showed to us more and more.”

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 .

In Greek (see Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg) the last clause of verse 8 is the prepositional phrase “in all wisdom and insight.” There are two questions: Does this phrase go (1) with what precedes or (2) with what follows? And does it refer (a) to God or (b) to believers?

The following schematic arrangement shows how the various translations and commentaries have understood the Greek:

1a “in all his wisdom and insight, God lavished on us”: New International Version, Jerusalem Bible It may be observed that both translations perhaps intend the two nouns to apply to believers. According to normal rules of English usage, however, both in Jerusalem Bible (“the grace that he has showered on us in all wisdom and insight”) and in New International Version (“God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding”) the two nouns refer to God. (The same would seem to be true of Bible de Jérusalem.) This also applies to Barth’s translation: “his grace which in all wisdom and prudence he has lavished upon us.”
1b “God lavished on us all wisdom and insight”: New English Bible, Twentieth Century New Testament, Phillips, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; Caragounis, Robinson, Abbott, Beare, Westcott, Salmond
2a “in all his wisdom and insight, God made known to us”: Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Translator’s New Testament, Barclay, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje
2b “God gave us complete wisdom and insight into his secret plan”: Goodspeed, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New American Bible

As the chart shows, the commentators and most of the translators take the phrase to go with what precedes and refer it to the believers’ “wisdom and insight.” One of the arguments used in support of this position is that the Greek noun translated “insight” could not be used of God. This argument is advanced by most commentators, who base their definition of the word on Aristotle and others who see the Greek noun mainly as practical common sense, sagacity, prudence, of much less depth and breadth than “wisdom.” Abbott says quite dogmatically: “It is clear from this that phronēsis cannot be predicated of God.” Some commentators (especially Salmond) also make the point that “in all wisdom” does not mean “the totality of wisdom” but “the highest degree of wisdom” or “all kinds of wisdom” and is unsuited to be applied to God. But this latter argument has less weight. It is true that only very rarely is the Greek word for “insight” (elsewhere in New Testament only Luke 1.17) used of God, but it is used in the Septuagint translation of Proverbs 3.19 and Jeremiah 10.12. In both instances, which speak of God’s creating the world, the word is used parallel with and as a synonym of “wisdom.” Since it is obvious that the word can be used of God, and since here in Ephesians, as in the two Septuagint passages cited, the word is used together with “wisdom,” and since the author of Ephesians is given to using synonyms (sometimes three and more in a row, as in 1.19, 21), it is clearly impossible for anyone dogmatically to state that the author could not have used “insight” of God. The most that can be said is that it more naturally applies to man.

So the translator may choose to follow Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, or else the majority of translations and commentaries cited.

If one renders “in all wisdom and insight” as a qualification of what precedes, it is possible to translate the phrase as “he caused us to have all wisdom and insight” or “… to be wise in all things and to understand.” If, however, this phrase is to be related to God, it may be expressed as a type of causal relationship, for example, “because God was wise in all things and understood.” In a number of languages, however, it is impossible to make a clear distinction between “wisdom” and “insight.” And the closest equivalent of this introductory phrase may simply be “because God knew all things.”

Verse 9 in Greek begins “having made known to us the mystery of his will” (see Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg; Good News Translation and made known to us the secret plan); this clause, governed by the aorist active participle of “to make known,” is syntactically related to the main verb “he lavished” (verse 8a; in the same way the aorist participle “predestining” in verse 5a is related to the main verb “he chose” in verse 4a). But the sense of the whole verse may be represented by beginning a new sentence here (as do Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, and others). Good News Translation connects God … and known to us in verse 9 to the end of verse 8.

The secret plan: “the mystery of his will” means “the secret (thing/plan) God decided/resolved to do.” The Greek word translated “mystery” or “secret” is succinctly defined by Robinson as “something that could not be known by men except by divine revelation, but that, though once hidden, has now been revealed in Christ and is to be proclaimed so that all who have ears may hear it.” (See especially Rom 16.25; 1 Cor 2.1; 4.1; Col 1.26.)

In some languages there may be difficulties involved in rendering “mystery” or “secret,” especially since the mystery or secret in question is something which is actually made known. Therefore, one can frequently translate “mystery” as “that which was not known before” or “that which people didn’t know before.” Accordingly, the phrase “the mystery of his will” may be rendered as “that which people did not know before, but which God decided to do.”

The following clause in Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg, “according to his pleasure” (Good News Translation did what he had purposed), gives the standard of God’s action in “making known to us.” The meaning may be expressed by “this is what he wanted to do.”

The last clause in verse 9 “which he purposed” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg) translates a Greek verb which means “to place forward/ahead,” and so “to plan, propose, intend”; see Romans 1.13, “I intended/purposed to visit you.”

And the final prepositional phrase “in him” means that Christ is the instrument, the means, by which God’s purpose was effected; Good News Translation by means of Christ. This expression of means may often be rendered as “Christ made this possible” or even “Christ caused this to happen.”

The first clause in verse 10, “for the administration of the fullness of time” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg; Good News Translation which God will complete when the time is right), involves several concepts. The word “administration” translates a Greek abstract noun signifying the work, office, responsibility of a steward, manager, administrator. In 1 Corinthians 9.17 Paul writes, “I have been entrusted with a stewardship” (Good News Translation God has entrusted me with this task) and in Colossians 1.25 “according to the stewardship of God which was given me” (Good News Translation God … gave me this task to perform). Here in Ephesians 1.10 the “steward,” so to speak, is God himself, and the “stewardship” is the task of putting into effect or completing the secret plan referred to in verse 9. Arndt and Gingrich comment on the meaning of the word in this verse: “certainly refers to the plan of salvation which God is bringing to reality through Christ, in the fulness of the times.” And Robinson comments: “the manner in which the purpose of God is being worked out in human history.” Barth takes Christ to be the “steward” and translates: “that he (meaning Christ) should administer the days of fulfillment.” It is as though God is carrying out the management or administration of a task that he has imposed upon himself. So Good News Translation represents the event expressed in the abstract noun “stewardship” by a verb, “(which God) will complete” (compare Bible de Jérusalem “to put it into effect”); or else verbs such as “bring about,” “achieve,” or “accomplish” may be used.

Depending upon the way in which the phrase “in him” (a phrase referring to Christ) has been translated, one can often render the Greek word for “stewardship” as “to cause to happen.” In this context God is the primary agent for causing everything to happen while Jesus Christ may be regarded as the secondary agent (or the intermediate agent) in that what is done is done through him.

The genitive phrase “of the fullness of the times” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg) is a temporal phrase defined by Robinson as “a genitive of further definition.” Good News Translation translates when the time is right. In the phrase “the fullness of the times,” the Greek abstract noun translated “fullness” (see Revised Standard Version) has been understood by some to mean “at the end” or “in the last days.” While this is possible, in this context it appears more likely that the word means “complete” in the sense of “ripe,” “appropriate,” “fitting.”

It may be difficult to translate more or less literally the phrase when the time is right, since in many languages there is no abstract term for “time,” even in a sense of “an appropriate occasion.” In some languages, however, an appropriate equivalent may be “when it will be the day to do it.”

The word translated “time” is usually defined as “crucial time, significant time, crisis.” So Westcott comments: “a space of time defined with regard to its extent and character.” Here the whole genitive phrase means simply when the time is right. It should be emphasized, however, that the “rightness” of the time is not a chance or fortuitous event but is under God’s control (see Paul’s use of a synonymous phrase in Gal 4.4 which Good News Translation translates when the right time finally came).

The next clause, “to head up all things in Christ” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg), is the climax, the final definition of the goal of the whole process of salvation, “the mystery of his will” (verse 9a), which the author has been describing in verses 3-10a. The Greek verb translated “to head up” occurs only here and in Romans 13.9 in the New Testament (in Rom 13.9 it means “to sum up, summarize”). In this passage the mere idea of “summarizing, summing up” does not do justice to the verb; it includes the idea of Christ as “head,” as supreme over all things (see verses 20-23). Barth translates: “All things are to be comprehended under one head.” So Good News Translation to bring all creation together … with Christ as head (so also Bible de Jérusalem, Bible en français courant, and other translations).

In a number of languages there are problems involved in translating to bring all creation together … with Christ as head, since all creation must often be expressed as “everything that has been created,” and head may not be an adequate figurative expression for being supreme over or controlling. Accordingly, it may be necessary to render this expression as “to cause everything that has been created to unite and to look to Christ as chief” or “… to be related to Christ as one who rules everything.”

The “all things” is further defined as “those in heaven and those on earth” (Good News Translation everything in heaven and on earth), in other words, the whole universe, all of creation. Translations should take care to convey this total meaning.

Verse 10 in Greek ends with the prepositional phrase “in him,” and verse 11 begins with the relative phrase “in whom,” both referring to Christ. This is parallel to the beginning of verse 7 “in whom,” and so a major break is indicated here also, inasmuch as there is a main verb in verse 11, “we were selected.”

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 .

As the Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg representation of the Greek text shows, “in him” (immediately after “on earth”) are the last two words of verse 10; verse 11 begins with the relative phrase “in whom.” Thus verse 11 forms a parallel with verse 7a (“in whom we have”) and also with verse 13 (“in whom you were sealed”).

Verse 11 in Greek begins “In whom also we were selected.” The prepositional phrase “in him, in whom” refers to Christ, and the meaning is “in union with Christ.” So Good News Translation translates God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ. The first decision to be made is whether us here is inclusive or exclusive. Obviously in verse 12 “we who had already hoped in Christ” is exclusive (that is, it does not include the readers), and the construction of the Greek text would indicate that this us in verse 11 is also exclusive, since the thought goes on without a stop to the end of verse 12. It may be argued, however, that the author did not consciously make a distinction between “we” and “you” until verse 12, and that the us here in verse 11 is inclusive (as in the parallel “we have” in verse 7). Revised Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament, New International Version, take the “we” here to be exclusive (also Beare), and this would seem to be in closer agreement with the Greek text (see Bible de Jérusalem).

The verb translated “choose” is used only here in the New Testament; it is formed from the noun meaning “lot” and so means “to choose by lot.” The idea derives from the Old Testament concept of the people of Israel being chosen by Yahweh to be his people (compare Deut 9.29; 32.9-10; Psa 74.2). There are those who take the Greek passive participle here to mean “we have received the lot/portion (from God),” but it seems better to take it to mean “we were made God’s portion/lot.” The emphasis is that the initiative and action are God’s alone: he made us his people (Revised Standard Version “have been … appointed” in verse 12).

Chose us … in union with Christ: the phrase “in whom also we were selected” may involve a number of complications in translation. In the first place the introductory phrase “in whom” must refer to Jesus Christ, and it may be possible to introduce this as a type of causative relationship, for example, “because of our being united with Christ.” It may, however, be impossible to use a passive expression such as “we were selected,” since this might imply that God was not involved in the process. God is obviously the agent of so many other events in this context that to use the passive might imply in some languages that some other person or instrumentality was involved. Therefore, it may be best to translate “in whom also we were selected” as “because of our being united with Christ God selected us” or “… chose us.” It is particularly important to indicate in the use of the term “choose” that this is a choice for a particular purpose, namely, “to become his people.” One must avoid any expression which would merely imply favoritism or God making an exception of us.

The thought of God’s initiative is reinforced by the following clause “having been predestined according to the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the decision of his will” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg). Good News Translation restructures this lengthy and complex participial phrase with the last half of the verse, because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the beginning, and the opening clause of the verse, All things are done according to God’s plan and decision. For the verb “predestine” see Eph. 1.5. “Purpose” translates a noun which is related to the verb “he purposed” in verse 9c. “Accomplishes” translates a Greek verb meaning “to work, to realize, to make effective” (see 1 Cor 12.6, and see the verb also in Col 1.29). The final clause “according to the decision of his will” is like verse 5b and verse 9b, “Decision” translates a word used of God in Luke 7.30; Acts 2.23; 20.27; according to the context it may mean “plan, purpose.” “Will” translates the word represented by purpose in verse 5b. If any distinction is sought between the two, the first one expresses the idea of “purpose and deliberation,” while the second one denotes “will” alone (so Abbott).

In a number of languages it is necessary to restructure considerably the expression “having been predestined according to the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the decision of his will.” This has been done in Good News Translation and needs to be done in most languages, since the various phrases referring to God’s purpose and plan seen to be heaped one on top of another. In the first place, it is often necessary to change the passive expression “having been predestined” into an active one, for this predestination can only be related to God. Therefore one may translate “having been predestined” as “God planned ahead of time” or “God decided before it happened.” The phrase “according to the purpose” may be rendered as “that is how God planned.” The statement “the one who accomplishes all things according to the decision of his will” must in most languages be made quite specific. That is to say, one must indicate that this is “God” who accomplishes all things or “does all things.” The phrase “according to the decision of his will” may accordingly be rendered as “that is just as God decided he wanted to do it.” It is extremely useful to break up this complex series of phrases and to restructure the statement more or less in terms of the manner in which the Good News Translation text has done it.

Verse 12 begins “for us to be…” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg), which indicates the purpose of God’s choosing us; this construction is identical with the one in verse 4 (“for us to be holy…”). Good News Translation restructures this expression of purpose as Let us, then. “For the praise of his glory” is similar to verse 6a “for the praise of the glory of his grace.” See Good News Translation, Let us … praise God’s glory! The following participial phrase “(the ones) who had already hoped in Christ” is in apposition to “us”; that is, it explains precisely who is meant by “us”; see Good News Translation, who were the first to hope in Christ. It seems obvious that there is a contrast between the “we” of verse 12 and the “you” of verse 13; most take verse 12 to refer to Christians of Jewish origin, people “who had already hoped” in the Messiah. The compound verb “to hope before” occurs only here in the New Testament; it may mean “we (Jews) hoped in the Messiah before you (Gentiles) did,” or (so Robinson; Jerusalem Bible) “we (Jews) hoped in the Messiah before he came.”

One of the most difficult terms in the New Testament to translate adequately is hope, since it involves a number of related elements of meaning. First, there is a time period, implying the component of “wait.” But the element of waiting is one in which patience is obviously an important element. There is also the expectation that the result of one’s patient waiting will be something good. Therefore, in some languages the equivalent is “to look forward with patience to something good.” Verse 12 may then be translated as “we who were the first to look forward to Christ should praise God’s glory.” It may, however, be very difficult in some languages to speak of “God’s glory” if the term “glory” simply means “brilliant” or “shining.” This would make God out as simply some bright object. The closest equivalent for God’s glory may be “how wonderful God is,” and this type of clause goes well with a term such as “praise.”

It is to be noticed that Revised Standard Version has thoroughly restructured the two verses, making the whole sentence clear and intelligible; it has not followed the Greek order of words in verses 11-12.

Many translators will find that they can translate this passage only after they have written out a series of short sentences that show clearly all the events and the participants in those events, as well as the relations between them. The result will be something like this:
(1) God chose us to be his own people in our union with Christ.
(2) He had decided to do this previously because that was his purpose.
(3) It is because God plans it and decides to do it that all things are done.
(4) God did this so that we should praise his greatness (or, glory).
(5) We were the first to hope in Christ.

Translators will then construct a clear sentence or a series of sentences in their own language. They should use the structures of their own language, but they may get some ideas from what Good News Translation has done in English.

The Good News Translation restructuring is as follows: All things are done according to God’s plan and decision represents Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-3.jpg “the one who accomplishes all things according to the decision of his will”; God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ represents “in whom also we were selected”; because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning represents “having been predestined according to the purpose”; Let us, then … praise God’s glory represents “for us to be for the praise of his glory”; and who were the first to hope in Christ represents “who had already hoped 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 .