Epistle to the Ephesians ( dr. Greek Ἐπιστολή πρὸς Ἐφεσίους , lat. Epistula ad Ephesios ) is a book of the New Testament , which is among the letters of the Apostle Paul and addressed primarily to the Gentile Christians ( Ephesians 2: 2 ) of the Asia Minor city of Ephesus .
Content
- 1 History
- 2 Key Topics
- 3 notes
- 4 Literature
- 5 Links
History
The city of Ephesus (Ephesus), the former capital of the Roman province of Asia , played an important role in the missionary work of the Apostle Paul . The first time Paul found himself in Ephesus on the way back from Greece to Jerusalem. He preached for a short time in the synagogue ( Acts 18:19 ), leaving Akilla Pontianin and his wife Priscilla (Priscilla) to govern the local community (Acts 18: 18-19). On his second visit to the city ( Acts 19: 1 ), he stayed here for two years ( Acts 19:10 ), preaching to both Jews and Gentiles. At the end of his stay in Ephesus, a rebellion took place, raised by the silverman Demetrius ( Acts 19:23 ), as a result, Paul left for Macedonia ( Acts 20: 1 ).
According to interpreters of the past, the epistle was written during the imprisonment of Paul in Caesarea [1] or in Rome in 60 [2] - 63 years, because in the text Paul repeatedly calls himself a “prisoner” ( Eph. 3: 1 , also 4: 1 and 6:20). The fact that the epistle was written by Paul, as St. Theophanes (Vyshensky) noted in the 19th century, "there are almost no doubters, or there are so few, and the reasons for their unbelief are so insignificant that it’s not worth stopping at that." However, in modern biblical studies there is an opinion that the author of the epistle was still not Paul, but one of his Ephesian disciples who used the original letters of the apostle when writing [3] .
The Epistle is referred to St. Irenaeus of Lyons in the list of New Testament books. Textologically, this message is close to Colossians [4]
Key topics
The main idea of the message is the Church ( Greek ἐκκλησίᾳ ) as the Body of Christ ( 1:22 ), which is pure and blameless. Separate topics in the message are the theme of the transformation from the “old man” ( Greek παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον ) to the “new man” ( 4:22 ), as well as the demonology of the “world rulers” ( Greek κοσμοκράτορας ) and the heavenly spirits of malice ( 6:12 )
The author encourages Christians to tell the truth ( 4:25 ), to work, not to swear and be thankful for everything. He calls for wives to obey their husbands ( 5:22 ), children to their parents ( 6: 1 ), and slaves to their masters ( 6: 5 ).
- Dogmatic part
- Greetings ( 1: 1 - 2 )
- Blessing in Christ ( 1: 2-23 )
- Salvation by Grace ( 2: 1-10 )
- The unity of the church; Gentiles and Jews ( 2:11 - 22 )
- The mystery of God’s economy ( chapter 3 )
- Moral part
- Unity of Faith ( Chapter 4 )
- Duties of Christians ( 5: 1-21 )
Notes
- ↑ MESSAGE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS, interpreted by Saint Theophanes
- ↑ Bible Interpretation, Ephesians
- ↑ Brown R. Introduction to the New Testament. T. 1. - M .: BBI, 2007 .-- S. 235.
- ↑ Barkley's Commentary on Ephesians
Literature
- Ephesians // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- A.A. Tkachenko, K.V. Neklyudov, Archim. Iannuarius (Ivliev). Ephesians Epistle // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2008. - T. XIX. - S. 8-19. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-034-9 .
- The Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Interpreted by St. Theophanes
- D. Guthrie. Introduction to the New Testament. Ch.13