Efeziërs 1:3

Staten Vertaling

Gezegend zij de God en Vader van onzen Heere Jezus Christus, Die ons gezegend heeft met alle geestelijke zegening in den hemel in Christus.

Parallel Translations

Gereviseerde Leidse Vertaling
Geloofd zij de God en Vader van onzen Heer Jezus Christus, die door hem ons gezegend heeft met allerlei geestelijke zegening in de hemelen.

Gereviseerde Lutherse Vertaling
Geloofd zij de God en Vader, van onzen Heere Jezus Christus, die ons gezegend heeft met allen geestelijken zegen in hemelse goederen in Christus,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Blessed: Genesis 14:20, 1 Chronicles 29:20, Nehemiah 9:5, Psalms 72:19, Daniel 4:34, Luke 2:28, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 1 Peter 1:3, Revelation 4:9-11, Revelation 5:9-14

God: Ephesians 1:17, John 10:29, John 10:30, John 20:17, Romans 15:6, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 11:31, Philippians 2:11

who: Genesis 12:2, Genesis 12:3, Genesis 22:18, 1 Chronicles 4:10, Psalms 72:17, Psalms 134:3, Isaiah 61:9, Galatians 3:9

heavenly: Ephesians 1:20, Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12, *marg. Hebrews 8:5, Hebrews 9:23

places: or, things, Ephesians 6:12

in Christ: Ephesians 1:10, John 14:20, John 15:2-5, John 17:21, Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:21

Reciprocal: Genesis 14:19 - Blessed be Genesis 18:18 - become Genesis 22:17 - in blessing Genesis 24:1 - blessed Genesis 24:27 - Blessed Genesis 27:33 - yea Genesis 28:4 - the blessing Genesis 28:14 - and in thee Genesis 39:5 - for Joseph's Genesis 49:25 - with blessings Genesis 49:26 - have prevailed Exodus 18:10 - General Numbers 6:27 - and I will Numbers 22:12 - for they Joshua 22:33 - blessed 1 Kings 1:48 - Blessed 1 Kings 8:15 - Blessed 1 Chronicles 16:36 - Blessed 1 Chronicles 17:27 - blessest 1 Chronicles 29:10 - Blessed be thou 2 Chronicles 6:4 - Blessed 2 Chronicles 31:8 - blessed Nehemiah 8:6 - blessed Psalms 3:8 - thy blessing Psalms 21:3 - blessings Psalms 21:6 - made Psalms 24:5 - receive Psalms 41:13 - Blessed Psalms 45:7 - thy God Psalms 67:1 - bless us Psalms 68:19 - Blessed Psalms 85:12 - the Lord Psalms 96:2 - bless Psalms 115:12 - the house of Israel Psalms 115:15 - blessed Psalms 128:5 - bless thee Psalms 144:15 - happy Isaiah 19:25 - the Lord Jeremiah 31:3 - with lovingkindness have I drawn Jeremiah 31:14 - my people Daniel 7:18 - most High Hosea 13:9 - but Micah 5:4 - the Lord Zechariah 11:4 - Lord Matthew 25:34 - Come Luke 1:68 - Blessed Luke 2:38 - gave Acts 3:26 - sent Romans 4:6 - blessedness Romans 15:29 - General 1 Corinthians 8:6 - one God 1 Corinthians 14:1 - desire Galatians 1:4 - according Ephesians 3:14 - the Father Colossians 1:19 - General 2 Timothy 1:9 - which Hebrews 1:9 - thy God Hebrews 6:20 - for Hebrews 7:14 - Our Lord James 3:9 - bless

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,.... God, the first person in the Trinity, is the God of Christ, as Christ is man and Mediator; he chose and appointed him to be the Mediator, and made a covenant with him as such; he formed and prepared an human nature for him, and anointed it with the Holy Ghost above measure, and supported it under all his trials and sufferings, and at last glorified it: and Christ, as man, prayed to him as his God, believed, hoped, and trusted in him as such, and loved him as in such a relation to him, and cheerfully obeyed his commands. And the same is the Father of Christ, as Christ is God; as such he is the Son of God; not by creation, as angels and Adam, nor by adoption, as saints, but by natural generation; he being the only begotten of the Father, his own proper Son, of the same nature and perfections with him, and equal to him. Now to "bless" God is neither to invoke nor confer a blessing on him; for there is none greater than he to be called upon; nor does he need anything, nor can he receive anything from his creature; but it is either to congratulate his greatness and goodness, to ascribe blessing, glory, and honour to him, or to give thanks unto him, both for temporal and spiritual mercies. And the reasons why he is blessed, or praised by the saints as the God and Father of Christ, are; because these are his New Testament titles, under which he is more clearly made known, and in which he delights; and because he is their God and Father in Christ; nor can they come to him in any other way, but through him; and because it is through him that all their blessings come to them, and therefore all their praises must go this way, as follows:

who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: God is the author and giver of all blessings; and he blesses his people with them, as he is the God and Father of Christ, and as he is their covenant God and Father in Christ; and he only can bless; if he blesses not, none can; and if he blesses, they are blessed indeed: the "us" that are blessed, are such who deserve, according to the tenor of the law, to be cursed; and are not all men, but some distinct from others; and who are before described as saints, and faithful in Christ Jesus; and include both Jews and Gentiles, who belong to the election of grace. And the blessings such are blessed with are spiritual, so called to distinguish them from temporal blessings. The Jews have the like distinction of

טובות זמניות, "temporal blessings", and טובות רוחניות, "spiritual blessings" d; which latter are solid, substantial, and lasting blessings; and which concern the good of the soul or spirit of man; and are agreeable to, and desired by a spiritual man; and are applied by the Holy Spirit of God; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "with every blessing of the Holy Spirit": and which are very comprehensive, and take in all the fulness of grace in Christ; all the blessings and sure mercies of the everlasting covenant; all things pertaining to life and godliness, such as justification, peace, pardon, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life: and with these the saints are blessed "in heavenly" places; God that blesses them is in heaven, and so is Christ, in whom they are blessed; and the completion of their blessedness will be in heaven, where their hope is laid up, and their inheritance is reserved: and this phrase may denote the safety of them, being out of the reach of any enemy, sin, Satan, or the world, to deprive them of them, as well as the nature of them; for it may be read, "in heavenly things", and so distinguishes these blessings from such as are of an earthly kind; and points at the original of them, being such as descend from above, come down from heaven; and also the tendency of them, which is to heaven; and being what give a right unto, and a meetness for the kingdom of heaven: and these they are blessed with "in Christ"; as he is their head and representative, and as they are members in him, and partakers of him; through whom, and for whose sake, they are conveyed unto them, and who himself is the sum and substance of them. Agreeably to this way of speaking, the Targumist, Jonathan ben Uzziel, on Numbers 6:27 paraphrases the last clause thus, "I will bless them", במימרי, "in my word". The date of these blessings, "hath blessed us", may respect either first conversion, when the discovery and application of the blessings of grace are made to God's people; or the making of the covenant with Christ, their head, to whom all grace was then given, and to them in him, and their election was in Christ, as follows.

d Tzeror Hammor, fol. 79. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ - This commences a sentence which continues to the close of Ephesians 1:12. The length of the periods in the writings of Paul, is one cause of the obscurity of his style, and renders an explanation often difficult. The meaning of this phrase is, that God has laid a foundation for gratitude for what he has done. The ground or reason of the praise here referred to, is that which is stated in the following verses. The leading thing on which the apostle dwells is God’s eternal purpose - his everlasting counsel in regard to the salvation of man. Paul breaks out into the exclamation that God is worthy of praise for such a plan, and that his eternal purposes, now manifest to people, give exalted views of the character and glory of God. Most persons suppose the contrary. They feel that the plans of God are dark, and stern, and forbidding, and such as to render his character anything but amiable.

They speak of him, when he is referred to as a sovereign, as if he were tyrannical and unjust, and they never connect the idea of that which is amiable and lovely with the doctrine of eternal purposes. There is no doctrine that is usually so unpopular; none that is so much reproached; none that is so much abused. There is none that people desire so much to disbelieve or avoid; none that they are so unwilling to have preached; and none that they are so reluctant to find in the Scriptures. Even many Christians turn away from it with dread; or if they “tolerate” it, they yet feel that there is something about it that is especially dark and forbidding. Not so felt Paul. He felt that it laid the foundation for eternal praise; that it presented glorious views of God; that it was the ground of confidence and hope; and that it was desirable that Christians should dwell upon it and praise God for it. Let us feel, therefore, as we enter upon the exposition of this chapter, that God is to be praised for all his plans, and that it is “possible” for Christians to have such views of the doctrine of “eternal predestination” as to give them most elevated conceptions of the glory of the divine character. And let us also be “willing” to know the truth. Let us approach word after word, and phrase after phrase, and verse after verse, in this chapter, willing to know all that God teaches; to believe all that he has revealed; and ready to say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for all that he has done.”

Who hath blessed us - Who does Paul mean here by “us?” Does he mean all the world? This cannot be, for all the world are not thus blessed with “all” spiritual blessings. Does he mean “nations?” For the same reason this cannot be. Does he mean the Gentiles in contradistinction from the Jews? Why then does he use the word “us,” including himself, who was a Jew? Does he mean to say that they were blessed with external privileges, and that this was the only object of the eternal purposes of God? This cannot be, for he speaks of “spiritual blessings;” he speaks of the persons referred to as having “redemption” and “the forgiveness of sins;” as having “obtained an inheritance,” and as being sealed with the “Holy Spirit of promise.” These appertain not to nations, or to external privileges, or the mere offers of the gospel, but to true Christians; to persons who have been redeemed. The persons referred to by the word “us,” are those who are mentioned in Ephesians 1:1, as “saints,” - ἅγίοις hagiois - “holy;” and “faithful” - πιστοῖς pistois - “believing,” or “believers.”

This observation is important, because it shows that the plan or decree of God had reference to individuals, and not merely to nations. Many have supposed (see Whitby, Dr. A. Clarke, Bloomfield, and others) that the apostle here refers to the “Gentiles,” and that his object is to show that they were now admitted to the same privileges as the ancient Jews, and that the whole doctrine of predestination here referred to, has relation to that fact. But, I would ask, were there no Jews in the church at Ephesus? See Acts 18:20, Acts 18:24; Acts 19:1-8. The matter of fact seems to have been, that Paul was uncommonly successful there among his own countrymen, and that his chief difficulty there arose, not from the Jews, but from the influence of the heathen; Acts 19:24. Besides what evidence is there that the apostle speaks in this chapter especially of the Gentiles, or that he was writing to that portion of the church at Ephesus which was of Gentile origin? And if he was, why did he name himself among them as one on whom this blessing had been bestowed? The fact is, that this is a mere supposition, resorted to without evidence, and in the face of every fair principle of interpretation, to avoid an unpleasant doctrine. Nothing can be clearer than that Paul meant to write to “Christians as such;” to speak of privileges which they enjoyed as special to themselves; and that he had no particular reference to “nations,” and did not design merely to refer to external privileges.

With all spiritual blessings - Pardon, peace, redemption, adoption, the earnest of the Spirit, etc., referred to in the following verses - blessings which “individual Christians” enjoy, and not external privileges conferred on nations.

In heavenly places in Christ - The word “places” is here understood, and is not in the original. It may mean heavenly “places,” or heavenly “things.” The word “places” does not express the best sense. The idea seems to be, that God has blessed us in Christ in regard to heavenly subjects or matters. In Ephesians 1:20, the word “places” seems to be inserted with more propriety. The same phrase occurs again in Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; and it is remarkable that it should occur in the same elliptical form four times in this one epistle, and, I believe, in no other part of the writings of Paul. Our translators have in each instance supplied the word “places,” as denoting the rank or station of Christians, of the angels, and of the Saviour, to each of whom it is applied. The phrase probably means, in things pertaining to heaven; suited to prepare us for heaven; and tending toward heaven. It probably refers here to every thing that was heavenly in its nature, or that had relation to heaven, whether gifts or graces. As the apostle is speaking, however, of the mass of Christians on whom these things had been bestowed, I rather suppose that he refers to what are called Christian graces, than to the extraordinary endowments bestowed on the few. The sense is, that in Christ, i. e. through Christ, or by means of him, God had bestowed all spiritual blessings that were suited to prepare for heaven - such as pardon, adoption, the illumination of the Spirit, etc.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be the God — 2 Corinthians 1:3, where the same form is used.

With all spiritual blessings — With the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and the abundant gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, justifying, sanctifying, and building us up on our most holy faith.

In heavenly places — εν τοις επουρανιοις. In heavenly things, such as those mentioned above; they were not yet in heavenly places, but they had abundance of heavenly things to prepare them for heavenly places. Some think the word should be understood as signifying blessings of the most exalted or excellent kind, such as are spiritual in opposition to those that are earthly, such as are eternal in opposition to those that are temporal; and all these in, through and by CHRIST. We have already seen, on Galatians 4:26, that the heavenly Jerusalem, or Jerusalem which is from above, is used by the Jews to signify the days of the Messiah, and that state of grace and glory which should follow the Levitical worship and ceremonies; and it is possible that St. Paul may use the word επουρανια, heavenly things, in this sense: God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things, or in this heavenly state, in which life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel. This is apparently the preferable sense.