Ephesians 3:1

Ephesians 3:1. For this cause. A strong expression, occurring only here, in chap. Ephesians 3:14 and Titus 1:5. The reference is to what precedes (chap. Ephesians 2:19-22), especially the closing thought.

I Paul. The phrase occurs quite frequently: ‘He mentions his name, not for personal reasons (Ephesians 3:8), but because of his office and the importance of what he is doing' (Braune).

T he prisoner of Christ Jesus. On the construction, see above. (Some authorities read ‘Christ,' while ‘Jesus Christ' is not found in any ancient manuscripts.) He was Christ's prisoner, not the emperor's; comp. chap. Ephesians 4:1 (‘prisoner in the Lord'). It is more than prisoner for Christ's sake.

In behalf of you Gentiles. ‘In writing to the Ephesians he could not forget that the suspicion of his having taken an Ephesian named Trophimus into the temple with him created the popular disturbance that led to his capture and his final appeal to Caesar, his journey to Rome, and his imprisonment in the imperial city' (Eadie). But the phrase suggests more than this: His office, and hence his affliction, was for the benefit of the Gentiles. More than this, his very imprisonment was made useful by him in setting agencies in operation for the extension of the gospel among the Gentiles. This last point is too often ignored in discussing the verse.