Ephesians

What kind of book this is

Ephesians is a letter — but unusually impersonal for a Pauline letter. Most Pauline letters address specific situations and name many individuals. Ephesians names no one specific to Ephesus, addresses no specific local situation, and contains no personal greetings (other than mentioning Tychicus, 6:21). It reads more like a general letter than the situation-specific correspondence of 1 Corinthians or Galatians.

This impersonal quality has fed two ongoing debates: whether the letter was originally addressed to Ephesus specifically, and whether it was actually written by Paul.

The “to Ephesus” question

The opening words of the letter (1:1) read in most modern translations: To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. But the words in Ephesus (en Ephesō) are absent from the earliest and best Greek manuscripts:

• Papyrus 46 (c. 200 CE) — the earliest manuscript, no en Ephesō
• Codex Sinaiticus (4th c.) — no en Ephesō (added later by a corrector)
• Codex Vaticanus (4th c.) — no en Ephesō (added later by a corrector)

The omission is striking. Marcion (c. 140 CE) knew the letter as to the Laodiceans. Some scholars have proposed that Ephesians was originally a circular letter — sent to multiple churches, with the destination filled in for each specific copy. Other scholars argue for the originality of in Ephesus despite the manuscript evidence.

Modern critical editions (NA28, UBS5) include in Ephesus in the main text but typically with a textual note marking the manuscript situation. The letter remains canonically Ephesians, but the original destination is genuinely uncertain.

The deutero-Pauline debate

Pauline authorship of Ephesians is one of the most disputed questions in modern Pauline studies. The arguments against authentic Pauline authorship:

• Vocabulary: Ephesians contains roughly 80 words not used in the undisputed Pauline letters
• Style: long, complex sentences (Ephesians 1:3-14 is a single sentence in Greek — 202 words)
• Theology: developed ecclesiology (the church as universal, capitalised — the Church) and Christology that some scholars see as later than the undisputed letters
• Relationship to Colossians: about 30% of Ephesians has direct verbal parallels with Colossians, in ways that some scholars read as literary dependence rather than common authorship

The arguments for authentic Pauline authorship:

• Self-attribution: the letter twice explicitly names Paul as author (1:1, 3:1)
• Personal references: Paul names himself as a prisoner (3:1, 4:1, 6:20) consistent with his historical situation
• Patristic acceptance: the letter has been accepted as Pauline since the earliest extant patristic citations

Most contemporary critical scholarship treats Ephesians as deutero-Pauline — written by a follower of Paul, possibly after Paul’s death, in continuity with Pauline thought. Confessional and conservative scholarship typically defends Pauline authorship. This entry documents the dispute.

The most famous — Ephesians 2:8-9

“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith — and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, BSB)

The Reformation engine. Luther’s sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone) drew heavily on this verse. The Greek vocabulary:

• Charis (χάρις) — grace, unmerited favour. See our /meaning/ entry.
• Pistis (πίστις) — faith, faithfulness. See our /meaning/ entry.
• Erga (ἔργα) — works, deeds, actions

The verse names a sequence: by grace, through faith, not from yourselves, the gift of God, not by works, no one can boast. Each clause is precise. Charis names the source; pistis names the means; not from yourselves names the origin; the gift of God names the category; not by works names the exclusion; no one can boast names the consequence.

The grammatical question of touto (“this”) in 2:8 — this is not from yourselves — is debated. Greek touto is neuter; charis (grace) and pistis (faith) are both feminine. So touto probably refers to the whole salvation event — the entire thing is the gift of God — rather than referring specifically to faith as the gift.

Verse 10 — almost always omitted when 2:8-9 is quoted — completes the thought: For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life. The Reformation’s faith-not-works has its biblical anchor here, and so does the response that there are good works in the picture — they are the consequence rather than the cause of salvation.

The most misquoted — Ephesians 5:22

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:21-22, BSB)

The two verses are presented above as the BSB renders them — with verse 21 immediately preceding verse 22. In popular citation, verse 21 is almost always omitted.

The Greek matters here. Verse 22 has no main verb in Greek. The verb hypotassomenoi (submitting) appears in verse 21 and is carried over grammatically into verse 22. A literal Greek translation:

“Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ — wives to your own husbands as to the Lord…”

The two verses are syntactically a single sentence. The instruction in verse 22 is the application of the broader principle in verse 21. Reading 5:22 in isolation produces a one-directional submission text; reading 5:21-22 together produces a mutual-submission frame within which a particular case (wives to husbands) is named.

Almost no popular citation of 5:22 includes 5:21. Almost all modern paragraph divisions in modern Bibles place 5:21 with what precedes (the worship instructions of 5:18-21) rather than with what follows (the household codes of 5:22-6:9). The paragraph break is editorial; it is not in the Greek text. See our /topic/ entry on women in the church.

The “armour of God” — Ephesians 6:10-18

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11, BSB)

The famous passage names six pieces of equipment: belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit.

The striking feature, often missed: the imagery is drawn from Isaiah. In Isaiah 59:17, God himself puts on:

“He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.” (Isaiah 59:17, BSB)

Ephesians takes the armour of God and gives it to the believer. The believer is dressed in what God himself wears. Several other elements (the belt of truth, the sword) draw on Isaiah 11:5 and Isaiah 49:2. The whole passage is a creative reapplication of Isaiah’s depictions of divine armour to the believer’s spiritual struggle.

The Psalm 68:18 modification — Ephesians 4:8

“When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” (Ephesians 4:8, BSB)

Paul (or the author) is quoting Psalm 68:18. But the psalm in Hebrew reads:

“When You ascended on high, You led captives away; You received gifts from men.” (Psalm 68:18, BSB — translation of the Hebrew)

The Hebrew has received gifts. Ephesians has gave gifts. The direction is reversed.

Several explanations have been proposed:

• Targumic tradition: Aramaic paraphrases of Psalm 68:18 in Jewish tradition rendered the verb in the giving direction. Paul may be quoting a known targumic version rather than the Hebrew text.
• Deliberate theological alteration: Paul (or the author) may have deliberately altered the direction to fit the theological argument that follows about Christ giving spiritual gifts.
• Different exemplar: the Hebrew text Paul knew may have differed from the received Hebrew text.

The change is deliberate. It is one of the most studied examples of how the New Testament uses the Old Testament — sometimes preserving the original sense, sometimes adapting, sometimes reversing direction for theological purposes.

Other key passages

• Ephesians 1:3-14 — the doxology, one sentence in Greek, naming what the Father has done in Christ
• Ephesians 2:1-10 — dead in sin, alive in Christ; the grace-faith-works verses
• Ephesians 2:11-22 — the dividing wall of hostility broken down between Jew and Gentile
• Ephesians 3:14-21 — Paul’s prayer; that you may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge
• Ephesians 4:1-16 — one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all
• Ephesians 5:21-6:9 — the household code (wives/husbands, children/parents, slaves/masters)
• Ephesians 6:10-18 — the armour of God

Original language

Greek throughout. The Greek of Ephesians is dense, with long sentences and elevated vocabulary. Ephesians 1:3-14 is a single Greek sentence — 202 words by some counts, 204 by others — broken into many sentences in English translation for readability.

Key term:

• Mystērion (μυστήριον) — mystery, secret, hidden plan. Appears 6 times in Ephesians (1:9, 3:3, 3:4, 3:9, 5:32, 6:19). BDAG s.v. mystērion: the secret thoughts, plans, and dispensations of God which are hidden from human reason and known only by revelation. The word is used in Ephesians for the mystery of his will (1:9), the mystery of Christ (3:4), and the mystery of marriage and Christ and the church (5:32).

Why this book matters

Ephesians has been called the “queen of the epistles” by some commentators. Its concentrated theological vision — God’s plan to unite all things in Christ, the church as the body, the believer’s identity as already seated with Christ in the heavenly places (2:6) — has been formative for Christian ecclesiology.

It has also been the source of complex disputes. The Pauline authorship question is one of the most active areas of contemporary Pauline studies. The household codes (5:21-6:9) — including the wives/husbands material and the slaves/masters material — have been the subject of substantial interpretive controversy. The use of Ephesians 5:22 in particular has shaped Christian marriage culture across centuries, sometimes in ways that ignore the verse’s syntactic dependence on 5:21.

The letter’s vision of the believer dressed in the armour of God himself, of the church as the body filling all things, of the prayer that the reader may know the love that surpasses knowledge — these are among the most quoted passages in Christian devotional life.