Ephesians 1:18

The eyes, &c. The Gr. grammar here is free, and difficult to analyse. We may explain it either, "[that He may grant you to be] enlightened in your eyes," or, "[grant] your eyes enlightenment." But the meaning is unmistakable, and well conveyed in A. V. For the metaphor, cp. Psalms 119:18; Matthew 13:15; John 12:40; Acts 26:18; Revelation 3:18; and see esp. 2 Corinthians 3:12 to 2 Corinthians 4:6. The thought of Ephesians 1:17 is now illustrated and developed in detail.

understanding Read, heart. The MS. and other documentary evidence is conclusive. The word is highly significant, when we remember that "heart" in Scripture includes affections without excluding intelligence. (See further on Ephesians 3:17.) The illumination is to be of that deep and subtle kind which, in the light of supreme truth, will shew the affections and willtheir supreme objects and attractions.

that ye may know as the immediate effect of the illumination. Observe, they "knew" these things already. The experience in view is novel not in kind but in degree.

what in its true essence, its "quiddity."

the hope of his calling The eternal Prospect opened by, and connected with, the Effectual Call of Divine grace; "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13), resurrection-glory with the Lord. See, among the wealth of references, Psalms 16:9; Acts 23:6; Acts 24:15; Romans 8:24; Colossians 1:5; Col 1:27; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 3:2-3.

" His calling" :the Voice of Divine Grace, prevailing upon the will. This is the ruling meaning of "call," "calling," &c. in the Epistles; while in the Gospels it means no more necessarilythan the audible invitations of the Gospel; see e.g. Matthew 22:14. Abp Leighton, on 1 Peter 2:9, writes of the inner call: "It is an operative word, that effects what it bids. God calls man; He works with him indeed as a reasonable creature; but sure He likewise works as Himself, as an almighty Creator. His call … doth, in a way known to Himself, twine and wind the heart which way He pleaseth." See esp. 1 Corinthians 1:24; and Romans 8:28; Romans 11:29.

riches See note on Ephesians 1:7. There the "wealth" was "of grace," here it is "of glory." The two are of one piece, developments of one process. In this whole passage the main reference is to the eternal prospect, the life of the glorified. Cp. Romans 2:7; Romans 2:10; Romans 5:2; Romans 8:17-23; Romans 9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 3:21, &c. See below on Ephesians 3:16 for another reference of this same phrase.

his inheritance The same word as in Ephesians 1:14, where it is "ourinheritance". It is the same thing from another aspect. There, the saints" "inheritance" of heavenly glory is before us; here, the state of the glorified as the "inheritance" of the King of glory. The O. T. often describes Israel as Jehovah's "inheritance;" "the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance," Psalms 33:12. In such a phrase the special thought of "heir-ship" is not to be pressed; nor do the original words, Gr. or Heb., insist upon it. That thought is always ready, wherever context favours (as e. g. Romans 8:17); but the word may import no more than actual possession, however acquired. The Heb. word constantly means "possession," merely, and is so rendered in A. V.

in the saints "Amongst them;" manifested in their heavenly life. The Gr. leaves us free to connect these words with either "riches of glory," or "inheritance"; and we advocate the latter, as the far more natural construction. A fair paraphrase will be, "What is the wealth of the glory of the New Israel in the eternal Canaan, as it will be manifested in the saints".

" The saints:" see note on Ephesians 1:1. The ref. here is to the "all saints" of the heavenly state. Not that the word "saint" is limited to them; on the contrary, the N. T. habitually uses it of Christians in this life. It is context here (as in 1 Thessalonians 3:13) which lifts it to the sphere of glory.