EPH 1:5 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. προορίσας
2. proorizō
3. having predetermined
4. -
5. 43090
6. VPAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ predetermined
8. ˓having˒ predetermined
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128072
1. ἡμάς
2. egō
3. us
4. -
5. 14730
6. R···1A·P
7. us
8. us
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128073
1. εἰς
2. eis
3. for
4. -
5. 15190
6. P·······
7. for
8. for
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128074
1. υἱοθεσίαν
2. huiothesia
3. adoption as sons
4. adopt
5. 52060
6. N····AFS
7. adoption_as_sons
8. adoption_as_sons
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128075
1. διά
2. dia
3. through
4. through
5. 12230
6. P·······
7. through
8. through
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128076
1. Χριστοῦ
2. χristos
3. -
4. -
5. 55470
6. N····GMS
7. chosen_one/messiah
8. Christ
9. WN
10. Person=Jesus
11. 128077
1. Ἰησοῦ
2. iēsous
3. Yaʸsous
4. Yeshua
5. 24240
6. N····GMS
7. Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa)
8. Jesus
9. UN
10. Person=Jesus; Y64; F128101
11. 128078
1. Χριστοῦ
2. χristos
3. chosen one messiah
4. messiah
5. 55470
6. N····GMS
7. chosen_one/messiah
8. Christ
9. WN
10. Y64; Person=Jesus
11. 128079
1. εἰς
2. eis
3. to
4. -
5. 15190
6. P·······
7. to
8. to
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128080
1. αὐτόν
2. autos
3. himself
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3AMS
7. himself
8. himself
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128081
1. κατά
2. kata
3. according to
4. -
5. 25960
6. P·······
7. according_to
8. according_to
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128082
1. τήν
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····AFS
7. the
8. the
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128083
1. εὐδοκίαν
2. eudokia
3. good pleasure
4. pleasure
5. 21070
6. N····AFS
7. good_pleasure
8. good_pleasure
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128084
1. τοῦ
2. ho
3. of the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····GNS
7. ˱of˲ the
8. ˱of˲ the
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128085
1. θελήματος
2. thelēma
3. will
4. -
5. 23070
6. N····GNS
7. will
8. will
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128086
1. αὐτοῦ
2. autos
3. of him
4. his His
5. 8460
6. R···3GMS
7. ˱of˲ him
8. ˱of˲ him
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128087

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:3–14: God has done good things for us by means of Christ

Paul praised God for all the blessings that come to his people through Christ. Before God created the world, he chose us and then he redeemed us through Christ. God also revealed his plan to us. His plan is to unite everything in the world in the future with Christ as the Head. To show that we are his people, God gave us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the guarantee that God will give us all the good things he has promised us.

In Greek, 1:3–14 is all one long sentence. Most translations break this sentence into several shorter sentences. In your translation, you can use a few long sentences or many shorter sentences, whichever sounds best.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Spiritual blessings in Christ

God blesses us because we are joined to Christ

Paragraph 1:3–6

Paul praised God for all the blessings that come to us believers through Christ. Long ago before God created the world, he chose us to be his people, because he wanted to adopt us as his children. He did all this because he loved us, because he wanted to show us favor (help us), in order that we might become holy people.

1:5a

He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ,

he had decided before hand that he would adopt us as his children through Jesus Christ.
he decided long ago that he would make us his children by means of what Jesus Christ has done.

He predestined us: The verb predestined means “to decide something beforehand” or “to determine ahead of time what one plans to do.” The pronoun He refers to “God.”

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

God had already decided (GNT)

God decided in advance (NLT)

for adoption as His sons: This is a passive. If it would be more natural in your language to make this active, you can say:

God would adopt us as His children

In some languages, it is redundant or even confusing to include the phrase as His sons along with the noun adoption. If this is the case in your language, you can simply say:

God would adopt us

for adoption: The word adoption means “to make someone your child” or “to accept another child into your family as your own.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

to be his sons (RSV)

make us his children (GNT)

through Jesus Christ: The phrase through Jesus Christ tells how God made us his children. He did it by means of (or because of) what Jesus Christ has done. In some languages, there are special ways to express this, for example:

by the hand of Jesus Christ

because of what Jesus Christ did

1:5b

according to the good pleasure of His will,

That was what God wanted and what pleased him,
God did this because it delighted him, and he wanted to do it

according to the good pleasure of His will: The Greek phrase that the BSB literally translates as according to the good pleasure of His will uses the word pleasure emphasizes the delight God felt in making his decision in 1:5a.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

this was his pleasure and purpose (GNT)

that was what he wanted and what pleased him (NCV)

In some languages it is good to begin a new sentence here with some introduction, for example:

God did this according to the good pleasure of His will…

Also in many languages the translation will be clearer if you change the nouns pleasure and will into verbs, for example:

because it pleased him and this is what he wanted to do

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns

προορίσας & αὐτόν & αὐτοῦ

˓having˒_predetermined & himself & ˱of˲_him

The words “he,” “himself,” and “his” refer to God.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

προορίσας ἡμᾶς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν

˓having˒_predetermined (Some words not found in SR-GNT: προορίσας ἡμάς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διά Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς αὐτόν κατά τήν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ)

The word us refers to Paul, the Ephesian church, and all believers in Christ. Alternate translation: [God planned long ago to adopt us]

προορίσας ἡμᾶς

Alternate translation: [God chose us ahead of time] or [God chose us long ago]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

εἰς υἱοθεσίαν

for adoption_as_sons

Here, adoption is a metaphor that refers to becoming part of God’s family. Alternate translation: [to become his children]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: προορίσας ἡμάς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διά Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς αὐτόν κατά τήν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ)

Paul assumes that his readers will understand that God brought believers into his family by the work of Jesus Christ. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

1. OET-LV words
2. OET-RV words
3. Strongs
4. Greek word
5. Greek lemma
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. having predetermined
2. -
3. 43090
5. proorizō
6. V-PAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ predetermined
8. ˓having˒ predetermined
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128072
1. us
2. -
3. 14730
5. egō
6. R-···1A·P
7. us
8. us
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128073
1. for
2. -
3. 15190
5. eis
6. P-·······
7. for
8. for
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128074
1. adoption as sons
2. adopt
3. 52060
5. huiothesia
6. N-····AFS
7. adoption_as_sons
8. adoption_as_sons
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128075
1. through
2. through
3. 12230
5. dia
6. P-·······
7. through
8. through
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128076
1. Yaʸsous
2. Yeshua
3. 24240
4. UN
5. iēsous
6. N-····GMS
7. Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa)
8. Jesus
9. UN
10. Person=Jesus; Y64; F128101
11. 128078
1. chosen one messiah
2. messiah
3. 55470
4. WN
5. χristos
6. N-····GMS
7. chosen_one/messiah
8. Christ
9. WN
10. Y64; Person=Jesus
11. 128079
1. to
2. -
3. 15190
5. eis
6. P-·······
7. to
8. to
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128080
1. himself
2. -
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3AMS
7. himself
8. himself
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128081
1. according to
2. -
3. 25960
5. kata
6. P-·······
7. according_to
8. according_to
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128082
1. the
2. -
3. 35880
5. ho
6. E-····AFS
7. the
8. the
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128083
1. good pleasure
2. pleasure
3. 21070
5. eudokia
6. N-····AFS
7. good_pleasure
8. good_pleasure
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128084
1. of the
2. -
3. 35880
5. ho
6. E-····GNS
7. ˱of˲ the
8. ˱of˲ the
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128085
1. will
2. -
3. 23070
5. thelēma
6. N-····GNS
7. will
8. will
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128086
1. of him
2. his His
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3GMS
7. ˱of˲ him
8. ˱of˲ him
9. -
10. Y64
11. 128087

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear EPH 1:5

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 1:3–14: God has done good things for us by means of Christ

Paragraph 1:3–6

1:5a

1:5b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)