heathenism with the succeeding one in regeneration, and makes it especially prominent that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was through Christ abolished, and a unity of mankind established. This unity Paul compares to a temple of God, into which all believers are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Now Paul sets himself forth as him to whom the grace had been granted of accomplishing, through his ministry, this call of the Gen tile world to be the people of God; he therefore beseeches his readers on their part, not to become weary in the conflict which faith in Christ has for its indispensable consequence in this sinful world, and to think of the glory which is prepared in Christ for those who over

come.

In the second part (iv. 1-vi. 24) we distinguish four sections. The ethical exhortations in the fourth section (iv. 1-16) open with calling upon the readers to preserve the unity of the faith with humility, to avoid all divisions, and to that end to recognize the distinctions which were established by God in the church, which is compared with the human body. In the fifth section there is annexed to the above the exhortation to walk no longer after the manner of the Gentiles, but to be renewed in spirit, and to put on the new man; which is afterwards applied to the several moral relations, in so far as they have reference to men generally (iv. 17—v. 20). The sixth section makes a transition to the special relations of life, and treats, first of all, in detail, the matrimonial relations, which are so important; in connexion with which the relation of Christ to the church, as a type of matrimony, is set forth. There is further annexed to the above, a discussion of the relation between parents and children; and finally, of that between masters and servants (v. 21-vi. 9). In the seventh and last section, the discussion again returns from the special to the general; Paul describes the faithful as soldiers called upon to fight for truth and righteousness on account of the opposing kingdom of darkness, and depicts the armour which they must use. For all the details respecting himself, Paul refers his readers to the bearer of the epistle, Tychicus, and concludes with the usual benediction (vi. 10-24).

§ 5. LITERATURE.

The Epistle to the Ephesians has been specially commented on by Schütz (Lips. 1778. 8.); by Cramer (translation, with Introd. and notes, Kiel, 1782. 4.); by Müller (Heidelberg, 1793. 8.); by Flatt (published by Kling, Tübingen, 1828). The last few years have produced no less than five new commentaries on our epistle, four of which appeared in the year 1834, viz., the Commentaries of Holz

hausen (Hanover, 1833); of Meyer (Berlin, 1834); of Matthies (Greifswald, 1834); of Rückert (Lips., 1834); and of Harless (Erlangen, 1834). The last named excellent work of my respected colleague has rendered the other modern works on our epistle almost superfluous. (See the general criticism of all the modern commentaries on the Epistle to the Ephesians in Tholuck's Anzeiger for 1838, Nos. 34, seq.)

EXPOSITION

OF THE

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

I.

PART FIRST.

I. 1. III. 21.

§ 1. THANKSGIVING FOR SALVATION IN CHRIST.

(i. 1-14.)

AFTER What has been already remarked in the Introduction to this epistle (§ 1) on τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, the salutation (vers. 1, 2) contains nothing which has not been already sufficiently discussed in the prefaces to the earlier epistles. The name of Timothy, which is found in the prefaces to the contemporaneous Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Philippians, is wanting in this; therefore we do not know to whom Paul dictated it. The epistle itself begins (ver. 3) with a thanksgiving to God for the blessings in Christ. Though Paul is, of course, also grateful to God for all material, bodily blessings in earthly things, still he had no.occasion here to put forward that side of the picture; he simply thanks God here for spiritual blessings in heavenly things. (On the phrase & Oɛòç kai Θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, see on Matth. xxii. 31, 32 ; 2 Cor. i. 4. If the meaning were only, "Praised be God, who is the Father of Jesus Christ," the words would run, εvλoyŋτòç Đεòs 8 TATǹp K. T. 2. But in this connexion the genitive also must be referred to 8 Ɖɛós. Besides this phrase, which occurs in this passage (and which is also found in Paul at Rom. xv. 5; 2 Cor. i. 3, xi. 31; Col. i. 3), the apostle uses still the following ones: ¿ Oɛòç kaì Taτýρ (1 Cor. xv. 24), ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Eph. i. 17), ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Eph. iii. 14), ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατήρ (Eph. v. 20), and Oεòç Tατýρ (Gal. i. 1, 4; Eph. vi. 23; Phil. i. 3; 1 Thess. i. 1; 2 Tim. i. 2; Tit. i. 14), in which the reference of the conceptions of "God" and of " the Father" to the Son is always to be maintained.

Had Paul wished to make both conceptions, "The God of Jesus Christ," and "the Father of Jesus Christ," prominent and strictly separate, the article would certainly have been necessarily repeated before TаThр (see Winer's Gr., § 19, 5); but there was no reason for so rigorous a separation, and therefore, since further Оɛós and aτρ are of the same gender, the article might properly be left out without weakening the reference of the genitive TOυ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ to the first substantive.The two meanings of evλoyɛiv in the language of the New Testament, viz., “to praise," and "to bless," appear here side by side. The Hebrew combines both meanings in the same way. The evλoуía пvεvpatikń, spiritual blessing, here denotes the effects of God's grace through the Holy Spirit, obtained by means of Christ's work, in every form of his agency alike in his moral workings, and in the extraordinary gifts bestowed on the church.-The Ev Tоis ¿Tоvpavíos is difficult, for the concluding words, ¿v Xpior, are not connected with this, but with the evλnynoas nuas, representing Christ as the element in which the blessed exist, and through whose mission and work they have received the blessing. Tà novрávia can be understood of heavenly gifts only, or of the heavenly locality. In the former case it would stand parallel with evλoуía πvενμаtiký, and then the article surprises us; Paul would have written ¿v ¿πovрavíos merely. Besides, тà Tоvpávia always means in Paul absolutely "heaven, the heavenly world ;" see Eph. i. 20, ii. 6, iii. 10, vi. 12.— We shall, therefore, be obliged to keep to this meaning here also, and in the following sense: the spiritual blessing which is in heaven, and therefore bears a heavenly nature. But this certainly may be reduced in meaning to the conception, "heavenly gifts.")

Ver. 4. This Divine agency, so full of blessing, is then more accurately characterized by the declaration that God hath chosen believers before the foundation of the world with the view that they may be holy and blameless before his eyes. This έкλoуǹ про кATABoλñs кóoμov, election before the foundation of the world (see on Matth. xxv. 34), cannot be used to establish the pre-existence of souls, as Origen, in early times, and Benecke recently, have supposed. The phrase pò кaтaßоλñs кóσμοv (see at Matth. xiii. 35; Luke xi. 50; John xvii. 14) denotes, in fact, eternity in a metaphysical sense, not time before the creation of the world, which seems the primary meaning of the words, but timelessness (i. e., non-subjection to the conditions of time). It is equivalent to ảñò τŵv alúvwv, tо прólεσiç τ☎ν alóvwv (Eph. iii. 9, 11), or to dπ' åрxñs (2 Thess. ii. 13). But ¿§ɛλéğaтo nμãs, chose us, by no means expresses the real individual existence of believers before the creation, in the Divine mind, but merely the timeless act of volition on the part of God who beholds the future as present. On the other hand, it is undeni