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Described by William Barclay as the "Queen of the Epistles," the Epistle to the Ephesians is one of the books of the Bible in the New Testament.^[1] Paul is traditionally said to have written the letter while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 A.D.). This would be about the same time as the Epistle to the Colossians (which in many points it resembles) and the Epistle to Philemon. More recently, however, biblical scholars have questioned the authorship of the letter, and suggest a much later date for its origin.

Purpose

Ephesians does not seem to have originated in any special circumstances, but is simply a letter springing from the author's love to the church. It is an indication of his desire that they should be fully instructed in Christian doctrine. However, unlike Romans, which is an exposition by Paul of the gospel of salvation, Ephesians unfolds the consequences of salvation, particularly in relation to the church.

However some theologians, such as Frank Charles Thompson, agree the main theme of Ephesians is in response to the newly converted Jews who often separated themselves from their Gentile brethren. The unity of the church, especially between Jew and Gentile believers, is the keynote of the book. This is shown by the recurrence of such words and phrases as:

Together: made alive together, 2:5; raised up together, sitting together, 2:6; built together, 2:22

One, indicating unity: one new man, 2:15; one body, 2:16; one Spirit, 2:18; one hope, 4:4; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, 4:5-6.

Outline

Ephesians contains:

• 1:1, 2. The greeting
• 1:3–2:10. A general description of the blessings that the gospel reveals. This includes the source of these blessings (Jesus Christ), the means by which they are attained, the reason they are given and their final result. The first part of this section (Eph 1:3–1:14) is one continuous sentence in the original Greek. It ends with a fervent prayer for the further spiritual enrichment of the Ephesians.
• 2:11–3:21. A description of the change in the spiritual position of Gentiles as a result of the work of Christ. It ends with an account of how Paul was selected and qualified to be an apostle to the Gentiles, in the hope that this will keep them from being dispirited and lead him to pray for them.
• 4:1–16. A chapter on unity in the midst of the diversity of gifts among believers.
• 4:17–6:10. Instructions about ordinary life
• 6:11–24. The imagery of spiritual warfare (including the metaphor of the Armor of God), the mission of Tychicus, and valedictory blessings.

Founding of the church at Ephesus

Paul's first and hurried visit for the space of three months to Ephesus is recorded in Acts 18:19–21. The work he began on this occasion was carried forward by Apollos (24–26) and Aquila and Priscilla. On his second visit early in the following year, he remained at Ephesus "three years," for he found it was the key to the western provinces of Asia Minor. Here "a great door and effectual" was opened to him (1 Cor 16:9), and the church was established and strengthened by his assiduous labours there (Acts 20:20, 31). From Ephesus the gospel spread abroad "almost throughout all Asia" (19:26). The word "mightily grew and prevailed" despite all the opposition and persecution he encountered.

On his last journey to Jerusalem, the apostle landed at Miletus and, summoning together the elders of the church from Ephesus, delivered to them his remarkable farewell charge (Acts 20:18–35), expecting to see them no more.

The following parallels between this epistle and the Milesian charge may be traced:

1. Acts 20:19 = Eph 4:2. The phrase "lowliness of mind" occurs nowhere else.
2. Acts 20:27 = Eph 1:11. The word "counsel," as denoting the divine plan, occurs only here and Heb 6:17.
3. Acts 20:32 = Eph 3:20. The divine ability.
4. Acts 20:32 = Eph 2:20. The building upon the foundation.
5. Acts 20:32 = Eph 1:14, 18. "The inheritance of the saints."

Author and audience

The first verse in the letter, according to later manuscripts, is:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. (Eph 1:1 NIV)

Hence the letter would in this case explicitly designate the Ephesian church as its recipient and Paul as its writer.

However, there are a few problems with this:

• The earliest and best known manuscripts omit the words "in Ephesus", rendering the phrase simply as "to the saints ... the faithful in Christ Jesus" (NIV alternative translation).
• The letter lacks any references to people in Ephesus, or any events Paul experienced there.
• Phrases such as "ever since I heard about your faith" (1:15 NIV) seem to indicate that the writer has no firsthand knowledge of his audience. Yet the book of Acts records that Paul spent a significant amount of time with the church in Ephesus, and in fact was one of its founders.

There are four main theories in Biblical scholarship that address the problem of Pauline authorship.^[2]

• The first group agrees with the traditional view that the epistle is written by Paul. Some of these scholars include Ezra Abbot, Asting, Gaugler, Grant, Harnack, Haupt, Fenton John Anthony Hort, Klijn, Johann David Michaelis, Percy, Robinson, A. Robert, and André Feuillet, Roller, Sanders, Schille, Schlier, Schmid, Scot, Brooke Foss Westcott, and Theodor Zahn
• The second group suggest that Ephesians was dictated by Paul with interpolations from another author. Some of these scholars include Albertz, Benoit, Cerfaux, Goguel, Harrison, H. J. Holtzmann, Murphy O'Conner, and Wagenfuhrer.
• Those who are unable to accept Paul as author are Allan, Beare, Brandon, Bultmann, Conzelmann, Dibelius, Goodspeed, Kilsemann, J. Knox, W.L. Knox, Klimmel, K and S Lake, Marxsen, Masson, Mitton, Moffatt, Nineham, Pokorny, Schweizer, and J. Weiss.
• Another group who suggests there is a lack of conclusive evidence consist of Cadbury, Julicher, McNeile, and Williams.
• Ephesians is a circular letter. Paul sent several copies of the letter to several churches in Asia Minor, changing the greeting as was fit.

The lack of any reference to Ephesus in the early manuscripts led Marcion to believe that the letter was actually addressed to the church at Laodecia.

For more details, see the article Authorship of the Pauline epistles.^[3]

Place, date, and purpose of the writing of the letter

If we accept that Paul was the author, then it was probably written from Rome during Paul's first imprisonment (3:1; 4:1; 6:20), and probably soon after his arrival there in the year 62, four years after he had parted with the Ephesian elders at Miletus. However, scholars who dispute Paul's authorship date the letter anywhere between 70-170.^[4] In the latter case, the possible location of the authorship could have been within the church of Ephesus itself. Ignatius himself seemed to be very well versed in the epistle to the Ephesians, and mirrors many of his own thoughts in his own epistle to the Ephesians^[5]

There seems to have been no special occasion for the writing of this letter, as already noted. Unlike his epistle to the Colossians, which was written to refute doctrines which had sprung up in that church, Paul's object in writing Ephesians was plainly not polemical.

Ephesians could have been written to sum up Paul's teaching to the church in Ephesus, or even to several churches he had founded in Asia Minor. The major theme in the letter is the Church and, in particular, its foundation in Christ as part of the will of the Father.

In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul writes from the point of view of justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus; here he writes from the point of view specially of union with Christ, who is the head of the true church.

Theology

Ephesians is notable for its treatment of women. Ephesians 5:21 commands not only that women should submit to their husbands but that husbands should love their wives. Some who espouse a feminist theology have argued that submission is also included in the text because of verse 22, but this is unlikely since it would break the symmetry of wives' submission and husbands' love in the passage (cf also Col 3:18 written around the same time that speaks only to wives' submission). Contrastingly, 1Timothy 2:11-15 does not demand the same reciprocity present in the aforementioned verses and instead grants men authority over women.

See also

• Earlier Epistle to the Ephesians

Notes

External links

Online translations of the Epistle to the Ephesians:

• Ephesians at gospelhall.org
• Ephesians at Christ Notes (various versions)

Ephesians as a Play:

• The Text of Ephesians Performed as a One-Man-Show

Preceded by Galatians	Books of the Bible	Succeeded by Philippians