Ephesians 3:20-21

3. Conclusion in the form of a Doxology

(Ephesians 3:20-21)

20Now unto [to] him that [who] is able to do [above all things], exceeding abundantly above all that [above what] we ask or think, according to the power that 21worketh in us, Unto [to] him be [the] glory in the church by [in]44 Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end [lit., unto all the generations of the age of the ages]. Amen.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

In general the doxology is frequent, either at the beginning (Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5), or at the close of an Epistle (Romans 16:25-27; Philippians 4:20; 2 Timothy 4:18; 1 Peter 5:11; Jude 1:25; Hebrews 13:21), or at the close of a section, as here, Romans 11:33-36; Gal 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:17.

Ephesians 3:20. Now to him who is able to do above all things—Τῷδὲ45 δυναμένῳ stands emphatically first, because the matter in hand is the manifestation of God’s power and almightiness (Ephesians 3:16 : δυνάμει Ephesians 3:18 : ἐξισχύσητε). With the infinitive ποιῆσαι [“to do,” to effect], we must closely connect ὑπὲρ πάντα “above all,” under which we should understand creatures, powers and events, which may act in a hindering, disturbing or destructive way.

Exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think [ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὦν αἰτούμεθα ἤ νοοῦμεν].—In this added qualification the Apostle places God’s almightiness in comparison with his prayer, and that in a most striking manner. Hence ὑπετρεκπερισσοῦ, found also in 1 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:13 [a.]. Similar expressions, strengthening the sense, occur in Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 4:10; Rom 5:20; 2 Corinthians 7:4; 2 Corinthians 7:13; 2Co 11:5; 2 Corinthians 12:11; 1 Timothy 1:14; Mark 7:37; Mark 14:31; Mark 6:51. In its comparative signification it governs, as in Ephesians 3:19 : ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως the genitive ὦν, which is=τῶν ἃ αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν. Bengel: Cogitatio latius patet quam preces; gradatio. God is greater than our heart (1 John 3:20). Chrysostom: ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ εὔχομαι, αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ χωρὶς τῆς ἐμῆς εὐχῆς μείζονα ἐργάσεται τῶν ἡμετέρων αἰτήσεων οὐχ ἁπλῶς μείζονα ἢ ἐκ περισσοῦ ʼ ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ, τὸ μέγεθος ἐμφαίνων τῆς δωρεᾶς.

[The relative does not refer to πάντα; it introduces a new but related subject. The two phrases are not in apposition, but the second member explains the first. There is no tautology therefore, since subjoined to the expression of God’s super-abundant power, we have a definition of the mode in which it displays itself, viz., by conferring spiritual gifts in super-abundance (Eadie). There is no hyperbole as Harless thinks, though Paul has such a marked predilection for ὑπέρ and its compounds; it “occurs nearly thrice as many times in Paul’s Epistles and that to the Hebrews as in the rest of the New Testament; and of the 28 words compounded with ὑπέρ, 22 are found in these Epistles, and 20 of them there alone.—R.]

According to the power that worketh [or is working] in us, κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμἐνην ἐν ἡμῖν.—This belongs to the phrase: “able to do.” The present middle participle marks the continued efficiency of His power, while “in us” indicates both the object and the sphere of activity. Paulus allegat ezperientiam (Bengel) and full of confidence turns from the beginning to the future. Comp. Colossians 1:29. Miraculous gifts (Michael) are not referred to, nor should ὑπὲρ πάντα, “above all,” be limited to quæ hactenus visa sunt (Grotius), or the preposition ὑπὲρ be taken adverbially (Bengel), as in 2 Corinthians 11:23 alone. [The power, so frequently referred to in this Epistle, is the might of the indwelling Spirit. The middle (comp. Galatians 5:6) is used mainly in non-personal references; see Winer, p. 242.—R.]

Ephesians 3:21. To him be the glory, αὐτῷἡ δόξα.—The pronoun sums up vigorously and emphatically what is predicated in Ephesians 3:20. The dative denotes that the glory is due, will be given to Him (Luke 17:18; John 9:24; Acts 12:23; Romans 4:20; 1 Peter 1:21; Acts 4:9; Acts 11:13; Acts 14:7; Acts 16:9; Acts 19:7). [So most commentators]. Accordingly the article, ἡδόξα does not indicate the “glory,” which He has (Harless); in that case the pronoun αὐτοῦ would occur, as in the interpolated doxology at the close of the Lord’s prayer: ὅτι σοῦ ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία, κ. τ. λ. But it is the glory of the church, which indeed she has first from God, but which as received from Him, properly His and yet appropriated by her, she returns to Him with gratitude and praise. It is not=ἔπαινος, praise, which consists in words, nor=τομή, honor, which consists in the judgment of those who praise, but refers to the life, worship, and character of the church. Comp. Ephesians 1:12, Eph 14: εἰς ἔπαινον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, “unto the praise of his glory.” It is most natural to supply ἔστω.

In the church in Christ Jesus, [ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ].—The preposition ἐν before τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ points to the sphere in which the glory of God is given back, defining more closely either the omitted ἔστω or ἡ δόξα. By ἡ ἐκκλησία, “the church,” we should understand the assembly of those in whom God’s power has become efficient and works (Ephesians 3:20 : “in us”); it is accordingly no external region (Meyer), which is indifferent internally, and beside which an inner spiritual sphere is to be indicated (ἐν Χριστῷ); the church is indeed herself such a sphere. Hence the phrase “in Christ Jesus,” defines more closely the church, its character and status, in order to explain, in what church the glory can and shall be given to God. Luther has rendered it properly as one notion: die in Christo Jesu lebendige Gemeinde (the church alive in Christ Jesus).

[To this interpretation, which is that of Olshausen, Stier and others, it is properly objected that such a definition of the church is altogether unnecessary. If καί be accepted (see Textual Note) this exegesis is inadmissible. Nor is the view of Meyer (with Harless, De Wette, Eadie, Hodge, Alford and Ellicott) open to the objection urged by Braune that it presents an external region internally indifferent. The sphere of the giving of glory is defined in a twofold manner: “It is offered in the church, but it is, at the same time offered ‘in Christ Jesus,’ or presented by the members of the sacred community in the consciousness of union with Him” (Eadie); “if any glory comes from us to God it is in Christ.” The repetition of ἐν seems to point to such a meaning, even if καί be omitted.—R.] Hence it is not=to διὰ Χριστοῦ (Grotius); comp. Colossians 3:17; Romans 1:18; Romans 7:25. [Calvin, Beza and Rueckert: per Christum; E. V.: “by Christ Jesus;” σὺν Χριστῷ (Œcumenius), all alike objectionable, for even the instrumental sense of iv is not exactly=διά, and the proper sense of the preposition is the more necessary because it occurs for the second time.—R.]

Unto all the generations of the age of the ages, [εἰς πάσας τὰςγενεὰς τοῦ αἰωνοςτων αἰώνων, ἀμήν͂].—The phrase εἰςπάσας τὰς γενεάς designates the successive groups which are added to this church; γενεαί designates the groups of living persons. Now, at the time when Paul writes, the beginning has been made, the first γενεά, “generation,” which reflects Godward the glory, the light in and from His light, is present; and thus it should and will continue, hence εἰς, “unto.” It is=εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν, or εἰς γενεὰς γενεῶν (Luke 1:50, various reading); this repetition expressing the same idea as πᾱσαι; “the iterative form of the expression indicated the extension” (Harless).

The phrase τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων defines to what these γενεαί belong and extend, in omnes generationes, quæ complectitur ὁ αἰών, qui terminatur in τοῦς αἰῶνας perpetuos (Bengel), Ὁ αἰών marks the unity or totality of passing time, which at the same time includes eternity. We have no word which indicates both, as the Greeks had. [True in both English and German]. Bengel: αἰῶνες periodi œconomiæ divinæ ab una quasi scena ad aliam decurrentes; hic amplificantur causa utrumque vocabulum, cum metaphora in γενεά, generatio, conjungitur, ut significetur tempus bene longum; nam in αἰῶσι non jam sunt generationes. Paul says therefore, that the church now begun shall continue through a long series of generations; begun on earth it will be developed throughout these generations, and even when generations shall cease, shall continue in æons, without succession of generations, and these generations and those æons (in which new generations are not added, but the constituent ones continue permanently) form a whole, one αἰών, the αἰὼν μέλλων. Instead of this full formula we find only εἰς τοῦς αἰῶνας, Romans 1:25; Romans 9:5; Romans 11:36; Romans 16:27; Luke 1:33; 2 Corinthians 11:31; or αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Peter 5:11.Revelation 1:6; Revelation 1:18; Revelation 4:9-10, etc.; εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας Jude 1:25; εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, Matthew 21:19; Mark 11:14, etc.; εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, Hebrews 1:8. Comp. Doctr. Notes, 5, 6.

[Only the most extravagant literalism can exclude the idea of eternity from this cumulative expression, and only the most forced exegesis can include “distinct traces of gnosticism.” Harless makes a subtle distinction between αἰῶνες τῶν αἰῶνων and αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων, taking the former as more extensive, the latter intensive, for which there is little room here. Meyer is perhaps too literal in his view of γενεαί, which Braune apparently adopts. Alford is satisfactory: “Probably the account of the meaning is, that the age of ages (eternity) is conceived as containing ages, just as our ‘age’ contains years; and then those ages are thought of as made up, like ours, of generations. It is used, by a transfer of what we know in time, to express, imperfectly and indeed improperly, the idea of Eternity.”—R.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. God’s Omnipotence is unlimited, if we leave out of view His own will: He can do what He will (Psalms 115:3).

2. God’s power works in His people (ἐν ὑμῖν, Ephesians 3:20), not merely over them, and about them; for they do not resist Him with that will which He has given from His own will to those created in His image. He will not, with His omnipotence, force any into the Church in Christ Jesus, into salvation. Man has might to resist God’s Almightiness within himself. [The limitation or extension of meaning which theologians of different schools may put upon this last sentence, need not be discussed here. Given free-will, the sacred right of personality, and it is true in some sense—awfully true, since this is the fearful price of our privilege as free men. How God’s Almightiness, notwithstanding, never fails of its purpose, we do not know; that it never does, lies at the foundation of all proper theology.—R.]

3. The Essence of worship is the thankful return of what God has bestowed and the recipient has accepted and appropriated; hence the approach of the recipient to the Bestower, in gratitude for the gift, praise for the Giver; the deepest ground of adoration is, however, the condescending grace and imparting love of the Almighty God. He who is blessed begins to bless the Blesser (Ephesians 1:3) and ends in praise of the God of glory (Ephesians 3:20-21).

4. The true Church, a creation of God (Ephesians 3:20), a living congregation, an assembly of sanctified persons, is Christian, having and needing no other Mediator than Christ Jesus, proving and defining the relation to the church according to the relation to Him.

5. The Christian Church has a history, a development through a long series of generations even into eternity. Hofmann (Sehriftbeweis, II. 2, p. 127) retains the καί before ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ and thinks the glorifying of God “in the church” takes place only in time and on earth, but “in Christ” eternally, as though the church were a temporal thing and nothing more. [Eadie: “The obligation to glorify God lasts through, eternity, and the glorified church will ever delight in rendering praise, ‘as is most due.’ Eternal perfection will sustain an eternal an them.”—R.]

6. The Church of Jesus Christ does not find her final issue in the State (Rothe), or in a higher grade of culture;46 she has a rising without a setting. Rescued through all the changes of national life, she is herself the rescuer of individuals, and of larger groups as well, unto the future of eternity.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Prayer is no limit to God’s working in thee, but a condition, which He Himself has appointed, without which thou canst not experience His almighty grace.—Thou art a creature of God, and shouldst become a work of His, praising the Master hand in word and deed, and above all in private character and conduct.—“Exceeding abundantly!” Hagar asked a drop and found a well (Genesis 21:19); Saul sought his father’s asses and found a crown (1 Samuel 9:3; 1 Samuel 10:1); David asked bread and received a kingdom (1 Samuel 21:3).

Starke: God does more than we desire. Joseph wishes only to be free from the iron chains: behold, God not only does what he desires, but gives him golden chains besides.

Heubner:—In the synagogues, mosques, and pagodas there is no true praise of God, nor yet in our churches, if Christ be not known.—The prayer of Paul for the church (Ephesians 3:13-21). 1. It was prompted by the impulse of love (Ephesians 3:13). 2. Full of confidence toward God, the Father of all churches (Ephesians 3:14-15). 3. It was holy in its purport (Ephesians 3:16-19). 4. Hopeful, certain of hearing (Ephesians 3:20-21).—God the true Father. 1. Exposition: a) He is not only the physical Creator and Upholder, but b) spiritual Father (Ephesians 3:14-16). 2. Ground of our belief in this: a) not mere reason and experience, but b) the gospel of Christ (Ephesians 3:17-18). 3. Power of this belief: a) it attracts our heart to God (Ephesians 3:18), so that we understand God’s heart, b) it strengthens unto obedience, c) it gives comfort and hope (Ephesians 3:19-21).—The intimate fellowship of the Apostles and their churches as an example for us.—The inner growth of a Christian church.

Rieger: What occurs to each one at his conversion and during his daily renewal, is as good an evidence of the “exceeding abundant” power of God, as what occurs in the creation, preservation and government of all things.

[Eadie:—The Trinity is here again brought out to view. The power within us is that of the Spirit, and glory in Christ is presented to the Father who answers prayer through the Son, and by the Spirit; and, therefore, to the Father, in the Son, and by the Spirit, is offered this glorious minstrelsy: “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”—R.]

Footnotes:

[44] Ephesians 3:21.—After ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ א. A. B. C. insert καί before ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. A few authorities [D.1 F.] read: ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ (ἐν) τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, evidently from doctrinal hesitation about placing the church before Christ; in single minor authorities ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ is wanting. This arises from the inappropriate καί, which only disturbs, and although well supported externally, is inadmissible on internal grounds. It may be rejected, and is rejected by Tischendorf, on the authority of a number of important MSS. [These are D.2 K. L., besides the great majority of cursives, oldest versions, and many fathers. Rejected by Tischendorf, Meyer, and most, bracketted by Alford accepted by Lachmann, Ellicott (Exodus 3:4 only). Before the discovery of א. the internal grounds were sufficiently strong to outweigh the preponderant uncial testimony in its favor, but now the question is more doubtful. The sense is not affected materially by the variation, though the insertion precludes one interpretation. The word may have been inserted to indicate the other meaning, hence its omission presents a lectio difficilior.—R.]

[45][Alford: “δέ brings out a slight contrast to what has just preceded—viz., ourselves, and our need of strength and our growth in knowledge and fulness,” but the contrast is not strong enough to justify our rendering the particle: “but.”—R.]

[46] [When De Wette asks: “Was the Apostle warranted in expecting such a long duration for the Church?” he proves his utter want of sympathy with this Epistle, and abundantly justifies the criticism made on his commentary by Alford (see Introd. § 3, 5).—R.]