Irenaeus — Commentary on Scripture

Ephesians 1:1

But we do now receive a certain portion of His Spirit, tending towards perfection, and preparing us for incorruption, being little by little accustomed to receive and bear God; which also the apostle terms "an earnest," that is, a part of the honour which has been promised us by God, where he says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, "In which ye also, having heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, believing in which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." This earnest, therefore, thus dwelling in us, renders us spiritual even now, and the mortal is swallowed up by immortality.

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 5

Ephesians 1:7

But now, by means of communion with Himself, the Lord has reconciled man to God the Father, in reconciling us to Himself by the body of His own flesh, and redeeming us by His own blood, as the apostle says to the Ephesians, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins; "

Against Heresies Book V

Ephesians 1:10

And yet again, "All things are gathered together by God in Christ.", and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His.
There is therefore, as I have pointed out, one God the Father, and one Christ Jesus, who came by means of the whole dispensational arrangements.
Into this paradise the Lord has introduced those who obey His call, "summing up in Himself all things which are in heaven, and which are on earth;"

Against Heresies Book III

Ephesians 1:10

Thus Christ unites … in himself all that is earthly and all that is spiritual. He unites humanity to Spirit and places the Spirit in humanity. Being himself made the fountainhead of the Spirit, Christ gives the Spirit to be the head of humanity. Thus through the Son by the Spirit we ourselves now see and hear and speak.

AGAINST HERESIES 5.20.2

Ephesians 1:21

H understand His hand,-that hand which measures immensity; that hand which, by its own measure, spreads out the measure of the heavens, and which comprises in its hollow the earth with the abysses; which contains in itself the breadth, and length, and the deep below, and the height above of the whole creation; which is seen, which is heard and understood, and which is invisible? And for this reason God is "above all principality, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named".
For they were assisted by the Scriptures, which the Lord confirmed and tiff-filled, in coming such as He had been announced; but here,

Against Heresies Book IV

Ephesians 2:2

Just as if any one, being an apostate, and seizing in a hostile manner another man's territory, should harass the inhabitants of it, in order that he might claim for himself the glory of a king among those ignorant of his apostasy and robbery; so likewise also the devil, being one among those angels who are placed over the spirit of the air, as the Apostle Paul has declared in his Epistle to the Ephesians,

Against Heresies Book V

Ephesians 2:7

God, therefore, is one and the same, who rolls up the heaven as a book, and renews the face of the earth; who made the things of time for man, so that coming to maturity in them, he may produce the fruit of immortality; and who, through His kindness, also bestows eternal things, "that in the ages to come He may show the exceeding riches of His grace;" who was announced by the law and the prophets, whom Christ confessed as His Father.

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4

Ephesians 2:13

And again: "But now, in Christ, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.".
and again to the same he says, "Ye who formerly were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ; "

Against Heresies Book III

Ephesians 2:15

Now, by means of communion with Himself, the Lord has reconciled man to God the Father, in reconciling us to Himself by the body of His own flesh, and redeeming us by His own blood, as the apostle says to the Ephesians, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins;" and again to the same he says, "Ye who formerly were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ;" and again, "Abolishing in His flesh the enmities, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances." And in every Epistle the apostle plainly testifies, that through the flesh of our Lord, and through His blood, we have been saved.

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 5

Ephesians 2:17

He, appearing in these last times, the chief cornerstone, has gathered into one, and united those that were far off and those that were near;

Against Heresies Book III

Ephesians 3:21

Paul also, they affirm, very clearly and frequently names these Aeons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when he says, "To all the generations of the Aeons of the Aeon."

(Reporting Valentinian Views) Against Heresies Book I

Ephesians 4:6

Now, that this God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul the apostle also has declared, .
In accordance with this, too, does the apostle say, "There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and in us all.".
which the Lord grants to those who rightly believe in Him, and love Him, and who know that "there is one Father, who is above all, and through all, and in us all."

Against Heresies Book II

Ephesians 4:8-9

As Jeremiah declares, "The holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, who slept in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them to make known to them His salvation, that they might be saved." For this reason also were the eyes of the disciples weighed down when Christ's passion was approaching; and when, in the first instance, the Lord found them sleeping, He let it pass — thus indicating the patience of God in regard to the state of slumber in which men lay; but coming the second time, He aroused them, and made them stand up, in token that His passion is the arousing of His sleeping disciples, on whose account "He also descended into the lower parts of the earth," [Ephesians 4:9] to behold with His eyes the state of those who were resting from their labours, in reference to whom He did also declare to the disciples: "Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see and hear what you see and hear." [Matthew 13:17] For it was not merely for those who believed on Him in the time of Tiberius Cæsar that Christ came, nor did the Father exercise His providence for the men only who are no…

As Jeremiah declares, "The holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, who slept in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them to make known to them His salvation, that they might be saved." For this reason also were the eyes of the disciples weighed down when Christ's passion was approaching; and when, in the first instance, the Lord found them sleeping, He let it pass — thus indicating the patience of God in regard to the state of slumber in which men lay; but coming the second time, He aroused them, and made them stand up, in token that His passion is the arousing of His sleeping disciples, on whose account "He also descended into the lower parts of the earth," [Ephesians 4:9] to behold with His eyes the state of those who were resting from their labours, in reference to whom He did also declare to the disciples: "Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see and hear what you see and hear." [Matthew 13:17]

For it was not merely for those who believed on Him in the time of Tiberius Cæsar that Christ came, nor did the Father exercise His providence for the men only who are now alive, but for all men altogether, who from the beginning, according to their capacity, in their generation have both feared and loved God, and practised justice and piety towards their neighbours, and have earnestly desired to see Christ, and to hear His voice. Wherefore He shall, at His second coming, first rouse from their sleep all persons of this description, and shall raise them up, as well as the rest who shall be judged, and give them a place in His kingdom.

Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 22), Sections 1-2

Ephesians 4:8-9

He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, [Isaiah 53:3] and sat upon the foal of an ass, [Zechariah 9:9] and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, [Isaiah 53:7] and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; [Exodus 17:11] while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father's fold the children who were scattered abroad, [Isaiah 11:12] and remembered His own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them...

Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 33), Section 1

Ephesians 4:8

For the Lord, through means of suffering, "ascending into the lofty place, led captivity captive, gave gifts to men," and conferred on those that believe in Him the power "to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy," that is, of the leader of apostasy. Our Lord also by His passion destroyed death, and dispersed error, and put an end to corruption, and destroyed ignorance, while He manifested life and revealed truth, and bestowed the gift of incorruption.

Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 20), Section 3

Ephesians 4:8-9

For they do not choose to understand, that if these things are as they say, the Lord Himself, in whom they profess to believe, did not rise again upon the third day; but immediately upon His expiring on the cross, undoubtedly departed on high, leaving His body to the earth. But the case was, that for three days He dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet says concerning Him: "And the Lord remembered His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them, to rescue and save them." And the Lord Himself says, "As Jonas remained three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." [Matthew 12:40] Then also the apostle says, "But when He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?" [Ephesians 4:9] This, too, David says when prophesying of Him, "And you have delivered my soul from the nethermost hell;" [Psalms 86:13] and on His rising again the third day, He said to Mary, who was the first to see and to worship Him, "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascend…

For they do not choose to understand, that if these things are as they say, the Lord Himself, in whom they profess to believe, did not rise again upon the third day; but immediately upon His expiring on the cross, undoubtedly departed on high, leaving His body to the earth. But the case was, that for three days He dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet says concerning Him: "And the Lord remembered His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them, to rescue and save them." And the Lord Himself says, "As Jonas remained three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." [Matthew 12:40] Then also the apostle says, "But when He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?" [Ephesians 4:9] This, too, David says when prophesying of Him, "And you have delivered my soul from the nethermost hell;" [Psalms 86:13] and on His rising again the third day, He said to Mary, who was the first to see and to worship Him, "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to the disciples, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and unto your Father." [John 20:17]

If, then, the Lord observed the law of the dead, that He might become the first-begotten from the dead, and tarried until the third day "in the lower parts of the earth;" [Ephesians 4:9] then afterwards rising in the flesh, so that He even showed the print of the nails to His disciples, He thus ascended to the Father;— [if all these things occurred, I say], how must these men not be put to confusion, who allege that "the lower parts" refer to this world of ours, but that their inner man, leaving the body here, ascends into the super-celestial place? For as the Lord "went away in the midst of the shadow of death," where the souls of the dead were, yet afterwards arose in the body, and after the resurrection was taken up [into heaven], it is manifest that the souls of His disciples also, upon whose account the Lord underwent these things, shall go away into the invisible place allotted to them by God, and there remain until the resurrection, awaiting that event; then receiving their bodies, and rising in their entirety, that is bodily, just as the Lord arose, they shall come thus into the presence of God. "For no disciple is above the Master, but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master." [Luke 6:40] As our Master, therefore, did not at once depart, taking flight [to heaven], but awaited the time of His resurrection prescribed by the Father, which had been also shown forth through Jonas, and rising again after three days was taken up [to heaven]; so ought we also to await the time of our resurrection prescribed by God and foretold by the prophets, and so, rising, be taken up, as many as the Lord shall account worthy of this [privilege].

Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 31), Section 1-2

Ephesians 4:10

But what Isaiah said, "From the height above, or from the depth beneath," [Isaiah 7:11] was meant to indicate, that "He who descended was the same also who ascended." [Ephesians 4:10]

Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 21), Section 6

Ephesians 4:16

) which had been found, making in His own person the first-fruits of the resurrection of man; that, as the Head rose from the dead, so also the remaining pan of the body-.
-this man will first of all "hold the head, from which the whole body is compacted and bound together, and, through means of every joint according to the measure of the ministration of each several part, maketh increase of the body to the edification of itself in love."

Against Heresies Book III

Ephesians 4:25

No doubt, if any one is unwilling to follow the Gospel itself, it is in his power to reject it, but it is not expedient. For it is in man's power to disobey God, and to forfeit what is good; but such conduct brings no small amount of injury and mischief. And on this account Paul says, "All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;" referring both to the liberty of man, in which respect "all things are lawful," God exercising no compulsion in regard to him; and by the expression "not expedient" pointing out that we "should not use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, for this is not expedient. And again he says, "Speak ye every man truth with his neighbour."

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4

Ephesians 4:29

And, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks."

Against Heresies Book IV