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EPHESIANS

(Gk. Ephésioi),

LETTER TO THE

A letter attributed to the Apostle Paul, but actually not written to the Ephesians. The words “in Ephesus” in modern translations of Eph. 1:1 are missing in the earliest and best ancient manuscripts. Also, the statement in 3:2 that the readers “have heard” of Paul’s apostolic ministry (as opposed to having a personal acquaintance with him) conflicts with Acts, which reports that Paul ministered there for almost three years. Most likely the letter was originally a circular letter to various gentile churches, probably in western Asia Minor. Some scholars have identified Ephesians with “the letter from Laodicea” (Col. 4:16), but this is doubtful. It may have been written for a general audience of Gentile Christians and at some point come to be associated with Ephesus, but how this happened is uncertain. Possibly, the letter circulated from Ephesus to churches in outlying regions; or perhaps, when Paul’s letters were being collected, it was convenient to assign an unaddressed Pauline letter to the church where Paul had a lengthy ministry but which had no other letter addressed to it.

Contents

After the prescript (1:1-2) come a eulogy praising God for the spiritual benefits the Gentiles have received through God’s work in Christ (1:3-14) and a prayer of thanks and petition for their spiritual enlightenment regarding those benefits (1:15-23). Then, in an anamnesis (recalling of the past to inform present attitudes or actions), the readers’ past (spiritual deadness and exclusion) is contrasted with their present (spiritual life and inclusion) and they are told to “remember” in order to appreciate what God has done for them (2:1-22). More petitionary prayer follows, for power leading to even greater spiritual benefits (3:1, 14-19). Interrupting the prayer is a long digression on Paul as apostle to the Gentiles and minister of the gospel (3:2-13) showing the crucial role he has played in mediating the knowledge of the “mystery of Christ.” A doxology (3:20-21) closes the first main part of the letter. Exhortation concerning the Christian life makes up the second main part. Christians should “walk worthily” of their calling, preserving the unity of the Spirit through love (4:1-16), and not “walk as the Gentiles” but as those who are renewed (4:17-24). Instructions about specific kinds of behavior are given (5:1-20), then rules governing relationships in the ancient household (5:21–6:9). A final appeal is made to prepare for spiritual battle, and in light of it, to pray (6:10-20). The letter ending contains a commendation of Tychicus and a benediction (6:21-24). The letter thus falls into two basic parts, a more theological part, followed by parenesis developing the practical implications of the theology (cf. Romans, Galatians).

Occasion, Purpose, and Literary Classification

The occasion and purpose of Ephesians are matters of debate. Errant teaching and persecution are suggested occasions (cf. 4:14; 6:10-17). Other suggestions make a more general appeal to the text, e.g., that Ephesians was written (1) as an apology to show the connection of the Church with Judaism and thus to counteract embarrassment over the Church’s relatively late appearance; (2) as a polemic to deal with a crisis over the unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians in which Jewish Christianity was being marginalized by a burgeoning Gentile Christianity; and (3) as a polemic to deal with the threat of syncretistic use of magical practices by Christians. All of these are very speculative, and lack a compelling basis in the text.

According to 3:2-4 the addressees, who have only “heard” of Paul’s apostolic office, will be able to perceive Paul’s insight into “the mystery of Christ” by reading what he “wrote above in a few words.” This suggests that the primary purpose and occasion of Ephesians is to further the readers’ understanding of and rooting in Paul’s gospel, given their lack of personal acquaintance with him. “The mystery of Christ” refers to the divinely revealed truth, beyond all human imagination, that the Gentiles are “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (3:6). Those who were excluded and without hope are now included as full participants in salvation. Paul was entrusted with preaching this mystery (3:7), and the present letter is portrayed as an attempt to carry on that task from a prison cell (3:1; 4:1). The letter is written to Gentile Christians who have already been evangelized and are thus already incorporated into the new unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ; but they have not been evangelized or taught by Paul. Thus Ephesians takes the opportunity to inform them more fully of their equality and unity with Jewish believers and of the riches that are now theirs in Christ, and to draw out the practical implications of their position in Christ. The letter ensures that Paul’s special legacy will not be lost to such gentile readers. This explanation seems to have the best foothold in the text.

A related question is the text’s literary classification. Is it a letter, or something else disguised as a letter, e.g., a wisdom speech, a theological essay, a dogmatics in draft form, a homily for a baptismal occasion, a meditation, an introduction to a newly-formed collection of Paul’s letters? If it is a true letter, of what kind? Some have compared it with the Greek letter of congratulations (epideictic letter) that uses praise to reinforce certain values, in this case congratulating the readers on their new state in Christ to strengthen their appreciation for the gospel. It can also be compared with the Greek letter of advice (deliberative letter) that seeks to encourage certain behavior. It seems best to view Ephesians as an actual letter, but one that blends various rhetorical, liturgical, and traditional elements to accomplish its specific purpose.

Theological Themes

In line with the purpose of reinforcing the spiritual benefits gentile believers have received through incorporation into Christ, Ephesians draws attention to their spiritual resurrection and exaltation with Christ in the heavenly places, their salvation by grace through faith apart from works, and their reconciliation to God through Christ’s death “in one body.” The dominant soteriological categories are union with Christ and reconciliation (e.g., as opposed to justification). The horizontal aspect of reconciliation — that Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to one another in Christ — is prominent and is developed in 2:11-22. By his death Christ destroyed the law that functioned as a “dividing wall” between Jews and Gentiles and created “one new person,” the Church. Other metaphors for the Church as this new unity are building, household, holy temple, bride of Christ, and body.

Ephesians also develops the theme of unity by drawing on the exaltation and enthronement of Christ. Here the Pauline metaphor of the Church as the body of Christ is expanded to include the notion of the exalted Christ as “head” of the “body” in a figurative sense. Ephesians tailors its notion of the “Church” to this broader interest in unity, using ekklēsía for the church universal, not the local congregation. The interest in unity also extends to the whole cosmos: Christ is “head” over “all things,” head of a cosmic unity that is the final goal of God’s work in Christ, made known through the Church. It is God’s purpose to “sum up all things in Christ” as their head. Christology, ecclesiology, and eschatology are thus closely wedded in Ephesians.

In keeping with its emphasis on the exaltation and enthronement of Christ, the letter stresses the present realization of salvation for those who belong to Christ, especially in the emphatic references to salvation as a past event (2:5, 8), and to co-resurrection and co-seating with Christ as having already taken place (2:6). The grandeur and graciousness of this salvation are highlighted by the fact that it is rooted in God’s eternal counsel, predestination, election of believers before the foundation of the world, and preparing beforehand the good works they are to walk in. God’s saving purposes, however, are not yet completely realized; Ephesians retains a future eschatological perspective alongside the stress on present fulfillment. Believers are “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” as a “pledge of our inheritance.” The Church has yet to attain to “the unity of the faith,” to full maturity. Christians must still “put on the whole armor of God” to wage spiritual battle against the schemes of the devil. Nevertheless, Ephesians’ stress on realized eschatology leads to an omission of the mention of the return of Christ found in Col. 3:4.

Authorship, Dating, and Related Questions

In various ways Ephesians stands apart from the epistles that are accepted as authentically Pauline. It originally lacked a geographical address. It does not deal with any congregational issues, and may not even have been written for a local congregation. It is distinguished by a redundant and elaborate style, and has a significant number of words and phrases that do not occur elsewhere in Paul. Its structure is distinctive, and some of its theological perspectives are uncharacteristic.

Ephesians possesses a striking closeness to Colossians, including a large percentage of shared vocabulary, verbatim agreements, shared thematic material which appears in the same sequence in major blocks, and similarity in style. Ephesians also differs from Colossians; it develops and reconfigures some of the shared material, cites Scripture, and lacks references to controversial teaching and personal connections that would suggest a particular congregation is in view. Thus most scholars have concluded that Ephesians was written by someone using Colossians as a model. A minority view is that Ephesians was the model for Colossians, while some argue that there was a common blueprint for both.

Most scholars now see the cumulative effect of the distinctive features of Ephesians and its relationship to Colossians as casting doubt on Pauline authorship. Ephesians seems to stand too far apart from other Pauline epistles in a variety of ways, even though it clearly claims to have been written by Paul (1:1; 3:3) and its Pauline authorship was apparently never doubted in the early Church. Moreover, if someone wrote Ephesians using Colossians as a model, and Colossians itself was not authored by Paul, Ephesians could hardly have been written by Paul. Ephesians is thus most commonly judged to be pseudonymous, written by a later follower of Paul in his name. Presupposing pseudonymity, Ephesians was written sometime after Colossians, no earlier than 62 c.e., but probably between 70 and 95. Pseudonymity was a common literary practice in that time, a device to bring the intellectual or spiritual heritage of a great figure to bear on a new situation or time. The intent to deceive is not necessarily implied, and the readers of Ephesians might have known full well that the letter was written by someone assuming Paul’s name. Further, canonical authority does not rest on the issue of authentic vs. pseudonymous authorship.

A minority of scholars reject the hypothesis of pseudonymity, arguing that stylistic and conceptual variations exist within the accepted Pauline corpus. Further, some of Ephesians’ “uncharacteristic features” can be attributed to the different circumstances surrounding the letter, including its general rather than specific address, its conjectured occasion and purpose, developments in Paul’s own situation and thinking (Roman imprisonment), his borrowing of traditional material (e.g., church liturgy in 5:14; Scripture in 4:8-10; ethical codes in 5:21–6:9), use of a secretary directly responsible for the actual formulations of the letter, or a combination of these. The closeness to Colossians can be taken to support Pauline authorship, on the condition that Colossians is Pauline: Ephesians can be viewed as Paul’s reworking of Colossians for a more general audience. In that case it would have been written from Rome ca. 62.

Until better criteria are developed for assessing what Paul could have written, different assessments of the Paulineness of Ephesians will persist. Meanwhile, the majority of scholars will probably continue to be persuaded by the cumulative argument against the Pauline authorship of Ephesians and view the letter as more likely written by someone very familiar with Paul’s thought. Indebtedness to Pauline thought and writings is obvious. Other influences have been suggested as well. Because of parallels with the Qumran literature, it seems likely that some thought patterns have been transmitted through sectarian Judaism. Hellenistic Greek or Jewish sources may have contributed also, as in the case of the concept of the “body.” A few have proposed the influence of gnostic thought in the cosmological and soteriological ideas of Ephesians, but the parallels may be overdrawn. These probable influences would identify the author as a Jewish Christian with roots in Hellenistic Judaism, and, if not Paul himself, a keen follower of Paul.

Bibliography. M. Barth, Ephesians 1–3. AB 34 (Garden City, 1974); Ephesians 4–6. AB 34A (Garden City, 1974); A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians. WBC 42 (Waco, 1990); Lincoln and A. J. M. Wedderburn, The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters (Cambridge, 1993); R. P. Martin, “An Epistle in Search of a Life-Setting,” ExpTim 79 (1967-68): 296-302; A. van Roon, The Authenticity of Ephesians. NovTSup 39 (Leiden, 1975); R. Schnackenburg, Ephesians (Edinburgh, 1991).

Judith M. Gundry-Volf

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EPHESIANS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)