Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Ephesians 3:14-21, Kneeling before the Father of every family
Paul kneels in prayer before the Father of every family, heavenly and earthly, and asks that they be strengthened by the Spirit and grasp the vast dimensions of Christ's love, closing with praise.
Ephesians 3:14-21, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul takes up his interrupted prayer, kneeling before God, who is Father to every family, heavenly and earthly. He asks that the Spirit give them inner strength, that Christ make his home in their hearts, and that they grasp how vast Christ's love is, a love bigger than anyone can fully know. He closes by praising God, who can do far more than they could ever ask or picture.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/jewish-prayer\/","n":"Prayer in Jesus' day","s":"Set prayers, set hours, standing to pray, God addressed as Father, and prayers for his name and his kingdom. Jesus taught his own disciples a prayer inside that world.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/the-household\/","n":"The household and its head","s":"A household gathered family, slaves, freed slaves and workers under one head, and it was expected to follow that head's religion. When the head turned to a new god, the house often came too.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/powers-over-the-nations\/","n":"Rulers and powers over the nations","s":"Many Jews believed each nation had a spiritual ruler set over it, often hostile to God's people. Paul's rulers, authorities, powers and thrones belong to that picture.","r":""}
Jews usually prayed standing, though kneeling was used, especially in extreme situations, and Greeks rarely knelt to pray (Keener and his notes). Family translates patria, from pater, father, so the line is a play on words, and the Greek Old Testament often used patria for a family line from one ancestor (the cultural backgrounds notes). The Roman father held authority over all his descendants as long as he lived (Keener). Who the families in heaven are is read in more than one way: the guardian angels of the nations (Keener and his notes); every rank of angels, good and evil, taking its identity and authority from the Father (Arnold); or one household of God with members in heaven and on earth (Carson, Moo and Morris). The cultural backgrounds notes see in God as the source of every family a further blow to ethnic division. Breadth, length, height and depth almost certainly apply the language of divine Wisdom (Job 11:5-9) to God's love, Keener writes; some see the cube of the holy of holies, which the cultural backgrounds notes call much less likely. Jewish prayers often closed with praise and the hearers' Amen (Keener and his notes).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Ephesians 3:14, 3:15, 3:18-19 and 3:20-21
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Ephesians 3:14, 3:15, 3:16, 3:18 and 3:21
- Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness, ch. 7, The Ultimate Sovereignty of the Creator
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 11, Ephesians, The Contribution of Ephesians
