EPH 3:3 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=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, 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).

ULT according to a revelation made known to me, the mystery about which I already wrote in brief.

UST God told me this message that people did not understand before by revealing it to me directly, just as I wrote to you before briefly.

BSB that [is], the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

BLB that He made known to me the mystery by revelation, just as I have written before in brief,

AICNT [that][fn] by revelation the mystery {it was}[fn] made known to me, as I wrote briefly before,

3:3, that: NA28[] THGNT BYZ TR ‖ Absent from some manuscripts. SBLGNT

3:3, it was: Later manuscripts read “he.” BYZ TR

OEB and also that it was by direct revelation that the hidden purpose of God was made known to me, as I have already briefly told you.

WEBBE how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET that by revelation the divine secret was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly.

LSV that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few [words]—

FBV how, by what God showed me, made clear the mystery that was previously hidden. I wrote to you briefly before about this,

TCNT how God made the mystery known to me by revelation, just as I have written above in a few words.

T4T God revealed to me the message that he had not revealed to others. When you read what I have already written briefly about that,

LEB According to[fn] revelation the mystery was made known to me, just as I wrote beforehand in brief,

3:3 Some manuscripts have “given to me for you, that according to”

BBE How by revelation the secret was made clear to me, as I said before in a short letter,

Moff how the divine secret was disclosed to me by a revelation (if you read what I have already written briefly about this,

Wymth and that by a revelation the truth hitherto kept secret was made known to me as I have already briefly explained it to you.

ASV how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words,

DRA How that, according to revelation, the mystery has been made known to me, as I have written above in a few words;

YLT that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few [words] —

Drby that by revelation the mystery has been made known to me, (according as I have written before briefly,

RV how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words,

SLT That by revelation he made Known to me the mystery; (as I before wrote briefly,

Wbstr That by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words;

KJB-1769 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

KJB-1611 How that by reuelation hee made knowen vnto me the mysterie, (as I wrote [fn]afore in few words,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

3:3 Or, a little before.

Bshps For by reuelation shewed he the misterie vnto me (as I wrote afore in fewe wordes:
(For by revelation showed he the mystery unto me (as I wrote afore in few words:)

Gnva That is, that God by reuelation hath shewed this mysterie vnto me (as I wrote aboue in fewe wordes,
(That is, that God by revelation hath/has showed this mystery unto me (as I wrote above in few words, )

Cvdl For by reuelacion was this mystery shewed vnto me, as I wrote aboue in fewe wordes:
(For by revelation was this mystery showed unto me, as I wrote above in few words:)

TNT For by revelacion shewed he this mistery vnto me as I wrote above in feawe wordes
(For by revelacion showed he this mystery unto me as I wrote above in few words )

Wycl For bi reuelacioun the sacrament is maad knowun to me, as Y aboue wroot in schort thing,
(For by revelation the sacrament is made known to me, as I above wrote in schort thing,)

Luth daß mir ist kund worden dieses Geheimnis durch Offenbarung, wie ich droben aufs kürzeste geschrieben habe,
(that to_me is announce/bear_witness been this secret/mystery through revelation, as/like I above/up_there onto kürzeste written have,)

ClVg quoniam secundum revelationem notum mihi factum est sacramentum, sicut supra scripsi in brevi,[fn]
(since/because after/second revelationem known to_me done it_is sacrament, like above I_wrote in/into/on shortly, )

3.3 Sicut supra scripsi, etc. Scilicet, ibi ipse est pax nostra. Ibi namque mysteriorum sibi revelatorum summam pro modico sermone perstrinxit, non tam totum quod noverat proferens, quam ostendens ex modico.

3.3 Like above I_wrote, etc. Of_course, there exactly_that/himself it_is peace our. There for_indeed/truly mysteryrum to_himself revelatorum sum/total for a_little speech perstrinxit, not/no tam whole that he_knew proferens, how showing from a_little.

UGNT κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καθὼς προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ;
(kata apokalupsin egnōristhaʸ moi to mustaʸrion, kathōs proegrapsa en oligōi;)

SBL-GNT ⸀κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ⸀ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καθὼς προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ,
(⸀kata apokalupsin ⸀egnōristhaʸ moi to mustaʸrion, kathōs proegrapsa en oligōi,)

RP-GNT ὅτι κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνώρισέν μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καθὼς προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ,
(hoti kata apokalupsin egnōrisen moi to mustaʸrion, kathōs proegrapsa en oligōi,)

TC-GNT [fn]ὅτι κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνώρισέ μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καθὼς προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ,
(hoti kata apokalupsin egnōrise moi to mustaʸrion, kathōs proegrapsa en oligōi, )

3:3 οτι κατα αποκαλυψιν εγνωρισεν ¦ οτι κατα αποκαλυψιν εγνωρισθη NA TH WH ¦ κατα αποκαλυψιν εγνωρισθη SBL

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

3:3a

that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation,

God revealed his secret plan to me
God showed me that which he had not yet explained.

that is: The Greek word that the BSB translates as that is is literally “that.” It is used to introduce the content of the “grace” given to Paul. Some versions do not translate it. Here is another way to translate this:

how (RSV)

Translate this word in a way that is natural in your language.

the mystery: The word mystery here refers to God’s plan that was unknown to mankind in the past. God had not yet explained his plan to man. Another way to say mystery is “hidden matter.” Paul also used this word in 1:9a.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

mysterious plan (NLT)

secret plan (GNT)

Paul wrote about God’s plan in 3:3–5, but he did not clearly state what God’s plan is until 3:6.

made known to me by revelation: Paul knew God’s plan only because God revealed it to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

God revealed his secret plan to me

God explained his hidden course of action to me

3:3b

as I have already written briefly.

as I have already briefly written to you.
I have already written to you a little about this.

as I have already written briefly: There is an interpretation issue here. We do not know exactly which passage in his letters Paul was referring to:

Most commentators think that he was referring to what he wrote in this letter, specifically to 2:11–22 and perhaps also to 1:9–10.
A few commentators think that he was referring to something he wrote in another letter.

Some languages distinguish between events that just happened a short time ago and events that happened a long time ago. If this is true in your language, you should use terms for something that happened a short time ago.

General Comment on 3:a-b

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

^3bAs I briefly wrote earlier, ^3aGod himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. (NLT)

Parallel EPH 3:3

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

3:3a

3:3b

General Comment on 3:a-b