For this reason relates what follows to what has come before; the prayer is made as a consequence of all that God has done for the readers in the salvation he wrought through Christ. In some languages the phrase For this reason may be best expressed as “Because of all that God has done.” In this way one may refer to all that has been said in the previous verses. The writer recalls the readers’ faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all of God’s people (see Col 1.4; Philemon 5). Translator’s New Testament translates the first phrase by “the faith you have because Jesus is your Lord,” saying that the preposition “in” does not mean in the New Testament the goal or object of faith (which is always indicated by “upon” or “into” with the verb “to have faith”) but the realm of faith. But translators as a whole have not so understood the expression “faith in”; Barth translates “faithfulness … to the Lord Jesus.”

Your faith in the Lord Jesus may be conveniently expressed in some languages as “how you trusted in the Lord Jesus.” In a number of languages the concept of “faith,” “trust,” or “believe in” is expressed idiomatically, for example, “to put one’s whole weight on” or “to lean against” or “to hand oneself over to.” What is important in such a context is to indicate the degree of commitment and dependence and to avoid expressing merely intellectual acceptance of some truth. Similarly, your love for all of God’s people may also be restructured as a clause, for example, “how you love all God’s people” or “how you love all those who belong to God.”

Some very important Greek manuscripts have in verse 15 “your faith in the Lord Jesus and for all the saints” (omitting the Greek expression for “the love”); this makes for a strange phrase in Greek, and it seems likely that the omission of “the love” was accidental. But Beare says that “the love” should unquestionably be omitted as a later addition, and he translates the text: “the faith which prevails among you, which rests on the Lord Jesus and is shown toward all the saints.” Certainly the text without “the love” is the harder reading and therefore more likely to be the correct one; it is much easier to understand why “the love” would have been inserted into the text than why it would have been deleted from the text, if it was originally a part of it.

I have not stopped giving thanks: this is admittedly an exaggerated way of saying that the writer, whenever he prays, always thanks God for the readers (see Col 1.9). The expression not stopped involves a kind of double negative with respect to giving thanks, and therefore it may be best to use a positive expression, for example, “I am always giving thanks.” Such a positive expression may also provide a means of avoiding what might be regarded as an undue exaggeration in the literal statement “I have not stopped.”

At the end of verse 16 remember means “make mention of, speak (to God) about.” The writer always mentions the readers whenever he prays to God. A literal rendering of I remember you in my prayers might suggest that he had conveniently forgotten about the believers, except in his prayers. Therefore, I remember you in my prayers may be expressed as “whenever I pray to God I mention you” or “… speak to him about you.”

Verses 17-19a give the content of the prayer on behalf of the readers. The conjunction at the beginning of verse 17 in Greek does not express the purpose of the prayer but gives its contents. Good News Translation, in order to make the proper transition, has used a verb and ask (compare New English Bible “I pray that”).

The prayer is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also called “the Father of glory” (Revised Standard Version); see the similar phrase in Acts 7.2 and “the Lord of glory” in 1 Corinthians 2.8. The genitive phrase “of glory” functions as an attributive adjective, the glorious Father. The noun “glory,” with reference to God, always has an implicit reference to the visible manifestation among his people of God’s saving power. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “the Father to whom belongs the glory,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the one to whom belong all power and glory.”

The expression the God of our Lord Jesus Christ involves some very subtle problems for some languages. The phrase of our Lord Jesus Christ suggests a kind of possessive relationship, but in many languages it is impossible to speak of God being possessed. For example, one cannot say “my God” but only “the God whom I worship.” Similarly, the statement the God of our Lord Jesus Christ must be rendered in many languages as “the God whom our Lord Jesus Christ worshiped.” Furthermore, in some languages a term for “God” is so exclusively unique that one cannot use the definite article “the” in connection with “God.” Therefore, one may need to translate the first part of verse 17 as “I ask God, whom our Lord Jesus Christ worshiped” or “… worships.”

There is also a difficulty involved in the phrase the glorious Father. In many languages one cannot speak of “the … Father,” since a term for “father” must always be possessed, for example, “his father” or “my father” or “their father,” etc. A person is a father only because of the relationship to an offspring. It would, of course, be possible to render the glorious Father as “his glorious Father,” thus referring to Jesus Christ, but it is more likely that the phrase the glorious Father refers in this context to one who is related as Father to believers. The glorious Father may thus be rendered as “our Father who is wonderful” or even “our Father in heaven who is wonderful,” in order to avoid a wrong reference to an earthly father.

It is also important in the rendering of the glorious Father to indicate clearly that this is in apposition to God and not to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The phrase that follows, “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-14.jpg), may refer to the readers’ own spirit (Beare, Abbott); so, apparently, Revised Standard Version “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation” (also Twentieth Century New Testament, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “to give you wisdom”). But most take “spirit” here to mean God’s Spirit (so Salmond, Robinson); some translate “the spiritual gifts of wisdom and insight” (Translator’s New Testament; also Phillips, New English Bible); the Spanish common language translation (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) has “spiritual wisdom to understand his revelation.” Good News Translation and others take it to mean God’s Spirit. Translators will have to decide whether or not the word “Spirit” alone is enough or whether it will be better to say explicitly “God’s Spirit.” “Wisdom” here is understanding of spiritual realities, God’s truth. So “make you wise in spiritual things” is one way of translating this; another way would be “make you wise in things of God.” Good News Translation has make you wise and reveal God to you. Barclay has “make you wise in heavenly things.” The Greek word for “revelation” means “disclosure, uncovering.” Here it refers to the action of the Spirit in disclosing spiritual truths. It seems impossible, given the meaning of the word and its use elsewhere in the New Testament (see its use in 3.3), to take it to mean a person’s own “insight” or “vision” (as New English Bible, New American Bible, Phillips, Translator’s New Testament translate it). As Salmond says, the word can only refer to the divine action (and so “spirit” here is God’s Spirit, not the human spirit); so Good News Translation reveal God to you.

In some languages it is necessary to use the phrase “Holy Spirit” rather than merely “Spirit,” since the term “Spirit” without some qualification would most likely refer to some evil spirit.

It is important to avoid a statement which will suggest merely the accumulation of knowledge, for wisdom implies the correct use or application of knowledge and not merely the accumulation of facts.

A literal rendering of reveal God to you might be “to cause you to see God,” but this is not what is intended. It is, therefore, better to translate reveal God to you as “cause you to know the truth about God” or “cause you to know who God really is.”

At the end of verse 17, “in the knowledge of him” (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-14.jpg) refers to knowledge of God, and this is the purpose or goal of the action of God’s Spirit in making the readers wise and revealing God to them, so Good News Translation renders so that you will know him. Some want to understand the compound Greek noun to mean “complete knowledge” (see especially the use of the compound verb in 1 Cor 13.12), but it seems better to take it to mean here “directed knowledge,” that is, knowledge directed toward a particular truth.

In rendering so that you will know him, it is important to avoid an expression which will mean merely “so that you will recognize him.” In this type of context the phrase “knowledge of him” means more than “facts about.” The implication is that an individual should have some essential experience of God. When, for example, the Scriptures speak of “knowing suffering” or “knowing joy,” this is not information about suffering or joy but the actual experience of such states.

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 .

The perfect passive participle “having been illumined,” with which verse 18 begins in Greek, is syntactically related to the main verb “give” (verse 17) and modifies it; strictly it should refer to an action previous to the action of the main verb, but here it seems to function as a circumstantial clause, showing the way in which the disclosure, the revelation of God’s will, takes place; or else (as participles are often used in biblical Greek) it serves as an imperative: “the eyes of your heart be opened”; so Good News Translation I ask that … (compare New English Bible and others “I pray that…”).

The whole participial clause has to do with spiritual illumination, discernment, perception; “the eyes of your heart” means either intellectual or spiritual vision, insight. Thus Good News Translation, your minds may be opened; compare Phillips “inner illumination of the spirit.”

Even after some of the figurative elements have been eliminated from the statement I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, there is still much which provides serious difficulty in translation. It may simply be impossible to speak of “opening the mind,” since the phrase might suggest merely making a hole in the skull or cracking open the head. The important element is not the place where understanding happens (in Greek, “heart”; in English “mind”), but the actual understanding itself. So in some instances I ask that your minds may be opened may be rendered as “I ask that you may come to understand.”

Similarly, the phrase to see his light might only be understood as “to look at his light bulb.” A more satisfactory rendering in some languages is “to understand the truth that comes from him.”

The writer prays that his readers will have spiritual insight so that they may know three things (verses 18-19a):

(1) “What is the hope of his (God’s) calling,” that is, the hope to which he has called you (Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New International Version; “to which he calls you,” New English Bible, Translator’s New Testament). Here it would seem that hope means not only the subjective emotion felt by the believer, but the object or goal of that hope as well (as in Col 1.5). This is not spelled out in the context; in general terms it could be the final purpose of God’s saving activity through Christ. God’s “call” is his invitation extended through Christ to all mankind to accept the destiny he has planned for all: reconciliation, salvation, sonship. So the phrase “the hope of his calling” includes the following: God “calls” people, this “call” promises or produces hope in them, and this emotion of hope is directed toward something or someone.

There are a number of problems involved in rendering effectively the statement the hope to which he has called you. In the first place, this must often be restructured as a clause introduced by a conjunction such as “how…” and the term called must often be rendered as “invite.” A literal rendering of called might mean merely “to shout to.” Accordingly the hope to which he has called you may be rendered as “how he has invited you to look forward with anticipation” or “to what God has invited you to look forward with eager anticipation.” Sometimes the concept of “eager anticipation” may be expressed as “with your heart looking for what is good.” And the abstract conception of hope must be expressed in a concrete manner, “the thing (or, event) for which you hope.”

(2) “What is the wealth of the glory of his inheritance among the saints” (compare Col 1.12). The compound genitive phrase “the wealth of the glory of his inheritance” may be (a) the glorious wealth of his inheritance, or (b) the wealth of his glorious inheritance, or (c) his rich and glorious inheritance. Good News Translation represents the second alternative, (b): how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people. However, there is no way of determining which one was meant by the writer; in such cases it is the rhetorical effect of the total phrase that matters, and not the separate meaning of each individual word. Beare calls this phrase “a redundant fullness of expression which does not make for clarity.” For “wealth” see Eph. 1.7; for “glory” see Eph. 1.6; and for “inheritance” see verse 14 (compare a similar phrase in 3.16, and see also Col 1.27).

“Among the saints” (Good News Translation his people): these are the recipients of “the wealth of the glory of God’s inheritance.” New English Bible translates “the wealth and glory of the share he offers you among his people in their heritage,” which sounds rather materialistic; Phillips is better, “the magnificence and splendour of the inheritance promised to Christians”; Translator’s New Testament has “the glorious wealth which he invites you to share with all his people,” which is ambiguous (since “to share with” could be understood to mean “give part of what you have to others”).

There are a number of problems involved in translating either the literal expression “what is the wealth of the glory of his inheritance among the saints” or the Good News Translation restructuring how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people. If one attempts to translate this clause in a more or less literal fashion, there is an obvious difficulty in the phrase “of his inheritance.” A literal rendering might suggest that God had in some way received an inheritance from someone who had died. Clearly, however, this is an inheritance which God gives to his people as their heritage or as what they have been promised. There is also an obvious difficulty in the heaped up phrase “the wealth of the glory,” for the meaning is really a combination of that which is wonderful as well as abundant. It would be possible to translate “what is the wealth of the glory of his inheritance among the saints” as “how truly wonderful is that which God will give to his people.” If one follows somewhat more closely the restructuring of Good News Translation, it would be possible to translate “how valuable are those wonderful things which God has promised to do for his people” or “… to give to his people.”

(3) “What is the exceeding greatness of his power in us the believers.” In the phrase “the exceeding greatness,” the word “exceeding” translates the participle of the Greek verb meaning “go beyond, exceed” (see the same use in 2.7 and 3.19); here again the writer uses synonymous terms for rhetorical effect. Good News Translation has how very great is his power at work in us who believe. If an object, is implied in the verb “to believe,” it is probably Christ. It should be noticed that the Greek phrase “in (or, for) us,” which Good News Translation takes to mean at work in us, is taken by Phillips to mean “available to us” (also New English Bible “power open to us”). This is possible and could well be the meaning intended.

In a number of languages it is extremely difficult to speak of “his power in us” or even to translate more or less literally “his power at work in us.” The closest equivalent may be simply “his power to help us” or “his power which he will give us” or “… which he gives to us.” It may also be difficult to speak of power as being great, since power is often spoken of as being either “much” or “strong.” Accordingly how very great is his power at work in us who believe may be rendered as “how very strong indeed is his power which helps us who believe.”

From here on (verses 19b-23) the prayer on behalf of the readers is left behind, and the writer reflects on the nature of the power which is at work in those who believe in Christ, This power working in us is the same…. The Greek preposition translated “according to” in the final clause of verse 19 (see Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-14.jpg) is designed to set forth the standard, the measure by which this power may be described. So Translator’s New Testament “This is the same stupendous power….”

Again the writer uses a compound genitive phrase, “the working of the might of his strength,” for rhetorical effect; compare “the working of his power” in 3.7 and “in the might of his strength” in 6.10. No sharp differences of meaning are to be sought among “working” (also in 3.7; 4.16; see the related verb “to work” in 1.11), “might” (also 6.10), and “strength” (also 6.10); the use of synonyms is part of the writer’s florid style.

In some languages there is a problem involved in speaking about “power” or “strength” as a kind of abstract quality or potentiality, since power or strength is really only a capability or ability applied to some particular kind of action or event. It may be necessary to restructure This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death as “In the same way that he is able to help us, so in that same way he was able to raise Christ from death” or “… cause him to live again.” Sometimes the equivalent of power or strength may be represented in speaking of a person being “very able to” or “being very strong to.” Accordingly, the last part of verse 19 and the first part of verse 20 may be rendered as “in the same way that God has been very strong in helping us, so in the same way he was very strong in raising Christ from death.”

Verse 20 begins “which he accomplished in Christ” (Revised Standard Version; Good News Translation which he used when he raised Christ); the verb here is the same one used in 1.11. Good News Bible prefers the aorist form and makes no mention of the variant perfect form, which has excellent manuscript support and is preferred by Westcott and Hort, Nestle, and New English Bible. Both B (Vaticanus) and A (Alexandrinus) have the perfect form; and, as Salmond says, the perfect is the more difficult reading; it is easy to see why a copyist would have changed the perfect to an aorist, but not vice versa. Beare stresses the fittingness of the perfect form: the action is completed and is “a present guarantee of God’s life-giving power.” But a translation of this would be difficult to make without a rather clumsy paraphrase. New English Bible, whose Greek text has the perfect form, translates simply “he exerted.”

The two participial clauses which follow describe the way in which God’s power was exerted in Christ: (1) “by raising him” and (2) “by seating him.” See Good News Translation, when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side. The resurrection of Christ is the supreme evidence of God’s power, but it is not an isolated event; it is followed by Christ’s enthronement at the place of honor and power, “the right side of God.” The New Testament language derives eventually from Psalm 110.1. The Greek verb translated “to seat” is usually intransitive, “to sit,” but it is also transitive, “to seat,” as in Acts 2.30; 1 Corinthians 6.4 (and see also “to seat with” in Eph 2.6). Christ’s exaltation and enthronement are also depicted as the act of God.

Because of the frequent usage of the figurative phrase seated him at his right side, it may be important to preserve this figure of speech in this context. But in some languages the right side is not the preferred side, and therefore it may be necessary to have a marginal note. Furthermore, Christ being seated at the right side of God is not simply a gesture of hospitality but indicates honor and power, and therefore it may be necessary to translate seated him at his right side in the heavenly world as “caused him to sit down at his right side in the heavenly world and gave him power” or “caused him to sit down in the place of power (or, the place where he rules) at his right side in the heavenly world.”

For in the heavenly world see Eph. 1.3. Here “in heaven” would be an adequate rendering.

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 verse 22 the writer begins a new sentence, “and all things he (God) subjected under his (Christ’s) feet.” This continues and completes the description begun in verse 20 of how God’s mighty power is demonstrated in Christ; God raised Christ from death, installed him in the place of honor and power, and (verse 22a) placed all creation in subjection to him. The language is drawn from Psalm 8.6 which, like Psalm 110.1, was used by New Testament writers to describe Christ’s present status as supreme over all creation (compare Heb 2.6-8; 1 Cor 15.27).

In some languages the statement God put all things under Christ’s feet means practically nothing. Readers have actually assumed that Christ climbed up on a high mountain and stood on top of all kinds of things. It may therefore be better to avoid the figurative expression and translate “God has given Christ power over all things” or “… over whatever exists,” or “God caused all things to be under the authority of Christ.”

Verse 22b is not completely clear, “and he (God) gave him (Christ) as head over all things to the church.” Some understand that the statement means implicitly “he gave him, the supreme ruler, to the church (as its ruler)” (so Translator’s New Testament and others). The church is in the dative case, and it can be taken as (1) the indirect object, “God gave Christ to the church,” or (2) the beneficiary of the action, “for the church” (so Revised Standard Version, New International Version).

Some take the verb “he gave” here to mean “he appointed” or “he installed” (so New English Bible “appointed him … to the church”; Barth “appointed him … to be head of the church”; New International Version “appointed him to be Lord over everything for the church”). But Abbott, Robinson, and Beare contend that here the verb has its usual meaning of “to give”; Christ is God’s gift to the church. Therefore the Good News Translation rendering is and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things. But it must be admitted that the meaning as expressed by Jerusalem Bible, “and (God) made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church,” is possible and fits in very nicely with the context.

There is a subtle problem involved in a literal rendering of gave him to the church, since this might imply that the church existed quite apart from Christ. Hence, in some languages it may be much better to translate the second part of verse 22 as “God … caused Christ, who rules over everything, to be the head of the church” or “… to be the one who directs the church” or “… the one to whom the church looks as its ruler.”

Verse 23 begins by defining the church as the body of Christ, “which is his body” (Revised Standard Version; Good News Translation The church is Christ’s body). This is a familiar concept (see Col 1.18, 24), and for similar ideas see 1 Corinthians 12.12; Romans 12.5. There is hardly any way to avoid this figure in translation; at the most a simile (“is like his body”) may be substituted for the metaphor (“is his body”). The figure stresses the close, organic, living relationship between Christ and his people. It is not simply a functional, an official relationship, like that of a president to a business organization or of a chairman to a committee, but a relationship of a common life, a mutual, interdependent existence. Of course there is no idea of equality: Christ is the head and the church is subordinate to him.

The completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere: the church is called “the fullness of Christ” (the Greek abstract noun is from the verb meaning “to fill, complement, fulfill”). Here the relation of the church to Christ is advanced even more; it is not simply one of relative degree of importance and power (Christ the head, the church the body), but in a bold figure of speech the church is seen as an indispensable part of Christ without which he is not complete. So to speak, the writer says that apart from the church there is no Christ in the fullest meaning of the concept. As Robinson says: “in some mysterious sense the Church is that without which the Christ is not complete, but with which He is or will be complete.” Or as Abbott says: “When Christ is called Head, the figure implies that however complete He is in Himself, yet as Head he is not complete without His body.”

Some, however, take “fullness” not in the active sense of “completion” but in the passive sense; so the church is seen, not as “filling” or “completing” Christ, but as being filled by him. So Goodspeed has “the church, which is his body, filled by him who fills everything everywhere” (similarly Twentieth Century New Testament, Moffatt; also Barth). Most modern commentators and translators, however, take the word in the active sense of “fullness.”

In most languages it is almost impossible to use a literal rendering of the Greek noun in the sense of “to be full” or “fullness.” To say that the church is “the fullness of Christ” might mean nothing more than to say “the church constitutes Christ’s internal organs,” and this would result in a serious distortion of the underlying figure of speech. It may also be extremely difficult to speak of “completing Christ,” for this might suggest that Christ was not fully grown, and therefore the church was required to add somehow to his height. Some translators have experimented with a phrase such as “that which makes Christ truly real,” but this has the disadvantage of implying that Christ is somehow unreal and that it is the church which guarantees his existence. In some instances the concept of “filling” or “completing” may be rendered as “to add that which is lacking,” but not with the implication that such a lack is necessarily an imperfection but only that the addition results in an intended completion. Therefore, verse 23 may be rendered in some instances as “the church is Christ’s body and as such adds to Christ what is lacking even as he himself adds that which is lacking to everything” or “… to what is lacking in everything.”

Who himself completes all things everywhere: the final genitive phrase (Hdb|fig:Table_EPH1-14.jpg “of the one who all things in all places is filling”) can be understood in two ways: (1) “of him who is (being) filled with all things everywhere,” or (2) “of him who fills all things everywhere,” depending on whether the present participle of the verb “to fill” is read as the passive voice or as the middle (the two forms are identical in Greek). The Good News Translation gives the alternative in a footnote; New English Bible gives in footnote two alternative renderings of the text. Beare prefers the passive sense, commenting: “All created things contribute to the fullness of Christ.” Similarly Dodd: “Him who is everywhere and in all respects growing complete.” The Good News Translation alternative in footnote is similar to New English Bible text: “him who himself receives the entire fullness of God”. It would seem that the majority of modern commentators and translations favor the meaning expressed in the Good News Translation text, who himself completes all things everywhere. Thus a certain parallelism is established: the church completes Christ, who himself completes all things. A translation should try to retain this parallelism.

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 .

The readers’ condition In the past is described as that of (spiritual) death because of their disobedience and sins. The Greek noun translated disobedience is the plural form of “transgression” (see 1.7; Revised Standard Version “trespasses”), and it means the departure from a way or norm, in this case, of course, God’s law. The Greek noun for “sin” occurs only here in Ephesians.

In place of a phrase such as In the past, many languages use a past tense indicating a past state of being, for example, “You used to be.”

Spiritually dead is sometimes rendered as “dead, so to speak, as far as your spirits are concerned” or “… were concerned.” In rendering this rather bold figure of speech it is often necessary to mark it as a simile with an expression such as “as though it were” or “like.” In some instances it is also possible to translate spiritually dead as “dead, so to speak, as far as responding to God’s Spirit is concerned,” or “with regard to matters relating to God, you were as though you were dead.”

Because disobedience and sins must often be expressed by verb phrases, it may be necessary to restructure the phrase because of your disobedience and sins as “you were this way because you disobeyed God and sinned.”

Verse 2 continues without a break from verse 1: “in which (that is, ‘your sins’ of verse 1) you once walked….” The Greek verb “to walk” is often used in the figurative sense of manner of life, conduct, morality (also in 2.10; 4.1, 17; 5.2, 8, 15).

The temporal phrase At that time may be rendered in some languages as a so-called continuative past tense equivalent to “that is what you used to do.” At that time you followed the world’s evil way may often be expressed as “you used to follow the world’s evil way.”

The readers’ past conduct was controlled by (1) the world’s evil way (“the aiōn of this world”); the Greek noun, meaning “age, era, epoch” (see 1.21), is here practically personified (see its use further in 3.9 and Col 1.26), as it is in other places in Greek literature. Most translations, however, have “the way of this world” (Jerusalem Bible) or something similar.

Though in English the idea of “following a way” seems to be a perfectly legitimate manner in which to talk about behavior, such a phrase may mean nothing in some languages. Therefore, one may translate you followed the world’s evil way as “you lived just like evil people in the world live.” But this does not do full justice to the characterization of the world’s pattern of life as being essentially evil. Therefore it is better to translate “you lived in an evil way just like the people of this world live in an evil way.”

(2) “The prince of the authority of the air” (Revised Standard Version) is a way of speaking of evil spiritual forces, which were thought of as inhabiting the region between the earth and the sky; for the word “ruler” used of evil forces, see Mark 3.22; Matthew 12.24; John 12.31.

You obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space may be rendered as “you obeyed the one who rules over the spirits in the sky.” But it is possible that such a rendering would be confused with a statement about Jesus ruling over the various supernatural rulers, authorities, powers, and lords mentioned in 1.21. Therefore it may be necessary to be rather specific in rendering this clause as “you obeyed the evil ruler who governs the evil spirits in the sky.”

(3) “The spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Revised Standard Version); the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God (Good News Translation): by strict grammatical rules the word “spirit” should be in the accusative case parallel with the accusative of “ruler,” but it is in the genitive case, parallel with “authority,” and so some take it to mean “according to the ruler of the spirit….” Most, however, take this phrase to be independent of and parallel with the preceding one, the genitive case being explained as the result of the attraction of the preceding genitive phrase. This “spirit” is clearly the Devil, the ruler of all evil spiritual forces; it is not necessary, however, to use the word for “Devil” here. “The sons of disobedience” is a Semitic phrase, the word “sons” being used to express nature, character; it means the people who disobey God. Good News Translation controls translates the verb “at work in” (see its use in 1.11, 20); it describes such people as being dominated by the evil spirit.

Because of the problem of the appositional phrase in the final statement of verse 2, namely, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God, it may be best to translate this statement as “this is the spirit who now rules the people who disobey God.” In some instances disobey is rendered quite literally as “refuse to do what someone says,” but in many instances the closest equivalent of disobey is “to refuse to listen to.”

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 .