Ephesians – recommended reading

As I said in my previous blog post, I struggled through reading and translating the Greek text of Ephesians.

What did I find most helpful?

As usual, the Greek text I used was The Greek New Testament Fifth revised ed. (Stuttgart Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft/American Bible Society/United Bible Societies, 2014) together with Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg and Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.

For help with those tricky words and Greek constructions, I found Benjamin J. Merkle, Ephesians (Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament) essential. Merkle was like training wheels. As I got to reading Ephesians 3, I found I needed him less and I was able to read and translate with more confidence. But Merkle provides excellent instruction in Greek grammar with an actual text and mediates a lot of complex discussions in the more technical commentaries.

There are many excellent commentaries on Ephesians. I consistently turned to three for a deeper dive and help with exegetical problem-solving:

Ernest Best, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians (International Critical Commentary). Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1998.

Constantine R. Campbell, The Letter to the Ephesians (Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2023.

Lynn H. Cohick, The Letter to the Ephesians (New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020.

Cohick and Campbell are arguably the standard for comprehensive scholarly studies of Ephesians that hit that sweet spot between accessibility for general readers and rigour for scholars.

Both commentators integrate the latest developments in Pauline studies into their analysis. Cohick is very strong on the social and cultural world of Late Antiquity and really shines in her discussion of the passage about wives, husbands, children, parents and slaves. Campbell is at the cutting edge of the study of Greek language and Paul’s ‘in Christ’ language and eschatology. Both come from slightly different evangelical traditions, but are unfailingly irenic in presenting different views and navigating points of contention.

Best requires a knowledge of Greek to use to its full potential, and it is in a series aimed at fully fledged biblical scholars. For really deep dives, I found myself mostly turning to Best over the other commentary on the Greek text that I own – Andrew Lincoln’s Ephesians in the Word Biblical Commentary series – mainly because Best was more engaging and gets to the point more quickly. Lincoln is much more accessible and focused in Andrew T. Lincoln and Alexander J. M. Wedderburn, The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

Other commentators I occasionally turned to for help were Pheme Perkins’ Ephesians (Abingdon New Testament Commentary) and John Muddiman’s Ephesians (Black’s New Testament Commentaries). Perkins is adept in writing for students and pastors, and she has a formidable knowledge of Greek and Jewish primary sources that help the interpreter. She also provides summaries that hint at the theological/preaching implications of each passage.

Muddiman is more written for students. I like how he relates his discussion to Paul’s other letters, simply explains issues and options in interpreting difficult verses, and considers the history of interpretation from the Church Fathers onwards.