EPH 3:12 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

UST So now, because of what Jesus has done, we can come to God freely and confidently because, when we trust in Jesus, he joins us to himself.

AICNT in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him.

OEB And in union with him, and through our trust in him, we find courage to approach God with confidence.

WEBBE In him we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET in whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ’s faithfulness.

LSV in whom we have the freedom and the access in confidence through the faith of Him,

FBV Because of him and our trust in him we can come to God in total freedom and confidence.

TCNT Because of Christ and our faith in him, we have boldness and confident access to God.

T4T Because of what he has done and because of our relationship with him, when we pray we can approach God confidently and without being afraid.

LEB in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him.[fn]

3:12 Or “through his i.e., Christ’s faithfulness”

BBE By whom we come near to God without fear through faith in him.

Moff through whom, as we have faith in him, we enjoy our confidence of free access.

Wymth in whom we have this bold and confident access through our faith in Him.

ASV in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

DRA In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

YLT in whom we have the freedom and the access in confidence through the faith of him,

Drby in whom we have boldness and access in confidence by the faith of him.

RV in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

SLT In whom we have freedom of speech and access with confidence by his faith.

Wbstr In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him,

KJB-1769 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

KJB-1611 In whom we haue boldnesse and accesse, with confidence, by the faith of him.
(In whom we have boldness and accesse, with confidence, by the faith of him.)

Bshps By who we haue boldnesse & entraunce in ye confidence which is by faith of him.
(By who we have boldness and entraunce in ye/you_all confidence which is by faith of him.)

Gnva By whom we haue boldenes and entrance with confidence, by faith in him.
(By whom we have boldenes and entrance with confidence, by faith in him. )

Cvdl by whom we haue boldnesse and intraunce in all confidece thorow faith on him.
(by whom we have boldness and entrance in all confidece through faith on him.)

TNT by whom we are bolde to drawe nye in ye trust which we have by faith on him.
(by whom we are bold to draw nigh/near in ye/you_all trust which we have by faith on him. )

Wycl In whom we han trist and nyy comyng, in tristenyng bi the feith of hym.
(In whom we have trist and nigh/near coming, in tristening by the faith of him.)

Luth durch welchen wir haben Freudigkeit und Zugang in aller Zuversicht durch den Glauben an ihn.
(through which_(ones) we/us have joy and Zugang in all confidence through the faith at/to him/it.)

ClVg in quo habemus fiduciam, et accessum in confidentia per fidem ejus.
(in/into/on where we_have confidence, and accessum in/into/on confidentia through faith his. )

UGNT ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ.
(en hō eⱪomen taʸn parraʸsian kai prosagōgaʸn en pepoithaʸsei dia taʸs pisteōs autou.)

SBL-GNT ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν ⸀καὶ προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ.
(en hō eⱪomen taʸn parraʸsian ⸀kai prosagōgaʸn en pepoithaʸsei dia taʸs pisteōs autou.)

RP-GNT ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ.
(en hō eⱪomen taʸn parraʸsian kai taʸn prosagōgaʸn en pepoithaʸsei dia taʸs pisteōs autou.)

TC-GNT ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ [fn]τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ.
(en hō eⱪomen taʸn parraʸsian kai taʸn prosagōgaʸn en pepoithaʸsei dia taʸs pisteōs autou. )

3:12 την ¦ — CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–13: God sent Paul to preach the good news to the non-Jews

In 3:1, Paul was about to pray for the Christians. Instead, in 3:2 he stopped his sentence and began to write about the special work that God had given him. It was not until 3:14 that Paul resumed his prayer.

The special work that God had given Paul was to preach God’s message to the Gentiles. The blessings of God are for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews, but God had hidden this great truth for a long time. Then God gave Paul the task of telling people about this truth. In this way, everyone would know that God was very wise and loving because he saved both Jews and Gentiles and united them into one church.

Here are some other titles for this section:

God’s mysterious plan revealed (NLT)

Paul’s work in telling the Good News (NCV)

God’s plan to unite Jews and Gentiles in Christ is revealed to Paul

Paragraph 3:7–13

In the previous verses 3:3–6, Paul talked about God’s mystery/plan. However, beginning in 3:7, he changed topics. Here he talked about his work preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.

Even though Paul was not one of the twelve apostles, God gave him the work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. God intended that through the church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, all the angels and evil spirits would see his wisdom. So Paul urged the Christians not to be discouraged by the fact that he was suffering in prison. He reminded them that it was for their honor that he was suffering in prison.

3:12a

In Him and through faith in Him

In union with Christ and through faith in him
Because we believe in Christ and are united with him,

In Him and through faith in Him: The pronoun Him refers to Christ. See how you translated in Him at 2:22a.

One way to show how this phrase is connected to the rest of the verse is with the word “because.” For example:

Because we are united with Christ and because we believe in him

Because of our close relationship with Christ and because we believe in him

faith: The word faith refers here to the action of people trusting and believing in Jesus. See how you translated faith in 1:15b and 2:8a. See faith, Meaning 1 in the Glossary for more information.

3:12b

we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.

we may be bold and approach God with confidence.
we can go to God confidently and without fear.

we may enter God’s presence: The clause we may enter God’s presence refers to believers praying to God and worshiping him; they approach him or “enter into his presence.” (Paul was not talking here about entering into God’s presence in heaven after we die.)

enter: The Greek word which the BSB translates as the verb enter is literally “we have…access.” This same Greek word was translated as “access” in 2:18. It means that we have the ability and right to enter God’s presence. As in 2:18, it is best in many languages to translate this phrase as a verb. For example:

go into God’s presence (GNT)

we can come before God (NCV)

with boldness and confidence: The words the BSB has translated as boldness and confidence have a similar meaning.Moore in his book “Doublets in the New Testament” classifies “freedom” (boldness) and “confidence” as near synonymous doublets. In this context, they are so close in meaning that they may be translated as a single noun with an adjective to strengthen it. For example:

bold confidence (GW)

boldness: The Greek word that the BSB translates as boldness is literally “boldness.” It means that believers do not have to be afraid when they pray to God or worship him.

confidence: The word confidence means to have “complete trust; belief in one’s own or another’s ability.” In this context, it is similar in meaning to “boldness” and strengthens it.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

without fear (NCV)

trust

General Comment on 3:12a–b

In some languages, it will be more natural to reverse the order of 3:12a and 3:12b. For example:

^12bWe can go to God confidently and without fear ^12abecause we believe in Christ and are united with him.

In some languages, it might be more natural to make separate clauses out of the phrases “In Him” and “through faith in him.” For example:

Through the work of Christ we^(incl) can go close to God. Because we have believed in Jesus he has opened the way so we do not fear, we can go close to God.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hendiadys

τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τήν παρρησίαν καί προσαγωγήν ἐν πεποιθήσει διά τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ)

In this section of the prayer, Paul praises God in his sufferings and prays for these Ephesian believers. The two words boldness and accesswork together to express one idea. Alternate translation: [bold access] or [boldness to enter]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τήν παρρησίαν καί προσαγωγήν ἐν πεποιθήσει διά τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ)

It may be helpful to state explicitly that this access is into God’s presence. Alternate translation: [access into God’s presence with confidence] or [freedom to enter into God’s presence with confidence]

πεποιθήσει

confidence

Alternate translation: [certainty] or [assurance]

Parallel EPH 3:12

Section 3:1–13: God sent Paul to preach the good news to the non-Jews

Paragraph 3:7–13

3:12a

3:12b

General Comment on 3:12a–b