Ephesians - Colossians

Opening Salute• as usual, Paul presents his credentials• “Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus”• but which commission?

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Ephesians - Colossians

Which commission?• Acts 9?• No, a new commission was needed• for a new gospel

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Ephesians - ColossiansNew commission• “one new man” – Eph.2:15• “household of God” – 2:19• “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” – 2:20

• “growing into a holy Temple in the Lord” – 2:21 3Part 1, ver.1.0

Ephesians - ColossiansAuthority for Paul’s apostleship• “through the will of God”• 2 kinds of “will”• boulē, boulēma and thelēma

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Ephesians - ColossiansAuthority for Paul’s apostleship• boulē, boulēma – purposeful intention; God’s immutable will• thelēma – wish or desire• Paul became an apostle by God’ desire 5Part 1, ver.1.0

Ephesians - ColossiansAuthority for Paul’s apostleship• God’s desire accompanies His intention – Eph.1:11 “He works all (these) things according to the intention (boulē) of His desire (thelēma)”

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Ephesians - ColossiansAuthority for Paul’s apostleship• It is God’s heartfelt desire that is emphasized in the selection of Paul

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Ephesians - Colossians

Opening Salute• 1:1 stands apart• [at Ephesus] missing from p46, a*, B*• may have been too important to address a single church

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Ephesians - ColossiansPossible Distribution• both Eph. & Col. were sent via Tychicus (concurrently?)• but the Colossians are already

commended for their faith – Col.1:4-8; 2:5

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Ephesians - ColossiansOpening Salute• “FROM” part of Paul’s letters

Paul alone – Rom., Eph., 1 Ti., 2 Ti., Ti. Paul, Sosthenes – 1 Cor. Paul, Timothy – 2 Cor., Phi., Col., Phm 13Part 1, ver.1.0

Ephesians - Colossians

Opening Salute• “FROM” part of Paul’s letters

Paul, all the brothers – Gal. Paul, Silvanus, Timothy – 1 & 2 Thess.

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Ephesians - Colossians

Opening Salute (stands apart)

• 1:1 “to the Holy Ones who are [at Ephesus], even faithful in Christ Jesus”

• Why this emphasis?15Part 1, ver.1.0

Ephesians - Colossians

Opening Greeting (stands apart)

• But isn’t Love more important than Faith(-fulness)?• Even Love is said to ‘believe’ and ‘hope’

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Ephesians - ColossiansOpening Greeting (stands apart)

• Some texts emphasize love• Other texts teach a synergy of faith, hope and love• greetings of Eph.-Col. highlight being faithful

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Ephesians - ColossiansTypes of Emphasis:• concentrated• contextual (structural)• emphatic verbiage• word order• word frequency• word infrequency 18Part 1, ver.1.0

Ephesians - Colossians

Word Order Emphasis -• the earlier in the sentence a Greek word appears, the greater its emphasis• Example at Joh.1:1

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Ephesians - ColossiansWord Order Emphasis (ctd.) –

Pauline Epistles Acts Post-Acts

Faith before Love: 3 10Love before Faith: 2 4Faithful before Beloved: 1 2Beloved before Faithful: 0 3

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Ephesians - ColossiansWord Frequency Emphasis –

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Word Rom

.

1 C

or.

2 C

or.

Gal

.

Eph

.

Phi.

Col

.

1 T

h.

2 T

h.

1 T

i.

2 T

i.

Ti.

Plm

.

Heb

.

Tot

al

agap* words 24 20 15 5 22 7 11 9 5 6 6 1 5 4 141"bad love" 1

agap* normalized to Philemon 1.13 0.98 1.12 0.75 3.04 1.44 2.33 2.04 2.04 1.26 1.62 0.51 5.00 0.27 0pist* words 60 21 11 25 12 6 9 13 9 32 13 10 2 39 262pist* normalized to Philemon 2.83 1.03 0.82 3.76 1.66 1.23 1.91 2.94 3.66 6.74 3.52 5.08 2.00 2.64 0

Ephesians - Colossians

Structure of Ephesians• Opening: “to the Holy Ones … even faithful in Christ Jesus”

• Closing: “Tychicus the beloved brother, even faithful minister in the Lord”

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Ephesians - ColossiansStructure of Colossians• Opening: “to the Holy Ones at Colosse, even faithful brothers in Christ”• Opening: “Epaphras our beloved joint-slave…faithful minister of Christ for you”

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Ephesians - ColossiansStructure of Colossians• Closing: “Tychicus the beloved

brother, and faithful minister and joint-slave in the Lord”• Closing: “Onesimus the faithful and beloved brother”

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Ephesians - ColossiansConclusion• From the way Paul addresses people in Eph.-Col.• Individual faithfulness is encouraged/emphasized

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Ephesians - ColossiansThe greeting itself• “grace to you and peace from [God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ]”• same greeting in all the Paulines, except the Pastorals

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