Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · 에베소서 1장

Ephesians 1:1. To the faithful in Christ Jesus:— Some have understood this as an intimation, that the Christians at Ephesus were remarkablyfaithful to Christ in relying on him alone for salvation, without that attachment to the Mosaic law which was to be found in some other churches, and particularly among the Galatians. But as he uses the same title when addressing the Colossians (Colossians 1:2.), whom yet he reproves on this very account (Colossians 2:16; Colossians 2:20.), I can lay no stress upon that criticism.

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Ephesians 1:3.— The two first verses contain St. Paul's inscription, or introduction, to his Epistle; and thence to Eph 1:14 he proceeds to thank God for his grace and bounty to the Gentiles; wherein he so sets forth both God's gracious purpose of bringing the Gentiles into his kingdom under the Messiah, and his actual bestowing on them blessings of all kinds in Jesus Christ, for their complete re-instation in that his heavenly kingdom, that there could be nothing stronger suggested to make the Ephesians, and other Gentiles, converts, give up all thoughts of the Mosaic law; and that much inferior kingdom of his, established upon theMosaic institution, and adapted to a little canton of the earth, and a small tribe of men; as not necessary to be retained under this more spiritual institution, and celestial kingdom, erected under Jesus Christ;—a kingdom intended to comprehend men of all nations, and to extend itself to the utmost bounds of the earth, for the greater honour of God, or, as St. Paul speaks, to the praise of his glory.

Blessed be the God, &c.— The sentence before us runs through twelve verses; a length of period remarkable even in St. Paul's writings, which are frequently difficult to be fully understood on that account. Under the words us and we, in this period, the Apostle doubtless includes the Ephesians, to whom he wrote,—the greatest part of whom were Gentile converts,—as sharing with him and the Jewish Christians in their evangelical privileges; and by thus beginning his Epistle with ascribingthanks to God for his mercies to them, he at once declares his firm persuasion of the calling of the Gentiles, and his hearty joy for it. We have before observed, that it is frequent with this Apostle, to make use of the same words in the same sentence in a different sense from that in which they occurred before. Thus, the word bless, in the beginning of this verse, signifies to praise; and in the next clause, to do good, or, "to confer a blessing upon:"—and for this reason,—that both of them are the effects of a benevolent mind. All spiritual blessings principally refer, not to extraordinary and miraculous gifts, but to the sanctifying and saving graces of the Spirit; such as justification by grace, the adoption of children, the illumination of the Spirit, and all the graces of the Christian life: these are blessings in the heavenlies, εν τοις επουρανιοις, or, in heavenly things, as it should be rendered, rather than places; as they are things which have a manifest relation to heaven, and a tendency to fit us for it.

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Ephesians 1:4. In him— That is, in Christ. See the preceding verse, which, together with this, makes up the following sense: "As it was in consideration of Christ alone that God heretofore, before the foundation of the world, designed us Gentiles to be his people; so now that the Messiah is come, all the blessings and benefits which we are to receive in his heavenly kingdom, are laid up in him, and to be had only by our faith and dependance on him, without any respect to the law of Moses." The Apostle cannot be understood to intimate here, that every one of the persons who belonged to the Church of the Ephesians, or elsewhere to other Christian societies, in the bonds of external communion, was, by a particular decree of God, personally chosen to eternal life: for he could have no evidence that this was the case with regard to each, without such a revelation as none, we believe, ever pretended to, and as would very ill agree with other passages relating to the apostacy of some, who once made a very forward profession; and with the many exhortations and cautions which every where occur in his writings. We conclude, therefore, that he speaks of whole societies in general, as consisting of saints and believers, because this was the predominant character. The word rendered foundation is spoken of the foundation of a building, and is here applied to the creation of the world. The Jews date their election from Abraham; but, in the divine dispensations, Christ was prior to Abraham; and it is declared in other places of the New Testament, as well as this, that, even before the creation of Adam, the divine mercy had provideda remedy for his fall. In love means, particularly here, "to all the saints," as appears from Ephesians 1:15.—comp. also Colossians 1:4. Love is very often insisted on in this Epistle; the reason of which is, perhaps, to intimate, that now, when the partition wall was broken down, (see ch. Ephesians 2:14; Ephesians 2:22,) it was of the highest importance to cultivate mutual affection, without any regard to the Jewish or Gentile character.

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Ephesians 1:5. Having predestinated us— It was not by the observances of the law, but by faith alone in Jesus Christ, that God pre-determined to take the Gentiles into the state of sonship, or adoption. This was another particular for which St. Paul blesses God, in the name of the Gentiles; the consideration whereof was fit to raise the thoughts of the Ephesians above the Mosaic law, and keep them in a firm adherence to the liberty of the gospel. According to the good pleasure of his will, is spoken here in the same sense with what is said Romans 9:18; Romans 9:23-24. God, under the law, took the nation of Israel to be his people, without any merit in them; and so it is of his mere good pleasure that he even then purposed to enlarge his kingdom under the gospel, by admitting all, of every nation, to come in and submit themselves, not to the law of Moses, but to the rule and dominion of his Son, Jesus Christ; and this, as it is said in the next words, For the praise of the glory of his grace.

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Ephesians 1:6. Wherein he hath made us accepted— Nothing can be imagined of greater force to raise the minds of the Ephesians above the Jewish ritual, and to keep them steady in the freedom of the gospel, than what St. Paul says here; namely, that God, before the foundation of the world, freely determined within himself to admit the Gentiles into his gospel kingdom, for the manifestation of his free grace to all the world; and this only for the sake of his beloved Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, it was to mistake or pervert the end of the gospel, and to debase this glorious dispensation, to make it subservient to the Jewish ritual, or to suppose that the law of Moses was to support, or be supported, by the kingdom of the Messiah; which was to be of larger extent, and settled upon another foundation, whereof the Mosaical institution was but a narrow, faint, and typical representation.

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Ephesians 1:8. In all wisdom and prudence,— Having, with infinite wisdom, contrived a wayto glorify all his attributes in the salvation of men,—even those who seemed to have themost different claims; dispensing mercy in a way of judgment, and awakening a humbleawe and reverence in the soul by the very method which is used for granting pardon and peace. See Colossians 1:9-10; Colossians 1:28; Colossians 2:2-3.

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Ephesians 1:9. The mystery of his will,— St. Paul's so often terming God's purpose of calling the Gentiles a mystery, and so emphatically declaring it to be concealed from ages, and particularly revealed to himself, (as we find in this Epistle, where it is so called five times, and four times in that to the Colossians) cannot be by chance, or without some particular reason. The question was, "Whether the converted Gentiles should hearken to the Jews,—who would persuade them that it was necessary for them to submit to circumcision and the law,—or to St. Paul, who had taught them otherwise?" Now there can be nothing of more force to destroy the authority of the Jews, in this case, than the shewing thatthey knew nothing of the matter;—that it was a perfect mystery to them, concealed from their knowledge, and made manifest in God's good time, at the coming of the Messiah, and particularly discovered to St. Paul by immediate revelation; to be communicated by him to the Gentiles, who therefore had a reason to continue steadfast to this truth, and not to be led away from the gospel which he had taught them. See ch. Ephesians 3:9.

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Ephesians 1:10. He might gather together— The original, 'Ανακεφαλαιωσασθαι, rendered gathered together, properly signifies, to recapitulate, recollect, or put together the heads of a discourse, and to unite again under one head. Both angels and men were at first in harmonious subjection to the Son of God, their common creator; but man having broken himselfoff from this society, the Son of God and Son of Man, by his humiliation and suffering in the humanity, recovers and re-unites all who faithfully adhere to him, and, in his human nature, presides over the kingdom to which, in the world of glory, they and his angels belong. No view can be nobler than that which this interpretation presents. See ch. Ephesians 3:10. Colossians 1:16-20. Philippians 2:0.

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Ephesians 1:11. We have obtained an inheritance,— Mr. Locke would render u949?κληρωθημεν are become his inheritance; alluding to Deu 32:9 and interprets it as referring to the admission of the Gentiles into the church, which is God's heritage. But as we, in this and the next verse, seems opposed to you in the 13th, it must probably signify the Jews who first trusted in Christ, or the body of the Christian church, who were incorporated long before the Ephesians were brought into it. The last clause of this verse certainly expresses God's taking such methods to answer his purpose, as he knows will in fact be successful; but it does not prove any thing like an overbearing impulse on men's minds, to determine them in such a manner as to destroy the natural freedom of their volitions, and so to prevent their being justly accountable to God for such actions.

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Ephesians 1:13. Ye were sealed— In Rev 7:3 mention is made of God sealing the foreheads of his servants, that they might be known to be his; alluding to the custom of marking the foreheads of slaves, that the public might know that they were the private property of the purchasers. So St. Paul here says, that God sealed with his Spirit those who believed in him, to mark them for his own. See 2 Timothy 2:19.

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Ephesians 1:14. Which is the earnest, &c.— "In which Holy Spirit you have a certain pledge and token of your being by adoption entitled to the future inheritance; to encourage and animate you under all the difficulties of your way, till the complete redemption of his faithful saints, whom he hath so dearly purchased for his possession. To whom he hath promised everlasting happiness; and he will certainly bestow it upon them inthe day of his final appearance, which will at length open with a lustre that shall fully repay so long an expectation, and abundantly conduce to the praise of his glory." What we render till the redemption of the purchased possession, Dr. Whitby would render, till the redemption of life (see Romans 8:23.); and Beza, nearly to the same sense, till the redemption of vindication; that is, "till the faithful are set entirely at liberty, andreceive complete deliverance and salvation." Some read it, until [the time of] the salutary redemption.

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Ephesians 1:15.— Having, in the foregoing verses, thanked God for the great favours and mercies which, from the beginning, he had purposed for the Gentiles under the Messiah, in such a description of that design of the Almighty as was fit to raise their thoughts above the law; having taken notice of their standing firm in the faith which he had taught them, and thanked God for it;—the Apostle here goes on to intreat of God that he would enlighten the minds of the Ephesian converts, to see fully the great things which were actually done for them, and the glorious state they were in under the gospel; of which he gives us such a draught from this verse to ch. Eph 2:10 as in every part of it shews, that, in the kingdom of Christ, they are set far above the Mosaical rites, and enjoy the spiritual and incomprehensible benefits of it, not by the tenour of a few outward ceremonies, but by their faith alone in Jesus Christ, to whom they are united, and of whom they are members; who is exalted to the height of all dignity, dominion, and power, in his glorified humanity, and in his mediatorial office.

After I heard of your faith— Some have hence argued, that this Epistle, if directed to the Ephesians, must have been written before St. Paul's long abode at Ephesus; since he would not have spoken of their faith as only known by report, if he had, by two years and a half, been conversant with them, and seen the effects of it. To this it has been answered by some, that the word ακουω signifies, not only to hear, but to understand, by whatever means the knowledge be attained. And others have said, that this Epistle was intended, not only for the church of Ephesus, but for other Asian churches in the neighbourhood. But, perhaps, the easiest and most solid answer is, that, as it was now five or six years since St. Paul quitted Ephesus, he might judge it proper thus to express his complacency on hearing that they continued, in the midst of so many circumstances of temptation, to behave in a manner so worthy what he had personally observed among them. See Colossians 1:4. Php 3:21. 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 3:6. Instead of faith, some read faithfulness.

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Ephesians 1:17. The Father of glory,— A Hebrew expression, which cannot well be changed, since it signifies his being glorious in himself,—the fountain whence all glory is derived—and to whom all glory is to be given. In all which senses it may be taken here, where there is nothing that appropriates it in particular to any one of them. Wisdom is evidently used in this verse for "a right conception and understanding of the gospel." Revelation is used by St. Paul, not only for immediate inspiration, but, as it is meant here, and in most other places, for such truths as could not have been found out by human reason, but had their first discovery from revelation; though men afterwards came to the knowledge of those truths by reading them in the sacred scripture, where they are set down for their information.

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Ephesians 1:18. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;— And would give you to have the eyes of your understanding enlightened: Doddridge, more agreeable to the original.

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Ephesians 1:19. To us-ward— Us here, you, ch. Eph 2:1 and us ch. Eph 2:5 plainly signify the same; namely, those who, being spiritually dead, partook of the energy of that great power which raised Christ Jesus: and all those glorious things which in Ephesians 1:18-23, he intimates to them, by praying that they may see them, he here, in this verse, tells us, are bestowed on the saints as believers, and not as observers of Mosaical rites. The admirable beauty of this passage, andthe strong emphasis and force of the expression in the original, can scarcely be paralleled in any author, and are superior to what our language can reach.

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Ephesians 1:20. From the dead, and set him, &c.— From the dead: and he set him, &c. Instead of heavenly places, both here and Eph 1:3 the margin of our bible reads things, which, perhaps, will be thought better, (as we have there remarked above,) if we compare the 22nd verse. He set him at his right hand,— that is, transferred on him his power as Mediatorial king;— εν επουρανιοις, that is, in his heavenly kingdom.—"He set him at the head of his heavenly kingdom." See Ephesians 1:22. This kingdom is called in the gospel indifferently the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of heaven. God had before a kingdom and people in this world; namely, that kingdom which he erected to himself, of the Jews, selected and brought back to himself out of the apostatized mass of revolted and rebellious mankind. With this his peoplehe particularly dwelt; among them he had his habitation, and ruled as their king in a peculiar kingdom: and therefore we see, that our Saviour calls the Jews the children of the kingdom, Matthew 8:12. But that kingdom, though God's, was not yet the kingdom of heaven; that came with Christ. See Matthew 3:2; Matthew 10:7. The former was but επιγειος, of the earth, compared to this επουρανιος, heavenly kingdom, which was to be erected under the Lord Jesus Christ. In short, the whole drift of this and the two following chapters is, to declare the union of Jews and Gentiles into one body, under Christ, the head of the heavenly kingdom.

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Ephesians 1:21. All principality, &c.— These abstract names are frequently used in the New Testament, according to the stile of theeastern languages, for "those vested with power and dominion, &c. and that not only here on earth among men, but in heaven, among superior beings;" and so are often taken to express ranks and degrees of angels. Though they are generally agreed to do so here, yet there is no reason to exclude earthly potentates out of this text, when πασης, all, necessarily includes them; for, that men in authority are one sort of principalities and powers, in a scripture sense, our Saviour's own words shew, Luke 12:11. Besides, the Apostle's chief aim here being to satisfy the Ephesians that they were not to be subjected to the law of Moses, and the government of those who ruled by it, but were called to be of the kingdom of the Messiah; it is not to be supposed that here, where he speaks of Christ's exaltation to a power and dominion paramount to all other, he should not have an eye to that earthly and inferior government of the Jews, to which it was beneath the subjects of so glorious a kingdom as that of Christ to submit themselves: and this is further inforced by the next verse.

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