Notes on Ephesians for Tavistock Road Bible Study Group

Internet Notes on Ephesians for Tavistock Road Bible Study Group

Peter M. Head

This web-page has been set up to help members of the Tavistock Road Bible Study Group (StAG, Cambridge). Everyone else is very welcome to have a look and see if they find it useful! Questions to help probe the meaning of Ephesians chapter by chapter will be incorporated (hopefully in time for our studies!); the bulk of this page is given over to a variety of introductory issues in relation to Ephesus and Ephesians. The first six sections (on this page) are as follows:

1. Background: Ephesus in the New Testament

2. Background: Ephesus the City

3. Introduction: Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians

4. Information: Some Key Themes to Look For

5. Information: An Outline

6. Information: Books and Resources

7. Study Questions on Ephesians

1. Background: Ephesus in the New Testament

a. Paul’s first (brief) visit takes place in Acts 18.19-20. [Map:2MJ]

b. Read Acts 19 for the ministry of Paul in Ephesus and the early days of the church there. [MAP:3MJ]
Note especially 19.8-10:

i. Paul stayed there longer than anywhere else (recorded)

ii. Gospel ministry among Jews and Greeks (also v17)

iii. The impact on the whole province of Asia (also v26)

19.11-20: extraordinary healings and exorcisms and converts (possibly wealthy, see v19) from background in magic

19.23-41: The Gospel as a threat to the local goddess (Artemis) and her devotees

Note the centrality of Artemis in the identity of the Ephesians (v27, 28, 34, 35); her temple was counted as one of the seven wonders of the world. For pictures of some statues of Artemis go here: Artemis or here: Artemis. For a portrait of the temple (and some information): The Seven Wonders: The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (a bit more info is available here: Temple of Artemis)

Note throughout the chapter the power of the Holy Spirit in a variety of spiritual battles (e.g. v6, 11f)

c. Read Acts 20.17-38 for Paul’s later speech to the Ephesian elders at Miletus

i. Gospel proclamation (in various settings and by various means) to Jews and Greeks (v21)

ii. Note the depth of Paul’s engagement with the Ephesians (living among them, v18, 34f; with tears, v19, 31; declaring the whole counsel of God, v27; cf. v20)

iii. Note future threats from outside and within the church (vv28-30)

d. Also addressed to Ephesus: 1 Timothy (note 1.3); Rev 2.1-7.

NB. In around AD 110 Ignatius (bishop of Antioch) wrote a letter to Ephesus on his way to Rome. Here is an on-line version: Ignatius to the Ephesians

2. Background: Ephesus the City

a. Ephesus was one of the largest cities in the Roman world with around 200,000 inhabitants.

b. Economically and religiously central to the Roman province of Asia

i. For a basic colour map of Asia Minor CLICK HERE

ii. For a general map of the Ephesus area CLICK HERE

iii. For a map of the ancient remains in Ephesus CLICK HERE (Here is the key to the numbers)

c. Plenty of historical information is available:

i. For panoramic pictures (which may take a while to load, depending on the speed of your connection) see the following wonderful site: Ephesus, Turkey: Panoramic pictures of Ephesus. (they may try to sell you a book or a tour).

ii. For a tourist site (with historical information and some pictures): Ancient city of Ephesus/TURKEY

iii. For some historical and archaeological information (may take a while to load): More info on Ephesus

iv. For a useful brief introduction with good photos: A VISIT TO ANCIENT EPHESUS or somewhat similar is http://www.the-eye.com/ephesus.htm

v. For some good photos of Ephesus try these: Images of Ephesus Images of Ephesus

vi. Loads of information and pictures of various places: FOCUS on EPHESUS

3. Introduction: Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians

a. The first noticeable feature is that, unlike most of his other letters and in some contrast to the personal warmth of Acts 20.17ff, the letter carries no personal details, greetings, or responses to specific issues.

b. It is also somewhat odd, in view of Acts 19 & 20, that he doesn’t expect the readers to know who he is (1.15; 3.2f; 4.21), and assumes that they are (entirely?) Gentile Christians (see 2.1-3; 2.11-22 [esp v11!];3.1 [you Gentiles]; 4.17ff; 5.8)

c. These factors (and differences in style and theological emphasis) have led many critical scholars to doubt the authenticity of the letter to Paul. If you want to pursue this issue there are some interesting discussions around:

For a very full and detailed introduction to Ephesians, with a long defence of Pauline authorship by Dan Wallace (NT Prof at Dallas Theological Seminary): Ephesians: Introduction, Argument, and Outline (if you are not so concerned with this, skip down to his section E. Occasion/Purpose and Method of Composition).

For a useful up-to-date and basically conservative introduction to Ephesians (by David Malick) An Introduction to Ephesians

d. Paul is clearly in prison somewhere (3.1; 4.1; 6.20 [probably Rome in the early 60s]) and the letter is carried by Tychicus, who also brings additional news about Paul (6.21f). This same Tychicus was also involved in the delivery of Colossians (Col 4.7f) at the same time.

e. Since the Acts accounts emphasise that during Paul’s three years in Ephesus the gospel penetrated the whole province, and since Colossians seems to be a letter written to address particular problems in a church founded by a Pauline representative during this period (Epaphras, Col 1.6-8), it makes sense to see Ephesians as a general letter for Christians throughout the province. Thus Paul cannot assume that they know him personally. Thus some of the themes of Colossians are repeated (in a less urgent and polemical manner) in Ephesians:

Eph Col

1.4 1.22

1.7 1.14

2.5 2.13

3.2 1.25

4.2 3.12

f. There are some features of Ephesians, such as the concern for reconciliation between Jewish and Gentile Christians (2.11-19; 3.6 [mystery]; 3.8-10), the emphasis on the spiritual inheritance of the Christian and the supremacy of Christ over all spiritual forces, which would seem to have particular force to Christians in Ephesus.

g. Not all manuscripts actually have “to Ephesus” in the first verse (although interestingly all these manuscripts still know the letter as “to Ephesians” in the title). This may indicate that it circulated as a general letter.

4. Information: Some Key Themes to Look For

i) The Cosmic Role and Supremacy of Christ 1.9f; 1.20ff; 4.7-10

ii) The Universal Church (with Christ as Head), with cosmic function 1.22f; 2.19-22; 3.10; 3.21; 4.15f

iii) Attention given to Powers etc. 1.21; 2.2; 3.10; 6.12

iv) Emphasis on present fulfillment (little future teaching)

“in the heavenly places”: 1.3, 20; 2.6; 3.10; 6.12.

Eternal purposes of God fulfilled: 1.4f, 9f, 11f, 17-23; 3.9ff, 19.

But cf.: 1.14: not yet in possession of inheritance; 1.21: this age // age to come; 4.30 [day of redemption]; 5.6 [wrath of God, comes now?]; 5.16 [days are evil].

v) Emphasis on wisdom and knowledge: 1.9, 17f; 3.10, 18f; 4.13, 18 [by contrast], 23

5. Information: An Outline

I. Introduction (1.1f)

II. Doctrinal Part (1.3-3.21): God’s Plan Revealed and Accomplished

i) Blessing (1.3-14)

ii) Thanksgiving and Prayer of Intercession (1.15-23)

iii) Once Dead, Now Alive with Christ (2.1-10)

iv) Union of Jews and Gentiles (2.11-22)

v) Paul as Interpreter of Revealed Mystery (3.1-13)

vi) Prayer (3.14-19)

vii) Doxology (3.20-21)

III. Ethical Part (4.1-6.22): Exhortations to Worthy Conduct

i) Unity and Diversity in the Church (4.1-16)

ii) Christian and Non-Christian Conduct (4.17-5.20)

iii) Code of Conduct for the Household of God (5.21-6.9)

iv) Christian Life as Warfare with Evil (6.10-20)

IV. Conclusion (6.21-24)

Analytical Outline of Ephesians by Dr. Dale M. Wheeler -=- InTheBeginning.org

For a detailed analytical outline (i.e. an outline which seeks to analyse the flow of argument) see Dale Wheeler’s presentation (but don’t turn off your brains when it comes to answering the questions for each passage)

6. Information: Books and Resources

a. Commentaries: The best resources are still printed books. The following authors have written useful commentaries. For Bible study group purposes John Stott and Peter O’Brien will probably be the most useful. The scholarly commentaries by Lincoln and Best have vast amounts of helpful information. Hoehner is the fullest conservative commentary.

M. Barth (AB, 2 vols; 1974); E. Best (ICC, 1998); F.F.Bruce (NICNT, 1984); H. Hoehner (BEC, 2002); A.T. Lincoln (WBC, 1990);

C.L. Mitton (NCB, 1976); P.T. O'Brien (Pillar, 1999); J.R.W. Stott (BST, 1980).

b. On-line resources. Granted the warning that on-line resources can be quirky, and are almost always not very scholarly, and often reprint old and out of copyright material, here is a selection (from the 429,000 possibilities offered by Google.com):

i. John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Ephesians (perhaps the earliest commentary from the reknowned preacher and native Greek speaker): St. John Chrysostom: HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS

ii. Notes on Ephesians from 1599 Geneva Bible (Reformed and Dogmatic rather than exegetical): Notes on Ephesians

iii. Commentary on Ephesians by Matthew Henry (1721): Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ephesians, Introduction].

iv. Links to a variety of resources on Ephesians (including introductory articles, sermons, audio, etc.) from the World Wide Study Bible (mostly older, out of copyright material): WWSB -- Ephesians

v. Lots of different versions (Bible Gateway Ephesians 1 :: NIV)

vi. Weymouth version

vii. A useful general article from the On-line Catholic Encyclopedia (interacts with scholarly doubts about the authorship of the letter and defends Pauline authorship): CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Epistle To the Ephesians

viii. Study Tools and Outlines for Ephesians (Boston Christian Bible Study Resources): Very useful site, lots of helpful questions for the study of each passage through Ephesians (especially useful while my questions are incomplete!), and comments. Thanks to David Austin for telling me about this.

ix. Another set of observation level questions through Ephesians: Brass tacks. Thanks to David Austin for telling me about this.

c. Other Bible Study Tools On-line (useful in tracking words/themes/ideas through the Bible)

1. Nave's Topical Bible
20,000+ topics and subtopics, and 100,000 references to the Scriptures.

2. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Unfortunately KJV, but very complete and able to track use of particular Greek terms.

3. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Nearly 500,000 cross-references (not all of equal value!).

4. The NET Bible® ©1996-2001 Biblical Studies Press
Very useful completely new translation (with 57,875 notes, many of exegetical interest; ‘These footnotes provide an extended dialogue between translator and reader about the nuances which are usually lost in the translation’). Need to scroll down left column to find Ephesians in the NT.

7. Study Questions on Ephesians

The questions on each of the nine studies are on separate pages (and may not yet be available). At the moment only 2,1-10 is complete. I do hope to get time for the rest!

Study Questions for Ephesians 1 January 16th

Study Questions for Ephesians 2.1-10 January 23rd

Study Questions for Ephesians 2.11-22 January 30th

Study Questions for Ephesians 3 February 6th

Study Questions for Ephesians 4.1-16 February 20th

Study Questions for Ephesians 4.17-5.2 February 27th

Study Questions for Ephesians 5.3-20 March 6th

Study Questions for Ephesians 5.21-6.9 March 13th

Study Questions for Ephesians 6.10-24 March 27th