Ephesians 1:14

ὅς ἐστιν ἀρραβὼν τῆς κληρονομίας ἡμῶν : which is an earnest of our inheritance. So with the RV, rather than “who is the earnest,” etc., of the AV. The reading ὅ is preferred by Lachm., Alf., WH, etc., as supported by [72] [73] [74] [75], Athan., Cyr., Chrys., etc. The TR is the reading of [76] [77] [78], Thdrt., Damasc., Theophyl., etc.; the masc. form ὅ being due to attraction to the following ἀρραβών, as, e.g., in τῷ σπέρματί σου ὅς ἐστι Χριστός, Galatians 3:16. The word ἀρραβών (or ἀραβών, the form preferred by Tisch. and regarded by WH as only Western, cf. Westcott and Hort's New Testament in Greek, II., App., p. 148) is the LXX reproduction of the Heb. צֲרָבוֹן which occurs in Genesis 38:17-18; Genesis 38:20 and is rendered “pledge”. It is found in classical Greek of earlier date than the LXX (e.g., Isaeus, De Cir. her., 23; Aristotle, Pol., i., 11; Menander, Frag. Com. (Meineke), iv., pp. 268, 283; etc., cf. Light., Notes, ut sup., p. 323), and is supposed, therefore, to have come from the Phœnicians into Greek use. At an early date it was introduced also into Latin, but by what channel we know not. In Latin it occurs in the three forms- arrabo, rabo (e.g., in Plautus, Truc., iii., 20), and arra (e.g., Aul. Gell., xvii., 2). It survives in the forms arra, arrhes in the languages most directly derived from the Latin; as also in our arles, the obsolete English earlespenny, etc. Etymologically, it appears to have expressed the idea of exchange, and so its primary sense may have been that of a “pledge” simply. But it came to mean more than ἐνέχυρον, or pledge, in the sense of something exchanged between two parties to a contract or agreement. Its proper sense is that of earnest part of the price to be received or part of the thing that is to be possessed, given in assurance that the full payment or the complete possession will follow. Wycl. gives “ernes”; the Rhemish, “pledge”; Tynd., Cran., and the Genevan, “earnest”. The idea is similar to that elsewhere expressed by ἀπαρχή, “first-fruits” (Romans 8:23). The “earnest of the Spirit” is mentioned by itself in 2 Corinthians 5:5; in 1 Corinthians 1:22, as here, it is introduced along with the sealing of the Spirit. To the truth expressed by the latter it adds the higher idea that the believer possesses already in reality, though but in part, the life of the future; the inheritance of the present and the inheritance of the future differing not in kind but only in degree, so that even now we have the life and blessedness of the future in the way of foretaste. It is doubtful whether the term is also meant to suggest the idea of obligation on the believer's side, as Light. thinks, who takes it to intimate that “the Spirit has, as it were, a lien upon us”. εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν : unto the redemption. The “unto” of the RV is to be preferred to the “until” of the AV. The clause is to be connected not with the ὅς ἐστιν ἀρραβών, κ. τ. λ., but with the main statement, viz., the ἐσφραγίσθητε, and the εἰς expresses not the idea of time but that of purpose. It is the first of two purposes which God is here declared to have had in sealing them. In that operation of His grace God had it in view to make them certain of the complete redemption which was to come at the consummation of the Kingdom of God. The ἀπολύτρωσις here, as the tenor of the passage plainly indicates, is the final, perfected redemption, as in Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:23, and probably 1 Corinthians 1:30. τῆς περιποιήσεως : of the possession. The “ purchased possession” of the AV is less apt, as the verb περιποιεῖσθαι expresses the general idea of preserving, acquiring, gaining for oneself, without specific reference to a price. But what is the import of the phrase here? The form of the noun περιποίησις and its use point to the active sense, preserving, acquiring. In 2 Chronicles 14:13 it is said of the Ethiopians that they fell ὥστε μὴ εἶναι ἐν αὐτοῖς περιποίησιν, so “that they could not recover themselves” (RV text), or, “so that none remained alive” (RV marg.). The word occurs in the NT five times in all (Eph 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Hebrews 10:39; 1 Peter 2:9). In three of these instances it certainly has the active sense (1 Thessalonians 5:9, περιπ. σωτηρίας; 2 Thessalonians 2:14, περιπ. δόξης; Hebrews 10:39, περιπ. ψυχῆς), and it would be most natural to take it in that sense here. But it is difficult to adjust that to the genitive case dependent on the ἀπολύτρωσιν. The most plausible rendering on that view is that proposed by Abbott, viz., “a complete redemption which will give possession ”. The noun may be taken, however, in the passive sense, and a more natural meaning results. Some then understand it of the inheritance we are to possess. So Aug. and Calv. make it = haereditas acquisita; Matthies, “the promised glorious possession”; Bleek, “the redemption which is to become our possession”. So, too, Macpherson takes the “possession” to be the “inheritance of the saints” here, as he takes the previous ἐκληρώθημεν to mean “made possessors of our lot”. But all becomes plainer if we understand the idea to be rather that of God's possession in us, the περιποίησις being taken as the equivalent of the OT סְגֻלָּה מִבָּל־הָצַמִּיס, סגֻלָה, by which Israel is designated as the possession acquired by the Lord for Himself (Exodus 19:5; cf. Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy 26:18; Psalms 135:4). It is true that the LXX rendering of סְגֻלָּה is usually περιούσιος. But that is not the only form that is adopted. In Psalms 135:4 the phrase is εἰς περιουσιασμὸν ἑαυτῷ; and in Malachi 3:17, where Aquila has περιούσιος, the LXX has εἰς περιποίησιν. Further, in Isaiah 43:21 the same idea is expressed by the corresponding verb λαόν μου ὃν περιεποιησάμην (cf. Acts 20:28, τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἣν περιεποιήσατο). So, too, Peter, with this passage in view, describes the spiritual Israel of the NT as λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν (1 Peter 2:9); while in Titus 2:14, again, we have λαὸν περιούσιον. This interpretation is that of the Syriac, Erasm., Calvin, etc., and it is preferred by most recent commentators, including Harless, Meyer, Ell., Alf., etc. It is adopted also by the RV, which renders it “ God's own possession”. Wycliffe, however, gives “purchasynge”; the Genevan, “that we might be fully restored to liberty”; the Rhemish, “the redemption of acquisition”; the AV, Tyndall and Cranmer give “the purchased possession”. εἰς ἔπαινον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ : unto the praise of his glory. The second end of the sealing, or rather the second aspect of the ultimate purpose of God in the sealing. The final end on our side of that great act of grace is the consummation of the redemption of those who have been made God's own people. On God's side the final end of the same grace is “the praise of His glory” the adoring confession of the glories of the Divine Nature and Mind so revealed to men. The αὐτοῦ refers to the main subject here, not Christ in whom we obtain the grace, but God by whom it is willed the Eternal Origin of all.

[72] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[73] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[74] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.

[75] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[76] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[77] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[78] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.