Number 63

EPHESIANS CHAPTER SIX

THE RESULTANT VERSION - TRUE TO THE GREEK AND TRUE TO THE TRUTH

1. The children, be hearkening submissively to your parents in the Lord; for this is right.
2. "Honor your father and mother," which is the chief precept in connection with a promise.
3. "That well with you it may be, and you may be a long time on the earth."
4. And the fathers, do not be provoking your children to anger, but be nurturing them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
5. The slaves, be hearkening submissively to your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the singleness of your heart as unto the Christ,
6. Not with eye-slavery as man-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul,
7. With good will, slaving as to the Lord and not to men,
8. Knowing that whatsoever good each one should be doing, for this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
9. And the masters, be doing the same toward them, refraining from threats, knowing that their Master, as well as yours, is in the heavens; and there is no respect of persons with Him.
10. In conclusion, my brethren, be empowering yourselves in the Lord, and in the might of His strength.
11. Put on the complete armor of God to enable you to hold your ground against all the strategems of the adversary;
12. For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but with the sovereignties, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of this darkness, with the spiritual forces of wickedness among the most elevated.
13. Therefore, take to yourself the complete armor of God in order that you may be able to stand in the wicked day, and having done all this, to stand.
14. Stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15. And your feet shod with the readiness of the good message of peace.
16. In addition to all these, having taken up the great shield of faith by which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the wicked one,
17. Also receive the helmet of the salvation-bringing message, even the sword of the Spirit which is God’s utterance,
18. With all prayer and supplication, praying in every season, in Spirit, and thereunto watching with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,
19. And on behalf of me, that to me expression may be granted in the opening of my mouth with boldness to make known the secret of the good message,
20. In behalf of which I am conducting an embassy in a chain, that in it I may be speaking boldly as I must speak.
21. Now in order that you may be acquainted with my affairs, and what I am doing, all will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord,
22. Whom I send to you for this same purpose, so you will know the things concerning us, and that he might be encouraging your hearts.
23. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
24. The grace be with all who are loving our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.

THE RESULTANT VERSION - TRUE TO THE GREEK AND TRUE TO THE TRUTH

VERSE 1. The children, be hearkening submissively[A] to your parents in the Lord; for this is right.[B]

1. The Gk. is hupalcouO, which indicates to listen, hearken, submit to. Note this word in Heb. 11:8.
2. The Gk. is dikaios, not euarestos ("well pleasing" as in Col. 3:20).

VERSE 2. "Honor[A] your father and mother," which is the chief[B] precept in connection with a promise.

1. "Honor" is timaO, which means to estimate, fix the value, determine the worth.
2. So translated in order to be true to the truth. The second commandment also had a promise connected to it.

VERSE 3. "That well with you it may be, and you may be a long time on the earth."[A]

1. An inspired paraphrase of the Old Testament precept and promise. This cannot mean that every obedient child will have a long life and that the life of the disobedient will be cut short. The actual facts of human experience and observation deny such an interpretation. Verses 2 and 3 declare a condition that was true in Israel before the covenant was broken, and it anticipates conditions in the coming kingdom of God.

VERSE 4. And the fathers,[A] do not be provokmg[B] your children to anger, but be nurturing them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.

1. This is addressed to the father, as the head of the family, the pilot of the household.
2. A common sin of many fathers who irritate and exasperate their children, making obedience and honor impossibilities.

VERSE 5. The slaves,[A] be hearkening submissively[B] to your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the singleness of your heart as unto the Christ,

1. The word here is doulos, which means a slave. These were slaves who were also believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Slavery was an established institution in the Roman Empire. They far outnumbered the freemen. They abounded by the millions, chattels to be bought or sold as their masters saw fit. They had no rights of any kind. In fact, slavery was so woven into the fabric of Roman society that to abolish it would have torn the Empire into shreds. Paul makes no attempt to correct this injustice or inequality, but tells the slaves how to live within it, and gives instructions as to the conduct of masters who are believers.
2. The same Greek word as in verse one.

VERSE 6. Not with eye-slavery[A] as man-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul,

1. "Eye-slavery" is service performed only when one is under the eye of the master for the sake of escaping blame or incurring undeserved favor.

VERSE 7. With good will, slaving as to the Lord and not to men,[A]

1. Strange as it may seem, Paul’s directive is that the slave should serve the human master as if he were serving the Lord Jesus.

VERSE 8. Knowing that whatsoever good each one should be doing, for this he will receive back from the Lord,[A] whether slave or free.

1. The encouragement for doing this is found in the fact that whatever good the slave does for his human master shall be rewarded by Christ.

VERSE 9. And the masters, be doing the same toward them, refraining from threats, knowing that their Master, as well as yours, is in the heavens; and there is no respect of persons with Him.[A]

1. In verses 5 to 9, slavery is accepted as an institution that existed. It is neither condemned nor approved. Neither Paul nor the Lord Jesus engaged in social reform. To change the world was not their commission.

VERSE 10. In conclusion,[A] my brethren, be empowering yourselves in the Lord, and in the might of His strength.

1. The Gk. is loipon which means "in respect to the rest." "Finally" is a good translation, but I prefer "in conclusion."

VERSE 11. Put on the complete armor[A] of God to enable you to hold your ground against all the strategems[B] of the adversary;[C]

1. "Complete armor" is panoplia, from which we get our word "panoply."
2. "Strategems" are "methods," or "change of ways."
3. The adversary is the devil.

VERSE 12. For our wrestling[A] is not against blood and flesh,[B] but with the sovereignties,[C] with the authorities,[D] with the world-rulers[E] of this darkness, with the spiritual forces[F] of wickedness among the most elevated.[G]

1. The word "wrestling" indicates a personal, individual, hand to hand conflict. Don’t organize a team to fight these enemies.
2. "Blood and flesh" stand for men of all kinds and abilities.
3. The Greek is archE.
4. The Gk. is exousia.
5. The Gk. is kosmokrator, from kosmos (world) and krateo (to have strength).
6. "Spiritual" is pneumatika, which is accusative, plural, neuter. "Wickedness’ is ponEria, which is genitive, singular. These two words do not agree and cannot be used together.
7. The Gk. here is en tois epouraniois, same as in 1:3, 1:20, 2:6, and 3:10. It is a plural adjective. It means the most elevated ones." However, these are not "in Christ" as they are in 1:3, and 2:6.

VERSE 13. Therefore,[A] take to yourself the complete armor of God in order that you may be able to stand in the wicked day,[B] and having done all this, to stand.

1. Because the fight is with such powers, we need to take up and put on the whole armor of God.
2. We, as none before us, are living in an unusually wicked day, due to the fact that evil men and seducers have continually waxed worse.

VERSE 14. Stand,[A] therefore, having girded[B] your loins[C] with truth,[D] with the breastplate[E] of righteousness[F] in place,

1. God expects us to stand, and not surrender or lie defeated before the enemy.
2. The participles show that the armor is to be put on before we attempt to stand.
3. The Gk. is osphus, meaning hip, loins, the part of the body surrounded by the girdle. We are to surround ourselves with that which is the truth. "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).
4. The Lord Jesus said, "I am the truth" (John 14:6) and "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17). This is first mentioned in this list of equipment, because the living Word and the written Word are of the utmost importance.
5. The word for "breastplate" is thorax which means both breast and breastplate. It always means the latter in the New Testament.
6. This is the genitive of apposition and means "the breastplate which is righteousness." This is Christ Who is our righteousness.

VERSE 15. And your feet shod with the readiness[A] of the good message of peace.[B]

1. This word (hetoimazO) was used in Classical Greek in the sense of a firm foundation.
2. The good message that set forth the basis for a true and proper union with God.

VERSE 16. In addition to all these, having taken up the great shield[A] of faith[B] by which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the wicked one,

1. The word here is thureos, from thura, a door, because it was shaped like a door.
2. Faith is taking God at His Word and responding accordinly. An ever present faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is needed for victory over all the fire-tipped arrows of the wicked one.

VERSE 17. Also receive the helmet[A] of the salvation-bringing message,[B] even the sword of the Spirit which is God’s utterance,

1. "Helmet" is from two words, peri (around) and kephale (head).
2. The word which I have translated "salvation-bringing" is sOtErion, an adjective; and "message" is supplied because no adjective ever stands alone. For a full examination of this word, see Issue No. 8, a portion of which I repeat here:

"In this passage ‘the helmet’ equals ‘the salvation-bringing,’ for they are appositional—one defines the other. And then by a further apposition, these are defined as ‘the sword of the Spirit’ which in turn is described as being 'a declaration from God.' In view of this, we should read here, 'And take the helmet of the salvation-bringing declaration (the gospel).' And letit not be thought strange that the salvation-bringing declaration of God is both the believer's helmet and the Spirit's sword. There is no mixing of metaphors here, but two distinct metaphors setting forth two separate uses of the same thing. It is my firm opinion that the salvation-bringing declaration of God is the gospel according to John, the only book in the Bible that was written so that men might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing have life through His name (John 20:31). The one who is not securely grounded upon this message will not be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We need this helmet."

VERSE 18. With all prayer[A] and supplication, praying in every season, in Spirit, and thereunto watching with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,

1. Prayer is a believer’s weapon that is of prime importance. Constant, earnest, believing prayer is necessary for a victorious warfare against the enemy. The other weapons in our hands will not work well without it. Nevertheless, we should not make a religion out of prayer.

VERSE 19. And on behalf of me, that to me expression may be granted in the opening of my mouth with boldness to make known the secret[A] of the good message,

1. There is a secret truth related to the gospel, and Paul is making this known.

VERSE 20. In behalf of which I am conducting an embassy in a chain,[A] that in it I may be speaking boldly as I must speak.

1. The truth revealed to him was indeed a strong chain that bound him to a duty that had to be performed.

VERSE 21. Now in order that you may be acquainted with my affairs, and what I am doing, all will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord,[A]

1. In regard to service, I take this to be the highest title to which any man can aspire in this dispensation.

VERSE 22. Whom I send to you for this same purpose, so you will know the things concerning us, and that he might be encouraging your hearts.

VERSE 23. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

VERSE 24. The grace be with all who are loving our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.[A]

1. This is a glorious word, and it stands as the last word of this magnificent epistle. The word "Amen" does not belong here.

INDEX

Issue no. 63