1 Ephesians 1:3-14 (1:3) εὐλογητός, οῦ, ὁ = blessed, praised under BAGD 322b. εὐλογήσας aorist active participle εὐλογέω = speak well of, praise, extol, bless (call down God s gracious power) under BAGD 322a. εὐλογία, ας, ἡ = praise, blessing, (active) the act of blessing, (of God s activity in blessing), a blessing (as a benefit), consecration, (since the concept of blessing carries with it the idea of bounty) generous gift, bounty under BAGD 322b. πνευματικός, ή, όν = pertaining to the spirit, spiritual, (referring to the inner life of a human being), (in the great majority of cases it refers to the divine πνευμα) caused by (or) filled with the (divine) Spirit, pertaining (or) corresponding to the (divine) Spirit, (as a rule it is used of impersonal things), spiritual things (or) matters, pertaining to (evil) spirits under BAGD 678b. ἐπουράνιος, ον = heavenly under BAGD 305b-. Grammatical note = Common changes in Greek from Classical to Koine period. Increased use of prepositions. Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. See KMP, 36. Grammatical note = Introduction to the Genitive Case. The genitive is the case of description or quality and in some cases separation. Whereas the accusative case limits verbs, the genitive limits nouns. The function of the genitive is similar to that of an adjective or adverb, denoting the quality of a given person or thing. The phrase Father of the Lord Jesus Christ in Ephesians 1:3 both limits the scope of the word Father and specifies that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In most cases, the English translation will include the word of. This at times may lead to ambiguity, such as when speaking of the revelation of Christ, which may alternatively refer to Christ revealing himself to others (subjective genitive) or a biblical writer s teaching about Christ (objective genitive). In terms of word order, the genitive normally follows the noun it qualifies but precedes it when the reference denotes emphasis or contrast. See KMP, 87-88. (1:4)
2 ἐξελέξατο aorist middle ἐκλέγομαι = choose, select (for oneself) someone (something), (with indication of that from which the selection is made), (with simple accusative) choose someone (something) for oneself, (with accusative of the thing), (with accusative of the person), (with indication of the purpose for which the choice is made), chosen (of Jesus, as Son of God) under BAGD 242a. καταβολή, ῆς, ἡ = foundation, beginning, (a technical term for the ) sowing (of the seed, for begetting) under BAGD 409a. κόσμος, ου, ὁ = adornment, adorning, (in philosophical usage) the world (as the sum total of everything here and now), the (orderly) universe (so according to...) the world (as the sum total of all beings above the level of the animals), the world (as the earth, the planet upon which we live), (general), the world (as the habitation of mankind), earth, world (in contrast to heaven), the world (outside in contrast to one s home), the world (as mankind), (of all mankind, but especially of believers, as the object of God s love), the world (as the scene of earthly joys, possessions, cares, sufferings), the world (and everything that belongs to it, appears as that which is hostile to God, lost in sin, wholly at odds with anything divine, ruined and depraved), totality, sum total under BAGD 445b. εἶναι present active infinitive εἰμί. ἅγιος, ία, ον = (originally a cultic concept of the quality possessed by things and persons that could approach a divinity), (in the cultic sense) dedicated to God, holy, sacred (reserved for God and his service), (shading over into the meaning) holy = pure, perfect, worthy of God, (of persons), (of angels) holy, (of God), (used as a pure substantive) (concrete) sacrificial meat, what is holy β sanctuary under BAGD 9a. ἄμωμος, ον = unblemished (of the absence of defects in sacrificial animals), blameless (in moral and religious sense), (of person), (of divine and human characteristics) under BAGD 47b. κατενώπιον = (in our literature only in relation to God) before, in the presence of (and used with a word that means blameless ), (actually) in the presence of God (on the day of judgment), (in the sight of God on his heavenly throne) under BAGD 421a.
3 Grammatical note = Special Interest Middle. The special interest middle is the most common use of the middle voice and is also known as the indirect (or intensive or dynamic) middle. It indicates that the subject performs something for himself. The middle voice indicates not that Mary chose herself because the text indicates that she chose the good portion. The middle voice is used here to communicate that Mary chose something that affects her personally. She chose something for herself or for her own interest (this clearly does not mean the person is being selfish, but that they have some stake in the matter). See KMP, 195. Grammatical note = πρό (47x, object: gen). He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4. Time (prior): earlier than, prior to. See KMP, 406. Grammatical note = Improper Prepositions. κατενώπιον 3x. Genitive. In the presence of, in the judgment of, before. See KMP, 409. (1:5) προορίσας aorist active participle προοράω = see previously (looking from the present), foresee, see in advance (with an eye to the future), (middle) see before one, have before one s eyes (with accusative) under BAGD 709a. υἱοθεσία, ας, ἡ = adoption (of children) (literally a legal technical term) (in our literature, in Paul, only in a transferred sense), (of the acceptance of the nation of Israel as son of God), (of those who turn to Christianity and are accepted by God as his sons) under BAGD 833a. εὐδοκία, ας, ἡ = good will (of men), favor, good pleasure (this would refer to the persons upon whom divine favor rests), wish, desire (inasmuch as a desire is usually directed toward something that causes satisfaction or favor) under BAGD 319b. θέλημα, ατος, τό = will, (objective) what is willed, (what one wishes to happen) will, (what one wishes to bring about by one s own action, since one has undertaken to do what he has willed), (what one wishes to bring about by the activity of others, to whom one assigns a task, (of persons), (predominantly of God [or Christ] ), (subjective) will (the act of willing or desiring) under BAGD 354a. (1:6)
4 ἔπαινον, ου, ὁ = praise, approval, recognition (coming to men), (from men), (from God), (coming to God), a thing worthy of praise under BAGD 281b. δόξα, ης, ἡ = brightness, splendor, radiance, (the state of being in the next life is thus described as participation in the radiance or glory) under BAGD 203b. χάρις, ιτος, ἡ = graciousness, attractiveness, favor, grace, gracious care or help, good will under BAGD 877a. ἐχαρίτωσεν aorist active χαριτόω = bestow favor upon, favor highly, bless (in our literature only with reference to the divine) under BAGD 879a. ἠγαπημένῳ - perfect passive participle ἀγαπάω = love, cherish, (of affection for persons), (by human beings), (to persons), (to supernatural beings), (of the love of supernatural beings), (to human beings: God s love to men), (to other supernatural beings: God s love for Jesus), (of the practice of love) prove one s love, the one loved (by God), (of the love for things; denoting high esteem for or satisfaction with something) under BAGD 4b. (1:7) ἀπολύτρωσις, εος, ἡ = (originally) buying back (a slave or captive), making (him) free (by payment of a ransom), (literal) release (offered in return for apostasy), redemption, acquittal (also) the state of being redeemed, (abstract for concrete) redeemer (Christ) under BAGD 96a. αἷμα, ατος, τό = blood, (literal) (of human blood), (of the blood of animals), (figurative) (as the seat of life), (blood and life as an expiratory sacrifice), (of the [apocalyptic] red color, whose appearance in heaven indicates disaster under BAGD 22b. ἄφεσις, έσεως, ἡ = release, pardon, cancellation (of an obligation, a punishment, or guilt) under BAGD 125a. παράπτωμα, τος, τό = false step, transgression, sin, (of transgressions against men), (as a rule of sins against God), (collectively), (mostly plural) under BAGD 621b. πλοῦτος, ου, ὁ = wealth, riches, abundance or something under BAGD 674a.
5 (1:8) ἐπερίσσευσεν aorist active περισσεύω = (intransitive) be more than enough, be left over, be present in abundance, be extremely rich (or) abundant, overflow, grow, (of persons), be outstanding, be prominent, excel (transitive) cause to abound, make extremely rich (of things, that one greatly increases) under BAGD 650b. σοφία, ας, ἡ = wisdom, (the natural) wisdom (that belongs to this world), (the wisdom which God imparts to those who are close to him) under BAGD 759b. φρόνησις, εως, ἡ = way of thinking, (frame of) mind, understanding, insight, intelligence under BAGD 866b. (1:9) γνωρίσας aorist active participle γνωρίζω = make known, reveal under BAGD 163a-. μυστήριον, ου, τό = secret, secrete rite, secret teaching, mystery, (a religious technical term, applied in secular Greek mostly to the mysteries with their secret teachings, religious and political in nature, concealed within many strange customs and ceremonies), (in the gospels is found only in one context, where Jesus says to the disciples who have asked for an explanation of the parable(s)), (the Pauline literature has in 21 places, a) secret (or) mystery (too profound for human ingenuity, is God s reason for the partial hardening of Israel s heart), (elsewhere in the NT occurs only in Revelation with reference to the mysterious things portrayed there) under BAGD 530a. προέθετο aorist middle προτίθημι = (active) set before someone as a task (or) duty (middle) display publicly, plan, propose, intend something under BAGD 722a. (1:10) οἰκονομία, ας, ἡ = management (of a household), direction, office, (literal) (of the work of an οἰκονομος), (Paul applies the idea of administration to the office of the apostle), arrangement, order, plan, (of God s) plan of salvation, (his) arrangements for (man s) redemption, training (in the way of salvation), (this meaning seems to fit best in 1 Timothy 1:4) under BAGD 559b.
6 πλήρωμα, ατος, τό = that which fills, that which fills (up), content(s), that which makes something full (or) complete, supplement, complement, that which is brought to fullness (or) completion, fulfilling, fulfillment, the state of being full, fullness (of time) under BAGD 672a. καιρός, οῦ, ὁ = time, point of time as well as period of time, (generally) a welcome time under BAGD 394b. ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι aorist middle infinitive ἀνακεφαλαιόω = sum up, recapitulate, bring everything together under BAGD 55b. (1:11) ἐκληρώθημεν aorist passive κληρόω = (active) appoint by lot (passive) appointed by lot (middle) obtain by lot, (also simply) receive, have something under BAGD 435b. προορισθέντες aorist passive participle προορίζω = decide upon beforehand, predestine (of God) under BAGD 709a. πρόθεσις, εως, ἡ = setting forth, putting out, presentation, plan, purpose, resolve, will, (of men), (of the divine purpose) under BAGD 706a. That does not help much. ἐνεργοῦντος present active participle ἐνεργέω = work, be at work, operate, be effective, (middle) go into effect, begin under BAGD 265a. βουλή, ῆς, ἡ = purpose, counsel, motive, resolution, decision (of men), (of the divine will), council meeting under BAGD 145b. (1:12) προηλπικότας perfect active participle προελπίζω = hope before, be the first to hope under BAGD 705a. (1:13) ἀκούσαντες aorist active participle ἀκούω.
7 εὐαγγέλιον, ου, τό = (originally) a reward for good news, (then simply) good news, (the) gospel under BAGD 317b. σωτηρία, ας, ἡ = deliverance, preservation, (generally of preservation in danger, deliverance from impending death, especially on the sea, of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage) under BAGD 801a. πιστεύσαντες aorist active participle πιστεύω = believe, believe (in) something, be convinced of something, believe that under BAGD 660a. ἐσφραγίσθητε aorist passive σφραγίζω = (provide with a) seal, (literal) (with the accusative of the object that is to be secured or fastened by the seal: of a stone, to prevent its being moved from position), (figurative) seal up something (in order to keep it secret), mark (with a seal) as a means of identification) under BAGD 796a. ἐπαγγελία, ας, ἡ = announcement (in later Gk) (with the special sense) promise, pledge, offer under BAGD 280b. Grammatical note = Verbal Qualities of Participles. Aspect. In chapter 7, we learned that Greek is aspect-dominant and that Greek has three aspects: imperfective, perfective, and stative. In the indicative, time is indicated by the tense-form as well as by the presence or absence of the augment. However, the augment is absent in the non-indicative moods, including participles. At the same time, aspect continues to be conveyed by the various tense-forms essentially in the same way as in the indicative. That is, aorist participle portray an action wholistically (perfective aspect); present participles depict an action progressively (imperfective aspect); and stative participles presence a state resulting from a preceding action (stative aspect). What this means is that students, when encountering a given participial form in the text, should first of all ask the question, which aspect is used: perfect (aorist tenseform), imperfective (present tense-form), or stative (perfect tense-form)? Once the aspect is determined, the next question should be, how is the action portrayed? The answer will be, depending on the tense-form, wholistically, that is, as simply occurring (aorist participle), as ongoing or occurring continuously (present participle), or as the result of a preceding action (perfect participle). Paul s length introduction to the book of Ephesians may serve to illustrative the aspectual nature of participles. The majority of participles in Ephesians 1:13-14 are
8 in the perfect aspect (aorist tense-form). All of these actions are portrayed as simply having occurred. The context indicates that these actions took place in the past, but past time is indicated not by the aorist tense-form (not that there is no augment affixed to participles) but by the discourse context. God s work is depicted as ongoing in the imperfect aspect (present participle), while the stative aspect is used with two participles, presenting the state resulting from preceding actions. See KMP, 321-22. Grammatical note = Participle. Time. There are three major theories as to how time works in participles. The traditional view is that participles convey relative time, that is, the time of action in relation to the time conveyed by the main verb The second theory holds that word order is often determinative in explaining the function of Greek participles. Porter has put forth the theory that the tense of the participle does not communicate (relative) time, but that time is indicated by the order of the participle. That is, antecedent time is communicated by placing the participle (whether aorist or present) before the main verb and contemporaneous time is communicated by placing the participle (whether present or aorist) after the main verb Espousing the third theory as to how time works in participles, Picirilli maintains that participles never communicate time (even relative time) but that the time of the participle can only be determined by context. How do we adjudicate between these three views? What we do know is that aspect continues to be a factor in the non-indicative mood. Specificially, as mentioned in our discussion of aspect above, the perfective aspect (aorist participle) conveys an action wholistically, the imperfective aspect (present participle) conveys an action progressively, and the stative aspect (perfect participle) conveys a state resulting from preceding action. Context comes into play in a number of ways as well. Conversely, the traditional underddtanding of participles, while accounting for the majority of NT uses of participles, insufficiently considers the role of aspect and does not adequately explain instances where aorist participles are not conveying antecedent action and where present participles are not conveying contemporaneous action. The notion that the aorist, present, or perfect tense-forms convey relative time with regard to the main verb must therefore be regarded as doubtful, especially since alternate explanations exist that adequately account for the presence of aorist or present tense-forms in given discourse contexts (see the
9 examples of Ephesians 1:13-14) above. For this reason the third, aspectual view is to be preferred. See KMP, 322-23. (1:14) ἀρραβών, ῶνος, ὁ = first instalment, deposit, down payment, pledge (that pays a part of the purchase price in advance, and so secures a legal claim to the article in question, or makes a contract valid) under BAGD 109a. Semitic LW. Hebrew arrabo. Latin arra or.ערבון κληρονομία, ας, ἡ = inheritance (so almost always in secular writings), possession, property, (in specific Christian usage) (corresponding to the LXX) (the possession of) salvation (as the inheritance of God s children) under BAGD 435a. ἀπολύτρωσις, εως, ἡ = (originally) buying back (a slave or captive), making (him) free (by payment of a ransom), (literal) release (offered in return for apostasy), redemption, acquittal (also) the state of being redeemed, (abstract for concrete) redeemer (Christ) under BAGD 96a. περιποίησις, εως, ἡ = keeping safe, preserving, saving, gaining, obtaining, possessing, possession, property under BAGD 650a. ὅ 1 Grammatical note = Genitive. Epexegetical. The epexegetical genitive provides a clarifying identifier of the head noun, which may be in any case (determined by its own grammatical function in the sentence). In translation, the phrase namely, which is, or that is, is often used. For more examples of the genitive of apposition, see Ephesians 1:14. See KMP, 104 and n62. 1 {C} ὅ P 46 A B G P Didymus Chrysostom txt Cyril. אὅς D gr ar, e, dem, f, r1, x, z K Ψ Byz Lect it vg (syr h ) goth Victorinus-Rome Didymus gr, lat Ps-Oecumenius Theophylact.