Ephesians was a letter sent to churches in Asia Minor, including Ephesus, the main church of the region.

Addressees and Message

Ephesians addresses no specific problems or issues in the church of Ephesus or other churches in Asia Minor but is invested in exploring the cosmic significance of the Christian faith.  

According to Ephesians, the Church is the very purpose God had from the beginning of salvation history, which is universal in the equality of both Jews and Gentiles.

Ephesians was an encyclical, circular letter sent to churches across Asia Minor, in particular to the church in Ephesus, the main one in the region. The challenge is that, as a circular letter, Ephesians does not engage in any particular problems, which makes it difficult to know why it was written.

Authorship and Date

Ephesians was possibly written by the Apostle Paul (c. 4 BCE–c. 64 CE), but more likely by a disciple of his.

If authored by Paul, Ephesians would date to the early 60s CE, although more likely twenty years later, perhaps in the 80s. The letter was known to Ignatius (d. 107) and possibly to Clement of Rome in 96 CE when he wrote to Corinth.

The majority of scholars hesitate to authenticate the Pauline authorship of this letter, although arguments for both sides are offered. The discussion concerns the use of vocabulary, style, theology, and perspective. Ephesians nonetheless is an apparent Pauline document replete with Pauline ideas and language.

Letter Vocabulary  

Ephesians contains 91 words not found in the undisputed Pauline letters, with 40 of these not anywhere else in the New Testament. A number of these terms are typical in post-apostolic literature.

However, the proportion of unique vocabulary does not exceed the unique vocabulary of some of the undisputed letters of Paul, such as 2 Corinthians and Philippians. Roughly one-third of Ephesians’ 155 verses are parallel to Colossians, in particular the household codes of Ephesians 5:21–6:7 and Colossians 3:18–4:1.

Notable is that Ephesians consistently uses the word diabolos (“devil”) rather than satanas (“Satan”). The former term is used elsewhere in the pastoral letters, whereas the latter is the common designation in the undisputed Pauline epistles. 

The unique expression “in the heavenlies” (en tois epouraniois) is used five times in Ephesians but nowhere else in the Pauline corpus, although there is the comparable en tois ouraniois. 

Ephesians also contains unique combinations of words: “spiritual blessing” (1:3), “the mystery of his will” (1:9), “plan for the fulness of time” (1:10), and “the eternal purpose” (3:11).

Letter Style

The syntax of Ephesians, which resembles that of Colossians, also considered of non-Pauline composition, is an important characteristic.

The letter evidences frequent redundancies, such as in “the counsel of his will” (1:11), “the working of his great might” (1:19), “pray… with all prayer and supplication… making supplication” (6:18), a clustering of synonyms (e.g., “wisdom and insight” [1:9]), and the heavy use of consecutive genitival constructions (e.g., “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” [4:13]). 

Pleonastic syntax is a further facet containing a preponderance of prepositions (especially en and kata), but an apparent lack of conjunctions and particles. The first four chapters of Ephesians contain mostly very long and often convoluted sentences, which in English translation are usually broken into separate sentences, with a strong use of participles and relative clauses (1:3–14, 15–23; 2:1–7; 3:1–7, 14–19; 4:11–16). 

While the letter’s substantial liturgical-hymnic style is sometimes present in the undisputed Pauline letters, nothing in those comes close to the style of Ephesians.

An analysis of these characteristics gives the impression of a non-Pauline style and letter. Alternatively, it is not impossible that these stylistic characteristics are a result of a secretary used by Paul or a later disciple who had access to some of Paul’s previous letters and wrote this document towards the end of the century.

Central Theme

Ephesians is an exposition of Jesus Christ’s supremacy over all cosmic forces (1:21). Christ embodies God’s plan for the fullness of time (1:10), which is the goal of creation (1:23). The Church is the fullness of Christ, being completely filled by him (1:23).

Through the Church and the Body of Christ (although open to debate, this title refers to a collection of people, in this case Christians, to whom the author was writing), God’s plan for the universal work of reconciliation is to be accomplished.

The division and distinction between Jews, as the covenant people of God, and the gentiles is removed, therefore making the Body of Christ a united community within the purpose of God.

“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (3:6).

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (4:1-6).

References

Hagner, Donald. 2012. The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction. Baker Books.

Livingston, E. A. 2013. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.). Oxford University Press.