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Ephesians

About this book
Chapter 1

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], the faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! 3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.⁠ 4 For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will— 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.⁠ 9 He did this when he revealed to us the mystery of his will,⁠ according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ—the things in heaven and the things on earth. 11 In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, would be to the praise of his glory. 13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory. 15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him,⁠ 18 —since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened—so that you can know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. 20 This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named,⁠ not only in this age but also in the one to come.⁠ 22 And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Texts in conversation

Compare Wisdom of Solomon 7:7 and Ephesians 1:17

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Ephesians describes believers receiving a “spirit of wisdom,” drawing on earlier Jewish traditions like the Wisdom of Solomon, where divine wisdom is a gift given through prayer and valued above wealth or power.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 7:7

Deuterocanon
5 For no king had a different beginning, 6 but all men have one entrance into life, and a common departure. 7 For this reason I prayed, and understanding was given to me. I asked, and a spirit of wisdom came to me. 8 I preferred her before sceptres and thrones. I considered riches nothing in comparison to her. 9 Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold in her presence is a little sand, and silver will be considered as clay before her. 10 I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her bright shining is never laid to sleep. 11 All good things came to me with her, and innumerable riches are in her hands.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

Ephesians 1:17

New Testament
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, 18 —since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened—so that you can know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ephesians

References

"... The retention of the Greek sophia highlights the personified quality of Jesus as the Wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 2 emphasizes the hiddenness or mysteriousness of the wisdom of the Gospel, a subject taken up again in Colossians 1 and 2 and Ephesians 3:9-11. Colossians 1:15-20 describes Jesus' relationship with God in virtually the same language as that of Wisdom in Wisdom of Solomon 7, and continues on the subject of Paul's mission “to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations [...] God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 1:25-26; 2:2-3). As in Wisdom of Solomon 9 and 18, we see the association between the Wisdom and Word of God, but here both names are applied to Jesus Christ, who is understood as “God's word of wisdom.” Other New Testament passages that echo concepts or language related to Woman Wisdom include Ephesians 1:17, where Jesus is portrayed as giving a “spirit of wisdom” to believers, recalling the “kindly spirit” of Woman Wisdom passing into holy souls in Wisdom of Solomon 1:6 and 7:27; Hebrews 1:1-3 and James 3:13-17, both of which parallel Wisdom of Solomon 7; also, Romans 10:6-8, Philippians 2:6-11, and 1 Timothy 3:16 all explain the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in terms of descent and ascent, like in the Gospel of John ..."
M. Susanne Guenther Loewen, “Jesus Christ as Woman Wisdom: Feminist Wisdom Christology, Mystery, and Christ's Body” (MTS diss., University of Waterloo, 2010), 21.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Wisdom of Solomon 7:7 and Ephesians 1:17

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