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Ephesians 6

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Children and Parents 1–4

1
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. ​
2
Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) ​
3
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. ​
4
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. ​

Duties of Servants and Masters 5–9

5
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; ​
6
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; ​
7
With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. ​
9
And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. ​

The Call to Spiritual Warfare 10–20

10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. ​
11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ​
12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ​
13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ​
14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ​
15
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. ​
17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: ​
18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; ​
19
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, ​
20
For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. ​

Tychicus and Final Benediction 21–24

21
But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: ​
22
Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
23
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ephesians 6

Verse 1

in the Lord — 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.' Hypakouo is to hear under, to heed a command; 'right' is dikaios, just. Colossians gives the same command as 'well pleasing unto the Lord' (Col 3:20), so the obedience is rendered to Christ.

Verse 2

Honour thy father and mother — Quoted from the fifth commandment (Ex 20:12). Timao is to prize, to fix a value upon, hence to revere. Christ defended the commandment against a tradition that set it aside (Matt 15:4–6). 'The first commandment with promise' points to the promise attached to it (v.3).

Verse 3

live long on the earth — Makrochronios, long-lived, occurs only here in the New Testament. The promise is taken from Deut 5:16, 'that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land'; Paul gives 'land' (ge) as 'the earth', the same word.

Verse 4

provoke not your children to wrath — Parorgizo, to anger alongside, to enrage. Colossians gives the reason: 'lest they be discouraged' (Col 3:21). 'Nurture' (paideia) is training and discipline; 'admonition' (nouthesia) is a calling of the mind to attention, a warning. Both belong 'of the Lord'.

Verse 5

Servants… masters — Doulos is a slave. 'Masters' is kurios, the word translated 'Lord' in vv.7–8, so the earthly master stands beside the heavenly one. 'Singleness' (haplotes) is sincerity of heart; the service is 'as unto Christ' (cf. Col 3:24, 'ye serve the Lord Christ').

Verse 6

eyeservice — Ophthalmodouleia, sight-labour, work that needs watching; it occurs only here and in Col 3:22. 'Menpleasers' (anthropareskos) is likewise found only in these two places. Against it stands service 'as the servants of Christ', doing 'the will of God' with the whole soul (psyche).

Verse 8

whether he be bond or free — Komizo, to receive back what is due, as in 'every one may receive the things done in his body' (2 Cor 5:10). The Lord is the one who repays, and the master's rank does not alter it; Col 3:24 states the same: 'of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance'.

Verse 9

neither is there respect of persons — Prosopolepsia, partiality, as in Rom 2:11. Masters are told to 'do the same things', 'forbearing threatening' (apeile, menace), because 'your Master also is in heaven'; compare Col 4:1, 'ye also have a Master in heaven'.

Verse 10

be strong in the Lord — Endynamoo, to empower, to be made strong; the strength is received, not self-made. 'Power' (kratos) and 'might' (ischys) are the same pair of words heaped up for God's working in 1:19, 'the working of his mighty power'. 'Finally' opens the closing charge of the letter.

Verse 11

the whole armour of God — Panoplia, full armour, repeated in v.13. 'Wiles' is methodeia, a cunning method or scheme; it is found only here and in 4:14, 'lie in wait'. The enemy is 'the devil' (diabolos, slanderer), against whom believers are to 'stand'.

Verse 12

we wrestle — Pale, wrestling, a hand-to-hand struggle; it occurs only here. 'Principalities' and 'powers' are named of Christ's rule in 1:21 and of those he 'spoiled' (Col 2:15). 'Rulers' is kosmokrator, world-ruler, a word found only here.

Verse 13

the evil day — The phrase echoes 5:16, 'the days are evil'. 'Withstand' is anthistemi, to stand against. 'Having done all' is katergazomai, to work through to the end; the result is 'to stand', the verb of vv.11 and 14, which frames the whole passage.

Verse 14

loins girt about with truth — Perizonnymi, to gird around, to fasten the belt. The pieces come from the dress of the LORD and of his Messiah: 'righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins' (Isa 11:5); 'he put on righteousness as a breastplate' (Isa 59:17).

Verse 16

the shield of faith — Thureos is the large shield, door-shaped (from thura, door), covering the whole body. 'Darts' (belos) are missiles, 'fiery' (pyroo) means kindled; 'the wicked' is poneros, the evil one. Faith 'overcometh the world' (1 John 5:4).

Verse 17

the sword of the Spirit — 'Sword' is machaira, the short sword; 'word' is rhema, a spoken utterance, the word used in Christ's reply to the tempter, 'every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God' (Matt 4:4). The helmet of salvation is from Isa 59:17; cf. 1 Thess 5:8.

Verse 18

praying always — Four 'alls' in one verse: 'always', 'all prayer', 'all perseverance', 'all saints'. Proseuche is prayer, deesis petition. 'Watching' is agrypneo, to be sleepless; 'in the Spirit' is as in Jude 1:20 and Rom 8:26, where the Spirit helps in prayer.

Verse 19

that utterance may be given — Logos, a word: Paul asks for speech to be given him. 'Boldly' is parrhesia, frankness; 'open my mouth' is anoixis, an opening. The same request is made in Col 4:3: 'that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ'.

Verse 20

an ambassador in bonds — Presbeuo, to act as an envoy; the verb occurs only here and in 2 Cor 5:20, 'we are ambassadors for Christ'. 'Bonds' is halysis, a chain. 'Speak boldly' is parrhesiazomai, the verb of the parrhesia of v.19; cf. 'the prisoner of the Lord' (4:1).

Verse 21

Tychicus — Named 'a beloved brother and faithful minister' (diakonos) 'in the Lord'. He accompanied Paul into Asia (Acts 20:4) and is sent again to Ephesus (2 Tim 4:12). Col 4:7 repeats nearly the same words: 'All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you'.

Verse 24

in sincerity — Aphtharsia is incorruption, imperishability; the KJV renders it 'incorruption' in 1 Cor 15:53–54, 'immortality' in Rom 2:7 and 2 Tim 1:10, and 'sincerity' here. The love for Christ named in this verse is thus one that does not decay. 'Grace' (charis) answers the 'peace' of v.23.