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[Reading Paul Through TBWM] • [1:1-2] • [1:3-14] • [1:15-23]
[2:1-10] • [2:11-22] • [3:1-13] • [3:14-21] • [4:1-16] • [4:17-32]
[5:1-14] • [5:15-21] • [5:22-33] • [6:1-9] • [6:10-20] • [6:21-24]
Text and Translation
Greek Text
English Translation
1. Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ, τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, καὶ πιστοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ·
1. Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s will, to the holy ones being in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus:
2. χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Graphical Grammar
Weighty Words
- θελήματος – neut. sg. gen. ▶ θέλημα: “what one wishes to happen, objective sense, what is willed”; or “the act of willing or desiring, subjective sense, will.” (BDAG at 447).
- This word is a common NT word, that takes on special importantce in Ephesians. It appears four times in Ephesians chapter 1 alone, once in chapter 2, once in chapter 5, and once in chapter 6.
- Θέλημα is used in Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, and Hebrews.
- It appears in non-Pauline letters, too: Acts, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 John, and Revelation. It appears in all the Gospels, but the most usages are in John’s.
- χάρις – fem. sing. nom. ▶ χάρις: Here it means grace (or favor, or goodwill).
- It occurs 12 times in Ephesians—nine of which are in the first three chapters.
- It occurs about 155 times throughout the whole NT.
Syntax Sense
The grammar of Ephesians 1:1–2 is relatively straightforward. In passages like this, the goal is not solving a difficult construction but learning to recognize how Greek identifies people.
Paul addresses “the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus.” A reader might wonder whether Paul is speaking to one group or two. More likely, rather than introducing separate groups, he is identifying the same people from multiple perspectives.
Here are the clues we have from the text. A single article governs the whole description, πιστοῖς is adjectival and stands parallel to ἁγίοις, and nothing clearly signals a second group. More importantly, Paul frequently accumulates descriptions around the same recipients. Rather than introducing new groups, he often layers additional characteristics onto the same audience.
Learning to recognize these stacked descriptions is an important reading skill. Greek writers regularly narrow, identify, and characterize people by attaching additional descriptors. As you read Paul, you will frequently encounter nouns, participles, adjectives, and prepositional phrases working together to identify the same group.
Demystifying the Discourse
As Ephesians unfolds, pay attention to how often Paul adds descriptors to people, blessings, salvation, or God’s work. One of the keys to reading Paul well is learning to see where a description ends and a new idea begins.
Your turn!
Read the openings of Colossians, Romans, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians. As you translate, identify every word or phrase Paul uses to describe his readers. Which descriptions appear to identify the same people from different angles? How often does Paul accumulate descriptors before moving on to a new idea? What clues help you determine whether Paul is describing one group or introducing another?
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See complete translation of Ephesians here.