A BIBLICAL EXEGESIS OF EPHESIANS 1:3-12

Your intro is pretty generic. At least some of this might fit at the end, when you are giving your summary of “who cares” after you have done the analysis, but you want to begin with much more precision. Obviously you cannot discuss the entire letter in this brief paper, so you can’t really support the broad claims you make here. (E.g., even the assertion that Eph is a letter is not undisputed.) I recommend starting right off by setting up your thesis: what is the issue you will address, what will you argue concerning it, and why ought the reader care whether or not your interpretation makes sense? Try to be clear, direct, and succinct; brevity is a virtue as long as you are not omitting anything vital to your case.

The Epistle to the Ephesians should be read, studied, and analyzed because this letter teaches us to think not only about our individual salvation through Christ, but as our being saved as the community of believers. Ephesians presents God's purpose of creating a church, a new people, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this new community there is life, unity, reconciliation, love, and peace. This book promises unity instead of division, and reconciliation and peace instead of war.

These ideas are presented in Ephesians as praise and as a prayer. Therefore, we are being taught how to worship God, individually and as a unified church. It is also a letter of encouragement. The author writes in 1:3-6 that we have been showered with the kindness of God and chosen for greatness. At some point, you will need to establish why it makes sense to select these four verses for your pericope. E.g., it could be argued that the division really should be at vv. 4–6 rather than 3–6. The theme of this passage is the idea that God has predestined us to be with him in glory. Maybe, but “predestination” is an incredibly loaded term. It is better to do your linguistic analysis first, before you make such claims about what the key terms mean. Also, it will be important to discuss the Greek term, not simply the English translation of it—because obviously how to translate the term is precisely what is at stake in the discussion of its definition. Our election comes through the life, teachings, and death of his Son, Jesus Christ. Further, Christians, whether as part of the church or as individuals, are to conduct themselves in this world according to the teachings, commands, and example of Christ, for God's praise and glory. I do not see how you get this out of vv. 3–6. If you somehow already “know” this before you look at the passage, then what will be the point of the analysis?

A critical analysis of Ephesians 1: 3-6 will explain more thoroughly the message of the epistle. This is an example of what I was trying to say above. Your claim here may be well-meaning, but it is highly unlikely you are going to be dealing with the message of the entire epistle in a paper this length. If you make this more precise, it will have the added benefit of being modest enough to be feasible. These methods of biblical criticism will be utilized: this list is okay for a draft, but obviously you will want to turn it into real prose for the final paper. Historical-critical method – used to discover when, where and by whom the text was written and what the text meant to its author and his audience; Rhetorical criticism - looks at what and how the author is trying to persuade his audience to believe; and, Inter-textuality - shows connections between these verses and others in the Bible. This (which?) type of analysis is a study of how this passage relates to other books of the bible, [and how certain words are translated and what they mean this is linguistic analysis]; and, Form criticism which focuses on the pattern of words used in the passage [this sounds like structural or rhetorical criticism, not form].

Ephesians 1:3-6 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. In Christ he chose us before the world was founded to be dedicated, to be without blemish in his sight, to be full of love; and he destined us – such was his will and pleasure- to be accepted as his sons through Jesus Christ, that the glory of his gracious gift, so graciously bestowed on us in his Beloved, might redound to his praise. (Eph 1:3–6; Cite your translationtranslation)

Although early manuscripts lack the word "Ephesians" in the greeting of??, in most manuscripts it (what is your subject?) was addressed to the people of Ephesus. If you are going to introduce the audience, continue in that vein; don’t shift subject after your topic sentence. It does seem better, however, to discuss the city first and then the audience, so I would re-locate this sentence. In addition, the question of the address really is a text-critical issue, which must be handled before you get into the rest of your discussion of the passage, either before or after this section on the city & audience. (Logically before, in my view, but suit yourself on that score.)

Ephesus was a great city in Roman Asia Minor. It was located at the ending point of two highways connecting the Aegean coast with interior Turkey anachronistic; it was Anatolia in the ancient world, or the Roman Province of Asia. Say something to recognize that you know this is a modern term. and lands to the east. It was also a major seaport, the largest in the Aegean. This was where the trade routes of Asia Minor met with the entire eastern Mediterranean. It was during the time of Augustus that construction of the major buildings of Ephesus began (examples?), and the city became a major commercial and industrial city. In the fFirst- century AD, Ephesus was thea seat of the Provincial government and an important financial center. Ephesus produced and traded wine, oil, grain, dyes, wheat, and fish. (cite?) "Ephesus, which is said to have an outstanding harbour . . . is a splendid city. The whole region is broad and fruitful in all products . . . ."

Some of its wealthiest citizens lived in expensive condominiums known as the Houses on the Slopes. Decorated with frescos and mosaics, these homes were luxurious and sophisticated. Wealth was evident in both the private and public spaces of the city

In C.E. 52 when the missionary efforts of Paul in the Greek city of Corinth proved successful, he planned to establish a new community in Ephesus. How do you know this? Cite evidence. "Rich, pampered, sophisticated, and pagan to the core, Ephesus must have appeared as the ultimate challenge."

This kind of mind-reading is not very helpful. Ephesus was a pragmatic choice for Paul; we don’t have any way of knowing what he thought was “the ultimate challenge,” nor does this claim really advance our understanding of the city.

Today, the city of Ephesus still stands where it did in ancient times. No modern city was ever built over it. One can venture down the marble streets, through places like the market, the forum, temples, the odeon where the city council met, and the great theater where plays were performed and where animal fights once entertained the crowds ??in the theater?. Ephesus remains an awesome site of the ancient world.

[Keep going on the background info before you introduce why this text was written. E.g., establish that there were “pagan” religions there, what was their nature, etc. Ephesians appears to have been written to offset problems of pagan religions influencing the Christian community there.] Magic was being practiced, the superstition that demons had power over humans, and a strong attachment to the fertility cult of Artemis was prevalent in this region. More on the various religious traditions popular in Ephesus, and how they influence the letter’s contents.

These considerations really are a question of form rather than style, and they deserve more careful treatment. The discussion here is quite confusing and leaves the impression that it really doesn’t matter what form or genre this work represents. This letter would have been read when believers gathered to worship. Therefore, Ephesians begins with the blessings we have in Christ – a hymn of praise. Is this technically correct? E.g., you see a hymn at Col 1 and Phil 2, but this claim of a hymn in Eph 1 is novel and needs to be argued if you want to make this claim. Ephesians was actually a circular letter written to the Gentile communities. This epistle can be described as a homily or sapiential discourse. Okay, so is it a letter, or a homily, or a hymn, or a discourse? You can’t have it be four different genres. It is characteristic of a prayer. Homiletic style is not characteristic of prayer; direct address to God is characteristic of prayer. The epistle demonstrates the rhythms of liturgical prayer. "In Ephesians, prayer itself is the vehicle for theology."

I think it would be better to start from your own passage and determine the form of your particular pericope first, and then show how it fits into the overall “letter.”

1. Justification by God's free gift of grace accepted by humans through faith. 1:13, 2:5, 8-9.

4. Holy Spirit is a transforming, reconciling power, which shows itself in the church by disbursing gifts to it. 1:13-14, 4:17-5:2.

5. Preaching the Good News to the Gentiles came about through a revelation from God (3:3-5; 3:7-8).

Ephesians was an encouraging communication written in letter format to the Gentile Christians in Asia Minor. The Jewish Christian author wrote in the name of Paul in order to establish a relationship between the apostle to the Gentiles. Proof that it was written after the lifetime of Paul and after the apostolic age can be found in verse 20:

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. This is a sentence frag

Ephesians opens with a prayer of blessing. It resembles the Jewish berakah in its threefold structure: Blessing God, giving reasons for this blessing, and giving praise to God. The themes of the letter are announced: the mystery that God is working out in history according to his purpose and will through the redemptive death of his son Jesus and he made available to humans by free gift. This mystery is the plan to reunify all reality with God.

The style of Ephesians is close the style of many of the hymns in the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are hymnic elements in Ephesians 1:3-6.³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

In thy wisdom didst [Thou call into being] [spirits] immortal, and ere Thou dist create them, didst foreknow their works for all time [Apart from Thee] can naught be done and naught apprehended save by Thy will. Thou it is formed every spirit [and set due rule] and role for all their works.

[I give thanks unto Thee, O Lord,] for Thou hast illumined [my face] [with the vision of thy truth;] [wherefore I yet shall wa]lk in glory everlasting along with all [the holy that hear the words of] Thy mouth and Thou wilt deliver me from [the pit and the slough.]

this should be in the intro section, not on page 8. Unless you are going to make a case for a different author, you can dispense with the date, authorship, form, and other issues in basically a paragraph or two at the outset. At this point we should be seeing your analysis of the pericope itself rather than introductory material still.

Paul was accepted as the author of Ephesians until the 18^th century. The writing style of Ephesians is very different from the undisputed Pauline letters; namely, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. Ephesians has a many long, complex sentences. Paul's writing was much crisper. Further, many words are peculiar to Ephesians. More than 80 appear that do not appear elsewhere in Pauline material. Thirty-eight are found nowhere else in the New Testament. Also, while the Jew/Gentile issue is brought up in Ephesians, the word Jew is never used, although Paul himself did use the word often. Another important Pauline term is "law" and that is not found in Ephesians. Another Pauline term "heavens" (ouranoi) is not used. In its place is "heavenly places" (epouraniois). Also, Tthe prepositions "in" and "according to" (kata) are used more often in Ephesians than in Pauline writings.

Paul spent three years in Ephesus. The fact that this epistle is quite impersonal leads one to believe that he did not write it. There appears to be no intimacy between Paul and the community. Further, the standard epistolary elements: opening greeting (1:1-2), blessing (1:3-14), thanksgiving (1:15-23), body (2:1- 6:20) and final greeting (6:23-24) are all formal. The letter is devoid of references to either the writer or the readers.

In the time of Paul there were three ways in which a person was judged an author of a letter:

1. He actually wrote the letter himself;

2. He could dictate the letter to someone;

3. He could give the idea of what he wanted to say to his secretary and let the secretary compose – checking the letter later.

Paul used the second choice usually. When Paul actually did the writing, he would state so. In Col. 4:18, he wrote, "This greeting is in my hand – Paul. In Gal. 6:11, Paul draws attention to the fact that he is now writing himself, pointing out that his letters are larger than his secretary's.

Col. 4:18 – I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember, my chains. Grace be with you.

Gal. 6:11 – See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand.

However, new words and phrases exist in Ephesians that do not occur in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians.

In the heavenly realms (1:3)

His Beloved (1:6)

Graciously bestowed (1:6)

The first to set our hope (1:12)

Community (2:12)

Devil (4:27)

Moreover, the main theme of Ephesians is the unity and work of the Church. The coming advent of the Christ is not foreseen in the near future. A great departure from other of Paul's writings.

Prominence is given to apostles and prophets. This may indicate a time when the apostles and leaders of the early Church are dead, but venerated as heroes.

Eph 2:20 – Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets

Ephesians 3:5 – which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.

Further, in Ephesians 4:9-10, it is said that Jesus descended to the lowest level down to the very earth and descended to the regions beneath the earth. A reference to Jesus' death and triumph over it. The lack of reference to this descent in Paul's other letters may suggest that Ephesians is post-Pauline.

However, Ephesians has ideas different from those found in Paul's writings. Ephesians lacks of any expectation that the end of the world is imminent. Paul's distinction between present-time justification and future salvation is lost. Ephesians speaks of salvation as a past experience. Related to the relaxation of end-time expectation is the fact that believers already in some way share in Christ's resurrection. In contrast Romans 6:4-5, Paul is careful not to intimate that Christians have already been resurrected. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Paul firmly states that the foundation of the Church is Jesus.

This is too much on the subject unless you are going to assert authenticity, which does not look like is the case.

Who then wrote Ephesians? What can be said is that Ephesians was written by a follower of Paul who, while quite likely himself a Jew. Frag The author was himself a creative thinker who sought to apply Paul's insights in a new situation. What Ephesians can be called is an updated re-application of Pauline theology. And while all dating is approximate, Ephesians is thought to have been written by at least 90. The post-apostolic age is a firm placement. Why can you make these assessments of the writer? Also, what is the terminus ante quem if 90 is the terminus post quem?

Tychicus, a disciple of St. Paul and his constant companion, could have been the author of this epistle. He was a native Ephesus. He was sent to the churches of Asia Minor under Paul's name to teach and correct the churches. Tychicus saw the need for a general policy to be taught to the congregations. How do you know this? Provide evidence. Does it matter if the author can be precisely identified with this individual, and what do we know about him other than the name. He wanted to show how the Christian faith could meet the needs and fears of the people there at that time and to remind Christians of their responsibilities and the need for unity and love in order for the church to survive there. God's election of us is corporate – we are chosen together as the community of humankind. Is it? You beg the question, presuming one interpretation of your pericope. Hence, the future survival for the Church is bound in the unity of its members. The early church understood this and clearly propagated this idea in Ephesians.

Ephesians is unique among New Testament writings for its description of the church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The key contribution of Ephesians is this teaching on the nature of the church. This understanding of the church was built out of the Pauline tradition and so goes beyond Paul's own teaching. Paul spoke of the "church" in terms of a local community. The author of Ephesians, writing at a later period, was speaking of the "the church." The church was beginning to be seen as an institution. Further, the author of Ephesians saw the church as the cosmic body of Christ, with Christ as its head. The emphasis of the church here definitely speaks of its unity as paramount. All humanity is united in the church through Christ, who reconciled us to God through the redemptive shedding of his blood on the cross.

The composition and style of Ephesians lends to the idea that it owes much to a secretary or representative of Paul rather than to the man himself. Ephesians could have been composed by Tychicus but ". . . presenting the gospel in the phraseology, language and ideas used by Paul . . ."

While discussions of authorship persist, Ephesians is no less valuable to us. Its teachings on faith, Christology and our salvation merit attention and study. Maybe, but not here. Get to your passage and stick to it.

Commentary

Ephesians speaks of blessings that come from the Trinity. That is, our blessings come from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God being the origin of every blessing we have, but it is through our union with Christ that we receive our blessings. The Holy Spirit is the key to our applying God's blessings in our lives for his work and his will. God has blessed us by choosing us, by destining us to his sons and daughters, freely bestowing this grace upon us.

In the New Testament the word for praise, eulogetos, means exclusively God, meaning that God alone is worthy of worship. God is the source of blessing, which are spiritual in nature, given to us through Christ. The place of God's blessings is the "heavenly realms" (verse 3). This refers to the unseen world of reality, where Christ reigns who has triumphed over evil. These spiritual blessings demonstrate God's loving nature.

Origen of Alexandria (185-254) is considered one of the greatest of all Christian theologians. He may have been the first to compose a commentary on the epistle. Some of his ideas and comments on it were that the spiritual blessing is not like a material one. "Take the prophets for example. The have not obtained blessings materially. For men who 'went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, in want, afflicted, maltreated, wandering in deserts, in mountains, in caves and holes of the earth' (Heb. 11:37-38). They did not have material blessings, but he blessed the prophets spiritually instead. Further, he wrote, "We have our blessings through Christ. ". . . that is to say, in the Word, in Wisdom, in the Truth, and in Power."

He also believed that God had to adopt us through Jesus Christ means we are not the natural children of God. God chose us for election through the action and sacrifice of Jesus.

Because we have been redeemed and forgiven, "having been healed from the wounds of sin, we can actively engage in piety and in other virtues.". We are free to show our Christian love and live a life according to God's will for us.

St. Jerome (345-420) was a scripture scholar, translating the Old Testament from the Greek. He also wrote commentaries, which are a great source of scriptural understanding. He was a thorough scholar, bishop and pope. St. Augustine said of him, "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known."

Jerome claimed that "Paul does not say, He chose us before the constitution of the world when we were holy and unstained but, He chose us 'that we should be holy and unstained,'" The phrase "in the heavenly places" (en tois epouraniois) is found only in Ephesians. Its sense: God's ordered plan and activity are now brought into human activity." He believed that the meaning of "predestined us to sonship was, "It is not a question of individual predestination but of a selected brotherhood of sons to be saved through Christ. Salvation comes to the believer in and through a community in Christ, . . . " In verse ten we have "In the fullness of time". Jerome wrote, "The word for time, kairos, does not refer to a lapse of time as does chronos. It signifies a new era in which God will work with all the fullness of his power." He also believed that God initiated election. "God chose only in accordance with his own character, specifically his love and grace. God therefore stands as the sovereign subject . . . of any good gift given in this world."

God destined us to be his heirs. Destined means to mark out boundary beforehand. God does not determine our destiny, but every time we choose God we activate his election of us. In Ephesians we see that faith and obedience are linked to our destiny with God.

God chose us – we did not choose God. He chose us before we existed, before we could do right or wrong. And we were chosen through the redeeming work of Christ, which had not yet taken place. We exist as God's children based upon God's good character, his plan and his action. It is not through our human qualities that we have been chosen. Our election is based on God's love and unmerited favor. We are holy and blameless in his sight because of God's selection, not through our own accomplishment. This choice is not random or last minute, but part of God's strategy since the creation. The goal of God's plan was the coming of Christ. Through Christ God's cosmic plan was accomplished. History is in God's hands, not in any other power.

Our adoption by God means we are sons and daughters of God through his loving nature. We are co-heirs with Christ. We have been redeemed through the blood of Christ and forgiven by God for our sins.

As God's children we are to follow the example of his Son. This epistle is a call to an ethical life of love and submission to God's will. "We do not bless God by loving each other; rather, God blesses us by enable us to love." Our ethical life is not accomplished by our mere human effort, but emerges from the act of God in our redemption through Jesus. Our ethical life is a combination of God's grace and our knowledge of it.
As believers, we are in union with Christ, and so our election occurred before the creation of the world also. "The beginning, middle, and end of the Christian life is wholly and wonderfully dependent upon the mercy, love and grace of God." "Jesus' resurrection signals that new creation has broken-in upon the world, and the gift of the Spirit to believers demonstrates God's promise of covenant faithfulness to finish complete the process of transformation." ". . . God is at work, through the cross and resurrection, transforming and make life meaningful." Despite life's chaos and unpredictabiltiy, God is present and in control.
"Like election, predestination occurs only through the historical events of Jesus' life and is an expression of God's love and promise for our future." All that God does or is proceeds from his gracious character and merits the best we can offer with our loves." The disharmony (sin) found in the world was resolved in Christ and was God's preordained goal of our fulfillment in him. "The election of Christ is not only the election of the divine Son but also the election of the man Jesus, and it may be that the election of Jesus in his humanity may be the most useful mirror . . . in which our own election may be viewed.

How can you conclude when you never actually got to your pericope yet? Much of what you have here may be accurate, and may even be helpful, but it needs to be connected explicitly with YOUR pericope. When you make a claim about the letter, we need to see the explicit verse references for it. We need to see a discussion of what the term pro-oridzw (proori,saj) means, and why it is legitimate to translate it as “pre-destined.” What does “adoption as sons” mean here, and are women believers included in this expression?

Now that you have this draft, it might be helpful to make an outline so you can see where you want to plug this information into your overall argument. Remember that the argument is not about Ephesians generally, it is about your 3 or 4 verses specifically. When you have figured out your pericope, then you can use it as a jumping-off point to suggest how it helps in understanding the letter as a whole; you cannot make the case the other direction because the claims are too sweeping and too free of the concrete evidence in the letter. BTW, if you need to present the outline rather than the paper, that actually is fine. What we want to see is how you will develop your argument based on the various methods we are supposed to be learning.

Conclusion

God's activity is designated through Christ. God has blessed humanity through Christ and he chose humanity in Christ, and destined us to be his through Christ. For each of these activities the author of Ephesians blesses God because these actions cannot be revoked. God has acted and the results are sure. Further, this election by God is no late development. It occurred before the world was created and it occurred in him, in Christ. In his love, God foresaw (destined) through Jesus Christ that the recipients would be God's children.

Ephesians sets forth the divine plan of God, accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This sacrifice reconciled both Jews and Gentles to God's final purpose of unity and harmony in the universe. With Jesus at the head of the Church, this purpose has been accomplished. The central theme here is the divine plan for salvation. God's plan began "before the foundation of the world." 1:4. This plan began in the past (1:4) and extends into the future (1:10).

Through Jesus, God has blessed us, chosen us, destined us, bestowed upon us and made known to us – all through Jesus. God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. The blessings are entire and complete. They are spiritual as they come from the Holy Spirit – and they are part of the unseen, eternal life of the believer.

SOURCES

fix format

www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Sep1997/feature2.asp#F9

Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Roland E. Murphy, The Jerome Biblical Commentary, (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.), 1968. Specific author, article, page refs, etc.

Clive Foss, Ephesus after Antiquity: A Llate Antique, Byzantine and Turkish City, (Cambridge, London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1979).

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/arch/ephesus.html

Gaster, Theodor H., The Dead Sea Scriptures, (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976).

Robert R. Hann, "Election, the Humanity of Jesus, and Possible Worlds, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 29.03.

Ronald E. Heine, The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament, an Interpretation, (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1999).

Carey C. Newman, "Election and Predestination in Ephesians 1:4-6a: An Exegetical-Theological Study of the Historical, Christological Realization of God's Purpose," Review and Expositor, 93 (1996).

G.H.P. Thompson, The Letters of Paul to the Ephesians, to the Colossians and to Philemon, (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1967).

English	Greek	Location in Pauline Writings
"powers and principalities"	archai kai exousiai	Romans 8:38
"surpass"	Hyperballo	2 Corinthians 1:8; 3:10; 4:7, 17: 9:14; 11:23, 12:7
"knowledge"	Gnosis	Romans 15:14, 1 Corinthians 1:5, 2 2 Corinthians 4:6 Philippians 3:8
"to be enlightened"	Photizo	1 Corinthians 4:5