Ephesians 1:11

ἐκληρώθημεν (אBKLP); ἐκλήθημεν (ADG).

Ephesians 1:1-2. THE SALUTATION

11. ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκληρώθημεν, ‘in whom also we were made God’s portion.’ κλῆρος has lost all sense of the method of distribution and become virtually a synonym for κληρονομία (= settled possession), both words being used freely and indiscriminately for the same Hebr. נַחֲלָה and both being used to describe God’s special property in Israel, e.g. Deuteronomy 9:29, λαός σου καὶ κλῆρός σου = 1 Kings 8:51, λαός σου καὶ κληρονομία σου. So in Acts 20:32 τὴν κληρονομίαν ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις πᾶσιν is indistinguishable from Acts 26:18, κλῆρον ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις, and the difference between τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων, Colossians 1:12, and τῆς κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις, Ephesians 1:18, lies in the fact that in the first case the Saints and in the second case God is the possessor, not in any felt difference in the method of acquisition, the relation of God to His people being constantly illustrated by the relation of the people to their land.

The underlying idea of a special right of ownership as belonging to Jehovah over Israel is closely connected with the thought of the Covenant between them (Exodus 19:5) and with their redemption. The thoughts are brought together in Psalms 74:2, “Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance.” There is a close connexion also with the thought of election, see Psalms 33:12, λαὸς ὃν ἐξελέξατο εἰς κληρονομίαν ἑαυτῷ. The word therefore brings together many of the thoughts that have already found expression in Ephesians 1:3-10 with a change of emphasis. Hitherto stress has been laid on the blessings imparted to us by the revelation of the grace of God in Christ. Our attention is turned now to our new relation to God and to the promise of protection implied in it. The same thought recurs in the two hymns with which Deuteronomy closes (Deuteronomy 32:9; Deuteronomy 33:3 f.), and finds its climax in the assurance which no fears for the future have strength to disturb (Deuteronomy 33:27):

‘The Eternal God is thy dwelling-place,
And underneath are the everlasting arms.’

προορισθέντες, resuming προορίσας, Ephesians 1:5.

κατὰ πρόθεσιν. Cf. ἣν προέθετο, Ephesians 1:9.

τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος. Cf. Isaiah 41:4, τίς ἐνήργησεν καὶ ἐποίησεν ταῦτα; ‘of Him who filleth the universe with energy.’ This, if it is philologically admissible, is more in accordance with the context than the alternative rendering ‘who worketh all things,’ meaning ‘who is the efficient cause of any result that is produced.’ It is, of course, possible to take τὰ πάντα of the whole sum of events produced by the operation of the Divine energy, and to make it stand for the whole course of history as controlled by God’s Will. But τὰ πάντα has just been used (Ephesians 1:10) of the Universe, and that is its natural meaning in the parallel phrases in Colossians 1:16-17; Colossians 1:20, and esp. in Ephesians 3:9 τῷ τὰ πάντα κτίσαντι and 1 Timothy 6:13 τοῦ ζωογονοῦντος τὰ πάντα. See Additional Note.

κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ. In accordance with the intention (or counsel) of His will. βουλὴ, of the Divine plan, esp. as it is being worked out in human history, Acts 2:23; Acts 4:28; Acts 13:36; Acts 20:27; Hebrews 6:17. In LXX. generally for עֵצָה. See Psalms 33(32):11; Isaiah 14:26; Isaiah 46:10; Jdt 2:2, τὸ μυστήριον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ.