Ephesians 1:19

καὶ τί τὸ ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ : and what the exceeding greatness of his power. The αὐτοῦ refers again to God, and the power of God is introduced in respect of that surpassing greatness which belongs to it alone and which is the guarantee of the fulfilment of the Christian hope. The context and the subsequent mention of the resurrection and exaltation of Christ show that it is the future of believers that is still distinctively in view. So in these three clauses Paul leads the readers on from the hope itself which becomes theirs in virtue of their being called of God, to the splendour of the inheritance to which the hope points, and from this again to that in God Himself which makes the fulfilment of the hope and the possession of the inheritance certain, namely the limitless efficiency which is His prerogative. εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς πιστεύοντας : to us-ward who believe. No better rendering of εἰς ἡμᾶς here could be devised than the “to us-ward” of the AV which is wisely retained by the RV. The clause is best attached to the whole thought of the preceding sentence, and not to the δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ alone. The εἰς expresses the idea of “ethical direction” (Ell.), indicating the objects toward whom this Divine power will go forth those, namely, who are believers. The ἡμᾶς connects these Ephesian believers, in whom the Divine power has worked mightily even now (cf. the conjunction of faith and the power of God in 1 Corinthians 2:5), with that whole community of the saints which was mentioned in the former sentence as the circle within which at last the complete possession of the inheritance will be made good. κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ κράτους τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ : according to the working of the strength of his might. Another impressive accumulation of terms, further describing that boundless efficiency of God in which we have our security for the realisation of the hope however new, and the possession of the inheritance however rich in its glory. Ἐνέργεια, which in the NT is never used but of superhuman power whether Divine (Ephesians 3:7; Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 1:29; Colossians 2:12) or Satanic (2 Thessalonians 2:9), denotes power as efficiency, operative, energising power. Κράτος is power as force, mastery, power as shown in action : ἰσχύς is power as inherent, power as possessed, but passive. The phrase, therefore, means “the efficiency of the active power which expresses inherent might”. This again is best understood as defining the whole preceding statement, not as belonging simply to the πιστεύοντας. For, while the idea that our faith is the result of God's power, is clearly expressed elsewhere (e.g., Colossians 2:12), that is not what is in view here. The κατά is best taken here in its proper sense of measure, standard or proportion. What the clause sets before us, therefore, is that the measure of that surpassing power of God which is the guarantee of our hope, is the operation of the exertion of the might that dwells in God as seen in the historical case instanced in the following sentence, viz., the resurrection and exaltation of Christ.