Ephesians 1:6

εἰς ἔπαινον δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ : to the praise of the glory of his grace. Twice again in the same context we have the phrase “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12; Ephesians 1:14). Here it is the glory specifically of God's grace, and the praise of that is now stated to be the ultimate end of God's foreordination of us unto adoption, as our adoption itself has been declared to be the object of the foreordination. God's final purpose in His eternal determinations, and the supreme end to which all that He wills regarding us looks, are the manifestation and adoring recognition of His grace in its gloriousness. So Chrys. puts it briefly ἵνα ἡ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ δόξα δειχθῇ. The phrase means more than “the praise of his glorious grace”. It expresses the setting forth on God's part, and the joyful confession on man's part, of what the Divine grace in these eternal counsels is in the quality of its splendour, its magnificence. That this is the idea is shown by the subsequent mention of the “riches” of the same grace (Ephesians 1:7). ἐν ᾗ ἐχαρίτωσεν ἡμᾶς : with which he freely gifted us; literally, with which he graced us. The AV follows Beza's in qua nos acceptos sibi effecit in rendering it “wherein he made us accepted”. The RV, which gives “wherewith he endued us” in the margin, deals better with it in the text, “which he freely bestowed on us”. The reading ἐν ᾗ of the TR, supported by such MSS. as [15] [16] [17] [18], the mass of the cursives, the Vulg., etc., must give place to ἧς, which is given by [19] [20] [21], Eth., Syr., etc., and is adopted by LT (eighth ed.) TrWHRV. The ἧς is by attraction for ἣν (cf. similar genitives by attraction in Ephesians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 1:4), the explanation being found in the influence of such usages as μάχην μάχεσθαι, ὕβριν ὑβρίζειν, κλῆσιν καλεῖν, χάριν χαριτοῦν. See Win.-Moult., Gram., p. 203; Buttm., Gram., p. 289. The verb χαριτόω, following the analogy of other verbs in - οω, means gratia aliquem afficere. But this may have two senses (cf. Harl., Ell.), either to make one agreeable, possessed of grace (Sir 18:17; Ps. 17:26 (Symmachus), Clem. Alex., Paed., iii., 11), or to bestow grace on one, to compass one with favour (Test. xii Patr., Jos. i.). The verb is of rare occurrence, whether within or without the NT. It is commonest in ecclesiastical and Byzantine Greek. In the NT it is found only twice, here and in Luke 1:28. In both instances some would give it the former sense. In the present passage, e.g., Chrys. makes it ἐπεραστοὺς ἐποίησε, and so substantially Cornel, a Lapide, Bisping, and various RC interpreters. The latter sense, however, is rightly preferred by Beng., Ell., Alf., Light., Mey., Haupt, etc., as more in harmony with the general sense of χάρις in the Pauline Epistles, and with the fact that the main idea in the context is what God in His gratuitous goodness does for us. ἐν τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ : in the Beloved. The doubtful explanatory term υἱῷ αὐτοῦ is added by some ancient authorities ([22] [23] [24] [25], Vulg., Goth., Jer., etc.). Again it is not “ through him,” but “ in him”. The grace is bestowed in and with Christ Himself. It is in the gift of the Son that the gift of grace becomes ours and that the splendour of the grace is seen. The designation ὁ ἠγαπημένος as applied to Christ is peculiar to this one passage so far as the NT is concerned. In the NT its nearest equivalent is the title τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ in the somewhat similar passage in Colossians 1:13. Cf. also ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; Mark 1:11; Mark 9:7; Luke 3:22; Luke 9:35), ὁ ἀγαπητός μου (Matthew 12:18); and in the OT Psalms 27:6 (LXX); Isaiah 5:1. Outside the NT the term ὁ ἠγαπημένος αὐτοῦ is used of Christ in the Ep. of Barn. (3, 4). Light. points also to similar designations in Ignatius, Clem. Rom., and the Ascensio Isaiae (Notes, ut sup., 316).

[15] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[16] Codex Sangermanensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., now at St. Petersburg, formerly belonging to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its text is largely dependent upon that of D. The Latin version, e (a corrected copy of d), has been printed, but with incomplete accuracy, by Belsheim (18 5).

[17] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.

[18] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[19] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[20] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[21] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[22] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[23] Codex Sangermanensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., now at St. Petersburg, formerly belonging to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its text is largely dependent upon that of D. The Latin version, e (a corrected copy of d), has been printed, but with incomplete accuracy, by Belsheim (18 5).

[24] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[25] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.