Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3

454 Pages·1974·48.02 MB·English

by  Markus Barth

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THE ANCHOR BIBLE
E P I — I E S I A N S
Introduction, Translation, and
Commentary on Chapters 1-3
by
MARKUS BARTH
1974
DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC.
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK
Quotation on p. 263 from “Mending Wall” from The Poetry of Robert Frost
edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1930, 1939, © 1969 by Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Copyright © 1958 by Robert Frost. Copyright
© 1967 by Lesley Frost Ballantine. Reprinted by permission of Holt, Rine-
hart and Winston, Inc.
ISBN: 0-385-04412-7
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72—79373
Copyright © 1974 by Doubleday & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
DEDICATION
To the Theological Seminary
of the University of Dubuque, Iowa,
to the (formerly Federated) Theological Faculty
of the University of Chicago, Illinois,
and t0 the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—
the schools which during twenty years
on bright and cloudy days
permitted me to learn and search and teach
in the United States of America—
IN GRATITUDE
PREFACE
Among the more recent commentators on the epistle to the Ephesians,
three are outstanding: J. A. Robinson because of his sensitivity to the
singular message of this letter, T. K. Abbott as a patient philologist who
leaves no stone unturned, and H. Schlier who combines imaginative refer-
ences to the ancient history of religions with deep theological penetration
of the biblical text. Within the triangle formed by the work of these men
and their learned predecessors, I have moved and felt at home while writ-
ing this book.
To interpret a part of the Bible is to have a conversation with its author
-—whether or not his name is known—and to participate in the dialogues
which informed him and were stirred up by him. An exegete listens and
responds above all to the voice of the Bible itself. He realizes that this
voice also reflects whispers and thunders heard in the culture of the an-
cient world and that it has produced many echoes during the almost two-
thousand-year history of the synagogue and the church. In turn, the ex-
positor is surrounded and influenced by noises and sounds produced in
his own time. While he tries carefully to listen to the past, he also has to
respond daringly in terms of the present world. Two examples may eluci-
date the particular task that confronts a student of Ephesians today.
One: This epistle says things about the peace between Israel and the
Gentiles, and about the relationship between Israel and the church, which
have no equal in the New Testament and yet clarify and summarize what
all apostolic writings appear willing to say. The testimony of Ephesians on
these t0pics made it necessary for me to scrutinize with special care all im-
plicit and explicit references to the Bible of Israel, to read extensively in
J ewish apocalyptic, Qumranite and rabbinical literature and to formulate
propositions that go beyond the Statement on the Jews pronounced by
Vatican Council II.
Two: Some expositors consider the letter to the Ephesians a post-apos-
tolic document. They see in it an introverted glorification of the church,
which forgets the centrality of the Messiah J esus, neglects the church’s
mission to the world, and falls victim to those thought—patterns of nascent
Gnosticism which teach that individual souls are saved by a flight out of
this world. The criticisms directed against Ephesians especially by R. Bult-
PREFACE
X
mann and E. K'asemann made it imperative to face squarely the dialectical
relationship between the devotional prayers and hymns of this letter, its
missionary and ethical exhortations, and its possible borrowings from an-
cient religious, cultural, and moral trends.
The exposition of Ephesians through the ancient Greek fathers and in
the Orthodox churches of today has received less attention than it de-
serves. But the exegetical tradition of the western church was given as
careful a hearing as time and space allowed. This tradition ranges from
Irenaeus and J erome over Thomas Aquinas and the great reformers, to
the fateful cleavage between Roman Catholic and Protestant interpreters
in the post-Reformation periods. It culminates in the resumption of a com-
mon quest in our time. Often I was able to learn more from Catholic
scholars than from those Proteth colleagues who had become uncritical
of their own presuppositions and methods.
J ust as the Talmudic and Midrashic writings do not pretend to offer
final solutions to the puzzles of biblical texts, but introduce students and
masters alike to the process of asking for truth, wisdom, and obedience, so
in this volume not one but several interpretations are oflered for each sec-
tion of Ephesians—and sometimes even for single words and phrases.
Though I could not and would not hide where I stand at present, my in-
tention was to enable every reader of the Bible, not just scholars, to draw
their own conclusions step by step. I should like to urge them, with the
help of the material and the reflections collected here, to press for deeper
insights, more solid results, and better formulations.
Readers for whom this two-volume work on Ephesians is too thick and
some of its arguments too technical and detailed may refer to the table of
Contents in each volume and to the topical Index (II) at the end of the
second volume for particular COMMENTS and themes of more interest to
them than the philological NOTES. While I intended to present nothing else
than an aid to a literal, historical, and critical understanding of the text and
of its author’s intention, I did not want to block the road to a comprehen-
sion that is more than merely rational. An exact interpretation of a litur-
gical document such as Ephesians must necessarily reproduce the appeal
made by its author to the heart of his reader. Thus this commentary has be-
come an invitation to listen to a message pronounced in God’s name, and to
understand it not only as a product of a bygone era but also in contempo—
rary terms. For instance, if some readers should feel inclined to join in the
singing suggested in Eph 5:19, they would certainly reveal thereby their
perception of the historical intention and the literal sense of this epistle.
I am grateful to many persons for their help during the preparation of
these pages. The necessary research, and the attempt to publish its results
in the form of a commentary, could not have been undertaken and carried
through without the continuous stimulation, wise counsel, corrections and
PREFACE XI
suggestions which I received from Professor David Noel Freedman.
Among the staff at Doubleday & Company, especially Sallie Waterman
and Robert W. Hewetson have shown a subtle and congenial compre-
hension of all problems of style and substance. The academic community
of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary has made many contributions: through
President Donald G. Miller and Dean Gordon B. J ackson I was granted a
sabbatical leave in 1967-68 to begin the full-time study of Ephesians, and
later they accorded me all possible help to facilitate its completion. In
seminars, eager students offered their feelings, findings, and ideas for trans-
lation and interpretation. Candidates for the ministry and for the degree
of Master or Doctor worked with me and for me in the library, checked
references and have often come out with useful or daring suggestions:
William Rader (whose doctoral thesis on Eph 2: 11-22 was finished too
late to be quoted in this commentary), Roger Cragun, Rose Moehrke,
Waldir Berndt, Archibald Woodrufl and Robert Macdonald deserve spe-
cial credit. Colleagues in the biblical field gave me their critical assessment
of novel expositions made possible by recently discovered materials and
the restudy of earlier known data. As devoted and untiring secretaries
and typists, Mrs. C. Rader in Basel and Mrs. B. Ali, Mrs. E. Eakin and
Mrs. D. Dick in Pittsburgh succeeded in transforming my longhand scrib-
ble and corrections into clear typescripts. Outstanding among all helpers
and incomparable in the breadth and depth of her assistance was and is
my wife, Rose Marie. Her contribution not only to my work but also to
my life is reflected in the intensive discussion of the passage describing
husband and wife, Eph 5:21—33.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Spring 1972
RS. All references to the Bible, the Dead Sea scrolls, and the Apostolic Fathers
have been checked by a gracious group of students in Basel. The Topical Index was
prepared by my assistant in Basel, David S. MacLachlan from Toronto. Still, the re-
sponsibility for undiscovered errors lies with the author.
Basel, Switzerland
Summer 1973