JM^ i^v j!€i vV^VVi aJ^"^ ,^.^i\S\tm«hsmt^/J:^''9'' ^i'lJit. PRINCETON, N. J. >^f. Shelf. Division Section . Jt^^^ \ ^ Number S/t. r>^ :< AN AMERICAN COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. EDITED BY ALVAH HOVEY, D.D., LL.D. PHILADELPHIA . AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 1420 Chestnut Street. COMMENTARY ON THE Epistle to the Ephesians. BY JUSTIN A. SMITH, D. D. PHILADELPHIA : AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 1420 Chestnut Street. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by the AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. I. THE EPISTLES OF THE CAPTIVITY. Four of the epistles of Paul, owing to the circumstances under which they were written, are sometimes grouped in a general mention of them, as "Epistles of the Cap- tivitj'. " These are the epistles to the Ephesians, the Colossians, the Philippians, and to Philemon. In three of these the writer speaks of himself, expressly, as being at the time of writing a prisoner: three times in that to the Ephesians (3 : 1 ; 4 : 1 ; 6 : 20), once to the Colossians (4 : 18), and once to Philemon. (1 : 1.) Allusions in the letter to the Philippians imply the same fact, as respects the condition of the writer. In one place (1 : 13), he speaks of his "6o;kZs," as having become manifest in Christ throughout the whole Praetorian guard" (Revised Version, "Prsetorium," in the margin); while in another (4 : 22) where he mentions "Caesar's household," we are made to understand bj' his "bonds," not only imprisonment, but imprisonment where his influence was felt in the Imperial Court; in other words, at Home. The four epistles afford evidence, also, of having been written so nearly at the same time as to have been sent, three of them at least, to those for whom they were intended by the same i)ersons ; to the Ephesians by T3'chicus (6 : 21, 22), to the Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus (4 : 7-9), to Phi- lemon by Onesimus again. Although the Epistle to the Philippians was sent by another hand, that of Epaphroditus, still the evident condition of the writer is so much the same as in the other cases, that its composition under the same circumstances seems the only right conclusion. That this imprisonment was at Rome is matter of general agreement among writers upon these epistles, although some attempt has been made to show that it was at Cesarea, and during the time of Paul's waiting in that city, pending the arrival of the new Pro- curator, Porcius Festus. The effort to establish this, however, is a forced one, and in the opinion of good judges, far from successful. One can hardly help .sympathizing, indeed, with the "surprise" of Archdeacon Farrar ("Life and Work of St. Paul," p. 591, note), that such a critic as Meyer should accept this view. The mention of "Caesar's household," from converts in which Paul sends greetings to the Philippians, and by which can in no way, though one German critic, Bottger, strangely argues for this, be intended the palace of Herod in Cesarea; the presence with him of such brethren as Tychicus, Onesimus, Marcus, Epaphras, and Jesus Justus, who are nowhere spoken of as with him at Cesarea, and very unlikely to have been so ; the desire expressed by him in one place that he might have utterance given him so as to open his mouth boldly, to make known the raj'stery of the gospel (Eph. 6 : 19), implying opportunity for such utterance like that allowed him at Rome, but not so far as appears in the city of his earlier imprisonment : — in fact, what may be termed "the local coloring" in all four of these epistles is such as to compel the conclusion that only a decided tendency toward what Farrar calls "hypercritical ingenuity" could make one satisfied with any other 3 4 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS, theory of location for the iiuprisonment during which they were written than that which phices it in tlie imperial city itself Of the duration of this imprisonment, and of the occupation of the illustrious prisoner while it lasted, we learn from the concluding words of the "Acts" : "And Paul dwtlt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, no man forbidding him." As to the date of his arrival in Rome, and so that at which his two years of captivity began, we are to note that his departure from Cesarea occurred upon the arrival in that city of Porcius Festus "in Felix's room" as Procurator of Judea. This has been shown to be in the year A. D. 60 (Wieseler, quoted by Rev. Gr. Lloyd Davies). In the autumn of that year those who were to conduct Paul to Rome, as a prisoner, sailed with him from Cesarea. In the spring of the following year, A. D. 61, he arrived in Rome, and the two years of his imprisonment began, closing, it is thought, in the spring of the year A. D. 63. At this point, our certain knowledge of him ceases, save that mention is made by writers such as Clemens, " the disciple and com- panion of Paul," by the " Canon of Muratori," and by Eusebius, of his release from this imprisonment, his subsequent missionary journej's "to the boundary of the West," and his martyrdom under Nero. It was during this latter period, supposed to be within the dates A. D. 63 and A. D. 68, that the two epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus were written ; the second to Timothy being last of all these productions of the Great Apostle. (See Hackett's " Commentary on the Acts " in this series, p. 325.) These four epistles of the Captivity, with the study of one of which we are to be occupied in the pages following this introduction, derive from the circumstances under which they were written an individuality quite as marked as one discovers in their con- tents. The author of them is not now, as in the case of so many other of these remark- able productions, actively pursuing his missionary journey from city to city, or amidst the activities and anxieties of his daily ministry at Corinth or Athens or Philippi. We picture him in the hired lodgings at Rome, which he had been permitted to occupy, instead of any one of the prisons there, such as that which tradition assigns to him in his second imprisonment, and from which he went forth to his death. He enjoys, it is true, a measure of freedom not commonly allowed to prisoners, yet is in one way never permitted, by night or by day, to forget the fact of his real condition. The hand with which these letters were written wore, during the whole two years of his captivity, a chain, the other end of which was fastened to the left hand of the soldier who guarded him. This unwelcome attendance was never under any circumstances intermitted, and the fact of it lends genuine pathos to those places in his letter to the Ephesians, where, in speaking of himself as "the prisoner of Jesus Christ," or, "prisoner in the Lord," he uses the Greek word 6 ieo-fno?, which means, " one bound with a chain." Apart from this, we find the tedium of his captivity relieved in ways which almost surprise us. The "Caesar" to whom he had " appealed" was that Nero whose name in history is the synonym of brutal tyranny. This bad man had not yet arrived at that extreme in degrading personal vices and utterly heartless cruelty which he was soon to reach, but he was well on the way thither. He had recently put to death his own mother, Agrippina ; he had become otherwise a terror and a horror to those nearest his person ; he had dismissed from his counsels the only reputable men who had remained there, his teacher, the philosophical Seneca, and the Prfetorian Prefect Burrus, and had sur- rendered himself wholly to the guidance of a man almost as despicable as himself, Tigil- INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 5 linus. What Rome was under such a "Caesar" it is not diflBcult to imagine. That one like Paul should have passed these two years of his captivity there in such vicinity to the court as to win converts in the imperial household itself, and still with so little of moles- tation, and so much freedom of opportunity for "teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ," seems remarkahle. And the more so as it was by command of this same emperor that, a few years later, he was to suffer a martyr's death. However we account for it all, on the ground of Nero's preoccupation with other things, or want of knowledge of either the apostle or the causes of his imprisonment, or general indiiference at the time to matters of religion, we can at least see in it a divine ordering of ev^ents so as that the church of later ages should not miss that treasure of spiritual instruction and stimulus and comfort which these Epistles of the Captivity sup- ply. His own sense of something like this, the apostle intimates wliere he speaks of him- self as " the prisoner of Jesus Christ" (3 : 1) — not Nero's, but Christ's ; and with a mission even in this regard as distinct, as clear, as inspiring as when called into Macedonia, or when standing before his audience on Mars Hill at Athens. Of this we become the more conscious as we study these epistles themselves, espe- cially the two of them which so remarkably resemble each other, and which diflfer in some respects so widely from all other of Pauls writings — those to the Ephesians and the Colossians. With the former of these we are now to be concerned in the pages which follow. II. EPHESUS AND THE CHURCH IN THAT CITY. Next to Jerusalem and Antioch, Ephesus holds the most conspicuous place in the very earliest annals of Christianity. As the scene of Paul's labors during "the space of three years ; " as the site of the most important of those "seven churclies of Asia," to which John wrote from Patmos ; as the centre of Asian Christianity during all the early centuries, as it had long been for the same wide and populous region the centre of Pagan power, and culture, and corruption, Ephesus, after Jerusalem and Antioch had lost the prominence in Christian progress which they originally enjoyed, long held a place second only to Rome itself Of the city, as Paul found it, Farrar says ("Life and Work of St. Paul," p. 356) : " It was more Hellenic than Antioch, more Oriental than Corinth, more populous than Athens, more wealthy and more refined than Thessalonica, more skeptical and more super- stitious than AncjTa or Pessinus. "' That temple of Diana, which was the chief ornament of the city, was also the chief centre of everj' manner of corruption. "Just as the mediseval sanctuaries," saj'S Farrar, "attracted all the scum and villainy, all the cheats and debtors and murderers of the country round, and inevitablj' pauperized and degraded the entire vicinity — ^just as the squalor of the lower purlieus of Westminster to this day is accounted for by the direct affiliation to the crime and wretchedness which shel- tered itself from punishment or persecution under the shadow of the Abbe)' — so the vicinity of the great temple of Diana reeked with the congregated pollutions of Asia." The temple enjoyed what was termed the right of asylum, where criminals of every class found shelter against arrest or punishinent, a circumstance which, while it enhanced the fame of this celebrated shrine, was a source of active moral contagion of the worst kind. Paul appears to have been drawn to this city as the centre of his own labors for a considerable period, partly by its leading position among the cities of Asia Minor, partly by the fact that he found " a great door and efifectual open to " him there (1 Cor. 16 : y), 6 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. although at the same time there were " many adversaries." A stronghold of the most corrupting forms of Paganism, it was at the same time a centre of commerce, of litera- ture, and of learning, with a name famous in the history of Grecian art and Grecian philosophy. Finding some there imperfectly instructed, and knowing only the baptism of John, yet favorably disposed to Christianity, he had, in these, first-fruits of his own labor in the Lord. With these twelve as fellow-laborers, he began preaching, first in the synagogue of the Jews, then "in the school of one Tyrannus," while the attestations of divine power in the working of miracles gave his word great eiFect. "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." The storm of opposition which subsequently arose, and the circumstances of peril amidst which his own work in Ephesus came to an end, naturally helped to invest his recollection of this period in his ministry with interest, and to keep alive sympathy and concern on behalf of the church he had planted there. Of this the Epistle to the Ephesians aiFords example and illustration. He seeks to fortify them in knowledge and conviction of those Christian truths which are at once most fundamental and most inspiring. To this he adds warnings and injunctions in re- gard to duties of the Christian life in various relations, put in a form to suggest how fully he had in nnnd the peculiar surroundings and exposures of those to whom he wrote. It is a notable fact that the vivid and impressive picture of the Christian sol- dier clad in "the whole armor of God," which has so often been studied and applied in connection with the perils to which believers are exposed in a world abounding in temptation, occurs in this Epistle, addressed to a church whose liabilities in that regard were so peculiar. From all these circumstances the message "to the angel of the church in Ephesus " from John in Patmos (Eev. 2:17), first of these addresses to the seven churches, draws a peculiarity of interest which may prepare us for a more interested study also of the Epistle now before us. III. AUTHORSHIP OF THE EPISTLE. That a question as to the authorship of this Epistle should have arisen amongst critics may well seem remarkable. Either it must have been written by "Paul, an apostle," who is announced as its author in the opening words, or it is a forgery. If a forgery, it is certainly a most surprising one. Imitation of an author's style is compara- tively easy, especially when there are characteristic peculiarities or mannerisms ; although actual success, even in such cases, is one of the rarest incidents in literary history. In the present case, the question as to style is the least difficult of all. The strange thing would be, as Farrar observes in writing upon the subject, that one whose purpose was "to deceive the church and the world," should have "poured forth truths so exalted, and moral teaching so pure and profound." This, too, we may add, with so many indica- tions of the deepest sincerity, and at times such intensity of emotion. Added to this is the fact that no critic has attempted to suggest any real author other than the apostle, or to explain how it could be that a man in that age capable of writing an epistle second to none in the indications it afibrds of the highest intellectual and spiritual gifts, yet was never so conspicuous in any other way as to be known even by his name. The two critics whose denial of Paul's authorship of this Epistle has attracted most attention are De Wotte and Baur. The chief grounds urged by the former may be thus stated. ]. The resemblances noticed between this Epistle and that to the Colossians, suggesting, as is urged, the likelihood of the former being partly a co])y and partly an imitation of the latter. To which it may be replied, that the difi"ereuces between the two INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 7 are quite as noticeable as the resemblances, while these differences exist in the case of those peculiarities which are most characteristic of each ; also, that there can be nothing remarkable in the fact that, written so nearly at the same time and under the same cir- cumstances, there should be in these two epistles occasional use of the same phraseology, or even here and there almost identity in both thought and expression. 2. The second of De Wette's grounds of objection is what is claimed as unlike Paul, in the diction, and even in the teaching of the Ejiistle. It is certainly a hard measure for an author if he can claim proprietorship in his own work neither because in it he is like, nor because he is unlike himself The two points of objection are certainly not consistent each with the other, and may be treated as rendering us the service of mutually supplying all the really needed answer to either. Baur, in what he has to say upon the subject, dwells much upon certain words and allusions in the Epistle which he interprets as having reference to Gnostic and other heresies that appeared only after the death of this apostle. Such words and allusions are very few in number, and by no means necessarily refer to heresies of any kind, although in the Epistle to the Ccjlossians such reference is mor^ evident. But even if the fact be as supposed, any resemblances in words or phrases used to those customary later in heretical writers maj', as Eadie suggests, as well be due to imitations of Scripture phraseology on the part of these writers, which, indeed, is known to have been their practice. "The Gnosticism of the second century," saj's Dr. Eadie, "was not wholly unchristian, either in idea or in nomenclature, but it took from Scripture whatever in thought or expression suited its specious tlieosophy, and borrowed such materials to a large extent from the New Testament. Such a procedure may be plainly proved. The same process has been repeated in various forms, and in more recent times, in Germany itself Tlie inference is not," he adds, " as these critics hold, that the epistles to Colosse and Ephesus are the product of Gnosticism in array against Ebionitism, but only that the Gnostic sophists gilded their speculations with biblical phraseology." It is surely unnecessary for us to occupy more space than we have now done with this example of a method in criticism whose achievements have been so futile, and whose real claim to attention, never great, is now scarcely appreciable. It would be difficult to name any one of the writings of the Great Apostle which in its substance, and diction, and spiritual tone offers less opportunity for such a theory of authorship as these critics have proposed, than the ICpistle to the Ephesians. It should be added that until these late years the Pauline authorship of the Epistle was never questioned in any quarter, the testimony of primitive Christianity in that regard being absolutely unanimous. IV. TO WHOM ADDRESSED. In two very ancient manuscripts, the Sinaitic and the Vatican, both belonging to the middle of the fourth century, and in one other of much later date, the first verse in the Epistle is found with the words " in Ephesus " (o- e'^e.ra., in the Greek) omitted. Passages occur, also, in certain of the oldest Christian writers which by some critics are interpreted as implying that in the copies of the Epistle used by them, these two words are not found. Others read these passages differently, and at most the sense, in so far as this point is con- cerned, is doubtful. Upon the other hand, in the second of the two manuscripts just named, the Vatican, the words («" ««><))) are given in the margin, perhaps as suggesting that thej' ought to be supplied in the text, while in the Sinaitic manuscrii)t a similar marginal entry appears, though considerably later in date than the manuscript. The Alexandrian manu- 8 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. script, belonging to the fifth century, has the words in the text itself. The same is true of all the old versions, while such writers as Ignatius, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, — all of them writing before the close of the second century, — Tertullian, Cyprian ; all of these, save the first, certainly, and Ignatius himself probably, quote or otherwise speak of the Epistle as written to the Ephesians. The two ancient writers whose authority is by some critics quoted as against the received theory that the Epistle was addressed to the church in Ephesus, are Origen and Basil the Great. The single passage taken from each of these writers is an example of the fanciful interpretations so frequent in both, and especially Origen. We may quote these passages as translated by Eadie, in the introduction to his "Commentary on the Ephesians. ' ' That in Origen is as follows : ' ' We found the phrase ' to the saints that are, ' occurring only in the ease of the Ephesians, and we inquire what its meaning may be. Observe, then, whether, as He who revealed His name to Moses in Exodus calls His name I AM, so they who are partakers of the I AM are those who be, being called out of non- existence into existence — for God, as Paul himself says, chose the things that are not that he might destroy the things that are." Basil has a similar conceit in the passage quoted from him. Paul, he saj'S, "in writing to the Ephesians, . . . calls them in a special sense those who are, saying, To the saints WHO are {roU oSo-i)^ and the faithful in Christ Jesus. For thus those before us have transmitted it, and we have found it in the ancient copies." A very great deal of critical ingenuity has been expended upon these two passages. Considering them without any attempt of that kind, we find these points, at least, very evident: 1. That both Origen and Basil represent the Epistle as written "to the Ephe- sians," since they both speak of it in that way. 2. Tiiat the meaning they seek to find in such an expression as " the saints that are," is wholly fanciful, and has no place in the present argument. 3. That how much is imported by their testimony to the presence or absence of the words in dispute in ancient copies of the Epistle is wholly uncertain. Even supposing that copies existed in which the words were wanting, that might be accounted for otherwise than upon the theory that Paul himself did not place them in the Epistle as written by himself, while the fact that both Origen and Basil nevertheless treat the Epistle as written to the Ephesians, shows that they themselves were aware of suflB- ciently good reasons why it ought to be regarded as so written and addressed. Those who maintain that the Epistle was not intended for the Church in Ephesus, nor written expressly to that church, assume to find an argument in the fact that the Epistle does not have near its close those salutations and other expressions of Christian afi'ection addressed to individuals, which are noticed in other of Paul's letters to churches. This is thought to be remarkable in view of Paul's peculiar relations to the Ephesian Church, as one founded under his own personal ministry, and whose love for it was so touchingly shown in his parting interview with the elders of this church at Troas, while on his way "bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem," knowing that "bonds and afflictions abided him there." It is hence inferred that whatever may have been the destination of this Epistle, that desti- nation can not have been Ephesus, at least Ephesus exclusively. Upon this we may observe : 1. That the salutations and greetings in question are found in letters of Paul to churches which cannot have been, as a body, known to him as the Ephesian Church was, and such salutations were, therefore, naturally sent to those amongst them whom he did thus know, and whom he had personal reasons for remembering in this way. Such is the case with the Epistle to the Ilomans, the first to the Corinthians, and that to the Colos- INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 9 sians. 2. These personal salutations, however, are not so common as those who urge this argument would imply. In First and Second Thessalonians, in the second to the Cor- inthians, in Galatians, the salutation is wholly general, just as we find it here in Ephesians, the closing verses of which have very warm expressions of Christian attachment, although addressed to the church as such, rather than to individuals. 3. It is easy to see why, in a case like this church at Ephesus, Paul should not single out individuals for express aifectionate mention. The entire membership were in a like relationship with him as the minister by whom they had been made to know the gospel and to accept it with all its precious hopes. Even if he had no reason to fear that jealousies might be awakened by special messages to individuals, he would doubtless feel in himself that whatever message of affection he had for one he had for all. The whole Epistle is, in fact (4), pervaded by a tone of personal interest, and seems so much suggested by what he thoroughly knew of those to whom he was writing, that from its first word to its last, it might very properly be regarded as expressing to each member of the Ephesian Church, and to all of them, his love for them as his spiritual children, and his desire for their welfare in all things. We shall not think it necessary, in view of all, to dwell upon the theory proposed by some and advocated by such writers as Conybeare and Howson, and others, that the Epis- tle probably had originally the form of a circular letter, being intended for several churches, including Ephesus ; that it was sent by Tychicus in a form to be addressed to either the church at Ephesus, the church at Laodicea, or at Philadelphia as delivered by him, and that this may account for the appearance of the words in Ephesus {iv ec^ttro.) in some, its omission in others, and also for what seems to have been a statement of the heresiarch Marcion, that the Epistle was really written to the Laodiceans. There seems to be no occasion for what appears so much like an evasion of the difiiculty, and for which there is no real support. The sum of all may perhaps be thus stated : One very ancient manuscript, and all of later date save one, contain the words in question. All the ancient versions, including the Syriac and the Latin, have them. All of the most ancient Christian writers, includ- ing Origen and Basil themselves, speak of the Epistle as written to the Ephesians, while only these two make any allusion to copies of manuscripts in which the words did not appear. The internal evidence found in the general tenor and spirit of the Epistle justi- fies the view that it was written to the Ephesians, and to them was addressed, as in the case of other churches named, as this one is, in the opening words. Of recent critics and commentators who upon grounds like these just indicated regard the words " in Ephesus" {if ie(rm) as belonging to the original text, we name Meyer, Davidson, Stuart, Alexan- der, Alford, and Eadie. Ellicott, although he regards the Epistle as written to the Ephe- sians and so addressed, thinks it very probable that it was intended also for other churches in the neighborhood of that metropolitan city, and was for this reason made more general in form than was usual with this apostle. This is not to view it as a circular letter in any proper sense, and may probably be accepted as the correct view. The words (iv (e(Tw) Ellicott " retains as genuine. " V. PECULIARITIES OF STYLE. It is agreed among writers on this Epistle who accept it as genuine, that the Epis- tle to the Ephesians excels all other writings of this apostle alike in the comprehensive- ness of its doctrinal content and in the sublimity of its style. Alford speaks of it as made, in this way, "by far the most difficult of all the writings of St. Paul." Elsewhere he 10 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. adds: "As in the Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Colossians, the difficulties lie for the most part at or near the surface, a certain degree of study will master, not indeed the mysteries of redemption which are treated of, but the contextual coherence and the course of the argument ; or, if not so, will at least serve to point out to every reader where the hard texts lie, and to bring out into relief each point with which he has to deal ; whereas here the difficulties lie altogether beneath the surface, are not discernible by the cursory reader, who finds all very straightforward and simple." The student of this Epistle, he saj's further on, " must not expect to go over his ground rapidly ; must not be disappointed if the week's end finds him still on the same paragraph or even on the same verse, weighing and judging." The two Epistles, to the Ephesians and Colossians, are often compared with each other, and between them there are indeed marked resemblances. Evidently, they were both written very nearly at the same time, and in much the same state of mind and feel- ing. They are dissimilar, however, through difierences both in the purpose of the writing and in the circumstances of those addressed. In writing to the Colossians, Paul appears to have a distinct purpose to gain ; a correction of certain speculative tendencies beginning there to appear, more especially a tendency to exaggeration of certain outward observ- ances, such as superstitious distinctions of meats and drinks, feast days, "new moons and Sabbaths"; these being partly remnants of heathen, partly of Judaic, notions of what is essential to religion. In contrast with all this, he sets before them the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all fullness dwells, and in whom they are to find summed up all the great and precious realities of faith. Thus, in the doctrinal part of the Epistle he dwells upon the person of Christ as "the image of the invisible God," as he in whom all things were created, as head over all things to the church, and as the substance and fulfillment of all types ; while to him all manner of outward observance is intended to lead us in faith, and hope, and obedience. It may be true, also, as some think, that incipient heresies of an- other sort had appeared at Colosse, germs of the later Gnosticism ; that to these things the writer refers where he warns against those who would " beguile " them " with enticiiig words," or "spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit." The purpose of the Colos- sian Epistle, at all events, is distinctively practical, although in seeking to realize this purpose, the writer touches upon some of the loftiest teachings of the Christia^n faith. It is thought by many, and is probably the fact, that the Epistle to the Colossians was written first of the two. In the writing of it, thought and feeling are kindled to a flame. Calling to mind, then, those in another city of Asia Minor, amongst whom he had passed longer periods of personal ministry than in any other case, cherishing toward them a measure of affectionate confidence which encouraged the opening to them of all his mind and all his heart, he resumes his pen in a letter to them, in which, setting forth from those more elementary teachings which he had given to them in his personal ministry, he leads them out in a wider range of revealed truth than he had attempted, either in this case, or in that of any other church. It is "the ms'stery of Chri.st" (ch. 3 : 4) in a very special sense, with which he deals ; a revelation of the mind, and purpose, and act of God in the great plan of human redemption in no other instance so fully set forth. The style partakes very much of the nature of the subject. Something of the same peculiarity appears also in the letter to the Colossians, and is due there to much the same cause. No one writes in this manner who is not completely carried away by his theme. There is no attempt, at least in the doctrinal portion of the Epistle, at anything like a concise and orderly construction of the sentences. In repeated instances (as in 2 : 1-4 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 11 and 3 : 1-14), a thought is taken up and the thread of it immediately dropped, while another, though a related thought, comes in, parenthetically, and commands attention, till further on, though with very little of orderly readjustment, the first one is resumed. Profound truth, as related to purposes of God in the eternity past, and the person and office of Christ in the great work of redemption, is put in the form of rapid statement, suggesting to the cursory reader, as AH'ord intimates, scarcely more than a hint of the immensity of the conception or the wide-reaching relations of the doctrine implied. We find, as Dr. Ilodge says, ''clause linked with clause," as one thought suggests another which cannot wait for utterance, till the writer "is forced to stop and begin his sen- tences anew." To appreciate the reason of this, we must see the writer of the Pipistle in his forced comparative seclusion, and reahze how the fervor of his soul, which had been wont to find such ample expression in the ceaseless labors of his ministri' from city to city and from continent to continent, is now limited to such casual opportunities as transient visitors might afford him, and to communications, like this, with those in distant cities, whose spiritual welf;ire was still with him a constant desire and prayer. Meditating thus upon the great themes of his ministry, his soul is filled with them, and when he takes his pen to write the rush of thought and feeling carries him away. It is quite possible, besides, that the peculiarity of style here mentioned is occasioned in a degree by the fact that he writes with a chained hnnd, the guarding soldier seated near, and perhaps with other things in the surroundings to make deliberate and careful composition a matter of difficultj-. The Epistle to the Ephesians becomes thus a somewhat striking e.xaniple of the manner in which inspiration not only allows, but uses, peculiarity of character and tem- perament in the writer, and as well the influences of time and place. It is possible that under no other circumstances would the apostle have found his mind led forth into such a field of inspired meditation or have gained such conceptions of the kingdom of God in its relation to God's own redeemed people. The language he uses has in consequence a peculiar intensity. Five times in the Epistle and twice in the same chapter he employs a phrase ( toIs tVo vpoWoi?) which it seems impossible to render adequately from the Greek into English. It is jmperfectly translated "in the heavenly places" ; or, as by some writers, though with a meaning too vague, "the heavenlies " ; and in which it almost seems as if the distinction of earthly and heavenly had faded away, .so that when he speaks of what is now in possession, it were already heaven begun, even by him.self, "the prisoner of Jesus Christ" ; or, as if in other connections of the same phrase, the temporal were already lost in the spiritual. We find him also with great frequency using such intense expressions as "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" ; "God, who is rich in mercy"; "exceeding riches of his grace"; "grant j-ou according to the riches of his glory " — the Greek word, (ttAoCtos or ttAouotios), meaning " riches, " wealth," "fullness," " plenitude," becoming thus with him a fiivorite one for expressing his sense of the wonderful kindness of God to redeemed men. Tlie word for "grace" (xdpt«) occurs thirteen times; and may, as Farrar saj'S, be considered "the keynote of the Epis- tle." The word for "mystery" occurs five times; in no other Epistle more than twice. Another significant peculiarity is the frequent occurrence of compounds with the Greek preposition for "with" ((rii), expressing participation, or community of po.ssession. We find it in such words and phrases as "made alive," or '''quickened together tci'th Chri'st.'' '' raised up together'' with him, "" m^Aa wn sit together \n heavenly places with Christ," '''fellow-citizens with the saints, " " bnilded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit," ''fellow-heirs,'' " fellow -members of the body," "fellow-partakers of the prom- 12 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAKS. ise" — all of which represent a leading tliought in the Epistle, which is the union of all believers in a common faith, and hope, and calling, and especially their oneness in Christ. In a word, we may say that while this Epistle has qualities of style common to this apostle's writings, it has characteristics of its own, due in part to the subject, and in part to the conditions under which it was produced. It should be added, however, that neither the glow of feeling inspired by the subject, nor the peculiar circumstances of the writer, is allowed to mar the logical connection of the general argument, or lessen the force with which all is made to bear upon the special purpose in writing. VI. SUBSTANCE OF THE EPISTLE IN A GENERAL VIEW. Although the Epistle to the Ephesians deals so much with doctrine, it is still not a doctrinal treatise, but an Epistle, with the characteristics proper to such. That personal element which gives to epistolary writing its distinctive quality, pervades it, in spite of the fact that direct personal mention, or even express allusion, is less frequent than in most of Paul's letters to the churches. About the middle of the fourth chapter, the apostle turns directly to those whom up to that point he has addressed more in the form of general instruction, and from thence on to the end of the Epistle appeals to them in counsel and exhortation, covering the various relations of the Christian life, doubtless with adaptations to what both he and they knew of their peculiar circumstances. Indeed, he had twice before seemed about to break oif the strain of high doctrinal exhortation upon which he had entered at the outset of the Epistle, and to begin upon that more practical appeal. Tlie third chapter opens with, "For this cause 1 Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, to you Gentiles," seeming as if some matter more directly personal were to follow. Then the fourth chapter itself begins, " I therefore, I the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called," passing away, liowever, as before, from that more personal theme to dwell upon the divine provision made in this behalf With the seventeenth verse of this fourth chapter he enters fully upon that which he has clearly had in view all along, making it evident that this " knowl- edge in the mystery of Christ" which he had been unfolding, is just intended to make faith more ample, and life more pure and true. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that the theme of the Epistle, and the writer's method in treating it, are both implied in the third and fourth verses of the first chapter : "Blessed be the God and P'ather of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ : even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love." The three first chapters of the Epistle, and the fourth as far as the seventeenth verse, are an expansion of the doctrinal thought in these two verses ; while what follows from the middle of the fourth chapter to the end is devoted to showing how the great motive to holy and blameless conduct in all life's relations, so brought to view, should prompt and rule each Christian believer. As linking, so to speak, these two main divisions of the whole theme, we have what is contained inverses 3-16 in chapter 4. It is there shown that in the gracious provi- sion made, there is adaptation to the peculiar needs of men in this world. When the Redeemer, his ministry and suffering ended, went up on high, leading captivity captive, he received gifts for men. It was included in the functions of his great office as Redeemer that he should be also in a certain living relation with his redeemed people ; not only should impartations of spiritual life flow to them through him, but it was his to endow INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 13 them, as the church bought with his own blood, his "body," with ordinances and offices suited to promote in every way their personal growth and their efficiency as instruments of grace and salvation to the world. Thus, in some sense, we have, along with the doctrine of Redemption, the doctrine of the Church, the purpose of both being, as said at the beginning, '' that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love." Alike the doctrine of redemption and the doctrine of the church are set forth in a way to some extent peculiar to this Epistle. We have, indeed, the church elsewhere spoken of as " the body of Clirist," and offices in the church, with the duties appropriate to each, are in other places named with much more of detail than is attempted here. But in this fourth chapter of our Epistle, the church — not simply nor chiefly the local church, but the church in its largest spiritual sense — is put in a relation with Christ peculiar to this one of all Paul's epistles. The sixteenth verse of the chapter, very difficult of precise exposition, is a wonderful representation of the absolute dependence of each individual Christian, and of the whole spiritual body as such, upon " him who is the head, even Christ." Then what appears of the ultimate unity of this spiritual body is found, as we dwell upon it, to have a wonderful scope of meaning. What is said in ver. 14 of troubled agitations under opposing winds of doctrine, while it has an application to each individual church and each individual Christian, looks in its largest meaning beyond all that is individual and special ; it forecasts centuries of stormy division among those claiming to be the followers of the one Lord, anticipating, indeed, all that which for us is now history, and that which for those living after us may be history again. In ver. 13, however, we have foreshadowed that for which we have a right to look in this kingdom of God among men — a coming at last to " the unity of faith, and of the knowl- edge of the Son of God, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." However it may be elsewhere in the world, in the kingdom of God division struggles ever toward unity, and the time will come when unity, and no longer division, shall be the law of that kingdom. Foretokens of that final issue already appear. This doctrine of the church may be said to stand as the corollary of that doctrine of redemption which occupies so much of the whole space in this Epistle. As already inti- mated, this doctrine as unfolded, has its ground in what is said in the fourth verse of the first chapter: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world." What is said more than this is concerned entirely with the fulfillment of that gracious election, so truly divine in its motive, and so complete in its operation. All that we realize in redemption comes to us just in the fulfillment of that purpose. But what is peculiar in the view the apostle here takes of a subject which in other wavs he treats of in other epistles, is intimated in the ninth and tenth verses of the same chapter, where we are told how God has " made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to the good pleasure which he purposed in him [that is, in Christ] unto a dispensation of the full- ness of times, to gum up all thiiiffs in Christ, the things in the heaven, and things upon the earth." This is the central thought of all which is said here upon this great theme of human redemption — " to sum up all things in Christ." The writer returns to it again and again. It is in reference to it, chiefly, that he makes those Gentile Christians at Ephesus so fully aware of "the grace of God " shown to them, in that the full treasure of this gracious provision had been made as free to them as to God's covenant people themselves. It is also what lends peculiar significance to that which is said of the ulti- mate unity of the church. It is to be unity in him. Christ is one day to fully and gloriously appear before th.e universe of men and angels in that transcendant personality 14 INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. wliich belongs to him as the Redeemer of men and the Head over all things to the church. That is the thought which there, in his Roman prison, has seized upon and fired the whole soul of the writer of this Epistle, and the thought which imparts to what he liere says such intensity of feeling and such dignity of utterance. In proportion as we realize this, and in proportion as we enter into the substance and spirit of what we find here written, shall we feel the force of the appeal based upon this view of what our redemption imports, that we do indeed "walk worthy of the calling wherewith we have been called." VII. ANALYSIS OF THE EPISTLE MORE IN DETAIL. It is quite surely to be gathered from the tenor of this Epistle, that the church in Ephesus was chiefly composed of Gentile converts. There were also Jews, as may be inferred from the fact that Paul's own preaching there had been at first in " the synagogue. " Yet, as the narrative in Acts (19 : 8, 9) seems to imply, he found his own countrymen less accessible than the Gentile population, and so he left the synagogue, and we then find him reasoning daily in the school of one Tyrannus. Whatever may have been the relative proportion of Jews and Gentiles in the church, it is to the latter that he seems to address himself chiefly in this Epistle — a fact to be borne in mind in the study of it. His desire evidently is to strongly impress these Gentile believers, (1) with the general truth, that salvation, whether of Jew or Gentile, is a work of divine grace, executing a divine pur- pose ; (2) with the truth that the whole scheme of redemption, whether as respects its original purpose, its method, or its result, centers wholly in Christ ; and, (3) with the truth that they, as Gentiles, were under an especial obligation of gratitude for this grace, since the opening to them of this door of mercy was the receiving of them to all that special favor which had once been given to God's covenant people, with every middle wall of partition now broken down. In the light of these considerations the practical lessons and appeals in the closing chapters of the Epistle are pressed home. The general doctrine of the divine purpose of redemption, and the election of a redeemed people, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, occupies the first fourteen verses of the first chapter. This is followed to the end of the chapter by expressions of thanksgiving in behalf of those addressed, that in the grace of redemp- tion they had been made participants, with the prayer that they might be enabled, by divine help, to enter into the full realization and experience of the grace so mani- fested ; especially realizing how pre-eminent in all is the place filled by him who is the Redeemer. With a view to impress this truth more strongly, in the opening verses of the second chapter (ver. 1-2), he reminds them of the condition in which the grace of God had found them, the same essentially (ver. 3, 10) as that in which those to whom the gospel first came had been found, while in the " quickening " of the new birth both Jew and Gentile had experienced a like blessing and a common joy. Then in the remainder of the chapter he dwells upon the spiritual union into which Jew and Gentile are brought, in the expe- rience of the same grace, of a common faith and a common hope. In chapter 3 this of which he had been speaking is dwelt upon as that "m5'stery of Christ" which had been hidden through ages, adumbrated in types and divinely fore- shadowed in prophecy, yet now clearly and fully revealed. He speaks of himself (ver. V-9) as having been specially " made a minister ' ' of that revelation, more particularly as it afiFected the Gentiles themselves. Following this, again, with an earnest prayer that they INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 15 might come into rich and full possession of this blessing, and especially might come to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Chapter 4, as fiir as to the seventeenth verse, is occupied with that communion of saints into which believers, Jew and Gentile, are brought. The.v have "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." They are in all tlieir wide dispersion, all their long succession, from age to age, " one body," with Christ as the Head, from whom proceeds to every member and through all channels of spiritual vitality, the one life. To promote this unity, with growth to the stature of the fullness of Christ, and to endow them for their world-wide ministry, are given to them, as gifts of the ascended Lord, apostles and prophets, pastors and teachers, and evangelists. The weighty inference from all comes out in the seventeenth verse : "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord [a solemn adjuration], that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk." To the end of the chapter this appeal is set down in a vivid con- trast of that which these Ephesian Christians had all about them, in a great and rich and wicked heathen city, with that which was to be expected of them as having "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." The fifth chapter, and the sixth as far as the eleventh verse, deal with those several relations of life in which it is required that the spirit and law of the Christian profession shall thus be fulfilled. It is noticeable how in all these relations, of husband and wife, of parent and child, of master and servant, there is constant reference to that which he has so copiously set forth in earlier parts of the Epistle. Tliis is not a mere morality which he enjoins. It is as "children of light" that we are to observe these things, walking in the new light shed upon the path of each redeemed one. It is as " filled with the Spirit," and as ourselves spiritual, that we utterly repudiate all " fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness." It is as seeing in Christ and the church a symbol of that most sacred of all human relations, upon which it is sacrilege for any to lay unholy hands, or to treat it with levity, that husbands and wives are to have mutual regard for what this relation implies. It is with that "first commandment with promise," ever in mind, that children are to reverence their parents, while parents are to rear their children " in the " nurture and admonition of the Lord." Servants are to render the service expected of them as "unto Christ," while masters are to remember that they also have a Master, even one in heaven, with whom is no respect of person. What a different thing from mere morality do the ethics of Christianity become in the handling of this Epistle ! Then at the eleventh verse comes the " Finally, my brethren." What a masterly picture is here given us of the Christian soldier, wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, " clad in the whole armour of God !" What a word is that in which he represents the whole idea of the steadfast Christian, faithful unto death — '^Standi" Called with such a calling, chosen for such a mission and such a destiny, God's redeemed one, fronting the world's wickedness, and the world's temptations, — what a noble picture he gives us of the steadfast Christian ! Writing from his Roman prison, every word is enforced by his own heroic example ; while in his closing words he becomes again tender and loving and prayerful, reaching out in his sym- pathies to all Christian believers throughout the world and throughout the ages : " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. ' ' THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. CHAPTER I. PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, aud to the faith- ful in Christ Jesus: 1 PAUL, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are ' at Ephesus, and the 1 Some very uiicieiil nutborities omit at Ephesus. Ch. 1 : 1, 2. The Salutation. 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Of the authors of these apostolical communica- tions to churches, to individuals, or to "the faithful" in general, Paul and Peter alone name themselves as apostles. James styles himself simply "the servant of Jesus Christ" ; Jude employs the same form of personal intro- duction, while John, save in his first epistle, where no form of the kind is employed, is "The Elder." The difference in this particu- lar ma\' be without significance save in the case of Paul, whose relation to the apostleship was peculiar by reason of the fact that he was not of the original twelve, and who had found occasion, especially in writing to the Gala- tians, to claim with emphasis his right of rec- ognition in this regard. He opens each of his epistles, accordingly, save those to the Philip- pians and the Thessaloiiians, with the same formula as here, more or less varied. We find also, in repeated instances, as in First and Second Corinthians, the Colossians, in Second Timothy, and here, the accompanying phrase, by the will of God, while in First Timothy this becomes, "according to the coinmand- ment of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus, our hope." The still more emphatic foriin used at the opening of Galatians is especially deserving of notice. Sometimes, too, in the body of the Epistle, mention is made of the writer's oflRcial position in this particular, as in Rom. 11 : 13; 1 Cor. 9: 1; 2 Cor. 12: 12; 1 Tim. 2:7. Of this peculiarity we need only say that it was very essential to the purpose of his mission that his full apostleship should have duo recognition, as being "through the will of God" in his special call, not less than as if he had been of those who "companied with" the original apostles, from the begin- ning. To the saints which are at Ephe- sus, As to the question whether this Epistle shall be viewed as addressed originally to the Ephesian Church, or to them in association with other churches in their neighborhood, we refer the reader to the "Introduction." Assum- ing the correctness of the conclusion there stated, we find no necessity for treating the text here as if, in the form of a circular letter, it must read, "to those who are saints," etc. The Epis.tle was undoubtedly sent to the church at Ephesus, as one of those to be addressed, and probably, from the importance of that city and the position of the church as founded by Paul himself and the scene of his labors for three eventful years, that to which it was first of all communicated. The word 'saints' is in the epistles, especially of Paul, used so often as to suggest that it may then have been well nigh as commonly employed to designate be- lievers in Christ, as the word "Christian" is now. This latter word occurs but three times in the New Testament, and only once as used by an apostle (i Peter* : i6), "if any man suffer as a Christian," the two other instances of its use being in the Acts (n : 26; 26:28), and in both cases by persons who were themselves not Christians. The mediiBval sense of the word "saints" must not be allowed to confuse its meaning here. It means simply consecrated persons; those given to the Lord as offerings of the sanctuar3' were anciently made, and in the same sense "holy" (ayCoi), save that, as will be noticed more fully hereafter, the character proper to such personal consecration is im- plied. And to the faithful in Christ Jesus. The Greek word for 'faithful,' Ellicott thinks, is " not here, in its general and cla.ssical sense, qui fidem prcestat,^^ equivalent to fidelit3^ "but its particular and theological sense, qui Jidem hnbet," faith itself in exercise: "a meaning," he adds, "which it indisputably bears in several passages in the New Testa- ment." Upon the other hand, Thaj^er, in hi.s "Lexicon of the New Testament," in.stances numerous places where the word is employed B 17 18 EPHESIANS. [Ch. I. 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, aiid/*(/;n the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Chris't, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings iu heaveuly ^tacei in Christ: 2 faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be Mhe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spirit- 1 Or, God and the Father. in the sense of "trusty," "faithful," one of them in this same Epistle (6 : 21) "faithful min- ister in the Lord"; although he quotes our present passage as an example of the meaning, "believing," "confiding," "trusting." The Revised Version, as will be seen, retains the translation ' faithful ' ; this, also, Alford pre- fers. The words 'in Christ Jesus' do not ap- pear to make it necessary that we dismiss this latter meaning as inadmissible; the same form of expression, with the Greek preposition (ei-, translated in), being frequently used in this Epistle, as in the place already noted (6 : 21), "faithful minister in the Lord," to indicate "the element, the life sphere," that relation, in other words, in which fidelity is exercised and shown. We own to a preference for this rendering of tiie word, and partly because of its more full expression of the apostle's mean- ing in characterizing those to whom he writes. The omission in Greek of the article before the word for 'faithful' brings the two clauses, 'saints which are at Ephesus' and 'faithful in Christ Jesus,' into close relation with each other. Perhaps, however, we may take the latter as comprehending along with those im- mediately addressed all those 'faithful in Christ Jesus' into whose hands the Epistle should come. 2. Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Eadie calls attention to the Chris- tian element in this " cordial and comprehen- sive" apostolical salutation, as "far more ex- pressive than the ancient classic formula." Claudius L^'sias (Acts 2.3: 26) "unto the most excellent governor" sends greeting; Paul to the Ephesians, ' Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ' ; a salutation and a benediction in one. Ellicott, in his note, while saying that "the suggestion of Stier," that the "grace" may refer to "saints" and "peace" to " faith- ful," "does not seem tenable," still thinks these words should "not be diluted into mere equivalents of the ordinary forms of saluta- tion." Attention should be given, also, to the association of 'the Lord Jesus Christ' with 'God our Father' as equally with him the source of grace and peace; benefits which, of the nature here intended, can be looked for, or expected, from no source less than divine. 3-8. Thanksgiving for the Election OF Grace, and for Redemption in Christ Jesus through Faith. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. A possible con- struction is: Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and tliis would per- haps on doctrinal grounds be preferred by those who find a difficulty in the expression, "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet this latter form unmistakably occurs in ver. 17 of this chapter, and is quite in harmony with words of our Lord in John 20 : 17: "I ascend unto my Father and to your Father, and to my God and your God"; also in his cry from the cross: " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " In both these places our Lord speaks distinctively in his human nature, and the form used need in no way embarrass our conception of him as also divine. What seems the more natural con- struction may therefore be retained without doctrinal difficulty. Dr. Boise, in his n(jte on the passage, seems to accept the usual render- ing, though he quotes Meyer and Ellicott as preferring the other. Taking the words as they stand, they may be quoted as an exam- ple of that usage, alike by our Lord and by his apostles, which makes available to us all the preciousness of that fellowship with us in suf- fering and in service, into which our Lord is brought by his real ])articipation with us in our human nature. Who hath blessed us. The juxtaposition of these two clauses, ' Blessed be God' and 'who hath blessed us,' brings to view a twofold usage of the emphatic word here that is somewhat difficult of clear dis- crimination. As applied to God, the word can only express the thanksgiving and the praise due to him from those who are made to know the perfections of his character, and are the recipients of his bounty. This is using Ch. I.] EPHESIANS. 10 4 According as he liatli chosen us in him before the foundation of the wurki, lliai we should be holy and without bhime before biiu in love: 4 ual blessing in the heavenly ^/«ce« in Christ: evea as lie chose ^us in hiiu before the foundation of the world, that' we should be holy and without blem- the word (eirAoyjjros) " blessed " in its more exact metinitig. It is a strong and fervent expres- sion of praise (euAoyia), whence our word "eulogy." Tlie verb, however (evKoyiu), has for one of its remoter meanings " to bestow blessings on," "to prosper," "to make iiap- py." (Thayer's "Lexicon of the New Testa- ment.") Thus the two clauses, 'Blessed be God,' 'who hath blessed us,' have a corre- spondence in meaning which justifies their significance in tiie present usage. They ex- press that reciprocal interchange in which God's people bring to him their offerings of praise and thanksgiving, having received from him gifts of such a nature as that in the pos- session and enjoyment of these they, in their degree, come to share in that which makes him the object of their praise. For these blessings so bestowed are spir- itual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. The expression 'heavenly places' should first be explained. No word for 'places' appears in tlie Greek, and so it is printed as supplied, alike in the Common Version and the Revision. Whether it is the true word for completing the sense may be doubtful, althougli to find a better one is not easy. The Greek word here and else- where in this Epistle rendered ' heavenly places' (eiroupafiots) is the same word which is found in John 3 : 12, where our Lord says to Nicodemus: "If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye be- lieve if I tell you of heavenly things (to t'jrou- pavca) ? " Again we find the word in Matt. 18: 3-5, "my heavenly Father" ; again in 2 Tim. 4:18, "unto his heavenly kingdom." Again, almost singularly, the word occurs near the close of our present Ejiistle (6:12), "spiritual wickedness in high places," as given in tlie Common Version ; "the spiritual hosts of wickedness in tlie heavenly places,'' as in the Revised Version. Other occurrences of the word in our Epistle are at 1 : 20, "at his right hand in the \\{i;\.\'oi\\y places" ; 2 : 6, " made ussit with him in the heavenly p/aces"; 3 : 10, "principalities and powers in tiie heav- enly places." A local meaning seems clearly implied in all tlicse instances. This local meaning, however, does not in all appear to govern the conception in the same degree. "Earthly things," those of which Jesus had been speaking to Nicodemus, concerning the new birth, etc., are by him put in contrast with "heavenly things," by which seems to be meant that higher range of revealed truiii which concerns itself more with things more distinctively "heavenly." The "heavenly kingdom" of which Paul writes to Timothy is that kingdom whicli has heaven for its cen- tre, and God as the ISovereign. Christ, at God's right hand in the "heavenly places," involves an idea more strictly local. But " spiritiial hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" must surely be understood in a way not to imply that there may be wickedness in heaven. Influenced by tills variety of usage, apparently, Farrar and Maurice prefer the ratlier vague rendering, "the heavenlies," for all these instances in our present Epistle; while tlie writer in Schaff's "Commentary," Dr. M. B. Riddle, concludes that the word must have "a local sense, but a broad and comprehensive one"; and for the passage now immediately under consideration quotes Braune, as follows: "Every spiritual blessing which we have received springs from a higher world, is to be sought in a heavenly region, and thence to be obtained." This expansioti of the local sense so as to comprehend the whole sphere of what is meant by 'spiritual blessings,' as found and realized 'in Christ,' may perhaps be accepted upon the whole as the best form in which to paraphrase a usage in the Greek for which we seem to have in English no entirely adequate expression. ,4. According as he hath chosen us in him. The two first words the Revised Version renders even as. Inasmuch as is sometimes preferred. The connection of the thought is veryclose. Theapostie, inspeakingof the 'spir- itual blessings' given and possessed ' in Christ,' lo(jks back into the eternity past, before the foundation of the world, and finds the bestowment of these blessings as secured for us in that act of electing grace by which Christ is 'chosen' for his own high office, and his people ' in him ' as their Representative and Head. The full force of the word for ' chosen,' is chosen out, making the act of choice more 20 EPHESIANS. [Ch. I. 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Clirist to himsell', according to the good pleasure ol his will, 5 ish before i him in love: liaving foreordained us into adoption as sons through jesus Clirist unto himself, according to the guoU pleasure of his will, '2 Or, him: having in love foreordained us. emphatic, and also individualizing it, as when our Lord chose his twelve apostles, one by one. That we should be holy and without blame before him. The word for 'holy' is to be taken here in a stronger sense than where it is used for a general designation of Cliristians as 'saints.' Tlm^.accompanying clause, 'be- fore him,' plainly implies that divine scrutiny which looks for perfection in character as alone pleasing to God. At the same time 'holy' and 'without blame' are not of identical meaning. They are, as Ellicott says, "positive and negative aspects of true Christian life." Of the word for 'holy,' Trench .says ("New Testament Synonyms, "p. 182) that, as we have already seen, "its fundamental idea is sepa- ration, and, so to speak, consecration and de- votion to the service of Deity. . . . But the thought lies very near, that what is set apart from the world and to God, should separate itself from the world's defilements, and should share in God's purity." Holiness implies, therefore, more than that we should be without actual fault, and so is the "positive aspect"' of perfect character. The "negative aspect," or freedom from fault, is implied in the phrase ' without blame.' What 'holy' and 'without blame' thus imply unfallen man would have been. That he may become this, redeemed man has been "chosen." It is, therefore, the ideal of our Christian profession. In love. Where to place these words, either in the pointing of the Greek text or in the translation, is among critics apparently undecided. Tischendorf so arranges the text as that 'in love' is connected with the words which begin the next verse: "Having in love predestinated us." The Revision, it will be seen, following the text of Westcott and Hort, connects them with the words immediately preceding, 'holy and without blame.' This Alford also prefers. Bengel, Meyer, Ellicott, Eadie, and others decide with Tischendorf Others still, with much less reason than in either of these cases, place the two words in connection with 'hath chosen,' at tlie beginning of ver. 4, making the meaning to be, 'hath chosen us . . . in love.' This construction is made wholly unacceptable by the wide separation between the verb at the beginning of the verse and the qualifying words at the close. The objections to the arrangement in the Kevised Version do not seem to be weighty. Adopting this, we find in the words 'in love' indication of that which is to be the distinguishing element in Christian character and in Christian life. If the other be preferred, then "in love predes- tinated us," etc., will direct attention to that originating motive in God which is so em- phatically set forth in John 3 : 16. It will also be anticipatory of what is said below of the near relation to God into which believers are brought in the act of divine adoption. 5. Having predestinated us. Foreor- c?«mec? the Revisers prefer, alike here and in that place in Romans (s ; 29) of which this may remind us. "Predestinate" may be thought to imply a fatalistic idea which should not enter into our conception of God's electing grace. Tliaj-er, however, in his "Lexicon," gives to the Greek word the strong meaning "to predetermine, decide beforehand." The foreordaining of ver. 5 is by the structure of the passage put in close relations with the choosing of ver. 4. As to which is the prior act, it is surely needless to inquire. Unto the adoption t)f children. Of sons is the true rendering. A furtlier, or rather a co-ordinate purpose of the election. 'Chosen that we might be holy and without blame' expresses character; 'unto the adop- tion of sons' expresses relationship. By Jesus Christ to himself— that is, to God. Here the mediatorship of our Lord again enters in. It is necessary to distinctly recognize this media- torship in the great transaction as described. No lower view of the office and mission of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whether that lower view of him be as teacher, or as our pat- tern in righteousness, can satisfy the clear sense of the words here employed. In hira the elect of God are 'chosen' ; through him, by reason of their relation to him, they are brought into this new relation of sons by adoption. One fact it is also important to notice in this relation. It is a relation of sons by adoption ; distinct from that which exists in the case of all men by virtue of their com- Ch. I.] EPHESIANS. 21 6 To the piaise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved: 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sius, according to the riches of his grace : 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, > which he 7 freely bestowed on us in the Keloved : in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the for- giveness of our trespasses, according to the riches 1 Or, wheretoith he endued i mon origin in God's creative act. The force of the preposition 'to' or, 'unto' (tU), 'unto himself,' must also be remarked. The word, says EUicott, "seems to bear its primary and most comprehensive sense of to and into; the idea of approach being also blended with, and heightened by, that of intoard iiiiio7i." He thus paraphrases: "God predestinated us to be adopted as his sons, and that adoption came to us through Christ, and was to lead us unto and unite us to God." According to the good pleasure of his Avill. The context clearly settles the question as to which of the two meanings of the word here rendered 'good pleasure' (cu8o«cia»') shall be preferred; namely, whether (1) God's good-will toward us, or (2) his good pleasure in himself, that which it pleaseth him to will and to perform. There can be no real room for doubt that the apostle here means to say that in the acts of grace described God acts by his own free and sov- ereign will, doing that which for reasons infinitely good he wills to do. 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace. This must not be read as if it were, "To the praise of his glorious grace." The true sense of the passage is stronger and more emphatic than this would be. The marvel- ousness of the grace of God manifested, as here described," is the chief thing in the writer's mind. What he says to us is, therefore, that in the election of grace and redemption in and through Christ, God purposed an exhibition of his love to men "even while they were yet sinners," which should the more fully mani- fest the perfections of his character, especially his 'grace,' to all intelligences, and so com- mand their 'praise.' Wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. This clause of the verse, so often quoted and a favorite with many, must now be given up as an imperfect rendering. The word in the Greek does not mean to "make accepted," but to graciously bestow gifts upon. The only other place in the New Testament where it occurs is at Luke 1 : 28, " thou that art highly favored" (in the margin of the Revision, "en- dued with grace"). The thought, then, is not acceptance in the Beloved, but the free bestow- ment of grace in him who is the Beloved One. The essential ness, however, of that relation in which the Mediator stands, alike to him who bestows and those who receive, is made as evident as is the freeness and'*&raciousness of the redemption. It is 'in the Beloved' that the Giver and the recipient meet, and in him that grace and salvation are found. 7. In whom we have redemption through, his blood. This presents to view another fact essential to a correct apprehen- sion of that 'grace' of which the apostle speaks. The redemption so found 'in the Beloved' is 'through liis blood.' Additional to all that in the Son which makes him the Beloved, and essential to anj- eflRcaoy there can be for us in the faith that brings us to be 'in him,' there is this other element in the great transaction — the shedding of blood, sac- rificial suflTering on the part of the Beloved ; upon this the bestowment of the grace being conditioned. The redemption of which we have the benefit is procured 'througli his blood.' How vital among the doctrines of grace is this of the atonement becomes clearly evident. The forgiveness of sins. The original sense of the word translated ' forgive- ness' seems to be "to send awaj'." The for- giveness is not, therefore, a mere condoning of our transgressions, a passing of them over in that sort of imperfect forgiveness which is, perhaps, common with us, but is a sending away of our 'sins,' treating them as if they had never been — in the strong, figurative lan- guage of Scripture, " remembering them no more." This would seem to be necessary to that perfect reconciliation which takes place between God and the believing sinner, and made necessary also by the fact that this rec- onciliation takes place 'in the Beloved.' The favor that is his as the Beloved Son is given those who are thus made the subjects of this grace, and must involve such a sending away of their transgressions as shall make these as if they had never been. Two very important 22 EPHESIANS. [Ch. I. 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; •J iia\ lug made known unto us the mystery of his will, 8 of his grace, 'which he made to abound toward 9 us in all wisdom and jirudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according 1 Or, wherewith he abounded. words come thus into relation with each other: 'redemption' (aTTo\vTpMeCa denotes 'wisdom' in a pene- | of the priv— in a word, au attribute and result of ral sense, •^ipovrjan is i&\.heT intelligentiu, the application I coia. Cn. I.] EPHESIANS. 23 according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed ill himself: . 10 Thai in the (.iispensaiion of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all tilings in Christ, bolli which arc in lieavuu, and which are ou earth ;ei'ert in him : 10 to his good pleasure which he purpose.1 in him unto a aispensaiion cf the lulness of the ' times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things a in the 1 Gr. teaaont 2 Gr. upon. spects alike individual men and the race in ils ultimate destiny, are not unfrequently in ScripLure spoken of as 'tnystery.' Tiie word does not mean, of course, things un- knowable, but the things which cannot be known otherwise than by revelation ; as in Komans 11 : 25, in the Revelation (i» : 7), ■wliere we read of that which is there apoca- lyptically disclosed, as " the mystery of God," asid in ch. 3 : 3, of this Epistle, where Paul speaks of a "mystery" made known to him " by revelation." In the phrase ' mystery of his will,' we seem to have all this abounding grace to men of which the apostle makes men- tion, referred for its ultimate source to the will und purpose of God, as is still further set forth in what follows: According to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in him- self. It seems to be a main object of tlie writer in this part of his Epistle to make this thought clear ; namely, that this whole method of salvation has its origin, wholly and alone, in God's own gracious purpose to redeem men "in Christ." The Revisers evidently prefer "in him"— that is, Christ. Alford, Ellicott, and Meyer, however, render "in himself," (reading avrw, in the text, instead of outw). Dr. Riddell, in Schaflf, also translates "in him- self—that is, God. The former may seem more in harmony with the general line of thought in the whole passage; yet the point is made doubtful by the fact, as Ellicott sug- gests, that the attention is here principally directed to the subject of the clause, which is God himself It is partly a question of read- ing in the Greek text. Westcott and Hort, followed in the Revision, accept that of Tis- ciicndorf and Lachmann. Ellicott, Eadie, and Alford, that of Hahn. Our own judgment in- clines to the rendering in the Revision. 10. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times. The change made in the Revision will be noticed, "unto" instead of 'that in,' and the indefinite substituted for the definite article. The Greek has no article. The meaning is with n view to. The mystery of God's will which he purposed in Christ was with a view to 'a dispensation of the fulness of times.' 'Dispensation' in this place is an obscure word. The Greek word, as found in the New Testament, has a somewhat variant meaning. In Luke 1(5:2-4, it is used for "stew- ardship." In 1 Cor. '.) : 17, Paul applies it to himself, as indicating that "stewardship" which had been entrusted to him as a mini.^ter of the gosi)el and an apo.stle. In Col. 1 : 25, he usestlie word again, where he speaks of himself as " made a minister according to the dispensa- tion of God." It is also the word (olKo^oftia) from which our " economy" comes. The root-idea of the word is that of setting in order, man- aging, directing. So that 'dispensation of the fulness of times' in this place comes to mean ordering or directing 'the fulne.ss of times.' The thought is that of a divine purpose di- recting all times and events with reference to an end ultimately to be reached, and which, when the time for it should arrive, must surely be accomplished. He might gather together in one. The change made in the Revised Ver- sion should again be noticed. Fully expressed, we should read to sum up for himaelf. All things in Christ. The meaning of the 'all things' is made to appear in what follow.s. Both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him. There are other places in the New Testament in which what is here set forth is found under other forms of state- ment, as in Heb. 2 : 8, where the writer having quoted from the eighth Psalm, " Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet," adds, " But now we see not yet all things put under him," the "yet" implying a time to come when this universal subjection shall be an accomplished fact. More express to a like point is that which is said in 1 Cor. 15 : 2^27; also in Col. 1 : 10-'20. In our i)resent passage, while the same general thought is implied, the form and application Vhereord Jesus Christ, of glory, luay give unto you the spirit of wiadoui and llie Falher of Glory, m:iy give unto you a sjiirit i.f revelation iu'the knowledge of him : | wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the genuineness of his interest in them as is that which follows. Making mention of you in my prayers. "Having remembrance of you" exi)resses the sense in a way less lit- eral. "Making (to myself) a remembrance (of you)," Dr. Boise translates. The words do not imply actual mention in all cases, but, as used here, such a remembrance of them as that in all his prayers he might speak of him- self as having them in mind. A like thing should be said of 'cease not to give thanks.' It is quite unnecessary to speak of either form of expression as "a popular hyperbole" ; so Meyer. We may be said to pray for those who are not distinctively in our thoughts at the time of utterance, since they are, in our habitual mood of mind, alwaj's included with the persons or things in whose behtilf we are solicitous, and in whose behtilf we constantly desire a blessing. So with thankfulness. The grateful feeling in behalf of specific objects may be latent, yet no less real, at any moment when gratitude is expressed. 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have here the same form as that commented upon in the note upon ver. 3. Alford considers it "as leading on to what is about to be said in ver. 20 of God's exaltation of Christ, to be 'head over all things to his church.' " Without attempting to explain a mystery so ineffable, we must recognize the fact of our Lord's real human nature, in union with the divine, and that in this real human nature he often acted and spoke. In such passages as that in John 5 : 30, "I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me," we must, no doubt, as Dr. Hovey there expliiins, understand him as referring to that divine union of the Son with the Father, wliich makes it impossible thtitthe Son should will aught else but that which the Father wills. In other places he establishes between himself and us that perfect fellowship in our relation to the Father, as in other respects, which results from the fact of his real humanity. His taking ui>on himself this humanity is also the first step toward, iind the necessary condi- tion of, that exaltation of whicli we read further on. The Father of glory. The phrase is peculiar, although others similar are found: "Father of mercies" (2 Cor. i .- 3)^ " Father of lights" (James 1 : 17). The explana- tion in Ellicott seems forced, where the writer says: " I cannot help connecting it ('Father of glory') with the missing element in the preceding clause, and believing (with some old interpreters), in spite of the strangeness of expression, that God is here called 'the Father of the glory' of the incarnate Deity in Jesus Christ, called in 2 Cor. 4 : 6, 'the glory of God in the face (or person) of Jesus Christ.'" We can scarcely believe that the apostle can have intended a meaning so remote, and so little likely to be naturally suggested. It seems more probable that the phrase in question is employed with reference to that which follows, and in which Christ is soon to be spoken of as raised out of the humiliation into which he descended, to a place at the Father's "right hand in the heavenly places,'' with the "all power" given of which he himself spoke when soon to "ascend where he was before." As God is "the Father of mercies," while bestowing mercies upon the infinite object of his benefi- cence, so is the "Father of glory," in the sense that every manner of "might and dominion," and every form and measure of exaltation, are of his ordination, and most especially that which is so conspicuously seen in the person of Christ. May give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The Revision changes the article, rendering, "a spirit of wisdom," etc. It is quite consistent with New Testament usage to understand the Holy Spirit; the Greek word {nvdna) being made definite by the following genitive. Taking into account what follows, this may be the better rendering; " wisdom and revelation," especially the latter, implying rather some divine illumination, than any action of the human 'spirit', however aided from on high. Meyer, Ellicott, and Brauno prefer this view, and render accordingly. In the knowledge ' of him. This defines the nature and purport of the 'wisdom and revelati(Mi.' The word for 'knowledge' being a compound word^ Ch. L] EPHESIANS. 29 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlight- ened ; that ye may know what is the hope of his call- ing, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the sain is, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to US-ward wiio believe, according to the working of bis mighty power, 18 having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in ihe saints, 19 and what the exceeding greatness of his power to US-ward who believe, according to that working of has iiii intensive force. The verb from whieh it comes means to " know thoroughly," and the int^aning here is "precise, definite knowl- 6 Ige." For the possession of such 'knowl- edge' we are dependent upon a 'wisdom and reveiatit)u ' which only the Spirit of Truth liimself can impart. 'Of him' appears to mean of the Father, the connection of the thought making this, it would seem, neces- sary, as the verse immediateiy following sliows. 18. The eyes of your untlerstanding (or, heart) being enlightened. The peculiar ex- pression, 'eyes of your heart,' is probably used to indicate that such 'knowledge' as is meant is more than may be comprehended in any act of the ' understanding,' the mere intelli- gence. The knowledge intended is spiritual, involves that which we mean by "experi- ence," and engages the affections and the will in an especial manner. That ye may know what is the hope of his calling. In the call by which we are addressed in the gospel, a hope is presented as a motive and an end. The full appreciation of this hope requires much more than simply an ordinar3'act of the ' understanding.' The call, in fact, falls long, in most cases, upon unheeding ears, until in a way which, to the subject of it, may often seem mysterious, the familiar words of invita- tion acquire unwonted power, and prevail over the hardness and indifference which has held out so long. Tlie 'hope of his calling' is then first known. But this is the beginning. The apostle is now addressing tho.se who have passed this first stage. His prayer for them is that in the ministry of that ' wisdom and reve- lation ' which the Spirit imparts they may come to have enlarged, definite, and more complete 'knowledge' of this 'hope.' But in order to this that 'knowledge of him,' of God, mentioned in the preceding verse, is necessary. In order rightly to comprehend, or even conceive, that which God promises or does, we must know himself; and he becomes thus known, really, through that wisdom and revelation in which he makes himself known. And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. The 'and' of the Common Version is rightly' omitted in the Revision. This clause thus comes into closer connection with the preceding one, as if a con- tinuation of the same thought — 'what tho hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.' Tlie phrase 'riches of the glory ' is an example of that accunmlation of descriptive woi'ds of which we find so many examples in this chap- ter. The writer seems to labor for terms in which adequately to express the sense he has of these wonders of divine grace, jind seems almost willing to overload his style witii de- scriptive epithets, heaped one upon the other. A question arises as to 'the inheritance' men- tioned. Shall we take the passage (1) as par- allel in some sense with ver. 11, where be- lievers are spoken of as God's 'heritage,' and with ver. 14, where they are his 'own posses- sion'? Or (2), as the commentators seem to prefer, is it the inheritance which the saints themselves are ultimately to receive? It is to be noticed that the inheritance is spoken of as 'his,' and that it is an inheritance 'in the saints,' not/o7' them. "While the latter (2) of the two interpretations indicated may be in harmony with the immediate context, the language is so much like tiiat found in ver. 11 and 14 that we strongly incline to the view which makes the meaning to be that 'inherit- ance,' that 'purchased possessicm' which God is spoken of as having in his redeemed people. This, however, involves glorious things for those who are thus made an inheritance; a 'glory,' the 'riches' of which is only appre- hended, even by faith, as spiritual knowledge increases. 19. And what is the exceeding great- ness of his power. "Surpassing greatness" is another form of expression of the same idea, perhaps also to be preferred. "Above meas- ure," that which "excels," anpereminens, in the Latin of the Vulgate. Tho thought is that, in this which now follows, God has given us an exhibition of transcendent i)ower which 30 EPHESIANS. [Ch. I. 20 Which ho wrouglit iu Chri<*t, when he raised him fioiu the dead, and s..t him at his owu right haud in the heavenly places, .1 la, above all prineijjality, and power, and might, and dominion, and eveiy name mat is named, not only in tliis world, but also iu tnai which is to come ; 20 the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, wnen lie laised him from the dead, and made him sit at his right haud in the lieaveidy 21 places, I'ar above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that i's named, not only in this ' world, but also in that which is to 1 Or, age. could exist in himself alone. To us-ward Avho believe. The Revision retains the now antique form, 'to us-ward,' for "toward us"; ill accordance with the judicious purpose to make as few changes as possible in the style of the older version. The manifestation of divine povver is in that wiiich is said of Christ in tlie verses following. But it is of Christ in his relation to his own redeemed people, tind so is 'to us-ward.' According to tiie working of his inigtity power. The Common Ver- sion fails to express adequately the force of the original, which, indeed, can only be done by making the rendering as literal as possible, "according to that working of the strength of his might"; an "extraordinary accumulation of words " as Dr. Boise says, "denoting power and activity." 20. Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. "I have power," said Christ, on one occasion, "to lay it [that is. ■)ny life] down, and I have power to take it again"; the word for "power" being that most usually employed to ex- press "authority" or "right," yet, in that place, as Dr. Hovey justly says, in his note on the passage, combining "the two ideas of right and might." "When, therefore, we read in the verse before us of the " working of the strength of God's might" in Christ when he raised him from the dead, we must keep in mind the divine oneness of the Son with the Father, so that the rtiising up is in full harmony with what is said of our Lord in chap. 4 : 8-10 of this Epistle, that he himself "ascended on high, leading captivity captive, .and giving gifts unto men." What we have before us, then, is the operation of the divine I power in execution of divine purpose, rather than the attribution of such power exclusively to the Father alone. At the same time, we observe that the Son is spoken of in that char- acter which be assumed in becoming man's Kedeemer. He is here, not the Son, but the Christ; and what is said of him describes that fulfillment of divine plan, in the operation of transcendent divine power, which brings the whole work of redemption to its glorious con- summation. And set him at his own right hand. We must not too much localize the idea here given us; but neither may we so treat the figurative sense as to weaken the true meaning of the words. The general idea is the exaltation of Christ, in his office as Ke- deemer, to complete and full participation in the universal sovereignty. God the Father is none the less God the Father; but the Son, having "ascended up where he was before," now in his mediatorial and redemptive office, is as if enthroned at his Father's right hand, "one" with him in exaltation and sover- eignty, as in that "glory which he had with him before the world was." In the heavenly places. The local sense is here more dis- tinctly applied than in the words at ver. 3 in this chapter. And still, we should not make our interpretation too exclusively local. Of heaven, we know but little, save as the home and rest of the redeemed, and the world in which the glory of the Infinite is manifested in ways unimaginable to us. Of its realitj', however, we never doubt, while it is ever central in our conception of "those things which God hath prepared for them that love him." In the widest meaning of the phrase "heavenly places," as here used, it may in- clude, with heaven itself, that sphere of spir- itual things of which heaven is the centre, and over which Christ, as Head of the church, bears rule. 21. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion. The words rule for 'principality,' autJiority for 'power,' and /)owcr for 'might,' are substitu- tions which make the meaning more clear. The amount of what is so said is, that the posi- tion and power held and exercised by Ciirist are absolutely' divine, and, therefore, supreme. Writers are not altogether agreed whether 'all principality' here refers to those princijialities against which, as in chap. 6 : 12 of this Epistle, we are to "wrestle." Whether these be here Ch. I.] EPHESIANS. 31 22 And hath put all ikings under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all (hinr/s to the chuicli, ■-':! WliicL is his body, the Ciiliiess of him that filleth all ill all. 22 come: and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the 'J3 church, which is liis body, the fuluess ol' him that tillcih all ill all. expressly included or not, we know that they also are now under the sovereignty of our eii- tliroiied Redeemer. And every name thtit is named. "A name that can he uttered," says Meyer, " whatever it may be, Ciirist is above it, more exalted than that wliich tlie littered name expresses." Not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. "Tiiis age" is tiie alternative reading here for the Greek word (aiuii/). Tlie meaning is not this life and the life to come, but the age, or Dispensation, now passing, and that whicli is to folhiw, wlien this shall end in the Second Coming of the Lord. We are thus assured that while the period of gospel propagation lasts, with its vicissitudes, its trials of faith, as well as its reassuring tiiumphs and satisfac- tions, Christ has, and exercises, a power which puts every manner of "rule, and authority, and power, and dominion" in absolute sub- jection to him, so that, in his own time and in his own way, every purpose of his mediatorial reign shall be fully accomplished. Also, that when this period comes to a close, and that '"world which is to come," that consummating Dispensation has been reached, this same sov- ereignty will be in his hands; so that of all words of promise and prophecy spoken, not one shall fail. 22. And hath put all things under his feet. The word has a stronger meaning than simply to 'put under.' Arrange luider, sub- ordinate, implying absolute subjection. And guve him to be head over all things to the church. The purpose of the exaltation is here made known. It is in the interest of human redemption that all this is done. In this wa^'' it is provided that there shall bo no possibility of opposition or hostility in any quarter with ability to mar in any way the perfection of the plan, or hinder or delay its execution. By 'the church,' here, is clearly meant that totality of all the redeemed, on earth or in heaven, and in all the ages, spoken of in the next verse as "his body." The more customary use of the word {iKK\-rioses of God concerning our sinful race await their final accom])lishmei)t. Trench ("Synonyms of the New Testament," pp. 38, 30) says of the word translated 'course' in the Common Version and "age" in the Revision that, "signifying time, it comes jiresently to signify all whicli exists in the world under conditions of time; . . . and then, tnore ethically, the course and 34 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IL power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience ; according to the prince of the i powers of the air, of the spirii that now worketh in the sons of disobe- 1 Gr. power. current of this world's affairs." Of the word transhited 'world,' he says (p. 37): "Having originally the meaning of 'ornament' . . . from this it passed to that of ' order,' ' arrange- ment,' ' beauty,' as springing out of these. . . . Pythagoras is said to have been the first who transferred and applied the word to the sum total of the material universe, desiring there- by to express his sense of the beauty and order which everywhere reigned in it." Then, "from this signification of the word (Kd^fios) as the material world, which is not uncommon in Scripture (Matt, is : 35 ; Jolm 21 : 25; Rom. 1 : 20), fol- lowed that 'of the same word' as the sum total of the men living in the world (Jobiii:29; ♦ : 42; 2 Cor. 5: 19), and then upon this, and ethi- cally, those not of the church (eK/cATjo-ia), the alienated from the life of God." The specific reference here may be to that Gentile world of which those immediately addressed still formed a part, and in whose moral condition they had 'in time past' fully shared. Ac- cording to the prince of the power of the air. More literally rendered, we should read "ruler," while the 'power' meant is not ]iower in the sense of force, but of control, authority. Thayer underst-ands the word in connections like the present one as meaning " the leading and more powerful among cre- ated beings superior to man, spiritual poten- tates"; but here, specifically, "demons." The American Company of the Revisers pre- fer "powers" to 'power.' [There seems to be no ground for this preference in the Greek, which is a singular noun. 'Powers' may be right as interpretation, l:)ut scarcely as trans- lation. — A. H.] The Greek for 'air' means the atmosphere in its lower regions, the upper bf'ing indicated by another word. The lan- guage used is diflRcult of explanation. That by the 'i)rince' or "ruler" Satan is meant, is sufiiciently clear. What shall we under- stand by those 'powers of the air' over which he exercises sovereignty? Thayer, in his "Lexicon," appears to think the allusion to be to a. Jewish notion that "the realm of air" is "filled by demons." Canon Barry, in the series of commentaries edited by Bishop Elli- cott, prefers the view that as " the word [in the Greek] and its di-rivatives carry with them the ideas of cloudiness, mist, and even dark- ness, hence it is naturally used to suggest the conception of the evil power as allowed invis- ibly to encompass and move about tlie world, yet overruled by the powerof the true heaven, which it vainly strives to overcloud and hide from earth." Elliciott himself appears to in- fer from the words in question that "all that supra-terrestrial but sub-celestial region [which the Greek word describes] seems to be, if not the abode, j'et the haunt of evil spirits." That men, especially wicked men, are objects of the malignant activity of such spirits we are made to believe by many allusions to them in Scripture, and occasional express mention, which make the fact beyond doubt. Compare 6 : 12-16 of this Epistle. So much as this may be distinctly inferred from the words in our present passage. But if thus directly influencing the lives of men, we must suppose a presence and contact to which, in a meaning partly figurative, the expression 'powers of the air' may refer. It is not neces- sary to suppose that the apo.stle means to en- dorse any Rabbinic or Pythagorean fiction in this regard, as to what and where "the abode of demons" may be, but only that, invisible themselves, they are a part of our environ- ment, and to be realized and drejvded as such. The spirit that now Avorketh in the chil- dren of disobedience. The word for 'spir- it" is in the genitive, and accordingly must depend upon the word for 'ruler.' Satan is then described as ruler of the spirit working in 'the children of disobedience.' Little do wicked men realize what master they siTve, or with what fearful reward in prospect fi)r that obedience to him, which is disobedience to God. Winer speaks of such phrases as ' children of disobedience ' as " called a Hebra- istic circumlocution for certain concrete ad- jectives." Yet, referring to the passage here with others, he adds: "Everyone must feel that these expressions are not mere circum- locutions, but phrases which bring out the meaning with greater vivncity and force." This phraseology, he adds, "is to be attributed to the vivid imagination of Orientals, which Ch. II.] EPHESIANS. 35 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times 2)ast in ihe lusts of our tiesh, fultilling tlie desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature ihe children of wrath, even as others. 4 But Ciod.who is rich in meicy, for his great love wherewiih he love us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;) 3 dience; among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our fle.-h, doing the desires of the flesh and of the 'mind, and were l)y nature children of 4 wrath, even as tlie rest: — biit (Jod, being rich in mercy, for his great love wlierewitli lie loved us, 5 even wlieii we were dead through our trespasses, quickened us together -with Christ (by grace have 1 Or. thoughts 2 Some ancient auttaorhies read in Christ. presents mental and moral derivation or de- pendence under the image of son or child." It will be noticed that the Revised Version translates, '^ sons of disobedience." 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past. Paul now speaks of himself and his Jewish brethren in distinction from those addressed, who were Gentiles. 'Had our conversation' is the very imperfect rendering in the Common Version for a word which means "to turn hither and thitiier," "to conduct one's self," "to live." "Were turned to and fro" is Dr. Boise's translation of the verb in the form it has here. The phrase 'times past' is a reference to that portion of their personal history which lay beyond the gretit ftict of their conversion to faith in Christ and a new life. In the lusts of our flesh. Plainly implying thtit same spiritual condition which had just been described as that of tlie unconverted Gentile. Fultilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. "Doing the desires," etc., as in the Revision, seems harsh. In Thaj^er's " Lex- icon," the meaning "to carr^' out," "to exe- cute." is given for this Greek verb {noUio), in certain phrases where it occurs; of which rendering the verse now before us is cited as an example. The rendering in the Common Version would thus seem to have good lexical authority. And were by nature children of Avrath. The Greek word for 'children' here differs from that employed above, in 'children,' or sons, 'of disobedience.' It is the word used where an emphatic sense is intended, implying true, genuine children. Compare Thayer's " Lexicon." ' B3' nature' is not to be taken in nn emphatic sense, the order of the words in the original forbidding this; yet their meaning is plain, as indicating that state, with reference to God, in which men are born by reason of inherited sin in the nature. "We were from birth," says Braune, "tho.ee who were forfeited to the divine wrath." The language asserts the condemned, because fallen, condition of the race, into which every individual of the race is born ; so that every instance of escape from this condemnation, and from its consequences, must be through the one Saviour, though it be that of the child not yet arrived at years of responsibility. Even as others. 3Iore is implied in this than simply a recognition of the fact that Jew and Gentile were, in the respect considered, in one common lot. The truth is also implied that, as the favored con- dition of the Jewish nation as to knowledge and opportunity had in no degree changed the fact of their participation in the common calamity and the common guilt, the condition described must be viewed as one belonging to the race as such. 4. But God, who is rich in mercy. The reading of the Revised Version, "being rich in mercy," while it is a more exact transla- tion, expresses, abso, the meaning much more full^'. Meyer's — "since he is rich in mercy " makes the sense clearer still. The frequent recurrence of the word 'rich,' or "riches," in similar connections, may be noticed: "Riches of his grace" (i:7); "riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints " (1 : is) ; "riches of his grace" again (2:7); " riches of his glory" (3:i6); and here, "rich in mercy." The word .seems to be one of those which in- dicate .strongly the writer's vivid sense of that which is throughout so much the theme of his meditation, the abounding grace of God in saving sinful men. For his great love wherewith he loved us. The Revision re- tiiins the ' for.' M()re of a causal sense should be given to the clause. On account of, be- cnuse of, is, in this place, the proper force of the Greek preposition. It expresses "the ground or reason," saj's Thayer, "on ac- count of which anything is, oris not, done." Since this is clearly the moaning here, there should bo a more adequate expression of it in the translation. 5. Even Avhen we were dead in sins. 36 EPHESIANS. [Ch. II. We need to put this clause in its proper rela- tion with the one just left, in order to get the writer's whole idea. It is not God's love in any general operation of that divine attribute, nor his love for those who, however they may have once been sinners, are now his redeemed children. It is God's love for men while they yet are sinners. He had just sjjoken of these same sinners, Jew and Gentile alike, as 'chil- dren of wrath.' Here it is God's 'great love' for the very same persons, 'even when dead in sin,' "dead through trespasses." (Revision.) It seems necessary to place the two momentous facts in a.ssociation, in order to gain a proper conception of either. Upon the one hand, tlie 'wrath' — "displeasure," or "anger" were a better word, and more the exact meaning of the Greek — is not of that implacable kind which the word, as so often used in common speech, might denote; while, upon the other, the ' love ' is by no means the love of mere in- dulgence. The great fact is declared else- where (Johns : 16) that " God SO loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This verse, no less striking because so familiar, "describes," to use the language of Dr. Hovey on the passage, "God's motive in the gift of his Son as love or good-will, not merely to the chosen or .to the elect from every nation, but to all man- kind ; for," it is added, "this is the only tena- ble meaning of the world as here used." The passage now under consideration presents to view this love — this ^ great love' — as exercised toward those who were at the same time ob- jects of severe and just displeasure. We ap- proach any comprehension of all this only as we realize how men in the sight of God are at the same time objects of his creative power, "made a little lower than the angels," richly endowed by him, with purpo.ses toward them of infinite kindness; and at (he same time are "sinners." His love does not blind him to the sin ; neither does the sin so alienate the love as that no further thought of kindness and no provision of grace can be hoped for. Into the deep mystery on the verge of which we thus stand, we cannot expect to enter. There abides, however, this great and precious trutii — that God's love for us, even while yet "sin- ners," is a sure guarantee of access to him in the name of his Son, and of a far more abound- ing grace in redemption when sought and ob- tained through faith in the same prevailing mediation. Hath quickened us together with Christ. Here we return to the thought only partially expressed in ver. 1-3, with one other added, and in another of those phrases characteristic of this Epistle— ' with Christ.' The meaning of tlie Greek is, 'made us alive together with Christ.' Alford, as quoted by Boise, says: " Our spiritual life is the primary subject of the apostle's thought; but this in- cludes in itself our share in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ." In what has pre- ceded there has been no reference to physical death, unless some such reference should remotely appear in the words 'dead in tres- passes and in sins,' as implying the whole effect of sin in the fall of man. Nor is there anywhere in the direct connection a reference to the resurrection, unless it should be where, in the seventh verse below, mention is made of what God, "in the ages to come," is to make manifest of his "kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." What the apostle in the verse now in hand is speaking of, is a blessing already in possession by those who had be- lieved in Christ — Jew and Gentile— and this, certainly, is a spiritual quickening. At the same time it is a quickening 'with Christ,' and so is a new life gained through his resur- rection as the consummating act in his redeem- ing work. In all the effects of that redemptive work they share, in immediate and eftecuve participation. This, no doubt, would i-emotely include quickening of the body in the final resurrection, as of the soul in present spiritual experience. Neither the one nor the other is to be thought of apart from Christ. We are now, and then shall be, "made alive with" him. This the apostle emphasizes in the paren- thetical clause which follows: (By grace ye are saved.) Have been saved U more exact, while also it brings to view more fully the fact that the salvation of a true believer is in a cer- tain high sense not a pending work, with the result uncertain, but a completed fact. The whole great and wonderful proceeding is of grace, as is again forcibly set forth in verses which follow. G. And hath raised us np together. In the Common Version these words carry the impression that believers are simjily 'raised up' in unison — made to participate in a com- Ch. II.] EPHESIANS. 37 6 And hath raised us up togetlier, and made us sit together ill heavenly ;>/nc('.s- in Christ Jesus: 7 Thaf in tlie ages to come he uiinht shew the ex- ceeding riches of his grace, iu his Itiudness toward us, through Christ Jesus. 6 ye been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the lieavenly /ared a sphere of 40 EPHESIANS. [Ch. II. 11 Wherefore remember, that ye heiiir/ in time i)ast Gentiles in the fle>li, who are called Uncircunicision hy that which is called the Circumcision in the licsh madj by hands ; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens Irom the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers 11 Wherefi)re remember, that aforetime ye, the Gen- tiles in the flesh, who are called Lncircumcisiou by that which is called Circumcision, in the Hesh, made 12 by hands; tliat ye were at that time separate from Clirist, alienated from the commouweallh of Israel, moral action, ov (to use a simile of Chrysos- tom) a road, with the intent that we should walk in it and not leave it." Not, however, surely, as a mere outward conformiiy to rule or to precept, but as a yielding upof the whole life, inward and outward, to a principle of obedience which shall in all ways express that transformation " by the renewing of our mind," in wliich we shall fully "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." (Eom. 12:2.) It is to be noticed that Paul in ver. 9 and 10 speaks of ' good works' in those two contrasted aspects of them which it is so important to keep in mind. ' Works,' however 'good,' as is shown in ver. 9, msike no partof that ground of justification in which the saved person stands accepted with God. " By grace ye have been saved, through faith." Yet, as appears by ver. 10, there are still to be 'good works' as fulfilling that divine idea in our salvation which aims at nothing less than renewal of the moral nature, and perfection in cliaracter and in life. 11-22. Gextile and Jew Made One Spiritual Body in Christ. 11. Wherefore remember. The apostle is now to speak of a result of that which in previous verses has been set forth which must place this grace of God in a new light. Thus far he has spoken of this grace as it afl^ects the individual saved soul. Now he comes to show how, what operates thus in the individual, reaches in its effect beyond him so as to be an element of union, not only of man to God, but of men with one another. To begin, he points these Gentile Christitins once more to that which had been their sad condition. It is this he would have them ' remember.' That ye bein^ in the time past Gentiles in the flesh. He does not mean, ju.st here, 'in the flesh ' in the sense of being as yet unregener- ate, but Gentiles by nature and by birth, as distinguished from Jews. Who are called IJncircumcision by that Avhich is called Circnmcision. As preparatory to what next follows in development of the whole thought of the writer, attention is once more called to that distinction, not only of race, but of con- dition, in which, during so many centuries, the Gentile had stood apart from the Jew. He is to show, directly, how these are made one. He begins by reminding the Gentile Christians how entirely they had once been "alien from the commonwealth of Israel." In the flesh made by hands. This distinc- tion had been, after all, very much an outward one. So far as concerned Jewish pride itself, the distinction was wholly an outward one, and rested in the fact of the presence or al)- sence of an outward sign, of whose real sig- nificance the Jew himself was all too little aware. li. That at that time ye were without Christ. Here was a fact in their condition of far greater importance than that of which the Jew was accustomed to make so much. In respect to this other fact, the Jew, if uncon- verted, was in no better state than the uncon- verted Gentile, save that, as one of that nation of whom Christ Wiis to come and who had in- herited the "covenants of j)romise," the Jew was. so far, not 'without Christ' in the same sense as the Gentile. "Separate from Christ" is the rendering of the Revision. More seems to be meant than that which is true of every unconverted person. The expression implies, also, what is comprehended in the clauses which follow. Until Christ actually came, and the world-wide purpose of his mission had been disclosed in the preaching of the gospel to "the Gentiles also," these latter had, only in exceptional cases, and in these only in very imperfect measure, any knowledgo, even, of that wealth of Messianic promise whicli liad been from age to age the heritage of Israel. Wandering thus amidst the deep darkness of Pagan ignorance and Pagan idolatries, they were in a mostmelancholy sense 'separate from Christ.' Bein^aliens (or, alienated) from the commonwealth of Israel. Thayer explains the word for 'alienated,' "shut out from one's fellowshi]> and intimacy." The adjective from which the verb conies moans, primarily, " be- longing to another." We are apt to give the word 'alienate,' or 'alienated,' more of a sub- jective meaning— a state of mind in ourselves Cn. II.] EPHESIANS. 41 from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and | and strangers frutu the cuvcnanis of the promise, without God iu the world : 13 having no hope and without God in the world 15iit 13 But now, iu Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were now iu Christ Jesus ye that once were far oil' are far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. | through which, in feeling and in respect of sympiith^' and fullowsliip, we are made to hold ourselves aloof. This is not the meaning here. The Gentiles were ' shut out from the com- monwealth of Israel.' Tiiis was partly as a necessary effect of that divine appointment in which, with a view to certain most important purposes, Israel was made the chosen people; and partly an estrangetiient due to Jewish pride, upon the one hand, and Gi'iitilo disdain upon the other. And strangers from the covenants of promise. The expression is peculiar, though the llevision retains it. We could not change it to read, more in accordance with English idiom, 'strangers to the cove- nants of promise.' The Greek will not allow this ; besides which, that is not what the writer means to say. The word for 'covenants' is in the genitive— the "genitive of the point of view." So Ellicott, as quoted by Boise. Strangers in respect to the covenants of prom- ise, appears to be the meaning. 'The cove- nants' must be those whicli had been made especially with Israel as the chosen people; that with Abraham, in behalf of his poster- ity; and that with Moses, as representing the Israelitish nation. The Gentiles were not strangers in respect of these, in tlie sense that tliey were never to have part in what the protnise contained, since in Abraham and his descendants "all nations" were to be "blessed." They were strangers in the sense that until Christ, the Promised One, had act- Uiilly come, they had not only had no part in what the covenant had provided, but had not even been aware that any such privilege was possible for them; and in the sense that after Ciirist had come they still remained aloof until the gospel of Gnd's grace had reached them. Having no hope. Scttrccly any form of words could better express the condition of a Pagan people. In the previous descriptive clauses of the verse, the allusions have been more to what exi)ressed outward relations. Between Jew and Gentile there had been that " middle wall of partition " mentioned in ver. 14, as a consequence of which the Gentiles had been both alien-s and .strangers, as to the com- monwealth of Isniel and as to those 'cove- nants' which from the time of the patriarchs had singled out the descendants of the patri- archs as "a peculiar people." Now tiietipostle comes to ant)ther and a deeper fact iu their condition. 'Having no hope.' Tlieir religions and their philosopiiies had alike lailed to tm- swer those questions wliich the soul of man is comjjelled by the very conslilulion of its nature to ask. And without God in the world. Thuyer quotes yElian as saying that there is no one, even t)f the barbarians, witliout God, u.'^ing the same Greek word as Paul uses here (iStos), and meaning to say that even barbar- ians have a kind of religion and gods wliora they worship. Upon the other hand, Paul declares, of all the Gentile races and nations, that they were {aBioi) ' witliout God.' Count- less deities, but no God! Men of superior intelligence, even among the cultivated Pagan nations, were wont to say substantially the same thing, while showing in many ways how little value they found in the inventions of mythology; and while indicating, in the specu- lations of their philosophy, how confused and uncertain were all their own idetts of God. 'In the world' appears to mean simply the life of men as led amidst present surroundings and conditions. There may be an intimation in the words how mtich men need ' God in the world,' and how truly cahimitous it is to be without him. Indeed, it might not be going far astray to see something cliaracteristic in the successive clauses of the verse, suggesting that of all that had been ctilamitotis and lamentable in the condition of the (jciitile nations, this was greatest and worst, that they were 'without God in the world.' 13. But now. From this view of the sad condition of the Gentile nation.s, with particu- lar reference to those addressed, the apostle now turns, as if gladly and gratefully, to speak of that which, as "the apostle to the Gentiles" must liave been to him a matter of great satisfaction. In Christ Jesus ye who sometimes (or, once) were far off ar(; made nigh by the blood of Christ. It is to be noticed how the thought which in all this part of the Epistle seems uppermost in the writer's mind, finds expression twice in this short verse. 42 EPHESIANS. [Ch. II. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; 15 Having abolished iu his flesh the enmity, even the 14 made nigh in the blood of Clirist. For he is our peace wuo made both one, and brake down the 15 middle wall of partition, having abolished in his Hesh the enmity, eoen the law of commaudmeuls ' In Christ Jesus' . . . 'by the blood of Christ.' The second of these in some sense explains the lirst. * In Christ Jesus' may have seemed to the writer not sufficiently explicit. He adds, 'by the blood of Christ,' that there may be no misapprehension as to the relation Christ bears to this of which he is now to speak. In ch. 1 : 7 of this Epistle we have the same thought: 'In whom we have redemption through his blood.' That result of this redemption held in view in our present passage is implied very clearly in our Lord s own words (John 12 : 32) : "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." In drawing all men unto himself he draws them into a unity and fellowship which annihilates those distinctions by which they have been sundered, and set in positions, often, even of anttigonism. It is thus that these believing Gentiles to whom Paul writes have been 'made nigh.' 14. For he is our peace who hath made both one. The position of the words (airbs yap, 'for he') makes them emphatic: "he and no other." Orelli ("Old Testament Pro- phecy," p. 310) views the word 'peace,' in this place, as "borrowed" from Micah 5 : 5, "He shall be peace." Speaking of the Hebrew word for ' peace,' he says : "Such a word is capable of unlimited intensification, and has found it in the Bible. Only the completed revelation has disclosed all its depths of meaning. In the Hebrew language the word (DwB', peace) was an every-dtiy word, a common greeting, a trivial wish. It denoted what every one de- sired for himself and wished for any one with whom he was pn good terms; freedom from harm and disturbance, peace, rest, well-being. Among the peace-loving Orientals peace was, and is, in the profane sphere of thought, the highest good. And in the religious life the sum of salvati'm may be comprised in it. When prophecy promises peace in the time of consummation, and calls the Messiah Peace absolutely, it means peace in inner and outer perfection, man l)eing completely at one with God, and men having become through his revelation one with each other. This will be Messiah's gift. Such peace, in fact, the Prince of Peace from Bethlehem brought to the world, only far more gloriously than human heart could conceive under the Old Covenant. And in the sense in which he established peace, it is the highest good to the Christian. Hence everything we have in Christ may be summed up in the word borrowed by the apostle from our prophet." Other such intimations may be seen in Isttiah 9:5, 6, where Me.ssiah is named "Prince of Peace," in the song of the angels, where his coming brings "peace on earth," and his own words to his discii)les in taking leave of them : " My peace I give unto you." In our present passtige he is that 'peace' itself in bringing to pass the twofold reconciliation — man with God, and, in that very fact itself, of men with each other. For ' he hath made both one' — both Jew and Gen- tile. And liath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Tlie words 'between us' being supplied in the Common Version, although not necessary to the sense. The force of the metaphor is quite sufficiently plain. The expression 'middle wall of parti- tion' might seem tautological in English, though it is not so in the Greek. The words for 'middle wall' and 'partition' are an ex- ample, as Winer explains (^ 59, 8, a), of "the genitive of apposition." We should say "par- tition wall." 13. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity. There is a question here as to the pointing of the Greek. Tisehendorf makes the passage read, "the middle wall of parti- tion, the enmity"; 'enmity' being in ajipo- sition with the clause which precedes, and epexegetical of it. In this pointing, 'having abolished in his flesh' is connected, not with 'enmity,' but with "the hiw of command- ments" immediately following. We should then read, "hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, having abolished in his flesh the law of commandments," etc. It is a question of construction rather than of meaning, save that in the arrangement of Tisehendorf the word ' enmity' comes to explain so clearly the force of the imagery in 'middle wall of partition.' The Revision follows the pointing of Westcott and Hort. By 'the enmity' is no doubt in- Ch. II.] EPHESIANS. 43 law of coniiuandiueius conlaiiied in ordinances; for to luuke in liiiuselt' of twaiu one uew man, so making peace ; IG And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slaiu the eumiiy thereby : conltiined in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the twain one new man, so making 16 peace; and might reconcile thein both in one body unlotiod through the cross, having slain the enmity 17 tliereby : and he came and ' preachi-d peace to you 1 Or. preached good tidingt of ptace. tended the feeling of mutual hostility long existing between Jews and Gentiles, with remoter allusion, probably, to that "enmity with God" which is characteristic of the "mind of the flesh" always. The arrange- ment of Tischendorf, which Ellicott also adopts, seems on this account preferable. Even the law of commandments con- tained in ordinances. Following the point- ing of Westcott and Hort, and translating as in the Common Version and the Revision, tiiis 'law of the commandments contained in ordi- nances' comes to be explanatory of 'the en- mity.' It may be doubted if this is what the apostle intends. In what sufficing sense, at any rate, can 'the law of commandments in ordinances' represent or explain 'the en- mity'? The alienation, amounting to hos- tility, between Jew and Gentile, was due to many causes, and not simply, we must sup- pose, to the character and eifect of Jewish in- stitutions. Indeed, when Paul speaks here of the abolition of that which distinctively char- acterized Judaism, he seems to allude to the removal rather of that which was a liindrance to union than that which was a cause of enmity. The ' commandments in ordinances' must mean the ceremonial laW, or rather that sj'stem in general of special Mosaic legislation which was done away in the gospel. For to make (that he might create) in himself of twain one new man; so making peace. ^ Might create in himself,' a strong6i^~word than simply 'make.' Jew and Gentile, though retaining their individuality otiierwise, be- came "one in Christ Jesus." In bringing this to pass that work of spiritual renewal is effected in each of which the apostle so often speaks as 'a new creation.' They are thus brought into that spiritual fellowship and unity, by reason of their common faith in Christ, which warrants the cliaracterization, 'one new man.' It is doubtful if the render- ing '^ so making peace,' the italicized word being supplied, is the preferable one. Dr. Boise views the participle in the Greek for 'making,' "as denoting means as well as time; while making, and hy making peace." The peace is made before the unitj', and be- comes a means of unity. 16. And that he nii§:ht reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross. The pivotal word here is the word translated 'rec- oncile.' * Thayer appears to regard our pres- ent passage as an example of the meaning, "to draw to hitnself by reconciliation, or so to reconcile that they should be devoted to him- self." The second of those meanings which Trench finds in the word must surely imply the first, for reconciliation in the sense of re- stored favor with God must be the invariable condition of all which most characterizes the Christian state, wliother with reference to God or with reference to men. This becomes evi- dent as we consider what follows in the verse. Having slain the enmity thereby — that is, by "the cross." The condition as described is clearly one in which all that was wrong in the relation of these Jewish and Gentile Chris- tians with God, or with each other, had been fully made right. The 'enmity' is 'slain' — alike that alienation of heart which had char- acterized their unregenerate condition, and that mutual alienation which had made any fraternal tie between them wholly impossible. This had been slain by 'the cross.' It is thnt result which so often in Christian history has followed upon a true and a truly transforming reception of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ' Peace with God' prepares the way for peace with all 1 Of this word, Trench says (" Synonyms," pp. 1.37, ondly and subordinately the rwonciliation, ' qud nos 13S): " The Christian naTaKKayr) has two sides. It is first a reconciliation, ' 7Hft Deus nos sibi reronnUiavit' laid aside his holy anger against our sins, and received us into favor, a reconciliation effected once for all for an example, us by Christ upon his cross. . . . But itaTaAAoyi) is sec- Den reconciliamiir,' the daily dop<^>siiion, under the oper- ation of the Holy Spirit, of the enmity of tho old man toward God." Of this latter he quotes 2 Cor. 5 : 20 as 44 EPHESIAJ^S. [Ch. II.- 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar oft", and to them tliac were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit iiuto tlie Fatlier. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foieiguers, but fellow citizens with the saints, aud of tlie household of God ; that were far off, and peace to them that were 18 nigh: for through him we both have our access in U one Spirit unlo the Father. So then ye are mo more strangers and sojourners, but ve aie fellow- citizens with the saints, aud of the' household of mi'ii. It is that new nature whose living prin- ciple is love — love to God and love for the neighbor. 17. And came and preached peace. It is Christ Jesus, named in ver. 13. The imme- diate connection of our- present verse is with ver. 14: ' For he is our peace, who,' etc. . . . 'and came and preached peace,' etc. This cannot refer to the personal ministry of our Li)rd ; partly because what is specifically men- tioned here did not characterize that ministry — the mission of his gospel to the Gentile world being left for his apostles to make known, and partly, also, because what is here mentioned in ver. 17 clearly follows in the order of thought what is menlioned in ver. 15, 16. It was after ' by the cross' he had pre- pared the way for the work of reconciliation described, and in some sense effected it, that he 'came and preached peace.' The allusion must be to that which was foreshadowed in the promised ministry of the Holy Spirit, who should "not speak of himself"; he should "receive of mine and show it unto you." In a word, in the gospel as preached to Jew and Gentile alike, Jesus himself, in the attendant ministry and effectual calling of that Spirit of Truth whom he both promised and sent, ' preached peace.' To you which were afar off, and (peace) to them that Avere nigh. The allusion is supposed to be to Isa. 57 : 19: "I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to him tiiat is afar off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal him." Such i an allusion is possible, though if existing at all, it must be indirect and general. In the Greek the word for 'peace' is repeated, for the sake of emphasis, evidently ; as in the Re- vision, " peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh." 18. For through him we both have ac- cess by one Spirit unto the Father Dr. Boise calls attention to the fact that we have here presented the three persons of the God- head: "Through him," Jesus Christ, the Son, "we have our access in one Spirit [Revision] unto the Father." There is a suggestion, also. in this mention of the Spirit's ministry' as to the sense whicii the words 'came and preached peace' should bear. Thayer's first meaning for the word translated 'access' is "the act of bringing to, moving to"; and his second, "access, approach." He quotes Ellicott as insisting upon the transitive sense, "introduc- tion." The word 'access' does not, indeed, seem to express all which is intended. Privi- lege, opportunity of approach, is secured in that work of 'reconciliation,' which is effected in the 'cross' of Christ; but the ministry of the Spirit has a purpose and effect of its own, being notliing less than that "preparation of heart and answer of the tongue" which are also and both "from the Lord." (Prov. i6:i.) 19. Now therefore ye are no more stran- gers and foreigners. "Sotlien"and "stran- gers and sojourners" are changes made in the Revision. The apostle now shows what is the inference from that which has gone before. Gentile Christians, in view of their full par- ticipation in the benefits of the gospel, are in wholly changed relations as respects that which was the highest privilege of the Jew. Two results follow from this new order which the Dispensation of God's grace in the gospel has introduced: (1) The Jew is no longer, in any sense, in an exclusively favored position. The object of his calling and separation among the nations of the world has been accomplished. (2) In the New Order so introduced all men are alike included, without distinction of race, nation, or condition. In this New Common- wealth, citizenship is free to all who will accept it upon the terms oflered. These to whom the apostle writes have so accepted. They are therefore no lf)nger 'strangers,' citi- zens of another cominonwealth or country, nor "sojourners," merely resident foreigners. But fellow citizens with the saints. All the rights of citizenship are theirs; they are at home, and every privilege open to the citi- zen is open to them. And of the household of God. "To the right of the citizen," says Braune, quoted by Riddell, "is added that of the house, of the child, of the heir." A great Ch. II.] EPHESIANS. 45 20 And are built upon the foundations of the apostles l 20 God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Je^us Christ himself being the chief and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner Atone; I and wonderful change from the "alien" con- dition once true of the whole Gentile world. 20. Aiul are built. The figure used now once more clianges. In ver. 15, 16, the recon- ciliation effected 'by the cro.ss' is represented under the idea of a blending in one JJersiUiality of these 'twain' between whom such long con- tinued and inveterate enmity hud existed, so making one new {renewed) man, while 'both' are reconciled unto God 'in one body.' Next tlie unconverted Gentiles were viewed as before aliens and foreigners; but now, as converted, brought into all the privileges of citizenship. The result of the same gracious work is next represented as a building in which ma- terial, diverse and apparently incapable of harmonious union in one structure, is brought together and wrought into unity of plan and result witli divine skill. Upon the founda- tion of the apostles and prophets. Tiie commonly accepted view we suppose to be that by 'prophets' are meant the prophets of the Old Testament. A careful study of the passage suggests objections to this. 1. It is not clear that in writing to Gentile Christians, Paul would name in such a connection what would be in any good measure appreciated only by those familiar with the more ancient Scripture. 2. Some weight, perhaps, should be allowed to the objection founded on the order of the words used. It would be natural to expect that if Paul were speaking of those ancient men held in sue!) reverence by every Jew, he would have named them first. 3. It is further urged that throughout the entire con- nection of the passage Paul occupies the atten- tion of his readers with things present, and is therefore less likely to introduce wliat is, in this respect, so remote from the general order of his thought. 4. In 3 : 5, of this Epi.stle, and in 4 : 11, especially in the former place, Paul names in a like connection with each other "apostles and prophets." The thought in 3 : 5, in particular, is so much like what we have here, that one seems in a mea.-urr forced to the conclusion that here, as there, lie is speaking along with the 'apostles,' of those in the church at that time who were endowed with the prophetic gift, and who might there- fore with propriety be associated, as here, with | those who as apostles held the leading place. But in what sense were apostles and prophets a ' foundation ' ? Perhajis in a twofold sense : 1. As inspired teachers, making known that truth upon which all tliat bears the name of Christian must rest. 2. With particular ref- erence to the ai)ostles, as exercising apostoli- cal authority, and entitled to be received in that representative character with which their Lord in sending had endowed them. The words of Christ to Peter (Man. i6:i8), however interpreted in their more precise meaning, certainly seem to imply an apostolical office and function, for which large occasion appeared in the years immediately following his own ascension, and prejjaration for which was quite as certainly promised in the assurance that the Spirit of truth, in his own ministr3' for them, should "guide" them "into all truth." It i.s, therefore, but the recognition of what had been thus appointed when for the 'apostles' as a bodj', and for the 'prophets' whose ser- vice bore such an intimate relation with their own, a place and function so fundamental is indicated. Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. " As the corner stone," saj's Thayer, "joins together two walls, so Christ joins together as Christians, into one body dedicated to God, those who were formerly Jews and Gentiles." The general reference will be to that fundamental place which Christ fills in all that which is to a Christian matter of faith or a rule of life. 21. In whom all the biiildin:;. The Re- vision reads, "each several building," and in the margin "every building." Winer (18. 4) does not recognize a necessity for this change "As Paul," he says, "is speaking of the Christian Church as a whole, 'the whole build- ing,' is the proper translation." Alford, Elli- cott, and Braune, among commentators, also prefer this rendering, thougli the Revision agrees with ^lej'cr. Dr. Boise also agrees with him. "In one va.st temple," ho says, "are many 'buildings' ( oUoSoiiai) ," and refers to Matt. 24:1. " the buildings of the temple." Riddell seems to understand by "buildings," "the separate Christian congregations" and speaks of these as " each of them growing in the same way, in the personal Christ." The 46 EPHESIANS. [Ch. II. 21 In whom all the Imildiiig fitly framed together groweth uuto a holy temple in ihe hord : 22 In whom ye also uie builUed together for a habita- tion of (jod through the Sijirit. 21 corner stone; in whom i each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy - temple in 22 the Lord; in whom ye also are buil'ded together 5* for a habitation of God in the Spirit. 1 Gr. every building 2 Or, sanctuary 3 Gr. into. allusion does not seem to be to congregations, j or to churches, but to individual Christians, ■ such as these to whom Paul writes. One finds ■ in the passage a general sense much like what I appears in 4 : 16, below, where mention is I made of " the whole body." The oinission of tile article in the Greek makes the usage in the verse under consideration exceptional, yet one wiiich occurs in other places, cited by Winer, as in this Epistle (1 : 8), and in James 1:2. It seems most in consistence with that emphasis which the apostle is placing upon the idea of unit\', and with the figurative method of illus- tration .employed throughout this part of the chapter, to understand him as representing all Christians, howeverdiverse in other things, yet by their common faitVi and their common union with Christ, themselves so brought into unity as to constitute tiiis spiritual " temple in the Lord." Fitly framed together. The lan- guage is much like that in 4 : 16, "the whole body fitly joined and coinpacted," etc. Groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. The conception seems to be that of the church of Jesus Christ in its spiritual sense. Made up of those who are true believers, it is 'fitly framed together," and as the number of these increases from age to age it becomes more and more worthy a fulfillment of that typical "holy temple of the Lord" in whose holiest place the Sliekinah dwells. 22. In whom ye also are builded to- gether. Ye Gentiles, not as churches, but as individual believers, have each and person- ally a jdace. The words 'in whom' should be noted as a reiteration of what has so fre- quently appeared in these fir-st two chapters of the Epistle. Each privilege of the be- liever, all the grace manifested and experi- enced, is always 'in Clirist.' For an habi- tation of God through the Spirit. The three divine Persons again grouped in a single verse. 'In' the Son believers are brought into the unity of this 'temple of the Lord' in Avhich the Father, 'through the Si)irit,' or 'in the Spirit,' as the special form of divine man- ifestation, dwells. The figurative allusion to the ancient sanctuary is made more evident by the fact that the word used for 'temple' i.s not that which denotes the temple in general, but that which indicates the "sanctuary," where stood the altar of incense, and in the holiest place of all, the mercy seat — "shadows of good things to come'' — with the Divine Presence itself manifested in impressive sym- bols. SUMMARY OF THE EXPOSITION. In this chapter the apostle enters inore di- rectly upon the specific theme of the Epistle. He is addressing a church made up mainly or wholly of converted Gentiles. Two things are true of them in their present condition ; 1. They are renewed persons, changed bj^ the grace of God from their former heathen state into a spiritual condition which is for them as life from the dead. (1-10.) 2. They have been brought into fuU enjoyment of those privi- leges which were once thought to be the ex- clusive possession of the chosen people; so that now, in this respect, the distinction of Jew and Gentile exists no longer. (11-13.) As regards the former of these particulars, however, Jew and Gentile had been recipi- ents of a like mercy. Paul recognizes the fact that those like himself who had been wont to claim a peculiar interest in God's favor had been 'sons of disobedience' not less than the Gentiles. They also had been 'dead in sins,' and had been also 'raised up' through the same renewing grace of 'God, who is rich in mercj'.' Thus, apart from that act of di- vine beneficence in which the door to all spir- itual privilege had been thrown open to the Gentiles, a perfect union of Jew and Gentile had been prepared in the fact that out of a common condition of deadness in sin the3' had been raised in the same act of renewing grace into possession of one and the same new life in Christ. Upon this thought, from ver. 14 to the close of the chapter, the writer mainly dwells. Jew and Gentile are henceforth one. Their com- mon regeneration, supplanting 'enmity' with lf)ve; their common access to God by virtue of their admission to the same new relation with Ch. III.] EPHESIANS. 47 j'OR this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you (ientiles, CHAPTER III. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus the Father through the Son, — these are recog- nized in a setting aside of all that in 'the law of commandments contained in ordinances' which had heretofore been 'a middle-wall of I)artition' between them. They are now one si^firitual building, growing 'unto an holy temple in the Lord,' with the foundation in that revealed truth of which 'apostles and prophets' were the ministers, Jesus Christ being the corner stone. It is worthy of particular remark that to h'wn who in his earlier life had been pecu- liarly cliaracterized by Jewish prejudice — " a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee ' ' (Acta 23 : 6) — not only had an especial mission to the Gen- tiles been committed, but to him also it fell, as in this Epistle, to set forth in express terms the truth that in this kingdom of God which he and others had been sent to proclaim there was thenceforth, forever, to be 'neither Jew nor Greek.' Of this truth he was himself, in his complete conversion from a prejudiced and persecuting Jew to a large-minded Chris- tian with the whole world embriiced in the circle of his sympathy and self-sacrifice, a pre- eminent example and witness. Ch. 3 : 1-13. Paul a Prisoxer of Christ Jesus for the Gextiles. 1. For this cause. "Because ye are so called and so built together in Christ.'' (Eili- cott.) On account, therefore, of what he had just been saying, and most especially in ver. 19-22 of the foregoing chapter. In these four verses he sums up what had before been said of the grace of God to the Gentiles, in opening for them, in free access and enjoyment, the whole great treasure of gospel promise and privilege. 'For this cause,' he proceeds to say — but breaks suddenly off from the thought in his mind, being diverted from it by the more personal one suggested in the words which follow. The thread of connection, thus dropped, is taken up again at ver. 14. What he began to say is that because of the great gift of grace to these Gentile believers, he prayed for them, that they might attain to all that measure of spiritual experience described in the closing verses of tlie chapter. The connection, then, is: "For this cause . . . I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," etc. I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ. "Of Ciirist Jesus" in the Revision. The break in the connection just described the old commentators sought to avoid by sui)plying, in the Greek text, the Greek verb for ' I am' (ei^ii), making tiie verse read: "For this cause, I, Paul, am the pris- oner of Jesus Christ." For such a change in the text there seems to be no manuscript au- thority, although one ancient version — the Syriac — and two more modern ones — the Ge- nevan, and that of Tyndale — have it. Such authorities as Chrysostom, Theophylact, An- selm, Erasmus, and Beza, also approve it. Meyer, too, prefers this emendation.' Since we have had already, in 2 : 1-5, an example of this peculiarity of style, it certainly seems unnecessary to resort to an expedient so doubtful as a change in tfiC Greek unwar- ranted by the manuscripts. The expression ' prisoner of Christ Jesus' does not mean for the sake of Christ Jesus. We have the same idea again in 4 : 1, "Prisoner in the Lord." With that vivid conception of the meaning of such incidents in his ministry so often noticed in him, he sees himself to be a prisoner, not because his enemies have prevailed, nor be- cause of any unjust sentence of his Roman juflges, but as what is, in truth, not even so much a permitted incident of his ministry, as indeed a part of it. And so, with a turn «>f thought and phrase not unusual with him, he calls him.self Christ's prisoner, as he is Christ's minister; doubtless also finding unspeakable comfort in so interpreting these events, which, as is shown elsewhere (piim. 1 : 12), he feels so sure 1 Kllicoft, however, sa.vs of this view; "On account of the tautolosv in tovtov \af>i.v (" for this cause"), and iinip v/jLuiv (" for you "), the analogy of 4:1, and, still more, the improbability that St. Paul would style liiiu- self o 5e'(TMtot ("the prisoner"), when he so well knew others wore sulferinn like himself, the other explana- tion is to be preferred." 48 EPHESIANS. [Ch. III. 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace 1 of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery ; (as 1 wrote afore in few words; 2 in behalf of you Gentiles, — if so be that ye have heard of the i dispeusalion of that grace of God 3 which was given me to you-ward; liow that by revelation was made linown unto me the mystery, 1 Oi', stewardship. have "fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel." The word for 'prisoner' means one who is bound, as was the case with Paul at this time — bound with a chain to the soldier who kept guard over him. For you Gen- tiles. We may remind ourselves here of the incidents accompanying Paul's arrest at Jeru- salem (Acts 21: 27-40); in the first place, great oflense taken, on the part of the Jews, at what seems to have been known of his ministry among the Gentiles; and then, secondly (Acts 21: 29), because " they had seen before with him in the city, Trophimus, an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple." The words we are considering, how- ever, should not be regarded as fully explained by these incidents. Doubtless he means to say that his imprisonment was a consequence, in general, of liis ministry to the Gentiles, in accordance with that which had been signified to him as his especial mission (Acts 22: 21), and so was in their behalf. 2. If ye have heard. The mention of this ministry to the Gentiles suggests to him another train of thought, which he abruptly takes up and follows as far as to ver. 14. That the Ephesian Christians themselves had ' heard ' of that of which he was now to speak, there could be no doubt at all. They had heard of it many times, and from his own lips. The peculiar form of expression might be un- derstood as intended to remind them the more impressively that they had so ' heard.' There is reason, at the same time, for the view noted in the " Introduction," that the language used rather goes to confirm the theory that this Epistle was really intended for others besides the Ephesians, churches in places near Eph- esus, which Paul hiinself had not personally visited. In each case, however, there is un- doubtedly what Eilicott speaks of as "a gentle appeal, expressed in a hypothetical form, and conveying the hope that his words had not been quite forgotten.'' The Greek (flye), fully translated, will read, "if indeed," giving a degree of emphasis to the words which follow. The dispensation of the grace of God. The Revision, it will be seen, has "steward- ship" in themarginfor 'dispensation.' Tha^'er understands by the Greek in this place, " that dispensation (or arrangement) by which the grace of God was granted to him." The com- mentators appear to agree that the words should be so taken. The connection, how- ever, seems to show that the 'grace' spoken of is not the grace shown to Paul himself as a forgiven sinner, but that implied in the " reve- lation " spoken of in the following verse. Which is given me to you-ward. The meaning is not exactly "in your behalf" The Greek preposition (eU) is to be taken, says Eilicott, "with its proper force (ethical direction), 'toward you,' 'to work in you,' or, perhaps, 'among you.'" It was a ministry', with this "mj'stery" of which he proceeds to speak as the subject of it, to be fulfilled among the Gentiles, and in them. 3. How that by revelation. It is well remembered how, on various occasions, in his address to the Jews (Acts 22 : 1-21), before Festus and Agrippa (26:1-26) and in his Epistle to the Galatiaiis (i: 11-21), Paul relates the circum- stances of his conversion with evident purpose : (1) To .show what a truly supernatural event that was ; and (2) To make it evident that both a revelation and a mission had at that time been given to him. His conversion had not occurred under the preaching of any of those who were afterward his fellow-apostles; neither had he received his knowledge of these things at the hands of any human teacher. He "neither received it of man, neither was he taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Clirist." He could not more strongly affirm his consciousness of acting and speak- ing by divine inspiration. So iiere it is 'by revelation.' He made known unto me the mystery. Tiioluck, as quoted by Eiddell, explains the word 'mystery' in its New Tes- tament use as meaning " (1) such matters of fact as are inaccessible to reason, and can only be known through revelation. (2) Such mat- ters as are patent fiicts, but the process of which cannot be entirely taken in by the rea- son." Paul seems himself to explain in a measure his own use of the word in his paren- Ch. III.] EPHESIANS. 49 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery or Christ,) 5 Which ill oilier iiges was not made known unto the sons ol' men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit ; 4 as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my nnderstanding in the 5 mystery of ( hrist; which in other generations was not made Jciiown uiiio the sons-of men, us it hatli now been revealed unto his holy apostles and pro- thetic reference, here immedititely following, to what liiid before been said of this ' my.s- tery.' As I wrote afore in a few words. The reference is not to be understood, as some have thought, as being to some former epistle to the Ephesian Church, but to previ- ous words in this same Epistle; as Ellicott and Eadie think, to 1 : 9 of this Epistle, where we read of "the mystery of his (God's) will, according to the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself," etc.; and to 2 : 13 and following verses, where mention is made of the gathering in of the Gentiles. 4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in tlie mystery of Christ. The word 'understand' does not represent the meaning properly. '■''Perceive my unde):stfi?iding," as in the Revision, ex- presses the thought more exactly. He docs not mean, however, full 'understanding.' Eiidie translates: "You can while reading perceive my insight in the mystery of ChrLst." They may perceive that measure of 'under- standing,' that apprehension of the great m^'s- tery of Christ which had been given to him 'by reveliition.' But in what sense is this m^'stery of which he speaks 'the mystery of Christ'? it seems unnecessary to setirch, as Ellicott appears to do, for some recondite meaning here. The verses immediately fol- lowing, especially ver. 6, explain the phrase in so far, at least, as its general sense is con- cerned. Tholtick's first definition of the word 'mystery' is covered in what is said in that verse of the purpose of God to receive the Gentiles fully into the privileges and fellow- ship of the gospel: a purpose which was "a matter of fact inaccessible to reason, and only to be known through revelation." But the fulfillment of this purpose was so in Christ, and through him, as that he himself may stand for and represent the whole. 5. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men. /?i other generations is the correct rendering. The only other place in the New Testament where the phrase " sons of men " occurs is at Mark 8 : 28 : "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men," etc "men" in the parallel pa.ssage in Matthew. Wiien it is said licre, therefore, that this mys- tery of a world-wide redemptive scheme had not in other generations been made known to the sons of men, there is no want of consist- ency with the fact that in prophecies of the Older Dispensation foretokenings of it had ap- peared. Not only had not that 'revelation' of the 'mystery' been made to all men as is now done in the preaching of the gospel given to us by inspiration, but even to those favored persons, liko Abraham and others, who were made depositaries of that earlier revelation, only far-away glimpses of the great truth had been granted. " Prophets and kings rfe- sired to see the things which we see," but "died without the sight." As it is now re- vealed unto his holy apostles and proph> ets. That the 'prophets' meant are the New Testament prophets, see under 2:20. This also is clearly implied in the language here. There is thus a manifest claim on behalf of those by whom the foundations of Christian doctrine were laid, to excejitional knowledge of the mind and purpose of God as respects the things made known by them. This excep- tional knowledge on their part was even be- yond what had been allowed to inspired men of the 'other generations.' And this excep- tional knowledge was, as of necessity it must be, 'revealed' knowledge. We have thus u clear expression of that consciousness of a di- vine inspiration by which the founders of our religion acted and spoke. That Paul here .speaks of the 'apostles and prophets' as 'holy' is not to be thought inconsistent with a due sense of personal imperfection on his own part, neither can it furnish ground for ques- tioning the Patiline authorship of this Epistle. (De Wette. ) Not only is he speaking of the apostles and prophets in a general way, with- out particular reference to himself, but the word for 'holy' is the word which we have already found used as a designation for all Christians, and translated 'saints.' Besides which, as Ellicott suggests, it may be meant as in some degree antithetical to 'sons of men' above. It has n the 9 Gentiles the unsearchable riches of C'lirist ; and to • make all men see what is the '-dispensation of the mystery which from all ages hath been hid in God 1 Some uucieDt authurities rend bring to light what ia... ..'2 Or, stewardship. 'minister,' although the former is, of course, implied in the latter. It was a 'gift of the grace of God' that he should be called to this service. Given ^ unto me by the effectual Avorking of his power. Tlie words ' by tiie eft'ectual working of his power' express once more that strong sense which the apostle mani- fests, in repeated instances, of the supernatural character of that change by which he who was at one time "a blasphemer and a persecutor," was made, not only a Christian, but "a preacher of that faith which once he de- stroyed." (Gal. I : 23.) What adds to the sur- prising nature of this change is the fact that one whose devotion to his own national faith, as a Jew, amounted almost to fanaticism, should be a preacher of this new faith to the Gentiles. Paul himself could account for all in no other way than as due to 'the effectual working' of God's own mighty power, seeing, says Olshausen, in all this "an act of omnipo- tence." 8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints. The jihrase 'lesstlian the least of all saints' is, in the Greek, a single word (eAaxiiTTOTepai), of which Winer saj's (xi, 2, 6), that it is a form belonging "specially to the diction of poetry, or to later Greek, which sought to strengthen the comparative, become weak in popular usage." It is a comparative, formed from the superlative, meaning "least." Ellicott terms the translation, retained also in the Revision, a "most felicitous" one. He also says, what is most just as regards the gen- eral sense of the passage, that "it is perfocth' incredible how, in such passages as these, which reveal the truest depths of Christian experience, Baur (Pcailiis, p. 447) can only see contradictions and arguments against tlie apos- tolic origin of the Epistle." Is this grace given. The word for 'grace,' in this place and in the connection, is taken here as in the sense of the Latin word for "office." Tliat service which had, during many years, in- volved so much of hardship and danger, and now imprisonment, he views as an especial and peculiar 'grace,' or unmerited favor. That I should preach among the Gen- tiles. " Unto the Gentiles," in the Revision. This is in accordance with the text, whicii omits the preposition for "in" (fv) upon the authority of four very ancient manuscripts (X A B C). This text also Alford prefers. Eadie and Ellicott retain the preposition, and translate "among the Gentiles," citing authori- ties which, according to the latter, "fairly preponderate." The preponderance of au- thorities is, it would seem, in number only. In other respects it certainly favors the omis- sion of the preposition (iv), in which case we translate 'to the Gentiles?.' The unsearch- able riches of Christ. AVe have here, again, the word 'riches,' by which the writer of this Epistle so often seeks to represent the fullness and abundance of the mercies of God in Christ the Saviour. The meaning must be 'of Christ' as representing "the exhaustless blessings of salvation" (Ellicott): exhaustless, no doubt, in ways of which in this world and in this life it is possible to have only the most inadequate conception. 9. And to make all men see. More is meant than simply to convince the reason or enlighten the understanding. Thayer explains the verb as denoting, in "a use only biblical and ecclesiastical, to enlighten spiritually, imbue with saving knowledge.'' The same word occurs in the Greek at John 1 : 9, where the Word, Christ, is spoken of as "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Paul seems here to have in view that apostolical sufficiency', realized in gifts of the Spirit, bj' which in this ministry the minds of men were acted upon with pecu- 1 Meyer, Ellicott, Eadie, and Tisehendorf, following | sative, agreeing with rriv Sioptav, 'the gift,' instead of the Sinaitic manuscript, with the Syriac Version and t^s ioflci'arjs agreeing with ri)? x'«P''^05. 'Hie grace,' in the Greek Fathers, adopt in the ca.se of one word a dif- ferent reading from that of Wesleott and Hort in the KevisioD ; namely, Tr)v Sodelcdv, 'given,' in the accu- the genitive. The point is not material, save that in the latter case the 'grace' manifested in 'the gift' is perhaps more emphasized. 52 EPHESIANS. [Ch. III. hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers iu heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 10 who created all things ; to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the luavenly places might be made known through tlie cliurch liar power and effect. What is the fellow- ship of the mystery. The word, in the Greek, is the same which has several times before been translated 'dispensation,' and there can be no good reason for representing it here by 'fellowship.' The Common Ver- sion, however, follows the Elzevir text in the word 'fellowship' (Koivmvia), instead of 'dis- pensation' (oi/cocofii'a), which the best authori- ties require. ' Dispensation of the mystery ' means that order or arrangement under divine purpose by which the Gentiles also were made partakers in the gospel blessing; a mystery in the sense that it remained hidden in the secret purposes of God, save so far as intimations were given in the Older Dispensation, till it pleased him to make it known by his apostles and prophets. Which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God. Lit- erall}', which froiJi the ages, a New Testament phrase, meaning from the beginning of time. 'Hid in God' vill mean, in the mind, the as yet unrevealed purpose of God. Who cre- ated all things by Jesus Christ. The Ke- vision omits the Inst three words. Tliey are not found in either of the three oldest manu- scripts — Sinaitic, Vatican, Alexandrian — and are consequently omitted by Westcott and Hort, by Ellicott, and "most recent editors." A question is raised by some commentators as to the precise force, in such a connection, of the words 'who created all things.' It may be sufficient to see in them a recognition of that sovereignty in God, based upon the fact that 'all things' owe their origin to him, by virtue of which he not only of right appoints events "according to the good pleasure of his will " (oh.i :5), but times their fulfillment as his infinite wisdom sees to be in all respects fitting and right. 10. To the intent that now unto {the) principalities and powers in (the) hea- venly places. A third example of use of the phrase ' heavenly places.' By 'principalities and powers' are, on all hands, understood angelic beings in their several orders. Some writers, such as Bengel, Ilofmann, Olshausen, mentioned by Eadie, understand evil angels as well as good. "The general tenor of the passage," as Ellicott says, " make.-- this view inadmissible," v/hile also "evil angels more naturally recognize the power, good angels the wisdom of God." The ^now^ of the passage should be noticed as suggesting the fact that what once had been 'hid in God' has now, the time for it having arrived, been revealed. Might be known by the church. Two things are iinplied: (1) that angelic beings are not only interested in, but are occupied in observing and studying, that which appears in 'the church,' more especially as it is a scene of divine manifestation, perhaps unexampled in the universe of intelligence; (2) a meaning in the word 'church,' founded upon its literal one, yet far more comprehensive and exhaust- ive. What is here the particular obj(!ct of interest and study to angelic beings is that work of redemption of which the church is alike the subject and the scene, while on its own part 'the church,' in that meaning of tlie phrase contemplated here, is the whole com- pany of the redeemed in all ages, on earth and in heaven. Tiie conception of the church as a local assembly (exKArjo-ia) of saved persons is expanded so as to comprehend nil the saved. The manifold wisdom of (Jod. The Greek word for 'manifold' occurs only in this place in the New Testament. It is used in class.'c Greek to denote that which appears "much variegated, in a great variety of colors." (Thayer.) Farrar tnmslates, "richly varie- gated." This does not seem, however, to ex- press the thought here. Another meaning for the word is " much varied," having many forms. And this would certainly appear to be what the apostle intends in this place. The wisdom of God, in the history and in all the varied fortunes of his church, is manifested in multiform ways; in ways peculiar to this pe- culiar scene of divine procedure, and, as ob- served and studied by the higher intelligences, opening to them discoveries of divine perfec- tions un=een elsewhere. As to the connection of the thought, commentators differ. To what do the words in the beginning of the verse, 'to the intent that,' refer? Meyer under- Ch. III.] EPHESIANS. 11 According to the eternal purpose which he pur- posed in Christ .lesas our Lord: 12 In whom we have bolduess and access with confi- dence hy the faith ol' hini. 13 Wherefore 1 desire that ye faint not at my tribula- tions for you, which is your glory. 11 the manifold wisdom of God, according to the 1 eternal purpose which he pu^po^ed in Christ 12 Jesus our Lord: in whom we have boldness and ac- cess in confidence llirough -our laiih in hiiu. 13 Wherefore I ask that ^ 1 nuiy not laint at my tribulations for you, which < are your glory. 1 Gr. purpose o/ tile aget i Or, the faith of him 3 Or, ye 4 ')r, it. Stands, "the concealment of the mystery." (Ellicott.) Harless, " the past act of creation." (Ibid.) Ellicott himself understands, "the general Dispensation described in the two foregoing verses"; Eadie, the entire preced- ing paragraph. This last would seem to be correct, empliasis being placed upon that which the apostle himself makes prominent — the ' mystery,' now revealed in the animunced world-wide comprehensiveness of the scheme of redemption. It is not simply that redemp- tion is provided, nor simply that to "the Jew first" tiie announcement was made, nor even alone that it is "now also to the Gentile," but in addition that dispensation of the mystery, that order, adjustment, and final accomplish- ment of a great and wonderful divine plan ; all this, made 'known by the church,' com- mands the adoring attention of ' principalities and powers in tlie heavenly places.' 11. According to the eternal purpose — literally, "purpose of the ages." New Testa- ment usage, however, requires that we shall understand eternity as implied. The apostle is as if answering the question vjhen tliis pur- pose was formed. This answer is, in eternity ; before the foundation of the world, as in ch. 1 : 4. Which he purposed in Christ Je^us our Lord. The Revision retains 'purposed' as a translation of the Greek verb {iiroir\asseth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fuluess of God. 18 love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height 19 and depth, and to know the love of (.'hrist «hicti jias^eih knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fuluess of Uod. 18. May be able {inade strong) to com- prehend with all saiuts. If we take the rendering of the Revision in place of ' may be able.' the connection witii what goes before is made clear. The 'strengthening with might by his Spirit in the inner nian' is that 'Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,' through the spiritual receptiveness of the renewed nature, and that in the operation of the gra- cious principle of 'love' 'ye may be made strong to comprehend.' Such comprehension of spiritual things as is here spoken of is not measured by intellectual capacity, as is often seen ; is not in any way a natural gift. It is a spiritual endowment. ' Love' is the inspira- tion of it, and 'faith' its instrument. The 'comprehend' must be rightly understood. It does not .mean comprehend in the sense of a complete and full understanding, as is clearly implied in words used below. The "apprehend" of the lievision expresses the sense more exactlj-. The Greek word means "to lay hold of, so as to make," what is spoken of "one's own." (Thayer.) If, as Dr. Rid- del! thinks, this word is "perhaps too weak, since more is meant than intellectual appre- hension," the word 'comprehend' might mis- lead in another direction. Tliere is spiritual apprehension, as well as intellectual, and both seem to be here meant. In the clause 'with all saints,' the tipostle simply places these Gentile Christians in association with Chris- titins everywhere and alwa^'S, as needing, and perinitted to ask for and hope for, this which he is asking for them. What is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. The order of the last three words, 'depth and height,' changed in the Revision to 'height and depth,' is of course not material. The Sinaitic manuscript authorizes the former, the Vatican the latter, while other authorities differ in a similar way. Ellicott thinks, and apparently with reason, that the change to the more natural order is the one more likely to have been made. As to what is to be thus apprehended writers differ. Many far-fetched meanings may be dismissed at once, as that the divine nature is intended, or, as Do Wette, the divine wisdom ; also that one which Eadie approves, the spiritual teti.ple described in the previous chapter. There is no occasion for departing from the connection of the pas- sage, which makes it clear that these terms of measurement are tropically used of that which is mentioned in the verse next following, "the love of Christ." The apostle simply changes the form of expression for that which he began to stiy, which seems to be this: "That ye may be made strong to apprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." Before complet- ing the sentence, however, he changes the form to what we find in the verse next follow- ing. 19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. It may be that the word "apprehend ' fell short of the idea he wished to convey, and that he changes to the word 'know' as fuller in its meaning. We Ciin hiirdl^' say then that ver. 19 is epexegeti- cal of ver. 18. Yet the former is certainly a more ample and a more satisfactory expres- sion of thought, than the latter. Tiiere is no reason why difficulty should be found in the paradoxical form of expression, 'know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.' Some, imagining such difficulty, have sought to overcome it by supposing the tipostle to speak of two kinds of knowledge — one, that which is given in the ministry of the Spirit, and the other mere unaided human knowledge. The difficulty, however, even in this interpretation, still remains. 'The love of Christ' surely passes even that knowledge which we have through the Spirit, and the paradox is still substantially the same. The better interpre- tation is that adopted by the more judicious commentators, and which supposes Paul to speak of knowledge as experimental in the one case, and as absolute and complete in the other. In this sphere of knowledge, as in so many others, we maj' know bj' actusil contact and experience what answers all the ends of a ])resent need, while lying beyond is that to which we are to attain as knowledge grows. Ch. III.] EPHESIANS. 57 20 Now uuto hiiu that is able to do exceeding abun- dautly above all that we usk or think, according to the power that wurkcth in us, .il Uiit(j him be glory in the chinch by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without cud. Aiuen. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abun- dantly above all that we ask or think, according to 21 the jKjwer that wurkelh in us, unto lam he the glory in the church and in Christ Jesiis unto 'all gcucr*- tious for ever and ever. Aiuen. 1 6r. all the generations of the age of the ages. This latter may be infinite in its nature, and so may pass all actual knowledge, whatever tiie measure of our attainment; such must be the perfections of the divine nature, and sucli 'the love of Christ.' That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. " Unto" all the fullness of God, the preposition (eis) having, according to some, thatmeaning in this place. The difficulty of the passage is also somewhat relieved in this better translation. Dr. Boise's version is: " in order that ye [en- tering] into all the fullness of God [and thus being surrounded with it on all sides] may be made full." This gives to the Greek preposi- tion its other meaning of "into." Either of these renderings — that of Dr. Boise or that of the Revision — disposes of the very serious dif- ficulty found in that of the Common Version. To be 'filled with the fulness of God,' seems an impossibility, in whatever way the words be interpreted. This word 'fullness' has oc- curred once before in our Epistle (i:^^), where the church, as the body of Christ, is spoken of as " the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Both there and here the allusion must be to the amplitude of the divine perfections, which, in the one case, are viewed as imparted for a complete spiritual endowment of the church as a spiritual body, and in the other as that standard of attainment toward which each individual believer may aspire. Another apostle (.iohni:i6) seems to have the same thought in mind, although the expression of it is there Johannean, while here it is Paul- ine. "Of his fulness have all we received," says John; "filled unto all the fulness of God,'' says Paul. 20-21. A Doxoi.oGY. 2(». Nowunto him. Here that section of the Epistle which we may perhaps characterize as setting forth the doctrine of redemption, closes ill an ascription of praise which most fittingly consummates and crowns the magnificent view which has been presented of this redemp- tion, so wonderful in itself, so world-wide in its )irovision and scope. That is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. The terms employed, intense in their meaning, can only be viewed as ex- pressing intense emotion. Dwelling as he has done upon what is contemplated in all this work of redemption which has been his theme thus far, and perhaps mindful of the "high calling'.' wliich he has set before those to whom he writes, he now calls upon them to adore with him the all-.-ufficiency of him from whom all human sufficiency must come. We are not to measure that sufficiency even by our own conscious need, nor to imagine that the imperfect petition will measure the gift. 'Above all that we ask or think,' he 'is able.' According to the power that worketh in us. We have {)resent experience of this 'power.' We have proof of its reality, and by what it has done for us may know what it may yet do. "He that began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Je.^us Christ." (Phil. 1 :6, Rev. Ver.) 21. Unto him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus. "In the church and in Christ Jesus," as in the Revision. "The first member" of the clause "denoting the outward province, the second the inward and spiritual sphere in which God was to be praised." Throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Literally, ^ to all the generations of the nge of the ages.' It is a peculiar form of expres- sion. Harle.ss, as quoted by EUicott, calls atten- tion to the diflference between the more common phrase, "ages of the ages" (aiwi/es riov aiu>vb>y) and " ago of the ages" (aiaiK riov aliaviav). Both alike imply the element of meaning in eter- nity, and are properly rendered, as in the Re- vision, "forever and ever." Harless makes the distinction in the two phrases to be that the former is more extenitive, the latter more intensive — "an age of the ages which contains all ages in itself." Ellicott himself thinks this "ingenious," but "of doubtful application," and prefers to view the two forms of expres- sion as practically identical. SUMMARY OF THE KXPOSITION. To some extent this chapter is a resume of 58 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IV. CHAPTEE IV. I THEREFORE, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you tliat ye walk wortiiy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were the former one. Having completed the view just taken of tlie comprehensiveness of that salvation of wiiich he writes, and having shown these Ephesian brethren how much all this means for them, he has in ins heart a prayer in their behalf, that they may be able to enter into the meaning ofthe great truth so presented, in some good degree comprehend it, and feel its mighty inspiration. He begins with an allusion to his own present condition ; and, that the assurance of his prayer in their behalf may have more force with tliem, he dwells upon this; yet, as in a former instance, is carried away by this interposing thought into an ex- tended parenthesis, the original purpose being for the moment dropped. He recurs to that period in his own life when this of wliich he has been writing to them was to him wholly '"the revelation of a mystery." He was then made to understand, not only that the Jesus ■whom he persecuted was the Redeemer of men, the Messiah of his people, but also that he was a Redeemer for all men. More than this, it was then assigned to him, as his pecu- liar mission, that he should be in an especial manner the messenger and minister of this world-wide redemption. This he views, not as a ministry merely, but as a "grace," a mercy of God, a peculiar privilege, as undeserved as it is great. So he would have his brethren understand it, and along with him to accept the "tribulations " inseparable from it as cause of rejoicing, not of complaint. In this way he may be almost said to bring those to whom he writes into those very sur- roundings amidst which he offers his prayer for them. It is as if they also, with him, were bowing the knee to the universal Father, while he prays for them that they may come to know, as he knows it, as "all saints" are per- mitted to know it, that love of Christ which is at once so wonderful and so unsearchable, and may be filled with the fullness of all richest spiritual experience. As he closes his prayer he bursts forth in a doxology of praise, as if the mean "hired house" of his Roman impris- onment had become " the gate of heaven," and the guarding soldier his angel of deliverance. Ch. 4 : 1-16. The Doctrine of the Church. Thus far we have been occupied with the doctrine of redemption, considered (1), as an eternal purpose in the mind of God ; (2), as an election of grace, by which the redeemed of all ages were "chosen" in Christ "before the foundation of the world " ; (3), as announced in the types, predictions, and promises of that Dispensation in which, as depositaries of the covenant, God's ancient people were set apart from the rest of mankind; (4), as consum- mated in the advent, ministry, death, and mediation of Jesus Christ; (5), as made in the gospel a world-wide redemption, all former limitations being done away ; (6), as having in view for its ultimate result the salvation and glorification with Christ of a mighty host, made one in their common Redeemer and Lord, in whom to illustrate in the view of all intelligences "the manifold wisdom of God" and "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." The great subject so presented is treated discursively, not under any formal arrangement, yet so as to consti- tute a distinct division ofthe Epistle, with the special topics just indicated made prominent not so much in their logical order as in that which best answered the purpose ofthe apostle in writing. A second division of the Epistle is now reached, which may be viewed as briefly introductory to a third, in which it is shown how the subjects of this redemption may, and should, "walk worthy of" their "calling." This second division we may char- acterize as the doctrine of the church, as the first may in like manner be defined as the doc- trine of redemption. 1. I therefore, the prisoner of [ui] the Lord. As to what the word ' therefore' logic- ally refers, commentators are not entirely agreed. Some, with Meyer, connect with what immediately precedes in the closing verses of the previous chapter; others, as Al- ford, with the whole previous chapter; Elli- cott with so much of that chapter as relates "to the spiritual privileges and calling of the Ephesians." It may at least be assumed that Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 59 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffer- ing, forbearing oue anotlier iu love; 2 called.witb all lowliness and meekness, with longsuf- it is these last which the apostle would empha- size, in proceeding to tiiose practical lessons found ill tiie great theme so far treated. Paul here styles himself 'prisoner in the Lord' in much the same sense as he has already (ch. 3:1) named himself 'prisoner of Christ Jesus,' with this difference, however, that, as EUicott says, having in view the force of the preposition in each case: "In the latter the captivity is referred immediately to Christ as its Author and Originator; in the former, to union with him and devotion to his service." In both instances it is to be noted at what a thoroughly Christian point of view the apostle regards that which it would be so natural to consider a calamity merely. Beseech you. Giving the words something of the emphatic form they have in the Greek, we may trans- late : " I therefore beseech you — I, the prisoner of the Lord." He would have his exliortation gain force and effect from the circumstances amidst which it is spoken. "E.xhort you," "call upon you," are alternative rendering.';. That ye walk worthy. The word for ' walk' is the same as in ch. 2 . 2, "Wherein in time past ye walked"; that is, "in trespas-fses and sins." It means to "walk about." Thayer renders, " to regulate one's life," "to conduct one's self" There may be no intentional suggestion that in this new way of walking they should be as intent and earnest as in that old one; in the use we ourselves make of the passage, however, this parallelism maybe per- mitted. Of the vocation wherewith ye are called. 'Vocation' has now a meaning unlike that which the apostle clearly has in mind. The Christian life is certainly not to be viewed as a pursuit, wilh an object to gain. Even the word "calling,"' used in the Revi- sion, has a certain inadequacy. Of the calling wherewith ye were called, is, however, the best translation that can be made. The latter part of the clause explains the former part. It in- dicates that these Christians had been ' called ' in the high Christian .sense. The word for "calling," Thayer speaks of as "everywhere in the New Testament, in a technical sense," used for "the divine invitation to embrace salvation in the kingdom of God, which is made especially through the preaching of the gospel." To this should be added that ele- ment in the "call" which makes it so much more than a mere invitation ; that efficiency of the Spirit of truth, in the word and operating througli it, which makes it effectual. The ap- peal which the apostle makes in this and sub- sequent verses is grounded on what is more than an invitation merely; besides this, in that gracious exertion of divine power in which hardness was melted, indifference over- come, and the heart made "willing." The invitation alone were much ; this special grace of God in their salvation was unspeakably more. A 'walk,' a character and manner of life 'woHliy' of such a 'calling,' while it is the true Christian aspiration, implies, as the apostle proceeds to sliow, some of the truest types of human excellence. 2. With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering. In these ways tliey were to 'walk worthily.' 'Lowliness, and meekness, and long-suffering' have a certain relation to each other, with marked resem- blance, j'et to he carefully distinguished in the present case. ' Lowliness' may be termed that fundamental Christian characteristic on which all others, in a certain way, depend. It is as Trench, quoted by Ellicott, defines it, "the thinking truly, and because trulj', there- fore lowlily of ourselves." In all relations of the Christian life this ju.st self-e.stimation is fundamentally essential. 'Meekness' is that attitude in which, under the jirompting of tins due self-estimation, we place ourselves toward God and toward men. It is the opposite of the exacting, overbearing, self-exalling spirit. 'Long-suffering,' while it ci>nnects itself im- mediately with what follow.s, is in relation also with the 'lowliness' and the 'meekness.' Ellicott calls the Greek for 'long-suffering' {itaKpoOviiia), "a fine word," and with Trench speaks of it as the antithesis of the Greek word l.b(v9vfiia), meaning "sudden anger." James (i : 19) exhorts his brethren to be ".«low to wrath," a phrase which exprca«es the mejining of the word 'long-suffering,' here considered. Hence the force of what immediately follows — forbearing one another in love. Tlie literal meaning, in this place, of the word translated 'forbearing,' is "holding one's selt 60 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IV. 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of tlie Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 Tke.rK is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; 3 fering, forbearing one another in love; gi\iiig dili- gence to keep the unity of the Spirit in imc l.uiid of 4 peace. T/ieie is one body, and one Si.irit, even as albO up," a forcible way of expressing what is meant by 'patience,' 'endurance.' The word assumes that in the relations of Chris- tians with each other occasions of diflerence, even of threatened alienation, are sure to arise. They are to 'forbear one another' in an exercise of Christian self-control, witli 'slowness to wrath,' or with ' long-su tiering,' exercising 'meekness,' and with proper esti- mate, not exaggerated estimate, of what is due to themselves. It is all, especially the 'for- bearing,' to be 'in love,' which is, indeed, the indispensable and all-originating element in that gracious state which the apostle describes. 3. Endeavouring to keep. Davies trans- lates the word for 'keep,' " to keep by giving heed to." The word for 'endeavoring' means seeking or endeavoring with diligence. Giv- ing to tlie words their full meaning, therefore, we may read diligently endeavoring to watch- fully keep. The form of the expression shows at once of how great moment is this which the apostle enjoins, and at the same time with what watchful earnestness it must besought. The unity of the Spirit. By 'the Spirit' is meant the Divine Spirit, the promised Com- forter, "Helper." The Greek genitive here, says EUicott, is "the genitive of the originat- ing cause." The 'unity' spoken of is, there- fore, that unity which the Spirit produces. Keeping this in mind, we realize better the earnest injunction to watchfulness and dili- gence in preserving this 'unity.' The clear allusion is to Christians in their relation with each other, as the verse immediately follow- ing shows. This relation must be so sustained in the exercise of 'lowliness' of mind, 'meek- ness,' and 'long suffering.' as that the pres- ence and ministry of the Spirit, as the source of all true 'unity,' may be a permanent divine abiding. In the bond of peace. An an- cient interpretation, old as the time of Origen, seems to have been that 'peace' itself is 'the bond' binding Christians together. So Ben- gel would make peace equivalent to love, and this passage parallel with Col. 3 : 14, 15, where love is spoken of as "the bond of perfectness." Ellicott, however, prefers to take the genitive here as "the genitive of identity or apposi- tion." He accordingly understands ' the bond ' —the "binding together" — 'of peace, 'as "the element in which the unity is to be kept and manifested." With this agree Meyer, Olshau- sen, Alford, Eadie, and many others. 'Peace' in this place is a comprehensive word. It im- plies that in each individual of those sustain- ing the relation held in view which fulfills in them, each and personally', the gracious assur- ance, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" (J..hD u:27), and which at the same time becomes for them an element of tranquillity amid shocks and collisions of what- ever kind. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit. The words 'there is' are not in the Greek. Taken literally, we should begin the verse with a certain abruptness. 'One body, one Spirit.' It is a question if the sense of the passage is really helped by supj)lying the words 'there is,' either in the Common Ver- sion or in the Kevision. What we have in this verse is, as Ellicott says, "designed to illus- trate and enhance the foregoing exhortation." He adds that "the very unconnectedness" of what is here said with what goes before "adds weight and impressiveness, and seems designed to convey an echo of the former warning." It would seem that we must understand the 'one body' consistently with that conception of the church as the body of Christ which per- vades this Epistle. While what is said of the church in this broad sense is in the nniin true of it also in the sense of the local Ciiristian community, we cannot in this way wholly localize the conception, nor even make this the primary' intention. The New Testament view of that whole body of Christians which at any time makes up what we are wont to mean by "Christendom," is not that of divi- sion into what we are so accustomed to as many., but that of oneness. It is unnecessary to enter into any question of causes as to exist- ing division, or to make any attempt at locat- ing responsibility. What we are concerned with here is the important fact that the apostle in this place views that "church" through which "the manifold wisdom of God" is to be made known "to principalities and powers Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 61 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, () One (iod and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gilt of Christ. 5 ye were called in one hope of your calling; one G Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and rather of all, wlio i.-s over all, and through all, and in all. 7 lint unto each one of us was the grace given, aecoid- iti the heavenly phices," not as many, but a.s one; that is to say, not as sects, nor even as local communities, but as one body of Christ. Possibly, wo may say, though certainly wu must be careful not to make too much of tiie concession, that, even while many, it is as one, througli tlie indwelling of the 'one Spirit.' Efc'eii as ye are called in one hope of your callins:. The call is one; the hope is one. Various as ma\' be all that which is incidental in Ciiristian experience, there are elements of such experience in all cases of true conversion which are identical. The gospel addresses each subject of the "call" in tlie same invita- tion, whatever the language in which it is ex- pressed. The motive is always the same, the " hope set before " the soul alwa3-s embracing the same objects of desire and centering in the same realities; while it is the one Spirit by whom invitation and motive, and all means of persuasion and of the later growth in grace, are made effectual. Herein is that essential 'unity' which does really' prevail over the much in human nature and in the conditions of gospel propagation that makes for division ; prevails so far, at all events, as to secure among real Christians of all names and times a meas- ure, at least, of essential unity. The 'calling,' and the 'one hope' of the calling under the ministry of the 'one Spirit,' are the uniting principle of the 'one bodj'.' 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. By the 'one Lord,' he must he meant to whom Christian allegiance is directly due. By the 'one faith' must be meant the faith essential to salvation. The truth upon whicii this faith fixes, and which it holds as truth, mu.st also itself be 'one,' since truth in an^' one of those forms in which it addresses itself to human faith has an identity which it always preserves. But especially is the faith itself one; it finds in the truth as received that essential thing which makes the faith efficacious, nbove all the one Person there revealed, who is the all in all. Wo may say, therefore, that however various the accompanying incidents and con- ditions, the 'faith' by which men are saved is 'one.' The mention of the 'one baptism' in this connection is a striking indication of the significance belonging to this act of Christian obedience. Among all the many things re- quired, this is selected for express mention. Of the two ordinances enjoined for perpetual observance, this one is named. The reason must be that while baptism is once for all in a Christian's life, it is that act of obedience in which he binds himself in terms of lasting allegiance to the 'one Lord,' in a profession of the 'one faith.' Its symbolism, besides, im- parts to this act of outward profession a pecu- liar i-ignificance ; and just because of this sym- bolism the 'baptism' must be in the form and manner of it, 'one.' It can never be made to appear that simply the use of water in any preferred wa^' is baptism; because that sym- bolism (compare llom. 6:4; Col. 2:12) in which all the significance of the action lies, requires the use of water in a certain way, while failure in this invalidates the whole. There are not many baptisms, but 'one bap- tism.' G. One God and Father of all. "Cli- mactic reference," as Eilicott says, "to the eternal Father, in whom unity finds its high- est exemplification." Who is above (onr) all, and through all, and in you all. Not in 'you' all, but 'in all.' "\Ve seem to have here three characteristics of that manifestation in which God makes himself known to men. The first is sovereignty ' over all ' ; the second providence, 'through all'; the third perva- sive energy, ' in all.' Each of these is true of him in a spiritual as well as in a natural senile. So that the thought in this ver.«e comes into true relation with that in the verses immedi- ately preceding. The ultimate source of that unity of which the writer speaks, is in God, whose sovereignt3' controls all, whose gracious interpositions direct all, and who.se divine in- dwelling pervades and animates all. Just in proportion as all this is true of Christians throughout the world, they are 'one body and one s])irit.' 7. Hut unto every one of us is given grace. In this unity there is, after all, diver- sity. The verb for 'given' is in a past tcn.se, and must be rendi^rod was piven. We cannot therefore take the meaning as altogether the 62 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IV. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gills unto men. 8 ing to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. same as in those many other places in the i American Company of Kevisers, is as fol- New Testament which promise present sup- plies of 'grace' for every present "time of need." The word 'grace,' besides, must be understood in the light of what is said below of our Lord's ascension 'gifts.' Some allusion may also be in the word to that which the apostle has already said of himself (3 : s), speak- ing of the grace given to him that he "should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.'' The privilege of service and the endowment /or service are alike to be viewed as 'grace' shown by our Lord to his people, and thus not simply in incidental wa^'s, but in accordance with methods of dis- pensation, of which particulars appear in versos below, especially ver. 11 and 12. Ac- cording to the measure of the gift of Christ. " The gift is measured," says Eadie, ''and while each individual receives, he re- ceives according to the will of the Sovereign Distributer." The language used, in its ap- plications to those assignments of service which the various needs of the one service as a whole require, makes it impossible for us to view calling, or position, or the diverse con- ditions of the service as incidental things, or even as matters of independent choice. As - appears in what is said below, the ordering of all that should concern administration and service in the spiritual kingdom of our Lord was committed to him in his ascension, and this he through the Spirit distributes "to ever^' man severally as he will." (i Cnr. 12 : 11.) 8. Wherefore he saith. No subject ap- pears in the Greek for the verb (Ae'yet) trans- lated 'saith.' Some difference of opinion exists, in consequence, as to the word which should be sup[)lied ; whether "God" (6 9ed?) or "the Scripture" (^ ypaip) the upper, and "third heaven "(rpiTos oi-pai'ds) what was be- yond. In another place this apostle speaks of "the third heaven," meaning, it would seem, Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 65 11 And he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets; j U And he gave some /o fie apostles; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; I and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and the abode of the blessed, and possibly with reference to the usage just described. In this place, however, it is quite sufficient to under- stand him as meaning to say that " whtitever he himself kept mainly in view was to make himself fully manifest and known among men as the sent of God, the Messiah and Ke- deemer. In some sense, we might say the regions are termed heavens, Jesus is exalted i purpose of his ministry as such was fully de- far above them, 3'ea, to the heaven of heavens. I clared to the woman of Samaria: "I tiiat The loftiest exaltation is predicated of him. [ speak unto thee am he." If we bear this in As his humiliation was low, his exaltation is ' mind, we .shall the better understiind tlie proportionately high."' (Eadie. ) That he | nature, purpose, and function of the apostol- mi$;ht fill all things. The expression 'all icai office. Tlie proper and due setting forth tilings' is to be taken in its full import, not of Christian doctrine, in a way authoritative limiting it, its has been done, to what concerns and complete, and the ordering of tiiat which the work of redemption; nor to the redeemed was essential in the constitution of the church themselves, as Grotius; nor to the church of as organized, officered, and equipped for its Jews and Gentiles. "The expression," says Eiiicott, " is perfectly unrestricted, and refers, not only to the sustaining and ruling power, but also to the divine presence of Christ." Tlie special meaning of the words looks back to what is said in ver. 7 and 8 above, as well as forward to what appears in ver. 11 and 12. Filling 'all things,' our Lord, out of his own divine fullness and in the 'gifts' bestowed on man, provides, as the apostle proceeds to show, for the equipment and endowment of his church. 11. And he gave. We must take the word 'gave' (eSuxe) in its strictness of meaning. It does not mean that he appointed, or set (eflero), certain offices in the church. We are to keep in mind the "gift" (Sa>peai) of ver. 6 and the "gifts" {Sofj-aTa) of ver. 8. These of which the apostle is now to speak are ascension 'gifts.' He "ascended far above all the heavens that work — this was left for the chosen men whom our Lord called, taught, and endowed for this precise service. The office they bore was for them alone. It was to continue in the church only until the special purpose of it had been fully accomplished, and was then to cease. Such a thing as an "apostolical succession," in the proper meaning of that phrase, never existed, never could exist. The following may- be named as what Paul himself terms "the signs of an apostle" (2Cor, i?: 12) : 1. The apos- tles held their commission immediately from Christ, without iiny human intervention what- soever. This Paul decliires of himself (Gal. 1 :i)j and evidently means to indicate by it the fun- damental fact in the apostleship he claimed. 2. They were those who had been with Christ in his earthly ministry, and were prepared to bear personal testimony to liis death, burial, and resurrection, — facts so essential in the au- he mlghtJiU all things." And now, in equip- | thentication of their claim in his behalf, — or ping his church with the various ministries [ who had experienced what was equivalent to this. So we find Peter declaring (Acts 1:21, 22; needful to it in the work it has to do in the world, and in supplying to these ministries all required endowment of grace and suffi- ciency, he exercises that high prerogative. The 'he' (ai'-rbt) is emphatic: he himself— this very ascended One. Some, apostles. 'Some to be apostles' expresses the full mean- ing. The apostolic office had its own especial purpose, and its own limitation, as respects the persons chosen and the period during which it should continue. It was no part of the i)urpose of our Lord's own mini.stry, either to set in order the church as an institu- tion, or to set forth fully and in an orderly manner the doctrines of his kingdom. What 2:32); SO Paul clailUS for himself (1 Cor.9:l) ; and so we find the apostles interpreting their mission at the beginning of their ministry. (Act»4:M.) 3. They were inspired men. In illustration of this those passages shotild be consulted, in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters of John's Gospel, in which this needful endowment is distinctly prom- ised, it being borne in mind that what is thus assured to them is, in the specific terms of the promise itself, an extraordinary endowmentfor an extraordinary service. 4. They possessed and exercised miraculous powers. Paul speci- fies these (2 Cor. 12 : i2j in.speakiiig with reference £ 66 EPHESIAXS. [Ch. IV. to himself of the "signs of an apostle." In Heb. 2 : 4, the gospel first "spoken by the Lord" is declared to have been "confirmed unto us by them that heard him," — a phrase which clearly indicates the apostolical func- tion in this regard, — "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will." 5. They spoke and acted with the authority of Christ him- self No otherwise than this ought those words to be interpreted. (JoimM: 2i-'23.) "Then said Jesus to them again : Peace be unto you : as my Pather hath sent me, even so send I you," etc. That the apostles themselves so interpreted their commission is clear from such passages as 1 Cor. 5 : 4, 5 ; 2 Cor. 10 : 8. Thus commissioned and thus endowed, the apostles must be understood to have com- pletely set in order what things were to be prac- ticed as Christian institutions, and what was to be believed and taught for Christian doctrine. They left no successors. The power delegated to them, the inspiration under which that power was exercised, the office they bore, — none of tiiese have been possessed, or of right exercised by any save those who in the New Testament were accredited and recognized as "apostles." Tiieir teaching, therefore, is the rule of faith for all succeeding times, and their institution and example the infallible guide in the order and administration of the churches. And some {to be), prophets. In- asmuch as we have upon record no such prophecies by the New Testament prophets as in the case of those of the Old Testament, it may be that there is some tendency to undervalue the importance of this office in the primitive church. Twice already in this Epistle (2:20; 3:5) we havc had mention of 'apostles and prophets' in a way to show that the importance of the one office bore some considerable proportion to that of the other. The prediction of future events was by no means the sole, eA'en it could be called the chief, function of the prophet. "The name," says Eadie, "has its origin in the peculiar usages of the Old Testament. Tlie Hebrew term" for prophet (N'?J) "has reference, in its etymology, to the excitement and rhapso- dy which were so visible under the divine afflatus. . . . As the prophet's impulse came from God, and denoted close alliance with him, so any man who enjoyed special and repeated divine communications was called a prophet, as Abraham (Gen.20:7.) . . . While in the New Testament the Greek word (npoii- TTjs) is sometimes used in its rigid sense of the prophets of the Old Testament, it is often em- ployed in the general meaning of one acting un- der a divine commission. Foundation is thus laid for the appellation before us." We are to un- derstand by ' prophets' in the verse now under consideration, persons acting and speaking under this extraordinary divine impulse and inspiration, whether in prediction or in teach- ing. Naturally, their service would accom- pany and supplement that of the apostles, and so be entitled to mention in the "foundation" then being laid. Like that of the apostle, the function of the prophet ceased to be necessary when that foundation had been securely laid, and has therefore not been a continuous one. As Eadie says, "these important functions were superseded when a written revelation became the instrument of the Spirit's opera- tion upon the heart." In the opinion of this writer, "the prophets concerned themselves specially with the subjective side of Christi- anity — with its power and adaptations; they appealed to the consciousness, and showed the higher bearings and relations of those great facts which had already been learned on apos- tolical authority." In such ways their minis- try was clearly of great advantage in a]iplj-ing and setting home the more formal teaching and testimony of the apostles, while their strictly prophetic utterance, whenever made, bore witness to the supernatural character of this new religion itself. And some {to he), evangelists. Eliicott quotes an ancient wri- ter, Theodoret, who describes these as "per- sons who went about preaching" ; and Chry- sostom as qualifying this with " not going about everywhere." They seem to have acted under apostolical direction, and were the missiona- ries of the time. It would be a mistake to view the word here as applied to tlie authors of the gospels; and no less a mistake to view the class of laborers alluded to as represented, in any proper sense, by those in our own time who bear the same name. And some {to he), pastors and teachers. The form of the expression might seem to imply that the func- tions of 'pastor' and 'teacher' were united in the same person. Such may often have been Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 67 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the liody of Christ : i 12 teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the the case; the terms, however, seem meant to indicate distinct forms of service. The Greek word here translated 'pastors' means "shep-. herds." Ellicott, very justly, views it as des- ignating the same office as "bishop" (over- seer) and "elder." It points to tiiose who are charged in an especial manner with the care of the flock. The verse in 1 Timothy (5 : 17), " Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labor in word and doctrine," seems to indicate quite clearly that some of the elders, or 'pas- tors,' were not 'teachers.' Tliere is no evi- dence, however, that ' pastors and teachers ' constituted distinct classes, or that the two offices were themselves necessarily distinct. In summarizing now the teaching of this, very properly styled 'famous passage,' we may say: (1) That the two first named of these 'gifts' of the ascended Lord were clearly meant for the period during which Christi- anity should be receiving authentication in the supernatural endowments bestowed upon certain of its chief witnesses, and its doctrine and institutions put in order, once for all ; (2) that in what was meant for permanency in the church we recognize three elements of service: (a) the distinctively evangelistic, the purpose of which should be preaching, in the strict meaning of that word, and in an itinerating way, with a view to carry the gospel where as yet it had not been heard; (/>) the pastoral care of the flock, where cliurches had been gathered; with which Wiis associated, (c) thsit ministerial function which consists in teach- ing, or the instruction of those already made converts, in the truths and duties of the new religion — these two being sometimes, though not always, united in the same person. (-3) Tliat there is in all this no appearance of an intention to institute "orders" in the Chris- tian ministry, least of all anything to counte- nance, but much to condemn, as in utter con- flict with the New Testament Cliristianity, the hierarchy of later times, whether Papal or Anglican. 12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. This rendering of the Common Version would make it appear tliat these three clauses in the verse are parallel clauses, indicating, each, a distinct purpose of those offices in the church which have just been named. This rendering, however, is shown to be incorrect by tlie fact that the preposition (wpos) translated "for" is not the same as that in the second and tliird, translated "for; " though the three clauses in the Com- mon Version all commence with the prepositon " for," the first in the Greek is not the same as that in the second and third. The first (irpbi) is properly translated 'for' ; that in the second and tliird (eit) should be rendered '"unto." Westcott and Hort, with Tischen- dorf, omit the comma after tlie word for 'saints' (ayiuv), which would give a transla- tion indicating that the official functions as- signed to certain in tlie cliurch are intended for so instructing 'the saints,' or consecrated Christian believers, as that they shall be fully equipped for service. This, however, gives to the word (SiaitoWas) so often rendered "minis- try" a wider meaning, and to some extent one unusual in the New Testament. Influenced by this consideration, it would seem, Ellicott prefers in the translation to change the order of the several clauses and paraphrase the sense as follows: "He gave apostles, etc., to fulfil the work of the iTiinistrj% and to build up the bodj' of Christ, his object being to perfect liis saints." In this Ellicott follows Me^'er, and Alford approves. Eadie quotes Meier, Schott, Riickert, and Erasmus as of the opinion that the apostle moans to say, "for the perfecting of the saints unto all that variety of service which is essential unto the edification of the church." This, Eadie tell us, he himself pre- ferred in his first edition. Influenced, how- ever, by Me3'er's argument " that the Greek word (SLaKovia) in such a connection never sig- nifies service in general, but official service," he "inclines now to concur" in the opinion of Meyer, Ellicott, and Alford, as also above. It may be doubted if the argument resting on the usual more "official'' sense of the word (iiaxovia) is SO conclusivp as the writers named appear to think. Thaj'or, evidently, docs not agree with them. Ho names this, along with 1 Cor. 12 : 5 and 2 Tim. 4 : r), as passages where the word designates "the ministration or ser- vice of all who, endowed by God with powers of mind and iieart peculiarly adapted to this 68 EPHESIAN3. [Ch. IV. 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measureof the stature oi the fulne.-is of Christ : 13 body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the lailh, and of the knowledge of the Son of liod, unto a full-grown man, uuto the measure of the end, endeavor zealously and laboriously to promote the cause of Christ among men, as apostles, prophets, evangelists, elders, etc. " ; intending, apparently, to indicate all forms of special Ciiristian service, wliether properly otficial or not. So the Revisers evidently view the passage, as shown in their translation. The alternative explanation preferred by Mej'er, and the others quoted above, appears ti be a forced one, while it is diflBcult to see what authority we can have for reading the several clauses of the verse otherwise than as the apostle himself chose to arrange them. We shall, therefore, take the verse as meaning that the purpose of that official provision and equipment described in ver. 11 is that "the saints," Christian believers, nia^' be "per- fected," fully prepared for that kind of "work" which consists in "service," and that so in the exercise of all Christian activities, "the body of Christ" may be "built up." 13. Till we all come in {ujito, or, to) the unity of the faith. Dr. Boise prefers to translate the preposition {eW) more literally, " into the unity of the faith." It is agreed that the Greek word for "till" indicates the period during which the ministry provided and given to the church as described in ver. 11 -shall last. Ver. 12 summarily indicates the nature of the service appointed, with especial reference to its object — the edif^'in^g, building up, perfecting of the body of Christ. Under this metaphor, in harmony with that idea of unity which so pervades this Epistle, is pre- sented that which we mean by "the church," using the phrase in its largest sense. This is 'the body of Christ.' The promotion of all those spiritual ends which are contemplated in the church, especially as concerns its own up-building in all that can make it worthy of its name and office as the body of Christ — this is the work of the ministry Christ has 'given' to it; this, of course, comprehend- ing all that work of ingathering which the growth of the church in numbers and in spir- itual power necessarily implies. This min- istry is to be j)erformed, and in this belnilf, 'till we all come to the unity of the faith.' It is, perhaps, not amiss to see in these words just quoted an implied foreshadowing of that which has been the actual fact in Christian history; namely, the fact that 'unity of the faith' was not to cliaracterize the body of Christ during all the periods of this history; that, in fact, it was something to be " arrived at,"— the meaning of the Greek word trans- lated 'come to,'— and that this result was to come as the issue of a faithful mini.slry, whose service, perhaps, should run thmugh many centuries and be characterized by immense vicissitudes. All this, at least, is what history records. Paul may have seen, in his own day, enough of foretokenings to suggest a degree of forewarning in the spirit of his words here. But what they expressly teach and what is of especial interest for us, is the fact so clearly implied further, thtit 'the body of Christ,' "the church of the living God," Christ's redeeined people, are to "ar- rive" at this 'unity of the faith.' It would be certainly a mistake to assume that division, and above all controversy, is the normal and necessary condition of the Christian world. Indeed, many things now show the contrary, and clearly indicate that the faithful ministry of so many centuries is beginning to bear fruit already in a substantial unity, destined to grow much farther yet toward ultimate perfection. And of the knowledsre of the Son of God. Unity of such 'knowledge' is what is metint, and this a direct means toward unity of faith. In this sense, as in so many others, while the doctrine of the person of Christ must til ways be central in the general scheme of Christitin truth, that concei)tion of him which Chris- tians have, serves among them as the efficient principle of spiritual unity. Unto a perfect man. The Revised Version renders, "A full-grown man." Commentators incline to regard the expression 'perfect,' or, 'full-grown man' in this verse, as in coTitrast with "chil- dren" in the verse which follows. In any case, the clause in immediate connection here explains the meaning. Unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. As to tlie meaning of the Greek word (ijAntia) translated 'stature,' critics differ. Later writers, however, substantially agree that of the two meanings — "age" and "stature" — in which the word is used in thf New Testatnent, Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 69 14 That we heneejorlh be no more children, tossed I 14 stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no to and fro, and carried about with every wind of lunger eliilureu, tossed to and fro and carried about doctrine, by the sleight nf men, aitd cunning craftiness, with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of lueu, whereby they lie iu h ait to deceive ; | the latter is here the proper one. It corre- sponds to the epithet 'perfect,' or, 'full-grown ' ill the previous clause, and hariaonizes mure fully than 'age' does with the concei)tion given us of the church as a 'body of Clirist' growing up into perfection. When it readies that perfection it will have 'the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' ; his full- ness as being wholly tilled and possessed by liis Spirit and as fully representing him in liis own divine-humau perfections. 14. That ue henceforth be no more children. There is a question as to the vou- nection, whether more immediately with ver. 14 or with ver. 11, 12. The thought seems to be that the ministry described in ver. 11 is given, iu order that through those results of it, summarily set forth in ver. 12, the attainment of spiritual manliood described in ver. 15 may be realized, and'so there be 'no longer' that spiritual childhood characterized as in ver. 14. Taking the view given as having respect, prop- erly', to the growth of the whole body of be- lievers, or th« church regarded as the body of Christ, what the apostle has in mind must be that ultimate result of a faithful Christian ministry which is to appear when at last this ministry shall have fully realized the purpose of its aiipointment. What intervenes before that time arrives is a process of growth, suc- cinctly set forth in ver. 15; but when the purpose of this ministry shall be fully at- tained, 'the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' will have come. We shall then be 'no more children.' Tossed to and fro, and carried about. The metaphor is taken from the tossing of the sea waves in a storm ; not tossed on the waves, but tossed and driven about like the waves of a disturbed sea. (Ellicott and Thaj^er. ) With every wind o{ doctrine. It is a graphic picture of a Christian condition, whether of tlie in- dividual, the community, Christendom as a whole, or the church itself, in the successive long periods of its history, under the operation of those influences which arise out of various conflicting and ever-changing forms of doc- trine or teaching. The word in the Greek (Si^oo-KoAia) means "teaching," rather than ' doctrine,' in the sense commonly intended by that word. By the sleight of men. Tiiu word translated 'sleiglit' (Ku/Seia) in the Com- mon Version and in tiie Kevisioii means, liter- ally, "dice-playing,'' with particular reference to the arts of the gamester, and as used here characterizes the 'teaching' (SiSao-icaAia) of which the apostle speaks. EUicott and others tliink that the preposition ' with ' should be 'in,' as suggesting "tlie element, tlie evil atmosphere, as it were, in which llie varying currents of doctrine (teaching) exist and exert their force. " And cunning crafliness. The translation' is faulty, and should be changed as in the Revision, " in craftiness." >Vhereby they lie in Avait to deceive. This is mucli more a paraphrase than a translation, and fails, at the same time, to represent the mean- ing truly. Precisely in what words to give that meaning it is not easy to see, and com- mentators ditifer. The Revision reads, "after the wiles of error." EUicott's rendering seems almost as paraphrastic as that of the Common Version, "in craftiness tending to the de- liberate system of error." Eadie would trans- late "in craft, with a view to a s^'stem of error." The difficulty centres mainlj^ in th«< Greek word (^ti^Soiiiav) rendered in the Revision "wiles," by Eadie "system," and by Ellicott "deliberate system." Thaj-er derives the word from a verb which means: "1, to follow up or investigate bj' method or -settled plan; 2, to follow craftily', frame de- vices, deceive." Of the noun, as here em- plo^-ed, he says that it occurs "neither in the Old Testament nor in profane authors," and gives it the meaning, "cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery." The word occurs again in fi : 11 of this same Epistle, where, in con- nection with "devil " (5ia/3oAou), it is translated "wiles of the devil." It is doul)tful if the idea of "system" is in the word at all as used in our present passage. The general thought in the verse makes " after the wiles of error" a correct representation of the meaning. The 'teaching,' then, by which immature and un- stable souls are tossed and carried about, like sea billows in a storm, is that which error in- vents, with a view to mislead. 70 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IV. 15 But speaking tbe truth in love, may grow up iulo hiui iu all things, which is the bead, totm C;hiist: IG i'roiii whom ihe whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, 15 iu craftiness, alter the wiles of error; but i speaking truth iu love, may grow up in all things into him, 16 who is the head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together i through that which every joint supplieth, according to the woik- 1 Or, dealing truly "2 Gr. through every joint of the supply. 15. But speaking the truth in love. The Revision fullows the Common Version here, althougli it mtiy be doubted if ' speaking the truth ' represents all that is meant. Some, besides, would connect 'in love' with what follows rather than with this opening clause of the verse. The verb whose participle occurs here, translated 'speaking the truth,' occurs also in Gal. 4 : 16, "Am I tlierefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?" (a\ri9evoiv viilv.) In both passages the Revision places iu the margin the alternative translation, "deal truly." Eadie's rendering, "imbued with truth," does not seem lexically warranted. Ellicott thinks that we should recognize a meaning antithetical to "wiles of error," and accordingly would render "walk- ing in truth" or "holding tlie truth." Boise says that the "full meaning" oftheGreek verb (dKr)0evu>) is, " to be true, whether in word or act." It may be difficult to find an English expression that will completely represent the Greek. ' Speaking the truth ' represents only one side of its meaning. If such a phrase as " truth ing it" might be allowed, tliat would perhaps concisely express what tiie apostle would say. As to the connection of 'in love,' the reasons given for making the order different from the accepted one do not seem to be conclusive. May grow up into him in all things. "May in love grow uj) into him" is the alternative reading proposed. Meyer, Eadie, and Ellicott adopt it. Alford, with De Wette, Calvin, Erasmus, and others, prefers to connect 'in love' with 'speaking the truth,' and this seems the more ntitural order. Which is the head, even Christ. We must keep in mind the representation, through- out this entire passage, of the church as the body of Christ, the body of which he himself is 'the head.' For ^he church as his body to grow up into him, is to grow up into living relation with him as the body with the head. 'In all things,' as Meyer says, is "in all the elements of our growth." 16. From Avhom. From Christ, the head of the bod}'. " It is not wholly uninteresting," says Ellicott, "to remark that the force of the metaphor is enhanced by the apparent physi- ological truth that the energy of vital power varies with the distance from the head." The whole body fitly joined together and compacted. "Fitly framed and knit to- gether," as in the Revision, is better. Some writers object to the rendering ' knit to- gether' as inapplicable to tlie unity of parts in the human body. "Brought together," however, or "put together," hardly seems strong enough to represent that firm and vital connection which is seen to exist. 'Com- pacted,' upon the other hand, expresses too much. The body is not ' compacted,' but it is 'knit together' in its various parts in many marvelous ways. By that which every joint supplieth. A part of the verse not easy to explain. There is again a question as to con- nection. Meyer would place a comma after 'knit together,' and connect the words im- mediately following with " mtiketh increase of the body," further on. Alford, Stier, and Bengel approve this arrangement. Eadie and Ellicott, however, decline to accept it, and with good reason. The construction is a harsh one, and not called for by any real exigency of interpretation. The chief difficulty in this part of the verse is in the word 'joint' (ar)t ejrixoprjvia?). Canon Barry translates, somewhsit freely, "by every contact with the supply" ; that is, "from the head." The word rendered 'joint' is from a verb (on-Toi) meaning "to fasten to- gether, to fit." It also means to "touch"; not mere touch, but one that implies connec- tion and adhesion. It is the word having much the meaning of "handle" or "exam- ine," in what our Lord says to Mary Magda- lene. (Jnim20: 17.) The meaning seems to he that the fitly framing and knitting together are in this wfty eflTected. Two ideas ajipear to be expressed in the words used: (1) that.«ort of contact and joining by which the parts of the Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 71 according to the etfectual working in t)>e measure of every part, niukeiLi increase of the body unto the edifying ot itself in U>\\'. 17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, ing in due measure of each several nart, niaketli the increase of the body unto the building up of itself ill love. 17 This I say therefore, and testily in the I^)id, that ye uo longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in tue bod^"^ are 'framed' and 'knit together'; and (2) a 'supply' of that vital sufficiency ti» this end, which is the really active force. This supply is from 'the head,' which is Christ (t'f ou, 'from whom'). Its actitni is accordins: tu the etfectual working in the measure of every part — or, as in the Revision, "according to the working in due measure of each several part," and its effect is that it maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. More correctly, in the Revision, "maketh the in- crease of tlie body unto the building up of it- self in love." The spiritual body of Christ, Avhich is the church, is thus described as de- riving its life from Christ, who is the head, nil its several parts, in the operation of that life, being framed and wrought together in perfect symmetry, like the parts of man's physical body, and so growing, making in- crease of itself, up to 'the measure of the stat- ure of the fulness of Christ,' all this being 'in love,' as the element in which all spiritual life lives. The analogy of the spiritual and the physical body of which the apostle makes use must not be too literally pressed. It seems clear, however, that in that part of the whole representation in which all writers upon the passage find so much difficulty, he avails him- self, for purposes of illustration, of that in the human body which serves not only to connect, but to vitally connect, all the several parts of this amazing mechanism. The difficulty is in finding a rejjrosentation in English of the pre- cise idea expressed in the Greek. Taking the words literally, they read "through every joint of the supply." To translate 'by that which every joint supplieth' is to make of the Greek noun, meaning 'supph',' a verb, and to ftiil, after all, in expressing the sense correctly'. For it is not the 'joint' which supplies tliis spiritual vitality whose 'work- ing in due measure' is in "each several part." That 'supply' is the life itself, de- rived from Christ, and pervading the whole body. But, then, mere "contact with the supply" (as Hofmann and Barry), or "per- ception of supply " (as Meyer), seems to leave out another important element in the mean- ing, that which corresponds to the fiti^' fram- ing and knitting together of the several psirts. It mtiy be that the rendering in the margin of the Revision, "through every joint of the supply," which is the most literal one, at the Siime time, though itself imideiiutite, comes nearest to a full and proper expression of the id(!a. 17-24. Tuk Renewed Natuke axd the New Life. 17. This I say therefore. The practictil injunctifins which follow are to be viewed as growing out of that which has gone before. These are not precepts of a mere morality. They belong to that ' higher law ' of the Chris- tian life whose origin and whose motive tire found in the new relation into which re- deenied men are brought. Hence the force of the 'therefore.' And testify in the Lord. This is to be taken, not as an adjuration. "Paul speaks," says Dr. Hodge, "as one who had access to the mind of Christ, knew his will, and could therefore speak in his nsime." His words are those of one inspired and au- thorized to make known the will of 'the Lord ' in the matters now to be treated of. That ye henceforth Avalk not as other Gentiles walk. The Revision properly sub- stitutes "no longer" for 'henceforth.' The changed form is a more distinct allusion to that condition in which redeeming grace had found these Gentile Christians, and emjiha- sizes more strongly the appeal based ur)on the mercy and the divine kindness thn^ shown to them. The text of Westcott and Hort, fol- lowed by the Revision, omits the word for 'other,' in accordance with the reading in the three (ddest mamiscripts, with several others. It is, however, found in numerous biter ones, al.so in the Gie<'k Fathers and the Syriac Ver- sion. Ellicott. Eadie, and Tischendorf think it should be retained ; "and we can imagine." saj's Eadie, "a finical retison for its being left out by early copyi.sts, as the Ephesian Cliris- tians seem by 'other' (Aotwa) to be reckoned nmonrr Gentiles yet." As this Epistle dwells so much, in the portions of it already com- 72 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IV. IS Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life oi God tliruiigh tlie ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of iheir heart : 19 Who being past feeling have given thenaselvesover unto lascivioLisness, to work all uuclean,iiess with greediness. 18 vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of (Jod because of the ignorance that is in them, because 19 of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, ' to 2 Or, to make a trade of. merited on, upon the ftivor shown to the Gen- tiles, the Gentile element in the Ephesian Cliurch being thus especially appealed to, the expression 'other Gentiles' seems in this j)lace not only a natural one, but even neces- sary, as marking a distinction between the converted Gentile and the unconverted. The change in the Kevision, in view of these con- siderations, does not appear to be well judged.' in them. In order to get the whole idea correctly, the words which follow should be put in connection with these — becaus^e of the blindness (tliat is, ihe hardening) of their hearts. Their alienation from the life of God is due to two causes: ignorance, a result of 'having the understanding dark- ened,' and their 'hardness (or, ^' callous- ness^^) of heart,' heathen ignorance and The force of the word ' walk' has before been ] heathen dej)ravity. In speaking here of 'the noticed, as denoting the habitual manner of life. In the vanity of their mind. Thayer defines the word for 'mind' (voCs) in this place as "the faculty of perceiving divine things, of recognizing goodness, and of hating evil." His more general definition, given life of God,' the apostle points to that which is the sole element of true life to man; that which unfallen msin had in the intimacy of his communion witli God, and which redeemed man possesses again. From this the heathen Gentile was alienated: living apart from it, earlier, is probably to be preferred: " The , and, as a consequence, ' walking' in darkness, mind, comprising alike the faculties of per- in ignorance, and that dei>raved moral coiidi- ceiving and understanding, and those of feel- j tion indicated as a heart, or mortil nature, ing, judging, and determining." What the "calloused" by indulgence in evil, and re- apostle seems to have in mind is that whole I sistance of all good impulses. deteriorated condition, intellectual and monil, into which their hesithenism had broughtthem. The words that follow in the ne.vt. verse may then be taken as particularizing this general condition. The verb with which the word translated 'vanity' stands related, means "to make empty," and the word itself may be taken, as by Hodge, to mean "moral and in- tellectual worthlessness and fatuity." 18. Having the understanding dark- ened. " Being darkened in their understand- ing" is a better rendering. The word here for 'understanding' {iiavoia) is a less compre- hensive one than the word for 'mind' in the previous verse. The reference in this place is more to intellectual apprehension; that intel- lectual eflfect, however, being included which is a result of moral depravation. Being alienated from the life of God throngh (or, because of) the ignorance that is 19. Who being past feeling. The inev- itable effect of what is already said of them. Ellicott speaks of the translation as an "ad- mirable" one. Have given themselves over unto lasciviousness. Wholly surren- dered themselves, as if this were the real purpose and the real good of living. Such is the natural result of unchecked habit of sin. To work all uncleanness with greedi- ness. The word here translated 'greediness' is the one so frequently in the New Testament rendered "covetousness." Its strict meaning is, as given by Thayer, "greedy desire to have more.'' Taken in connection with what is meant by 'uncleanness,' — indulgence of vile and brutal passions, — it points emphatically to the universal result of such indulgence, the desire for which "grows by that it feeds on." Of the truth of this whole description of that Gentile world to which so many of these [1 The eighth edition of Tischendorf omits AoiTi-a, as I P, but it is represented in the following Versions, both do the critical editions of I.achmann, and Westcott and ' the Syriac, the (Jothic, and the .Armenian. Accordingly, Hort. The MSS. X*ABD*FGO'', with a number of ; it seems to me that the evidence aftniitsl is stronger than cursives, and the Vulgate, Egyptian, ^thiopic Versions omit the word. The uncials that contain it are of de- cidedly inferior authority ; namely, X"^ D', etc., E K L the evidence/or its insertion ; and that it is more likely to have been added than to have been omitted by tran- scribers. — A. H,] Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 73 20 But ye have not so learned Christ ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus : 2J Tliat ye put otl" eoncernirig the former conversa- tion the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; 20 work all uncleanness with • };reediiiess. lint ye did 21 not so learn Christ ; if so be thai ye heard him, and 22 were taught in him, even as truth is in Je^us: that ye put away, as concernin;; your f.u-mer manner of life, the old uiau, who waxeth currupl alter tlie 1 Or, covetou8ne8s. Ephesian Christians so lately belonged, tiiey had, as Paul well knew, example and illus- tration all about theni. As the metropolis of a large and rich Rotnan province, and a great centre of idolatrous worship, Ephesus was also the centre of those influences by which iioatlien society was most corrupted. Of the brutal fury of the Ephesian populace, Paul himself, and tliey with hitn, had had full experience; while of those aspects of heathen depravity which came less into the light, they and he were alike well aware. 20. But ye have not so learned Christ ; better, did not- so learn Christ. The expression 'learn Christ' is peculiar and unique," without example." (Hodge.) It would seem that any other form of expression failed to satisfy the apostle's conception. Christ is, in the view he here takes, not the medium, but the object of that knowledge to which a Christian, in becom- ing a Christian, attains. He knows more than the doctrine about Christ, more than other doc- trines through what Christ teaches. He knows Christ, in that apprehension of his personality which includes all this, and that 7nuch more than this which constitutes the ineffable rela- tion existing between " the saint tind his Sav- iour." 21. If so be that ye have heard him, or, that ye heard him. The ' if so be,' or if indeed, is not to be understood as expressing doubt. Another form of expressing the same in English would be, "if, as I take for granted." 'Heard him,' we should here notice, is not 'heard of him.' It implies a conception kin- dred with that in 'learned Christ.' The allu- sion is to that intimate spiritual experience in communion with Christ, in wliich we come into close personal relation with him, so that we are as if personall3' taught and led by him. Herein is tiie spring of that new life wliich, as the apostle is showing, .so contrasts that which is Christian with that which these converted Gentiles saw in the unconverted Gentile world around them. And have been (were) taught by {in) him. 'Taught in him,' the correct translation, is not the same as "taught by | him." As Eadie explains : "One with him in spirit, they were fitted to become one with him in mind." As the truth (better, even as truth) is in Jesus. The omission of the article be- fore the word for ' truth ' is to be noticed. The expression of tlie thought is thus made more general. The changeof name, 'Jesus" instead of 'Christ' as used before, is also particularly noticeable. The purpose seems to be to fix the thought upon Jesus in his especially personal and human manifestation ; that in which he comes nearest to us, and through which he is most easily and perfectly ai)prehended by us. The close and vitsil relation of the true believer with him is still kept in mind. That which in this relation they 'heard' and 'were taught' is that 'truth' of which he was the embodi- ment, and so is truth 'in' him. Truth as in Jesus is truth in such form tis the Gentile world never knew, and such as only those can know who have 'learned Christ,' have 'heard' him, and have been 'taught in him.' What the truth specially intended by the writer in a present apjilication of his words is, a]ipears by what follows. 22. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man. The change in the Revision should be noticed. The verb (iTrofleaflot), rendered in the Common Version 'put oil'' and in the Revision 'put away,' would be, apart from the connection, correctly translated in either way. (Compare Thayer.) As, however, the antithetical idea a little further on is expressed by ' put on,' it is a question if the chtinge made in the Revision is a desirtible one. "The obvious allusion is,"' says Hodge, "to a change of clothing. To put oflP is to renounce, to remove from us, as garments which are laid aside." So likewise Ellicott, Alford, Eadie, and others. The change of 'conversation ' to "manner of life" substitutes for an ol)solete form one that is in accordance with present usage, 'In the old man.' The figure employed, as also in Col. 3 : 9, in Rom. 6 : 6, and in other places, is a very striking one. It has reference to that opposition of 'the flesh' and 'the spirit,' of 74 EPHESIANS. [Ch. IV. 23 Aud lie renewed in the spirit of your mind ; 24 And that ye put un the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wlierefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 23 lusts of deceit; aud that ye be renewed in the spirit 24 of your mind, and put ou the new man i who after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbour: for we are member!) 1 Or, who is a/ter God created, etc. which mention is found in other writings of this apostle, and of which every renewed per- son is conscious. The resistance, the subdu- ing, the absolute overcoming of those sinful propensities and habits, and the abandoning of those sinful acts which are so contrary to the new principle of spiritual life begotten in us in our regeneration, is the putting otl'of the old man ; represented here under the figure of the liiyiiig aside of an uncomely garment, that another and better may be put on. Which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; or, waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit. The rendering of the last clause in the Com- mon Version misses the striking antithesis in ' lusts of deceit" here, and "holiness of truth," as in the Revised Version, at the end of ver. 24, which two renderings, besides, are in accord- ance with the Greek. The expression 'lusts of deceit' reminds us of "deceitfulnessof sin." (Hebr.3 : 13.) Tliere is almost a personification, as if this 'deceitful' element in all sin were some insidious evil spirit, misleading and be- traying. That the old nature 'waxes corrupt,' tends to go ever from bad to worse, is one of the commonest and saddest of all human experiences. 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Some question has arisen among critics as to whether the Greek verb here {iLvav€ov corrupt si)et ch proceed out of your mouth but such as is good for 1 edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace 30 to them that hear. And grieve not the Holy .>pirit of God, iu whom ye were sealed unto the "day of 1 Or, the building up of the need. borne in mind, however, how venial an oftense ordinary thieving w:ts in the e3'e of Pagan morality. It niay be, too, that the reference is mainly to that which had been, in their unconverted sttite, the habit of certain mem- bers of the Ephesian Church. The injimction would tlien be in effect the indication of one importiint particular in which the life of the Christian and the life of the Pagan must dif- fer. Whiit a Christian must do, instead of living as the thief does by the labor of others, he shows in what follows. But rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good. Honest industry, occupation in a worthy calling, is a part of Christianity. That he may have to give to him that needeth. An appropriate and needful suggestion that our labor is not to be regarded for our own good alone, but that there may be means for doing good to others. 29. Let no corrupt communication (Rev. Ver., speech) proceed out of your mouth. The word here rendered 'corrupt' (aapnoi) oc- curs also in Luke 6 : 43, and the parallel passage in Matt. 12 : 33; reading, as in Luke : " For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit: neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." In such a connection the word means "worthless," as also in Matt. 13:48, where the application is to fishes. The stricter meaning seems to be that which has become putrid, and thus unfit for use. Of course, in the passage now before us, the use made of the word is figurative, and means along with what is positively bad, that also — as what follows clearly implies — which is either in any wav hurtful, or even not in some way useful. But that which is good, to the use of edify- ing. The rendering in the Revision, "for edifying as the need may be," is the more correct. The principle of conduct involved is simply this: That Christians should guard their speech as they guiird their actions ; aim to have their conversation, not only not either disgraceful or frivolous, but positively suited in some way to benefit those with whom they converse. This does not forbid ch.-erfuhu'ss of intercourse, nor those genialities which lend grace to society; nor does it require that con- versation shall be always on grave subjects. But it requires that there shall be a curb upon the tendency to carry a htirmless gayety into frivolity, tind especially condemns everything whatever that partakes of the shameful or the vile. That it may minister grace to tlie hearer. Give grace is the more literal trans- lation. It is grace, however, in the sense of "benefit." 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Some commentators (as Harless) would make this verse independent of connection with what goes before, giving it the force of a general precept. The connecting particle 'and' {Kai) makes it necessary to recognize the relation of what is said here to what ap- pears in ver. 25-29. The implication is that by conduct, and even by conversation, such as those addressed are wiirnedtigainst, one may 'grieve' the Holy Spirit This language, as applied to 'the Holy Spirit of God,' distinctix' recognizes his persomility. Such a word could not be in any proper use of terms even figuratively applied to an "operation," or an "influence." As thus used of tiie personal Spirit, it teaches us that the ministry of that gracious Divine Person may be re[)elled tmd driven from us, if not finally, yet so as to oc- casion great spiritual loss; the representation of this effect by the word 'grieve,' however, more than hints at the fact that this ministrj'^ is one which expresses toward the subject of it a real divine interest, an interest susceptible of tender concern in our behalf. Whereby ye are sealed. In whom is a more correct rendering, and, besides, expresses the thought with far greater exactness. Sealed by the Spirit might imply something mechanical. Sealed in the Spirit expresses the fact of a relation to him such as that he becomes the element, so to speak, of our spiritual life. Thus the sealing is that gracious effect of life in this element which appears in growth in Ch. IV.] EPHESIANS. 77 31 Let all bitteruess, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away froui you, with all malice: 3J And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 31 redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and auger, and clamour, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye Kind one to another, 32 temier-biarled, forgiving each uther,even asUoU aUo in Christ forgave ' you. 1 Many aoolent sutborltiea read ua. grace and enlarged Christian experience. Unto the day of redemption, then, points to that ultimate result of all, in which the final victories of grace for each one are achieved. Tiiere seems to be, in the language used, a suggestion of that which we mean by the doctrine of the saint's perseverance; and also as to that in which such experience con- .sists. It is life in the Spirit of God as in a divine element, which promotes in us more and more, unto a final perfection in glory, the work of saving gr:-ice. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you. A comprehensive })rohibitio:i, having reference to violences of temper of every sort, and withal, the cherish- ing of that 'bitterness' which is the expressly evil spirit in such. With all malice. That lurking animosity, often cherished almost without consciousness till something occurs to bring it forth, like a wild beast from his cage. I The apostle particularizes thus, no doubt, with [ a view to fix attention specifically upon those liabilities against which Christians, even in their relations with each other, need to be on their guard. 32. And be kind one to another. Be- I cnme kind is a more recent rendering of the Greek {yiveaBe), suggesting that the substitu- i tion of a spirit wholly Christian for these things of which he has been speaking, may j be a matter of growth and attainment, as, indeed, with possiblj' every one it must be. ' The Greek for ' kind ' (xpr\ us, an ulferiug and a 1 Some aucieai auihuriiteii rend you. Ch. 5 : 1. Be (or, become) ye therefore fullowers (or, imitators) of God. The divi- sion b^^ chapters is often in a degree mislead- ing as respects the connection of the thougiit. If we read the last verse of the previous chap- ter and the first verse of the present one to- gether, the proper connection will be fully apparent : ' Be \'e kind one to another, tender- hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake {God in Christ) hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers (or, imitators) of God as dear children (or, children beloved), and walk in love,' etc. God's kindness, for- bearance, perhaps we may even say 'tender- heartedness,' in f(jrgiving us, suggests a rule of conduct for ourselves in the mutual rela- tions of our Christian fellowship. AVe should again notice, in view of the 'imitation' here spoken of, and referring to the more correct rendering of 4 : 32, that it is 'as God in Christ hath forgiven,' not 'for Christ's sake.' There is, therefore, an express and definite for.Ti of the example. The model to be followed is seen in a divine-human personality, in which God's exceeding kindness is manifested, while every expression of loving compassion seen in Christ, his person, his words, his acts, his suf- ferings, expresses really the loving kindness of God. "When, accordingly, our Lord is taken as the model of that which Christians should be in tlieir relations with one another, it is not alone as the model of a perfect humanity, but also as the model of such a humanity, expressing what isdivine in utmost tenderness, compassion, and love. It should be observed that we give as the proper render- ing: 'Beco)ne ya theroiore imitators of God.' The Revision follows the Common Version here, but Ellic(.tt and Eadie take the Greek word (yiVeo-fle) in its proper force. So used it seems to express better the Christian attain- ment in the jiarticular named as the ideal one. As dear children (or, ^ as children beloved'). Not only arc those who are beloved under obligation to the exercise of love in return, but the fact of being beloved and the con- sciousness of it supply a moral force in that same direction. In the thougiit itself of God's love for his people, much more in the i)eroonal consciousness of tliat love as an experience, there is what resembles the atmosphere of mutual tenderness in which the members of a united and affectionate household live from day to day. It is not love begotten of a sense of duty, but spontaneous mutual interchange. So would the apostle have his bretliren be, as God's 'beloved children.' 2. And Avalk in love. This would be the natural effect of what is named in the previous verse. In such circumstances as those de- scribed, Christian love becomes the proper element of the Christian life — the love toward one another of those who are God's beloved children, and whose mutual love has in that common relation with the loving Father its original and perennial source. As Christ also hath loved us. It is 'God in Christ' whose ' beloved children ' we are. Hence the propriety of this more specific reference to him. Indeed, whether such specific reference be to the Father or to the Son, it is equally appropriate, since in essence, as well as in the form of manifestation here alluded to, these two "are one." And s'ven himself for ns, an offering and a sacrifice to God. The word here used is not simply (Siiuni) 'give,' but (irapaSiSio/jii) 'surrender,' as to deliver into custodj', or surrender one for punishment. (Thayer.) Taken with the reflexive pronoun (iavT'ov), it means giving one's self up with a view to some specific purpose. Hence the more correct force of the rendering in the Revision, "gave himself np for us." The force of the preposition (itntp) "for " should also be noticed. With the genitive, as here, Thayer gives it as meaning, in New Testa- ment usage, for the "safety " or the "advan- tage" of another. The primary meaning, with the genitive, he states as "over," "above," "across." The secondary meaning, which is that of the word in its New Testa- ment use, is, he adds, in allusion to the fact 80 EPHESIANS. [Ch. V. 3 But furnication, and all uncleanness, or covetoiis- ness, let it uoi be once uanied amung you, as becouieih sain IS ; 3 sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell. But fornication, and all umii-aiincvs, or covetuusness, let it not even be named amuiig you, as bccom'eth that "one who does a thing for another is conceived of us standing 'over' the one whom he would shield or deiend." In this sense and in this way Christ 'gave hinaself up for us.' 'An otlering and a sacritice to God.' He gave himself up to God, and for us. The vicarious nature of this self-surrender seems to be thus made most plainly evident. The purpose of the vicarious self-oft'ering is further very distinctly implied in the words, 'offering and sacrilice.' These words seem to carry their distinction of meaning in the proper sense of each. 'Offering' is the more general term, 'sacrifice' the more specilic one. Many things may be spoken of as offerings which are not sacrilice. That which is offered in sacrifice is offered in a special way — one which is implied in the word for 'sacrifice' (Ovaia). It is the word occurring at 1 Cor. 10 : 18, "Have not they which eat the sacrifices (flvo-ias) communion with the altar?" where the reference is, as the connection shows, to victims offered in sacrifice. The sense of the word meaning 'ofteriiig' in general (n-poo-- 4)«upoy) might be satisfied by that vievv of our Lord which regards him as consecrated in general to some mission of mercy in behalf of men. Asa 'sacrifice,' he is seen as a victim upon the altar. And he is thus made a vic- tim 'for us' and 'to God.' The idea of expi- ation is so distinctly implied that it seems sur- prising it should ever have been questioned. For a sweetsmelling savour. "For an odor of sweet smell," in the Revison ; "a savour of sweet smell." (Ellicott.) The words express the accejjtnbleness of the sacrifice so made. "The burning of spices," says Eadie, " or incense, so fragrant to the Oriental senses, is applied to God." The same writer points to the "radical idea of sacrifice" as being "violent and vicarious suffering and death." He cannot, therefore, approve the view of those who "place the value of Christ's suff(!r- ings, not in their substitutionary nature, but in the moral excellence of him who endured them." Neither does it satisfy tlie meaning of this passage to say that the redemptive eflS- cacy of Christ's sufferings was in the expres- fiion by means of them of the divine love. The eflScacy lay in the 'sacrifice' itself, not in anything incidental to it, nor even in the motive by which it was ])rompted. It is the sacrifice which was 'for a savour of sweet smell,' that in which the element of accept- ableness and efficacy appeared. This is not because God has pleasure in the sight of suf- fering. It is because the expiation thus made was so complete and ample, opening the way fur an expression so free and so full of his own compassionate kindness toward men. 3-21. The Law of the New Life, with Reference to Forms of Besetting Sin. 3. But fornication, and all unclean- ness, or covetousness. We observe now a change to the proiiibitive manner of ;Kldre.avepoviitvov), and it is diiBcult to see how it can be rendered otherwise than " being made manifest," or "when it is made mani- fest." Eadie, though admitting what Meyer claim.s, — that this participle is always pass- ive, — still urges that it has sometimes, in the New Testament, a reflexive signification, par- taking the force of the middle voice. The passages to which he refers (Mark le : 12 ; .John 1 : 31 ; 9:3; 2 Cor. 4: 10, 11) scarcely bear him out in this. He quotes several of the older commentators, among them Beza, Calvin, and Grotius, as supporting the rendering he would give; namely, "whatever makes manifest is light." "Were such rendering allowed, the meaning of this part of the verse would be much more evident. That in the Revision, it should seem, is the only one grammatically allowable. We must then understand the apostle as still using the word 'light' in a tropical way. When that which is secret has been made manifest, it is no longer darkness ; it has become ' light,' and may be seen for what it really is. 14. Wherefore he saith. God 'saith'; a method of quotation not unusual with Paul. Compare 4:8. As to the passage cited, much difference of opinion exists, and partly for the rea.son that the citation is not exact. Perhaps the best view is that which selects I.sa. 60 : 1, seq., as the passage which the writer has in mind and which he uses in a way of free quo- tation. Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (shall shine iijion thee). The 'wlierefore' at the beginning of the verse refers to the general exhortation addressed to the Ephesian brethren in previous verses; and this verse, taken as a whole, must be viewed as in some sort a summary of what has gone before. Bengel and others (so, likewise, the Revision) take the words ' Christ shall give thee light' as equivalent to "Christ shall shine upon thee," as the sun illumines the world when night is past ("t/JZwcesce^ tanqucnn sol"). In a summarizing way, the two conditions be- fore described are now put in contrast. That old Pagan darkness was as the night, the very darkness of spiritual death. What they have now experienced is as when the night is gone and the sun has risen: is, in fact, as life from the dead. In his use of a Messianic passage in the Old Testament, illustrating this, — whether the one mentioned above, or some other, — Paul employs it simply in its general sense and with accommodation to his present purpose. 15. See, then, that ye walk circum- spectly. We do not find any of our author- ities approving the change here made in the Revision. The Greek word (iicptpws) trans- lated 'carefully,' the Revisers connect, evi- dently, with the words 'look therefore' (^A6jreT€ ovv). Alford, Eadie, Ellicott, Davies, Hodge, Meyer, Bengel, all connect the word in question with 'how ye walk' (n-us Trepin-aTeiTf). It would appear to be — in part, at least— the occurrence here of the 'how' (wws) which occasions the rendering in the Revision, and the apparent objection to such a reading as " Take heed how ye walk carefully," or '"cor- rectly," which is the more exact rendering. Ellicott, however, finds no diflSculty in such a translation, while Alford and others see in the word 'how' (ttui?) a double meaning, as if tlie apostle would saj', "Take heed, not only that your walk be exact, strict, but also of what sort that strictness is — not only that you have a rule and keep to it, but that the rule be the best one." Not as fools, but as wise. The Revised Version gives, ^'Not as umvise (do-oi^oi), bid as wise (oC)." This clause of the verse so far explains the meaning of the former one. The tenor of it may have suggested the ren- dering, in the Revision, of the words at the beginning; the walking 'as wise' being un- derstood to imply the 'looking carefully.' The same implication, however, appears to be no less in the 'how ye walk correctly,' or "strictly." This latter rendering suggests a purpose in the writer to enjoin something more than carefulness in the manner of life; Ch. v.] EPHESIANS. 85 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wheri'l'ore be ye not unwise, but understanding wliat tlie will of tlie' I>jrd is. IX And be nc4 drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled the spirit ; la Speaking to }'ourselves in psahus and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord : 2) Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another iu the fear of God, 16 wise, but as wise; ' redeeming the time, because the 17 days are evil. Wherefore be ye not foolish, but 18 understand what the will of the Lord is. And be nut drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled 19 2 with the Spirit ; speaking ^one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making '20 melody with your heart to the Lord; giving tbank.s always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus 21 Christ to ■'God, even the Father; subjecting your- selves one to another iu the fear of Christ. 1 Gr. buying up the opportunity 2 Or, in ipirit 3 Or, (o yourtelvet 4 Or. the God and Father. in addition to this, a strictness which should save them from weak compromises, or from assuming things to be inditlerent which are iiot po.*itively criminal. 16. Redeemiug the time. The expression in the Greek is remarkable, the participle emploj-ed having the meaning to "buj^ up," or to "buy for one's own use." It is also used in the sense of "ransom" or "redeem." The better rendering of the word for "time" (Koxpov) is "opportunity." EUicott, accord- ingly, translates: "Buying up for 3'ourselves (or, rmtkiiig your own) the opportunity, the fit- ting season." It is a highly forcible way of setting forth the value of "opportunitj'," and the importance of making it our own. And this the more because the days are evil. True for those to whom he especially wrote; true always, since temptation and ' evil ' are per- manent conditions of man's life in this world. 17. Wherefore be (or, become) ye not unwise. A different word occurs here {a.(>u>ve%) , meaning "foolish," "senseless," "stupid," instead of the word used in ver. 15, 'unwise' (a(ro)Aoi$), as in 4:32. But how shall we distinguish between 'psalins, hymns, and spiritual songs'? It is perhaps unnecessary to make exact distinctions in this case. The 'psalm' maybe understood in gen- eral as "a sacred song chanted to the accom- paniment of instrumental music," as in the ritual of the ancient sanctuary, although a freer use of the word seems to occur at 1 Cor. 14 : 26. By 'hymns' may be intended a form of sacred song coming into use especially among Gentile Christians, such as in time be- came so general in the service of public praise. 'Spiritual songs' may represent those more improtnptu effusions to which the glow of Christian feeling gives birth. Singing and making melody in {with) your heart to the Lord. In this way should Christians give expression to joyful feeling, and not in atiy of those customary in the Gentile world around them. 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father. Meyer would limit the 'all things' to blessings. Is such limitation required? Surely, if "till things work together for good to them that love God," the thankful mood of mind is one for which there will alwa.ys, and in all circum- stances, be occasion. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The medium of our ap- proach to God, whether we come with prayer or with thanksgiving. 21. Submitting (si(hjrcfi»;j) yourselves one to another in the fear of (iod. The connection with what goes before is not clearly apparent. Hodge, on this account, and be- cause of the relation to what follows, would begin "a new paragraph" here. The verse does, indeed, appear to enjoin in general what 86 EPHESIANS. [Ch. V: 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbauds, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church : and he is the Saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so Ifl the wives be to their own husbands in every thiug. 22 Wives be in subjection unto your own husbands, 23 as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, 24 fteuijr himself the saviour of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, i so lei the wives also he to 1 Ur, so are the wives also. is more specifically required in the remainder of the chapter. At the same time, the use of the participle suggests a like close connection with what goes before. The verse seems to present in general a spirit in the mutual re- lations of the Christian life which is in har- mony with that spirit of devotion as toward God, of which he had just been speaking. 22-'^3. Law of the New Life ix Spe- cific Relations. 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. There is no verb here in the Greek, so that one must be supplied. Grammatically, it may be made to read, either " Wives, be in subjection," or "Let wives be in subjection." Wlien, however, the writer comes, in ver. 25, to speak of the duty of husbands, it is the impei*ative in the second person, and not in the third. This may suggest a like form of the verb to be supplied here. Besides, the connection with the immediately preceding verses would make this the more likely. The verb there has the form of a direct address, and naturally might have the same form here. The Sinaitic and Alexandrian manuscripts, however, with the Greek text of the Common Version, have the verb expressed, and give it in the third per- son, so that Tischendorf's marginal render- ing is: "Let the wives submit themselves unto their own husbands." Westeott and Hort do not approve this reading, and we observe that other critics, as Alford, Eadie, Ellicott, reject it, as probably a "gloss." As unto the Lord. It is to be observed how, in this as in respect to those relations named subsequently, — parents and children, masters and servants, — the injunctions given have direct reference to such relations seen in thoir Christian aspect. It is as Christian wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters, that he addresses them. This may sufficiently explain the words immediately in • hand. They do not imply that the husband is to the wife in place of ' the Lord ' ; neither do they imply any reference to that analogy between the relation of the husband with the wife and that existing between Christ and the church, of which mention is made in the verse following. What they appear to mean is simply that the wife shall observe this rule as a matter of Christian obligation. 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. The purpose of this is evidently to show how thoroughly Christian is the mar- riage relation as it exists between those who themselves are Christian. They are to see an analogy and illustration in the relation exist- ing between Christ and his church, and to understand that sacred as is this relation in which they stand to each other under the original ordinance of marriage, it gains fresh sacredness from that consecration which it receives under the law of the new life in Christ. And he is the Saviour of the body. Literally, '' himself Savioirr of the body' — of that 'body' which is 'the church.' 24. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the Avives be to their own husbands in every thing. This verse contains, in summary wiiat the apostle would enjoin as touching one of the parties to this relation of marriage. It is altogether a mis- apprehension of his meaning to interpret what is said as implying anytliing inconsistent with the dignity and personal freedom of the wife, or with the equality of the sexes properly viewed. What the apostle requires is simply that which every Christian wife yields, while holding her husband in due estimation as to his relation in the family, properly sensible of her dependence upon his superior ability to face and to bear the heavier burdens of life, and honoring in him those qualities which characterize and adorn the Christian man- hood. The ' subjection ' required implies noth- ing servile, nor anything more, in any way, than the true wife spontaneously yields to the husband whom she honors and loves. The jCh. v.] EPHESIANS. 87 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved tlie churcb, and gave himself for it; 26 That lie might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 'J'hat he might present it to himself a glorious church, nut having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy ana without blemish. 2.S 60 ought, men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife lovelh himsell. 25 their husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, 26 and gave liiniNclf up for it; tlial he might sunciiiy it, having cleansed it liy the ' washing of w atcr wii li 27 the word, that he might present the church to him- self a glorious chinch, not having spot or wiinkle or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and 28 without blemish. Even so ought husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies, ile that love- expression 'her own husband,' used in ver. 21 and here again in ver. 24, may be intended simply ti) suggest the closeness and the exclu- siveness of that tie in wliich husband and wife are united in the marriage relation. 25. Husbands, love your wives. 'Sub- jection' on the one side and 'love' upon the other are not to be interpreted so as to imply inequality of position or privilege in this rela- tion. The 'subjection' itself of the wife is such as love not only warrants, but prompts, while the 'love' of the husband involves a certain answering subjection on his own part. The husband who truly loves his wife holds her in a degree of reverence and honor whicli, if it differ from that enjoined upon the wife, only so ditfers in accordance with what be- longs to the nature and position of the woman upon the one side, and of tiie man upon the other. Even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. 'Gave himself np for it,' as in the llevised Version, is a stronger expression, implying wliat is taught as to Christ's self-ofleriiig iii our behalf. The simile here is to be understood as a simile and illustration, though implying, also, the force of an example. 26. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with (sanctify it, having cleansed it by) the washing of water by {with) the word. One of the principal meanings of the verb here translated 'sanctify' is "to render, or declare, holy, or to consecrate." The corresponding noun is that which in various parts of this Epistle is translated "saints," with the mean- ing "consecrated persons." The participle translated 'having cleansed' implies as actu- ally done what the washing symbolizes. The verse, then, should be taken as meaning that those who, through the instrumentality of 'the word,' the gospel, have been 'cleansed,' made free from guilt, and in a process of which bap- tism is the symbol, Christ dedicates, conse- crates, sets aptirt to himself, and with i\ view to the ultimate purpose set forth in the verso next following. "The meaning is," says Eadie, "that having purified her [the church] he might consecrate her to himself; this idea being suspended till it is brought i.>ut with spe- cial emphasis in the following verse. Uavies understands 'the washing of water' to refer to "the bath which it was the custom for the bride to take as one of the ceremonies preced- ing marriage." And he further explains: "The church in everyplace was formed by the pleaching of the word. The word was the message of forgiveness and reconciliation through Christ. Those who received this mes- Siige and yielded to the call came out from the world, were baptized, and became members of a holy or consecnited community. Christ, then, gave himself up, in order that he might proclaim peace effectually to men, and so might fashion for himself a pure church." Critics have discussed the passage at great length, finding in it, we cannot but think, quite needless difficulty. The above ajipears to be its meaning, as taken apart from all attempts to use the passage for polemical pur- poses. 27. That he might present it to himself a glorious church— or, he himself mi yht pre- sent to himnc/f. Kllicott says: "Christ per- mits neither attendants nor paranymphs to present his Bride: he alone presents; he alone receives." The change of order in the words in the Revision v/ill ho noticed. Not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Terms denoting physical iierfcclion iire used to ex- press that which is spiritual. Hut that it should be holy and without blemish. Such is his ultimate purpose as regards his redeemed people. 28. So ought men (luishamls) to love their wives as their own bodies. The thought here is a comjiarison of the love which a husband should have for his wife with the love of Christ for his church. It resimies what has already been expressed in ver. 25: 'Even as ((coflin) Christ.' . . . 'Even EPHESIAN^S. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh: but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church : 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesb, aud of liis bones. 31 For tliis cause shall a man leave bis father and mother, aud shall be joined unto his wife, aud they two shall be one flesh. o2 1 his is a great mystery : but I speak concerning Christ and the church. [Ch. V. so' (ouTws). The thought, then, is not that as a man loves own body he should love his wife, hut that as Christ loves his body, the church, 60 a husband should love his wife, who by virtue of the closeness of the relation, as de- scribed in verses following, is "his own flesh." In this view such writers as Hodge, Ellieott, and others agree, although Alford would have the "so" (ovTios) connect witli the "as" (i€7"f7^« character, 'the new man' ; the approved life that whicli is in harmony with" the principle and impulse of this new nature. Contrasted with this is all that which these Ephesian Christians knew of themselves in their former heathen condition, and which they see to be characteristic of the heathen society in the midst of which it is their lot still to live. With ver. 3 of chapter 5 the former of these two aspects of the general theme changes to the latter, and we have set forth in plain and pointed prohibition those forms of outbreaking sin to which these con- verted Gentiles had perhaps been more or less addicted, but which must no more be even 'named' among them 'as becometh saints.' (Ver. 3-'21.) Turning to the more positive aspects of this moral teaching, it is to be again noticed how much more elevated is the jioint of view of the Christian morality than that which rests purely in any law of human relations, or in consider- ations of either private or public utility. The Christian, by the single fact of becoming a 90 EPHESTANS. [Ch. VI. CHAPTEK VI. CHILDREN, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is liglii. 2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the tirst coiuniandmenls with promise ; 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord ; for tliis 2 is right. Honour thy father and mother (wliich is Christian, is in a sphere wliolly new. There is a new law of lite within, and a new law of life without. The principles by which he tests character and conduct are found in the essen- tial nature of that new life within, and in those relations into which in beconning a Chris- tian he is brought. What 'becometh saints' is a much higher rule of life than that which concerns personal reputation, social decency, or even social obligation. ' The will of the Lord' — this is what most of all needs to be 'understood.' Tiie things 'acceptable unto the Lord' are the things to be ascertained, chosen, and done. Tliey are to be Christian, even in their joyousness. (ver. i8-2D.) Their re- ligion is a religion of cheerfulness, and they can have no need of a resort to worldly sources of enjoyment, or worldly ways of expressing their happier moods. It is with good reason that the apostle in this chapter dwells at such length and with such emphasis upon the subject of marriage, at the Christian point of view. (ver. 22^3.) At this point those so lately converted from heathen- ism needed especially to be placed upon their guard. Scarcely any two things could be more in contrast than the heathen and the Christian idea of marriage; at the same time, as this relation is the basis of all human rela- tions, right conceptions of it and right action under it were peculiarly important. Perhaps, too, we ought to say that in this Christian law of marriage certain things are assumed. The parties to it are themselves assumed to be Christian, and each of these parties such in character as that the ' love' upon the one side, and the 'reverence' upon the other shall be possible. Indeed, it is one essential element in this Christian law of marriage that each party to the relation so indicated shall on his or her own part recognize a duty back of all others, which is the duty of cultivating a per- sonal character worthy alike of the ' love' and the 'reverence' enjoined. But beyond this, we should find implied in the Christian law of marriage a general law that must be in force among those who are not Christians equally as with those who are. This relation among Cliristians is simply the original institution redeemed from the abuses and the degradation to which the folly and wickedness of men have subjected it. ISuch as is here described it was meant that marriage should always be, and they who refuse to see it in that light, or who make these ideal con- ditions of it impossible, are guilty of a double wrong : they contemn the divine authority in the institution, and they dishonor the institu- tion itself by perversion and abuse. Ch. 6 : 1-9. Law of the New Life in Other Specific Relations. 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. The words 'in the Lord' are wanting in four ancient manuscripts; and one critic, Lachmann, thinks they should be omitted. Most manuscripts have them, including N and A; and the Greek Fathers treat tiiem as authentic. They are therefore retained by nearly all modern commentators. Quite in keeping with what has gone before in these teachings of Christian morality, they enjoin the duty of children to parents as at the Christian point of view. This duty of obedience to parents is a Christian duty, and is to be rendered, like all others, in recogni- tion of the Lord's will and in obedience to it. That will is always supreme, and both enjoins and regulates the obedience required. For this is right. The Greek word does not mean "fit," "becoming" (n-pen-oi'), but "just" (SiKaio;'), in accordance with natural law. Obe- dience to parents is thus shown to be, not an arbitrary rule, but as belonging to the very relation of parent and child. 2. Honour thy father and thy mother. The apostle here points back to the fifth com-, mandment of the Decalogue, like all the ten commandments grounded in natural right, and so brings to this which he now enjoins the sanction of that ancient statute. Which is the first commandment with promise. In what sense this fifth commandment is 'the Ch. VI.] EPHESIANS. 91 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live loiiK' on the earth. 4 Ami, ye laihfis, provoke not yotir children to wrath : but bring them up in tbe nurture aud uduiuuitiou of the Lord. 5 .Servants, be obedient to thoni that are your masters according to tlie fie.sh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unlo Christ; 3 the first coniraandiuent with promise) that it may be well with thee, and tiiou ' niayust live long 4 oil the -eartli. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture iheui in the chas- tening and admonition of the Lord. 5 3.>.jervaiits, be obedient unto them that according to the flesh are your ■• masters, with fear aud trembling, 1 Or, Shalt 'i Or, land 3 6r. Bondiervantt 4 Or. Lordi. lir.st commandment with promise' has been thuuglit not altogether clear. Some have in- terpreted the second commandment as being ' with promise,' since Jehovah there describes himself as "showing mercy unto thoustinds of them that love him and keep his command- ments." This is, however, more in the form of a general stsitement, and applies as much to each of the following comnnindments as to this one. The fifth seems certainly first of the ten with a promise specifically attached — "that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." . Then, a further difficulty is supposed to be in the fact that so far as the ten cominandments are concerned, this is not only the first, but the only one ' with promise.' Perhaps it is unne- cesssary to hold the writer of this Epistle to such exactitude of expression. If we must do so, then it may be sufficient to say that this fifth commandment is first of all which dis- tinctly appear in the Sinaitic legislation with a definite and express promise attached. The connection of a proinise witii the command lends to it unusual emphasis. 3. That it may be Avell with thee, and that thou mayst live long on the earth. Tlie apostle here, as is coinmon with writers of the New Testament, quotes from the Septu- agint, instead of the Hebrew. He also omits the words "which the Lord thy God giveth thee." There is, tlierefore, an adaptation of the ancient promise to his own especitil pur- pose. The general purport of the promise, however, as originsilly given, warrants him in this. This general purport is that, connected with the observance of this duty, there shall be the blessing of long life as a result. Along with the especial divine approval and blessing vouchsafed to obedience in the particular named, there is that which is the natural con- sequence of addiction to this virtue, and to those by which it is so apt to be accompanied. A well-regulated life, under the general order of divine providence, will, as the rule, be a long life; untimely death being so often due, in some way, to violation or neglect of those laws which assign conditions botii of health and of life. Disregard of such laws, and reck- less living in general, commonly begin with violations of this fifth commandment, break- ing this law of God and law of nsiture leading on swiftly to general lawlessness, perhaps to crime and a death of shame. Even heathen moralists, like Confucius, have seen this, and so have phiced this duty of reverence for parents at the very foundation of all virtue, personal and social. 4. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Fathers are addressed, because autliority in the houseludd is primar- ily lodged with them, and by them, perhaps, most apt to be exercised vvitii harslmess. The injunction here requires that judicious exer- cise of such authority which takes due account of whatever nuiy be peculitir in the disjjosi- tion of the child, or in circumstances of the case calling for admonition, and so appeals to a sense of justice, instead of exciting that feel- ing of rebellion and ' wrath ' which a sense of wrong suflfered is so sure to cause. But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Here iigttin we find ourselves at the Christian point of view. While the child may rigiitfully expect of the parent what is more than mere control. — may expect 'nurture,' — and while 'admonition' will til- ways be necessary, those should be 'in the Lord': nurture, education, discipline, in knowledge of the Lord's will, and a disposi- tion conforming thereto, and ' adtnonition,' grounded, not in mere parental authority, but in that higher law of a divine commandment. The general sense of the injunction would cover the whole sphere of a nurture and training that shouUl be thoroughly Christian in spirit, and aim, and result. 5. Servants, he obedient t<» them that are your masters acrordins to the flesh. The word for 'servants' (ioOAoi) means, of 92 EPHESIANS. [Ch. VI. 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers ; but as the servauts of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men : 8 Kuottiug that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether A« be bond or free. 6 in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ : not in the way of eyeservice, as uieii-pleasers ; but as ' ^er- vauts of Christ, doing the will of God from the 7 2 heart; with good will doing service, as unto the 8 Lord, and not unto men: knowing lliat whatsoever good thing each one doeth, the same shall he re- ceive again from the Lord, whether he be boud or 1 Gr. Bondservants '2 Gr. soul. course, bondservants ; and the precept given must be understood as addressed to those who were in this unfortunate situation, the number of whom in every great ancient city, like Ephesus, was very large. Very many of this class became Christians. This new faith of theirs, however, had nothing in it which would warrant a turbulent spirit, or conduct of any kind inconsistent with the relations of that condition of lile in which their Christian faith and hope had found them. Obedience to these ' masters' (icupiots) was the iiaimediate duty, whether the relation were one of servi- tude in its harsher or its milder form.^ With fear and trembling. Ellicott rightly un- derstands this as referring "to the 'tinxious solicitude' they ought to feel about the faith- ful perfurmance of their duty." Other places where the same expression occurs, are 1 Cor. 2 : 3; 2 Cor. 7 : 15; Phil. 2 : 12. Eeference to these places will show that the phrase im- plies nothing servile, but only that natural and proper solicitude which a sense of respon- sibility occasions. In singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. The commanding motive to such obedience should be alwaj's the Christian one. 6. Not with eye-service, as men-pleas- ers. Ellicott regards the word for "eye- service" {o)ligation thati that of mere task-work may have room, and may lift into a certain dignity even the most servile occupatinn. But as the servants of Christ. The most menial and unwelcome forms of service may be rendered with this high motive, and so may become tolerable, even to those who naturally most revolt at them. Doing the will of God from the heart. The marginal rendering in the Revision, "soul" for ' heart,' is preferred by Eadie, Ellicott, Alford, and others; the last-named, however, connecting the words ' from the soul ' with the next verse, following, in this, the text of Knappand Lach- mann, and such commentators as Bengel, Har- less, De Wette, and Stier. The Syriac Version also connects in tliis way, so as to read in trans- lation, "and serve them with all j'our soul." Eadie objects to this as an apjtarent tautology, when 'from the heart,' or ^ soiiV becomes con- nected with the following verse. 7. With good Avill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. " It is no good will," says Eadie, "which the slave often bears to his master, his common feeling being the torment of his master's presence and the terror of his lash." 8. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord. It is noticeable how Paul dwells upon this advice to ' servants,' who if literal "bondmen," "slaves," so much needed, not only comfort in their hard lot, but guid- ance also in the ordering of their new life in Christ under such harsh conditions. His ad- vice to them certainly meets, in the only pos- sibly effectual way, the necessities of their case. A spirit of comparative acquiescence in their condition, and, above all, a new and elevating motive, making them, in some sense, superior to that which thej' must endure, was I Tlie use of iciipio? instead of Seo-Trdrij? ought, perhaps, I absolutism," the interpretation of the passage should be to be noticed. The latter, as Thayer explains, is " more ] made to cover the relation of master and servant in all strictly the correlative of *ouAo«, 'slave.'" Since the ] forms of it, although especially applying to servitude writer here employs the former word, with its "wider I in the form it had amongst those to whom this Epistle meaning, applicable to the various ranks and relations I is immediately addressed, of life, and not suggestive, either of properly or of | Ch. VL] EPHESIANS. 93 9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, I 9 free. And, ye » masters, do the same things unto forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also I them, and forbear threatening; Iciiowing that he IS in heaven : neither is there respect of persons with i whi) is both their master and yours is in heaven, o^i^- I and tliere is no respect of persons with hiiu. the only availing help for them. AVhcn they should come to make the service they ren- dered a service for Christ, and their obedience to the master a doing of the will of God, and their service as done 'to the Lord, and not to men,' with confidence that in the Lortl's best way, whatsoever good in these ways they should do, the same they should 'receive of the Lord,' the darkness of their lot would be relieved with a genuine radiance, and the burden and the humiliation of it becofine at last tolerable. The verb for 'receive' ("re- ceive again," in the Revision) is in the middle voice (KOfii'o-eTai). Thayer explains thus: "Since in the rewards and punishments of deeds, the deeds themselves are as if requited and so given back to their authors, the meaning is obvious when one is said to "receive again" ((coMt^eaflai) that wMch he has done — that is, "either the reward or the punishment of the deed." "The word refers," says Ellicott, "to the receiving back of a deposits The doctrine implied is that constant doctrine of the New Testament, that while, as is said be- low, "there is no respect of persons" with God, there is respect of character; so that w^hile all present favor, and, above all, the final salvation, is of grace, and "not of works, lest any man should boast" (2 : 9), it is by no means forgotten, either now or in the final apportionment of destiny, what the life has been. Whether he be bond or free. The real point of what is said is perhaps in these words. The Christian bond servant is enti- tled to feel that in all that concerns his rela- tions with God he is upon the same fo(iting as the free man. He should, therefore, view himself as addre.ssed bj- precisely the same motive, as regards the conduct of his life. If a free man, he would expect, in all relations, to have regard supremely to the will of God, and do all things 'as unto Christ.' Let him do the same now, realizing that in no respect will the divine dealing with him be made to differ because of his present condition, how- ever much one of humiliating servitude it may be. 9. And ye, masters, do the same things onto them. The principle just stated with regard to servants is here ajiplied to masters. There is one law of Chri.-tiiin iiitercour.se for all classes of men. Forbearing threaten- ing. The word for ' threatening ' has the arti- cle (tti)v oTreiAjjK), and is therefore made more specific than either the Common Version or the Revision would indicate. It means tlie threatening common with 'masters,' the iiarsh, rude, contumelious way in wiiich the "hard master" has always been wont to treat espe- cially the slave. In the relations of the Chris- tian master and slave all this is to be changed. Knowing that your .Master also is in hea- ven. The Greek (xal a.vri>v xai i/fjLuiv 6 KvpuKy means, both their Master and yours. The American Revisers would read, "he who is both their Master and yours." Tlie thought is that in the commim relation of master and servant with him who is in heaven, the ditt'i-r- ence of condition disappears; for, neither is there respect of persons with him. Thayer exjjlains the Greek word translated 'respect of persons' as indicating "the fault of one who, when called on to requite or to give judgment, has respect to the outward circumstances of men, and not to their intrinsic merits, and so prefers, as the more worthy, one who is rich, high-born, or powerful, to one who is de.-^titute of such gifts." There is none of this with that Master of us all who is in heaven. It is impossible that the human distinctions which are often of such importance to us should Vie of equal importance to him, or, indeed, of anj' importance at all, save as "to whom much is given, of him shall much be reiiuired." (Luke 12 : 48.) It is to be noticed that, although these prin- ciples and precepts of Christittn morals are addressed to those who are themselves Chris- tian, and so have an iin mediate apiilication to them, they are so grounded in fundamental principles of right and justice as to be equally in force for all classes and conditions of men. The Christian law of right in human relations is the natural law of right, set forth with a special divine sanction, and addressed to mo- tives originating in the new nature of one who 94 EPHESIAN5. [Ch. VI. 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- uess in high^tace*. 10 1 Finally, i be strong in the Lord, and in the 11 strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the 12 wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in 1 Or, from henceforth 2 6r. be made povier/uL has been born again. These motives, even, are, however, such as every one should be cap- able of; so that it can by no means be claimed that what is here taught and enjoined, though addressed in the first instance to Christians, is for Christians only. The law of the new life is of universal obligation, and they whose spir- itual condition makes them insensible to its claim are just so much the more in fault. 10-20. The Nkw Life as a Conflict. 10. Filially? niy brethren. One manu- script (A) omits the word for 'my.' Four others, X B D E, omit both words, and read simply, 'Finally.' This te.vt the Eevision and most modern critics adopt, Be strong: in the Lord. The verb has a more intense meaning than simply 'be strong.' It means " 6e strengthened." Having set forth with such fullness as we see the doctrine of redemp- tion ; having shown what provision has been made for making the redeeming purpose effectual in a regi'nerate people, saved through the grace that is in Christ Jesus; having pre- sented to view the new life, with the law that is to rule it and the virtues that are to adorn it, the apostle comes now to the admonitory truth that there are many adversaries, and these the Christian believer must be prepared to meet. For this, strength is needful. Hence his exhortation, ' Be .strengthened in the Lord.' And in the power of his mi^ht. This does not mean 'in' or hy "his mighty power." As Ellicott says, we are to "pre- serve the proper force of each substantive." Wh;tt the Christian, preparing for conflict, needs is 'power.' The armor he is to wear is descrihed in verses which follow; but first there must be 'power,' as otherwise armor, whether defensive or offensive, is little avail- ing. This power the believer must receive in communications of that 'might' which he finds in fellowship with his Lord and in an- swer to prtiyer. 11. Put on the whole armour of God. There is one word in tlie Greek for, 'whole armour' (wai'OTrAiai'), from which comes our word "panoply." The emphasis is upon this word, not upon "God" (OeoD). In subsequent verses this 'panoply' is described. What tlie apostle would urge is that all of it, 'the whole armour,' be ' put on.' The Christian believer, since he is also a Christian warrior, should seek a complete equipment of that which has been provided him, undervaluing nothing, omitting nothing. How can he know at what unguarded point the subtle foe he has to meet may aim his "fiery dart"? That ye may be able to stand. The word for 'stand' (ariivai) is a military term. It means the firm and prepared attitude of the true soldier confront- ing his enemy. Against the wiles of the devil. As will be seen further on, the passage we are considering recognizes distinctly the existence of malignant spirits of evil, with whom men have to deal. The chief of these seems to be here intended. It is held bj- judi- cious commentators that alike here and in ver. 16 below — "the fiery darts of the wicked" .,o7ie'' — Satan himself is meant. Not that to this chief of the evil spirits anything like omnipresence is to be attributed, but that, as the leader of that dreaded host, he acts by his instruments, whether fallen angels or wicked men; while especially the 'wiles' against which we are to be always on guard are of his devising. 'Wiles' may as well mean "strata- gems," and refer to those many and subtle and dangerous ways in which evil assails men, and the Christian by no metms least of all. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. What we have in the verses which follow deals with matter of deepest concern to all men, and yet of which all too few are willing to be convinced. That form of skepticism which finds in "the unseen'' a presumption of non-existence is especially slow to admit that men, even in their moral conflicts, have more to contend with than that of whose existence they are directly con- scious. What the apostle here says is that Ch. VI.] EPHESIANS. 95 man's real ' wrestle,' that upon which the alternatives of destiny' most depend, is not with the seen, but with the unseen. But against principalities, against powers. Like terms with lliese have been before used in this Epistle, although in quite a contrasted application. We read in 3 : 10 of 'principali- ties and powers in the heavenly jjlaces,' by which are clearly meant, as the connection tliere shows, good angels, in the several orders of dignity and administration. The analogy between that passage and the present one makes the meaning here no less clear. It is one of those places in Scripture where allu- sion is made to facts in the spiritual world of which we know but little, yet of which so much as this is made certain — that the evil of the universe is not a vague, impersonal "pos- sibility," but an organized force, represented in personalities as real as those in which the opposite principle of good becomes embodied and active. The language of Paul in this place implies further, that there is order and administration among evil spirits, as among good spirits, while the warfare of humanity with the one of these is as real and as much to be dreaded as the help in this warfare to be souglit and expected from the other. Against the rulers of the darkness of this world. It is agreed among critics that the Greek term for 'world' (aiwi/os) does not belong to the true text. It is not found in the three oldest manuscripts, X, A, B, and is omitted in n.iany of the versions and by many of the Fathers. The word for 'rulers' ((toa/io/cpaTopos), besides, expresses more than the translation would im- ply. It means, as the Kevision reads, "world- rulers." These 'principalities and powers," tiierefore, are 'world-rulers'; their sway is world wide, and they are rulers of ' this dark- ness' — the moral darkness pervading human- ity. This is alike the element and the king- dom of these evil 'powers' and ' j)riiieii)ali- ties.' Against spiritual wickedness in high places (hcnvmiiy places). Theclianged translation in the Revision will be noticed. The word for 'spiritual' (»r»'«u(.iaTi(ca) is (like iit-niKov, "cavalry," and Aijo-tpiko, "robber- hordes") an adjective used as a substantive. It does not qualify the word for ' wickedness,' but governs it in the genitive. ''Spiritual hosts of wickedness^' is therefore the correct translation. 'Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places' (roU iirovpaviois), however, is difficult of explanation. Tiiis jihrase, 'heav- enly places,' has occurred repeatedly before in this Epistle, — in 1 : 3, 20; 2 : 6; and 3 : 10, — in each case in a connection ver^' diH'erent from this. It has not seemed to us, in com- menting upon tiiose j)assages, that its mean- ing should be wlujliy localized, as if de- noting heaven merely, but as embracing that whole .sphere of higiier reality in iiumaii ex- perience which has its centre in heaven, is pervaded by heavenly influencesand enriclied by heavenly ministries. It seems also to us a mistaken exegesis to give to the phrase in this present passage a meaning so essentially ditlerent from what it manifestly has in the earlier ones, as some have proposed; either as meanilig by 'iieavenly' the lower regions of the atmosphere, once supposed to be the haunt of evil spirits, — although tiiis view has a formidable array of distinguished names in its support, — or any of the more fanciful ones anciently preferred. We suggest the follow- ing points as perhaps helpful toward a solu- tion : 1. That the thought in this verse seems in some degree to move toward a climax. The 'wrestle' of the Cliristian is not 'against' such comparatively feeble opponents as ' flesh and blood'; it is agiinst 'principalities and powers,' at first vaguely mentioned, which, however, become more a reality as dwelling in and ruling the world's moral 'darkness,' and then are brought face to face wi\h us as 'spiritual hosts of wickedness in the' very 'heavenly places' themselves. It seems to us a material letting down of the whole thought when from such a conception as ' world-rulers of the darkness' we drop to that of haunting spirits in the atmosphere around us. 2. It would seem a thing to be expected, that the apostle in the view here to be given of the malignant activity of evil spirits, would in an especial nninner siiow how this activity imme- diately concerns the Christian. Tlie first two points of description in the verse are general, and describe the agency of such spirits as it affects humanity everywhere. His especial theme, however, is the spiritual conflict of the Christian believer. May it not be his inten- tion to touch upon this in the part ofthever.se now under consideration? 3. We know for a fact that short of heaven itself there is no sphere of Christian life that is secure against 96 EPHESIANS. [Ch. VI. 13 Wherefore take unto you tlie whole armour of God, that ye luay be able to withsiand in tlie evil day., ^ and having doue all, to stand. H Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplattj of righteousness. 13 the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to with^tand in 14 the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, Laving girded your loins with truth, and the invasions of evil in its manifold forms. The closest and dearest fellowships, the most sacred spiritual associations, t!ie inner spiritual life itself of the Christian, even those experi- ences of his which have in them most of heaven may be, and sometimes — too often, indeed! — are intruded upon by that sinister power whose ministry is always evil. 4. As before intimated, it would be most consistent with a correct exegesis to understand this re- peatedly recurring phrase in a like way throughout the Epistle. "There are," as Eadie says, "beyond a doubt, 'heavenly places' on earth. The gospel, or the Media- torial reign, is 'the kingdom of heaven.' That kingdom or reign of God is 'in us,' or among us. Heaven is brought near to us through Christ Jesus. Those spiritual bless- ings conferred on us create heaven within us, and the scenes of divine benefaction are 'heavenly places.' " As the same writer im- plies, the church itself may be included in the representation. Into all these sjjheres and re- lations 'the spiritual hosts of wickedness' are known to intrude, and here especitilly Chris- tian men and women need to be prepared for the encounter. 13. Wherefore take unto you {take iip) the whole armour of God. According to Thaj'er, the rendering 'take unto you,' in the Common Version, would be correct as a sec- ondary meaning of the word avoAd/Sere, al- though 'take up' is the primary meaning; of course ' take up ' with a view to use. This last rendering, in the present case is, perhaps, the more graphic. The repetition of the counsel given emphasizes its importance. The armor in question is the ' armour of God.' The lan- guage used distinguishes it from all manner of merely human precautions, defenses, or dis- ciplines. It is a special provision for the Christian believer in response to his prayerful trust in God. That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. To stand against (aPTto-r^i-oi). The ' evil day ' is the day of temptation. Not always realized as such, by any means, since evil rarely i)resents itself to men as the evil thing it is. All the same. that day is an 'evil' one in which a foe so subtle must be encountered, and dangers so fearful faced and overcome. It is limiting too much the meaning of the phrase 'evil day,' to understand by it the day of death, as some have interpreted, or, as Meyer, "some future and terrible outbreak of Satan before the ex- pected advent of Christ." (Eadie.) Upon the other hand, we should not with others, charac- terize every day as 'evil' in the sense here intended. The reference is to those special seasons and circumstances of sjjiritual or moral exposure which niaj' come at any time, and for which it is important to he alwa^-s pre- pared. And having done all, to stand. The 'having done all ' is a specific reference to the counsel given in the passage, as a whole. Its meaning, however, is somewhat broader than simplj- " having made full preparation " for the encounter. It includes all that may be needful, alike in preparing for the encounter and in it. "To be in condition for warring a good warfare" — this seems to be what is had in view. Some commentators, as Olshausen, Conybeare, De Wette, would understand by ' having done all,' having fought the battle and won it. We shall do better to keep in our interpretation to that which the apostle evidently has distinctly in view throughout the passage, namely, jireparation. 14. Stand, therefore. For the third time in the same immediate connection the woi'd 'stand' is employed, suggesting how momen- tous, in Paul's conception, is that attitude of the Christian soldier which the word implies. The true soldier intends to conquer. His whole attitude and bearing mean this. Too often temptation finds men already half con- quered. They are inadequately armed, if armed at all, and the purpose to resist can scarcely be termed a purjiose. This is not to 'stand.' Having your loins girt about with truth. The article is omitted in the Greek as in the translation. It is not the truth which the apostle means, but 'truth,' intcard truth, genuineness, the ideality of that which seems; with all else that may be intended, implying a genuine and resolute j)nrpose. Ch. VI.] EPHESIANS. 97 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; l(i Above all, takiug the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to queuch all the fiery darts of the wieked. 15 having put on the breastplate of rig:iteousness, and having shod your fuel wiih the preparation of the 16 gospel of peace; withal taking up the shield of- failb, wherewith ye sliall be able to quench ali the The girdle of the Koman soldier, says EUicott, was " the first and most necessary part of the equipment. . . Independently of serving to keep the armor in its proper place, it appears also ... to have been used to support the sword." The girdle of the soldier was often liighly ornamented, but it is not to this that the writer here refers, but to its serviceable- ness, its indispensableness for the fully equip- ped soldier. And having {having put on) the breastplate of righteousness. Com- mentators differ as to the exact import of the term 'righteousness' (t^? fincaiotrufr)?) in this place. Some, as Harless, De Wette, Eadie, incline to understand by it, in the language of the last named, " the righteousness of God, or of faith, or as 'justification by the blood of the cross,' three Scriptural phrases, meaning in general one and the same thing" ; being in- fluenced in this view, evidently, by the pres- ence of the article. Elliott, with Meyer, Olshausen, and others, would understand, " Christian moral rectitude, or, more correctly speaking, the righteousness which is the result of the renovation of the heart by the Holy Spirit." We do not find ourselves quite clear as to which of these interpretations is the pref- erable one. As this equipment, throughout, appears to be that which the Christian soldier has in himself, however much it may be 'the gift of God,' it is, perhaps, safer to accept the second of the two views named above. It would, too, be perhaps in better keeping with the imagery of the ' breastplate.' This last is an important part of the soldier's defensive armor, and as a matter of fact, that in the Christian which resists, and in some sense defends, is not "imputed righteoueness," but the new man within, which refuses to entertain the evil suggestion. 15. And your feet shod (or, having shod your feet) Avith the preparation of the gos- pel of peace. The word ' preparation,' though retained in the Revision, scarcely ex- presses the full idea. "Readiness" («Toina<7ia), "preparedness," is what seems meant. Special attention appears to have been given, anciently, to the soldier's footwear. As his fighting was be inconsistent with, the- 2'crso/iai character so much hand to hand, a firm footing was ex- ceedingly important to him. His sandals, or caligue, were accordingly not only bound firmly to tlie foot and ankle, but were, as we are told, "thickly studded with hobnails." The Christian soldier's 'preparedness,' in this regard, he is to find in 'the gospel of peace,' It is this gospel of peace as realized in expe- rience. It is that principle of steadfastness which has its origin in a sense of oneness with God, and so of divine aid equal to any ex- tremity. It is not the gospel of peace as given him for proclamation to others, but the gospel of peace is an experience in himself. 16. Above all) taking the shield of faith. The Greek phrase in the Revision is rendered "withal" (ei- niiTiv). The 'above all' of the Common Version is in any case incorrect. The text of the Revisers has the warrant of the Siiiaitic and Vatican manuscripts (N and B). The phrase in the Alexandrine (ini naaiv) Ellicott prefers, translating "in addition to all." The sense is much the same, in either case. 'Above all,' besides not being war- ranted by the Greek text, conveys a wrong impression. The apostle does not mean to saj* that the most important part of the equip- ment is this which he now mentions. He sim- ply describes a part of the soldier's armament differing from those before mentioned ; one to be not attached to the bod3', but borne upon the arm or hand so as to be shifted about as need may require. It is 'the shield of faith,' or, '^ faith as a shield,' the genitive being that of apposition. The Christian believer's 'faith' serves him in his need, as his shield does the soldier. Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. There is general consent among commen- tators, with whom Thayer, in his Lexicon, agrees, that by the term rendered ' the wicked ' in the Common A'ersion, 'the evil one' in the Revision, is meant Satan, the devil ; "either," says Eadie, "in proper person, or as leader and representative of the foes so vividly de- scribed in ver. 12." To make the term de- scriptive, simply, of evil as impersonal would EPHESIANS. [Ch. VI. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God : 18 Praying always with ail prayer and supplication ,in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all persever- ance and supplication lor all saints : 19 And tor me, that ulterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 17 fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the 18 word of God ; with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for 19 all the saints, and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me i in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gos- 1 Or, in opening my mouth with holdnetSt to make known. of the representation throughout. Perhaps where, in ver. 12, the apostle tells us that 'we • wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,' etc., he intends, •in part at least, to indicate the fact that it is •not tendeiicies toward evil, in ourselves or • others, against which we are to contend, but against evil itself in personal forms. This per- sonal element in the representation is preserved throughout, and cannot, in the place now con- sidered, be set aside without violence done to the laws of good exegesis. The larger shields of the soldiers, anciently, we are told, " which for lightness were made of wood, were cov- ered with hides and similar material, designed to prevent the full effect of the ' fiery darts.' " (Ellicott, who refers to Arrian, ii., 18.) Ar- rows tipped with some inflammable substance were used, we are also told, in sieges or under certain circumstances against the enemy in the field. This was true alike of the Romans, the Greeks, and the Hebrews. It was evi- dently the most dangerous form of that kind of missile. The imagery here, accordingly, is tised to enforce the thought that against Satan's worst form of attack 'the shield of faith' will avail. 17. And take the helmet of salvation — literally, "receive, take with the hand {Sd$aIts life is fed, also, at sources more profound and more pure. What is first of all, what goes before precept of every kind, is that of which we read in 4 : 22-24: 'the old man ' put off, 'the new man ' put on. Practical Christianity thus becomes a power as well as a precept. Its reformation begins with transformation. It is thus a new life within, and it is under the law of that new life that the Christian comes. All things im- plying duty are thenceforth to be seen in their relation to that which this law of the new life enjoins, which is, that all obedience shall be 'as unto Christ' — all morality 'doing the will of God from the heart.' (6:5,6.) It were easy to show, alike from reason, from expe- rience, and from history, that the deep-seated and incorrigible evil of the world can in no other way be radically reached and cured. The emphasis which Paul, in these later por- tions of the Epistle, places upon the domestic relations, is quite consistent with the itnport- ance of these relations, as fundamental to all others, and as so essential in determining alike the formation of character and conduct of life. There may be reason for the suggestion sometimes made, that the vivid imagery under which the apostle sets forth Christian conflict and preparation for conflict (fi : 10-20), may have been prompted by the constant presence with him of the armed Koman soldier. We can conceive this 'panoply' of the armed man as made thus a subject of study, perhaps of con- versation, in a way for which opportunity' mtty never before have been afforded. He may have heard much, too, from his armed attend- ant, of what befalls the soldier on the march, in the ambuscade, and on the field of battle — all being turned to account in the interest of the one engrossing theme. Thus become pal- pable to him the analogies of truth for the girdle of the Christian soldier, righteousness his breastplate, the gospel of peace his shoes of preparation, faith as his shield, salvation his helmet, and the word of God as the "sharp, two-edged sword." (Heb.4:12.) Ch. VI.] EPHESIANS. 101 What is said as to the real nature of spir- itual conflict (6:10-13) should be especially re- marked. Much of the peril of humanity in the moral Issues of its destiny arises out of a deluding misapprehension as to what these issues inipl^'. It is one thing to wrestle with 'flesh and blood,' quite another with princi- palities, with powers, with world rulers of the moral darkness, with spiritual hosts of wicked- ness in the very heavenly places themselves. It is this startling truth which men are so unwilling to face, or to deal with it honestly and truly. Evil, not merely as a possibility, nor merely as a fact ; but evil as an organized, actual, and, so far as human experience is concerned, omnipresent force; evil in spir- itual embodiment, with order, administra- tion, with malignant purpose and intelligent method. Of the reality of this, how earnestly does inspired Scripture seek to impress the mind of man ! The closing words of the Epistle (6:ii «), as so often in these writings of Paul, reveal to us tiie tender, sympathetic, and loyal heart, whose interest in the welfare of those addressed lias dictated all that went before. From his Roman captivity he looks fortli upon the fields of former labor, and for each one of those whom he has seen brought to saving knowl- edge of the truth under his ministry, — spe- cially, now, all such in the city where three eventful years of that ministry were sjjcnt, — he is mindful and thoughtful and prayerful. His Christian sympathy, indeed, embraces 'all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in uncor- ruptness.' He closes his letter with a bene- diction upon all such, of whatever race, or nation, or age. Date Due :m * 48 BS2341 ASIZ V 5 ^^^ Commentary on the episiie PnncetonTheo,o9.caiSem,nary-SpeerUbrary. 1 1012 00056 0617^