Ephesians 2:1-3
New English Translation
New Life Individually
2 And although you were[a] dead[b] in your offenses and sins, 2 in which[c] you formerly lived[d] according to this world’s present path,[e] according to the ruler of the domain[f] of the air, the ruler of[g] the spirit[h] that is now energizing[i] the sons of disobedience,[j] 3 among whom[k] all of us[l] also[m] formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath[n] even as the rest…[o]
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- Ephesians 2:1 tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.
- Ephesians 2:1 sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.
- Ephesians 2:2 sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.
- Ephesians 2:2 tn Grk “walked.” sn The Greek verb translated lived (περιπατέω, peripateō) in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.
- Ephesians 2:2 tn Or possibly “Aeon.”sn The word translated present path is the same as that which has been translated [this] age in 1:21 (αἰών, aiōn).
- Ephesians 2:2 tn That is, “[place of] authority”; see BDAG 353 s.v. ἐξουσία 6.
- Ephesians 2:2 tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).
- Ephesians 2:2 sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).
- Ephesians 2:2 tn Grk “working in.”
- Ephesians 2:2 sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.
- Ephesians 2:3 sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en hais], ἐν οἵς [en hois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
- Ephesians 2:3 tn Grk “we all.”
- Ephesians 2:3 tn Or “even.”
- Ephesians 2:3 sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”
- Ephesians 2:3 sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.
Ephesians 4:17-19
New English Translation
Live in Holiness
17 So I say this, and insist[a] in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility[b] of their thinking.[c] 18 They are darkened in their understanding,[d] being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.[e]
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- Ephesians 4:17 tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.
- Ephesians 4:17 tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataiotēs) as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.
- Ephesians 4:17 tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”
- Ephesians 4:18 tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to περιπατεῖ (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.
- Ephesians 4:19 sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.
Romans 1:21
New English Translation
21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts[a] were darkened.
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- Romans 1:21 tn Grk “heart.”
Romans 5:12-14
New English Translation
The Amplification of Justification
12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people[a] because[b] all sinned— 13 for before the law was given,[c] sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin[d] when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type[e] of the coming one) transgressed.[f]
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- Romans 5:12 tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anthrōpous) has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.
- Romans 5:12 tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (eph hō) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”
- Romans 5:13 tn Grk “for before the law.”
- Romans 5:13 tn Or “sin is not reckoned.”
- Romans 5:14 tn Or “pattern.”
- Romans 5:14 tn Or “disobeyed”; Grk “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.”
Romans 6:16-20
New English Translation
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves[a] as obedient slaves,[b] you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness?[c] 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed[d] from the heart that pattern[e] of teaching you were entrusted to, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.)[f] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.
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- Romans 6:16 tn Grk “to whom you present yourselves.”
- Romans 6:16 tn Grk “as slaves for obedience.” See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.
- Romans 6:16 tn Grk “either of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness.”
- Romans 6:17 tn Grk “you were slaves of sin but you obeyed.”
- Romans 6:17 tn Or “type, form.”
- Romans 6:19 tn Or “because of your natural limitations” (NRSV). sn Verse 19 forms something of a parenthetical comment in Paul’s argument.
2 Corinthians 4:4
New English Translation
4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe[a] so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel[b] of Christ,[c] who is the image of God.
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- 2 Corinthians 4:4 tn Or “of unbelievers.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 tn Grk “the gospel of the glory”; δόξης (doxēs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 tn Or “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not be evident to them” (L&N 28.37).
1 John 5:19
New English Translation
19 We know that we are from God,[a] and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
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- 1 John 5:19 tn The preposition ἐκ (ek) here indicates both source and possession: Christians are “from” God in the sense that they are begotten by him, and they belong to him. For a similar use of the preposition compare the phrases ἐκ τοῦ πατρός (ek tou patros) and ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (ek tou kosmou) in 1 John 2:16.
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