Ephesians 3:1

God’s Marvelous Plan for the Gentiles

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

Ephesians 3:1 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
English Standard Version (ESV)
1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles--
New Living Translation (NLT)
1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . .
The Message Bible (MSG)
1 This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called.
American Standard Version (ASV)
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,--
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
1 This is the reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus for those of you who are not Jewish.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
1 For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
1 I, Paul, am a prisoner because of Christ Jesus. I am in prison because of my work among you who are not Jews.

Ephesians 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ephesians 3:1

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
&c.] Not actively, whom Christ had apprehended by his grace, and made a prisoner of hope; but passively, who was made a prisoner for Christ, on account of preaching Christ, and his Gospel: he was not a prisoner for any capital crime, as theft, murder and therefore be was not ashamed of his bonds, but rather glories in them; and a prison has often been the portion of the best of men in this world: from hence we learn, that this epistle was written when the apostle was a prisoner at Rome; and the consideration of this his condition serves much to confirm the truths he had before delivered, seeing they were such as he could, and did suffer for; and which must engage the attention of the Ephesians to them, and especially since his sufferings were on their account:

for you Gentiles:
because he preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, which the Jews forbid, that they might not be saved; and because he taught them, that circumcision and the rest of the ceremonies of the law were not binding upon them; which gave great offence to the Jews, who were the means of bringing of him into these circumstances, and particularly the Asiatic Jews, the Jews of Ephesus; who having seen and heard him there, knew him again when in the temple at Jerusalem, and raised a mob upon him, having bore a grudge against him for his ministry at Ephesus, by which means he became a prisoner; so that he might truly say, he was a prisoner for the sake of them; see ( Acts 21:27-33 ) . One of Stevens's copies adds, "am an ambassador", as in ( Ephesians 6:20 ) and another of them, "glory", or "rejoice"; see ( Philippians 2:16 Philippians 2:17 ) .

Ephesians 3:1 In-Context

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Acts 23:18; Ephesians 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:8; Phm 1,9
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