the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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THE MESSAGE
Ephesians 3:18
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- EveryParallel Translations
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,
May be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height:
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,
And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is.
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of His love,
I pray that you and all of God's people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep.
so that you, with all God's people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the Messiah's love,
in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what [is] the breadth and length and depth and height;
And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is.
That ye, being rooted and grounded in loue, may be able to comprehend with al Saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height:
So that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the height and depth and length and breadth;
so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love.
in order that you may be strong enough to grasp together with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth,
that you may be given strength to grasp, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God's people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love];
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
May have strength to see with all the saints how wide and long and high and deep it is,
may be strengthened to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
you will be able to understand, along with all the saints, what is wide, long, high, and deepRomans 10:3,11-12; Ephesians 1:18;">[xr] -
that you may be able to follow out with all the saints, what the height, and depth, and the length, and breadth;
and that ye may be able to explore, with all the saints, what is the height and depth, and length and breadth,
Myght be able to comprehende with al saintes, what is the breadth, & length, and deapth, and heygth:
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
ye may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
as it is grasped by all God's people, of the breadth and length, the height and depth--
moun comprehende with alle seyntis, which is the breede, and the lengthe, and the hiynesse, and the depnesse;
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and highth.
you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--
And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
In order that ye may be mighty enough to grasp firmly, with all the saints, - what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
myght be able to comprehende with all sayntes what ys that bredth aud length deepth and heyth:
that ye may be in strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,
maye be able to coprehende with all sayntes, what is the bredth, and the length, and the deepth, and the heyth:
Be ye rooted and grounded in social virtue, that you may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of this mystery:
As you ride with him every day, you will become a strong top hand. A top hand has the power to understand just how much God loves us.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
able: Ephesians 3:19, Ephesians 1:18-23, Job 11:7-9, Psalms 103:11, Psalms 103:12, Psalms 103:17, Psalms 139:6, Isaiah 55:9, John 15:13, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 3:13, Philippians 2:5-8, Philippians 3:8-10, 1 Timothy 1:14-16, 1 Timothy 3:16, Titus 2:13, Titus 2:14, Revelation 3:21
with: Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 1:15, Deuteronomy 33:2, Deuteronomy 33:3, 2 Chronicles 6:41, Psalms 116:15, Psalms 132:9, Psalms 145:10, Zechariah 14:5, 2 Corinthians 13:13, Colossians 1:4
what: Romans 10:3, Romans 10:11, Romans 10:12
Reciprocal: Exodus 36:29 - coupled 1 Kings 6:31 - doors Job 11:8 - deeper Psalms 106:2 - utter Psalms 107:43 - they shall understand Proverbs 30:3 - nor Song of Solomon 3:10 - the midst Song of Solomon 7:4 - thine eyes Zechariah 9:17 - how great is his goodness Matthew 16:17 - but Luke 10:37 - He that John 1:14 - full John 15:9 - the Father Romans 8:39 - Nor Romans 11:33 - the depth 1 Corinthians 13:9 - General 2 Corinthians 5:14 - the love Ephesians 1:17 - in the knowledge Ephesians 6:18 - supplication 1 John 3:1 - what 1 John 5:20 - and hath
Cross-References
God told the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel."
Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return to the womb of the earth. God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed.
So don't return us to mud, saying, "Back to where you came from!" Patience! You've got all the time in the world—whether a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you. Are we no more to you than a wispy dream, no more than a blade of grass That springs up gloriously with the rising sun and is cut down without a second thought? Your anger is far and away too much for us; we're at the end of our rope. You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed since we were children is entered in your books. All we can remember is that frown on your face. Is that all we're ever going to get? We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), And what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard. Who can make sense of such rage, such anger against the very ones who fear you?
The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what's good for you, stay clear of it.
But that's not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won't be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.
Here's another Message from God to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Plow your unplowed fields, but then don't plant weeds in the soil! Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake. Plow your unplowed hearts, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. Prevent fire—the fire of my anger— for once it starts it can't be put out. Your wicked ways are fuel for the fire.
A Harvest Story At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. "What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. "But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance. "Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. "The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. "The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. "The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams." He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. "The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?' "He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.' "The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?' "He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'" Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it." Another story. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises." All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy: I will open my mouth and tell stories; I will bring out into the open things hidden since the world's first day. Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field." So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels. "The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father. "Are you listening to this? Really listening? "God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. "Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it. "Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That's how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won't do any good." Jesus asked, "Are you starting to get a handle on all this?" They answered, "Yes." He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it." When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise, get such ability?" But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?" They got their noses all out of joint. But Jesus said, "A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family." He didn't do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.
For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
May be able to comprehend with all saints,.... This is the end of their being rooted and grounded in love, that they, together with the rest of the saints interested in it, might have a larger and more comprehensive view of
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; not of God himself, who is incomprehensible by finite minds, and is not to be found out to perfection; see Job 11:7 but either of the great mystery of salvation, particularly the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles mentioned in the beginning of the chapter; or of the spiritual building, the church, the dimensions of which are given,
Revelation 21:15 or rather of the love of God, which in its length reaches from one eternity to another; in its breadth to all the elect, in all ages, places, and nations; and in its depth to saints in the lowest state of life; and in its height to bring them to an exalted state in glory.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
May be able to comprehend with all saints - That all others with you may be able to understand this. It was his desire that others, as well as they, might appreciate the wonders of redemption.
What is the breadth, and length, ... - It has been doubted to what this refers. Locke says it refers to the mystery of calling the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Chandler supposes there is an allusion in all this to the temple at Ephesus. It was one of the wonders of the world - exciting admiration by its length, and height, and dimensions in every way, as well as by its extraordinary riches and splendor. In allusion to this, the object of so much admiration and pride to the Ephesians, he supposes that Paul desires that they should become fully acquainted with the extent and beauty of the spiritual temple. But I do not see that there is clear evidence that there is allusion here to the temple at Ephesus. It seems rather to be the language of a heart that was full of the subject, and impressed with its greatness; and the words are employed to denote the âdimensionsâ of that love, and are similar to what would be meant if he had said, âthat you may know how âlarge,â or how âgreatâ is that love.â The apostle evidently meant to express the strongest sense of the greatness of the love of the Redeemer, and to show in the most emphatic manner how much he wished that they should fully understand it. On the phrase âdepth and height,â compare notes on Romans 8:39.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. May be able to comprehend with all saints — ινα εξιÏÏÏ ÏηÏε καÏαλαβεÏθαι. These words are so exceedingly nervous and full of meaning, that it is almost impossible to translate them. The first word, εξιÏÏÏ ÏηÏε, from εξ, intensive, and ιÏÏÏ Ï, to be strong, signifies that they might be thoroughly able, by having been strengthened with might, by God's power. The second word καÏαλαβεÏθαι, from καÏα, intensive, and λαμβανÏ, to take, catch, or seize on, may be translated, that ye may fully catch, take in, and comprehend this wonderful mystery of God. The mind must be rendered apt, and the soul invigorated, to take in and comprehend these mysteries.
What is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height — Here the apostle still keeps up the metaphor, comparing the Church of God to a building; and as, in order to rear a proper building, formed on scientific principles, a ground plan and specification must be previously made, according to which the building is to be constructed, the apostle refers to this; for this must be thoroughly understood, without which the building could not be formed. They were to be builded up a heavenly house, a habitation of God through the Spirit; and this must have its latitude or breadth, its longitude or length, its altitude or height, and its profundity or depth.
It is supposed by some that the apostle is here alluding to the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, which, as I have already had occasion to remark, was reputed one of the wonders of the world, being in length 425 feet, in breadth 220; it was supported by 127 pillars, each 60 feet high; was builded at the expense of all Asia; and was 220 years in being completed. I cannot, however, allow of this allusion while the apostle had a nobler model at hand, and one every way more worthy of being brought into the comparison. The temple at Jerusalem was that alone which he had in view; that alone could be fitly compared here; for that was built to be a habitation of God; that was his house, and that the place of his rest: so the Christian temple, and the believing heart, are to be the constant, the endless residence of God; and how august must that edifice be in which the eternal Trinity dwells!
But what can the apostle mean by the breadth, length, depth, and height, of the love of God? Imagination can scarcely frame any satisfactory answer to this question. It takes in the eternity of God. GOD is LOVE; and in that, an infinity of breadth, length, depth, and height, is included; or rather all breadth, length, depth, and height, are lost in this immensity. It comprehends all that is above, all that is below, all that is past, and all that is to come. In reference to human beings, the love of God, in its BREADTH, is a girdle that encompasses the globe; its LENGTH reaches from the eternal purpose of the mission of Christ, to the eternity of blessedness which is to be spent in his ineffable glories; its DEPTH reaches to the lowest fallen of the sons of Adam, and to the deepest depravity of the human heart; and its HEIGHT to the infinite dignities of the throne of Christ. He that overcometh will I give to sit dawn with me upon my throne, as I have overcome and sat down with the Father upon his throne. Thus we see that the Father, the Son, and all true believers in him, are to be seated on the same throne! This is the height of the love of God, and the height to which that love raises the souls that believe in Christ Jesus!
