Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Ephesians 3:21

Ephesians 3:21. To him be the glory. ‘To Him' sums up emphatically all that has been said in Ephesians 3:20. ‘Be,' which is supplied, may mean ‘let it be,' or ‘may it be,' since the reference is to the glory which is due to Him, which will be given Him, not His essential glory, although this is the basic of the glory to be ascribed to Him (comp. chap. Ephesians 1:12; Ephesians 1:14: ‘unto the praise of His glory').

Is the church and in Christ Jesus. The rendering of the E. V. is altogether inadmissible, whatever be the correct reading. There is considerable variation in the authorities, but the evidence of the Sinaitic manuscript is decisive in favor of the reading given above, from which, moreover, the others could readily be derived. Many authorities omit ‘and,' a few others read ‘in the Church and Christ Jesus.' The sphere ‘in' which the glory is given is defined in a two-fold manner: ‘in the Church,' since here the glory is ascribed; ‘in Christ Jesus,' since only in fellowship with Him can it be offered. ‘The Church,' here as in chap. Ephesians 1:22-23, means the body of Christ, the in-visible Church; but this does not warrant the explanation here: ‘in the Church which is in Christ Jesus.' The renderings,' by Christ Jesus,' ‘with Christ Jesus,' are unwarranted.

Unto all the generations of the age of the ages. This is the literal rendering of an accumulation of terms, peculiar to this passage, but unmistakably pointing to eternity, though its unending duration is set forth in conceptions borrowed from the successive periods of time. In fact the phrase seeps to be a combination of two others, each of which is used to express endless duration: ‘generation of generations' (Isaiah 34:17) and the more common ‘ages of ages.' It may be that the term ‘generations' was suggested by the thought of a development of the Church through a long series of generations begun on earth, and to be continued through ‘the age of the ages,' i.e., the eternal reign of the Lord in ‘the world to come.' But it is improper to divide the two conceptions, since the ‘generations' belong (in this figurative mode of expression) to the ‘ages' of eternity. Gnostic ideas can be found here only through arbitrary exegesis and by those who are lacking in sympathy with the great thoughts of the Epistle.

Amen. Comp. Galatians 1:5. As the Epistle has been liturgical in its form, the doctrinal part appropriately closes with this term. In this section also we find the Trinitarian tone, so characteristic of the three Chapter s. ‘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.”' (Eadie.)

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Ephesians 3:21

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