A (14) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
B (15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
C (16a) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,
D (16b) to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
E (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
F (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
E’ (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
D’ (20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
C’ (21a) Unto him be glory in
B’ (21b) the church
A’ (21c) by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Seems to be some parallelism in the center:
a. that we may be strengthened with power through your Spirit in our inner being,
b. that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith,
being rooted and grounded in love,
b’ so that, with all the saints, we may be able
to comprehend every dimension and
to know what surpasses knowledge – the love of Christ,
a’ so that we may be filled with all your fullness.
I think this structure is compatible with the larger prayer of Eph 3:14-21 above:
A. For this cause, I bow my knees
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he may grant you
according to the riches of his glory
B. with power
C. to be strengthened through his Spirit in your inner being, (1st infinitive)
D. for Christ to dwell in your hearts through faith –
(2nd infinitive)
being rooted and grounded in love,
D’ so that you may be able:
(1st hina clause)
to comprehend (infinitive)
with all the saints
every dimension and
to know (infinitive)
what surpasses knowledge –
the love of Christ,
C’ so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
(2nd hina clause)
B’ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us,
A’ to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen
Note: The larger structure seems to tip the scale in favor of the Byzantine text reading of “of our Lord Jesus Christ” in vs 14 (since omitting the name would also lose the parallel with vs 21).
Hi Todd. Thanks a lot for your comment. I was particularly interested in your note at the end. The possibility of using chiastic structures to help in deciding between textual variants is an interesting subject (and one which I intend to explore in some depth when I get a chance!).
Suggestion …
This is the only place where 4 dimension s are used !,
I am thinking it refers to a rock. Yahweh is our rock.
Jesus is our rock.
Ephesians Could also be referring to a rock.
That is the mercy seat . Where God, Jesus, and the Saints meet.
Jesus is our mercy seat, the cherubim ( the saints in glory)
Are all one piece pure gold.
Any ideas.?..