The Jewish Annotated New Testament (98 page)

²⁸
Now you,
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my friends,
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are children of the promise, like Isaac.
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But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.
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But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.”
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So then, friends,
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we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman.

5
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For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

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Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
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Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law.
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You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
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For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
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For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working
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through love.

⁷
You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?
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Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
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A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.
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I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.
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But my friends,
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why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
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I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!

¹³
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters;
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only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence,
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but through love become slaves to one another.
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For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
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If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

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Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
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For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
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But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
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Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
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idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
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envy,
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drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
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gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
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And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
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If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
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Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

6
My friends,
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if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.
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Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill
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the law of Christ.
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For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves.
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All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride.
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For all must carry their own loads.

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Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.

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Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.
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If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
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So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.
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So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

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See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand!
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It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
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Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh.
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May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which
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the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
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For
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neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!
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As for those who will follow this rule— peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

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From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.

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May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters.
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Amen.

THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS

NAME

The letter to the Ephesians emphasizes the “mystery of God’s will” (1.9; 3.3–4,9; 5.32; 6.19) that Christ breaks down the “wall” of hostility between Jews and Gentiles (2.14). The text’s theme is unity, articulated in both cosmic terms and descriptions of Christian households.

AUTHORSHIP, LITERARY HISTORY, AND DATE

Traditionally, the letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were assumed to have been written by Paul during his imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28.16–31), and were consequently called “captivity epistles.” The attribution of all of these to Paul, and the recognition that references to imprisonment and the imperial guard (e.g., Phil 1.7,13) do not necessarily mean imprisonment in Rome because there were detachments of the emperor’s guards at various places, have led most scholars to abandon this interpretation.

Despite the traditional title, therefore, and the references to sender and recipient in 1.1 (with further reference to the sender in 3.1), most scholars doubt that Ephesians is by Paul, and many doubt that it is in fact a letter. The similarity of this text to the letter to the Colossians, which is also of uncertain Pauline authorship, suggests a false attribution of authorship (known as pseudepigraphy); in addition, its theology and vocabulary do not reflect Paul’s concerns, especially in presenting resurrection as a current rather than a future event (2.1–2,6; cf. Rom 6.5–8; Phil 3.10–11). It mentions “heavenly places” (1.3,20; 2.6; 3.10; 6.12) and speaks of Christ as “the head” of the church, which is “his body” (1.22–23; 4.11,15–16), key theological expressions absent from the undisputed Pauline epistles. Nor does it deal with the relationship of the community to Torah, a major focus of Paul’s writings in Galatians and Romans. The text’s connection to Ephesus is also problematic: the words “in Ephesus” (1.1) are absent from some of the best early manuscripts. Defenders of Pauline authorship argue that the letter was written late in Paul’s ministry for a different audience (Marcion, a second-century Christian thinker, later condemned for heresy, suggested the Laodiceans). Without the opening and closing sections (1.1–2 and 6.21–24) the letter reads more like a sermon or exhortation addressed to Christian communities in general, rather than a letter specifically dealing with the problems and concerns of one community in particular.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

More than in the undisputed Pauline letters but like Colossians, the Pastorals, and the Catholic Epistles, Ephesians delineates models for a new social order. Gentiles are to reject their previous lawlessness (e.g., 1.11; 2.3,19; 4.17) and, expressed in a more muted fashion, Jews are to reject insularity or legalism (e.g., 2.1–2,15). Wives must submit to their husbands, and husbands are to treat their wives kindly; children are to respect their parents, and parents are to love their children; conventional but respectful relations are encouraged between masters and slaves.

Imagery familiar from Jewish apocalyptic literature appears especially in reference to this age and the age to come (1.21; 2.7; see, e.g.,
Jub
. 1.29; 23.26–29;
1 En
. 10.16–22; 11; 45.3–6;
T. 12 Patr
. 18.2–14); the distinction between the children or pathways of light and those of darkness (1.18; 2.1–2; 5.8–14; compare 1QS 3.13–4.14); and the anticipation of the end-time (1.10; 3.10). See the annotations for more specific references to biblical and extra-biblical texts.

STRUCTURE

Ephesians falls into two more or less equal parts: chs 1–3 contain the theological teachings, and chs 4–6 consist of exhortations to more upright behavior befitting the hearers’ new life in Christ.

Maxine Grossman

1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful
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in Christ Jesus:

²
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
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just as he chose us in Christ
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before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
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He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
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to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
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In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
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that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight
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he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
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as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
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In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
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having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
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so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.