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Ephesians

About this book
Chapter 3

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly.⁠ 4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5 (which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), 6 namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power. 8 To me—less than the least of all the saints—this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan—the mystery that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access to God by way of Christ’s faithfulness. 13 For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,⁠ 18 you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,⁠ so that you will be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1QpHab 7:3 and Ephesians 3:3

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · New Testament

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Summary

The Dead Sea Scrolls commentary on Habakkuk and Ephesians describe a secret plan that was once hidden and then revealed. In the scroll, the secret is shown to a Teacher of Righteousness. In Ephesians, the hidden plan of Jesus is now similarly made known.

Passages

1QpHab 7:3

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · Commentary on Habakkuk
1 And God told Habakkuk to write down the things that are coming upon 2 the last generation, but the completion of the age he did not make known to him. 3 And as for what it says, “so that the one who reads it may run,” 4 its interpretation concerns the Teacher of Righteousness, to whom God made known 5 all the mysteries of the words of his servants the prophets. “For there is yet a vision 6 for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie.” 7 Its interpretation: that the last age will be prolonged, and it will go beyond all 8 that the prophets have spoken, for the mysteries of God are wondrous. 9 “If it delays, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not 10 be late.” Its interpretation concerns the men of truth, 11 those who observe the Torah, whose hands do not slacken from the service of 12 the truth when the last age is drawn out over them, for
175–100 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1QpHab

Ephesians 3:3

New Testament
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. 4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5 (which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), 6 namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ephesians

References

"... Attempts have been made at times to trace the Pauline idea of mystêrion to Paul's Hellenistic background. True, in the rites of some mystery religions of the time the initiate was brought into relationship with the deity through a vision (epopteia) and was assured of salvation through the protection of the deity. In Pauline writings, however, the idea of mystêrion bears only a superficial verbal resemblance to such Hellenistic ideas, since the content of his mystêrion is quite different ... For Paul it denotes a secret hidden in God for ages and now made known to humanity in Christ Jesus that the salvation available to human beings comes through Christ; it shares in the apocalyptic character of euangelion, 'gospel' ... it is this notion of mystery that has again turned up in the Qumran literature. In the commentary on Habakkuk we read, apropos of Habakkuk 2:2 ... Here one sees rz meaning something hidden in God that is now made known; in this idea one finds the parallel to Paul's mystêrion. The content of the 'mystery' is different. In the Qumran commentary it refers to the hidden meaning of God's words to the prophet Habakkuk, whereas in Pauline theology the content of the mystery is Christ and his role in salvation now made known. What is the same in both the Qumran and the Pauline usage is the idea of mystêrion or rz as a carrier, whereas the content or what is carried is different ..."
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, According to Paul: Studies in the Theology of the Apostle (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1993), 27–28.

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1QpHab 7:3 and Ephesians 3:3

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