Ephesians 1:12

Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Check both of the reference sources. Words appear different but the meanings and Strong’s listings are the same.

I suggest you use a modern translation or read verse 12 as part of verse 11.

  • To be, einai G1510.
  • Us, hemas G1473.
  • Praise, epainon G1868. Paul also uses this word in 1:6 and 1:14. All of these have the word in the same sentence.
  • Glory, doxes G1391.
  • The “ones”, tous G3588.
  • First trusted, proelpkotas G4276. Proelpizo, according to Mounce, is used once in the New Testament. It means to have hope in a person beforehand.
  • Christ, Christo G5547.

We have been chosen by the Father to be praise and be a reason for praise to go to Jesus.

Use the links below to explore all of the words in the passage in Ephesians.

Ephesians 1 MOUNCE – Paul, an apostle of Christ  Jesus by the – Bible Gateway

Ephesians 1 Interlinear Bible (biblehub.com)

Ephesians 1:11

Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

  • Obtained an inheritance, eklerothemen  or kleroo G 2820. According to Mounce, this word is used only here in the New Testament, there may be other forms.
  • Being predestinated, proonsthentes  or proorizo G 4309. It is also used in verse 5.
  • According, kata
  • The purpose, prothesin G 4286.
  • Pas
  • Working, energountos or energeo G 1754. I hope you see the word “energy” in this word.
  • Counsel, boulen G1012. It resembles Boolean, but I did not check the etymology.
  • Will, thelematos G 2307. The will of God is mentioned four times in Chapter 1 (vs. 1, 5, 9, and 11). The word is used three more times in Ephesians, two of them are about the will of God.

Use the links below to explore all of the words in the passage in Ephesians.

Ephesians 1 MOUNCE – Paul, an apostle of Christ  Jesus by the – Bible Gateway

Ephesians 1 Interlinear Bible (biblehub.com)

Ephesians 1: 3 – 10

Ephesians 1: 3 – 10 This is KJV and the highlighting was added by me. This was the assignment. Mark what part of this is about the Father and what is about Jesus. I hope in doing this you realized how many times the phrase “in Christ or in Jesus” or the reference was about the Father. There are some statements that were a little unclear, so if yours does not look like mine, that is fine.

Paul wrote this with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To be honest, this is the first time I have done this and was surprised by how much it referenced the Father.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Ephesians 1:10

Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (KJV)

I can see Paul talking about two things in this statement: The mystery of the Gentiles being allowed into the Body of Christ, and the restoration of the Garden of Eden (Heaven) where this journey for mankind began.

The differences in spelling between the two sources are shown very well in this verse, the Strong’s numbers are the same for the words. I wish I could offer more insight on the variations but all of this is Greek to me.

  • Administration, oikonomian G3622. Luke uses this word in the story of the unfaithful steward in Luke 16. It is also used in Ephesians 3: 2 and 9.
  • Fullness, pleromatos G4138. It is used in Ephesians 1:23, 3:19, and 4:13.
  • Times, kairon G2540. See Ephesians 2:12, 5:16, and 6:18.
  • To bring together, anakephalaiosasthai G346. The only other time this word is used is in Romans 13:9, “summed up”.
  • All things, panata or pas G3956.
  • The things, ta G3588.
  • Heavens, ouranois G3772.
  • Earth, ges G1093. See Ephesians 3:15, 4:9, and 6:3.

Use the links below to explore all of the words in the passage in Ephesians.

Ephesians 1 MOUNCE – Paul, an apostle of Christ  Jesus by the – Bible Gateway

Ephesians 1 Interlinear Bible (biblehub.com)

Bible 911 – Joshua

Joshua 9:11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. (KJV)

The 9th chapter of Joshua is about the Gibeonites. If I may, I would like to view the Book of Joshua with the idea of NEW. New leader, new land, new year, new problems, and new chances to see God move for them and through them. The “new” associated with the Gibeonites is the con/trick they pulled on Joshua and Israel. Up to this point in their history, people have held them in slavery and lied to them, attacked or threatened them, and caused them to sin. This con was because the Gibeonites feared them and did not want to fight this horde of people. This new problem came from an old curse.

The Hivites of Gibeon, Descendants of Ham

Genesis 10:6-20, 1 Chronicles 1, Joshua 3:10, and 1 Kings 9:20 all list the family groups that descended from Ham and Cannan. They settled in this land and they are the ones under the curse of Noah. That curse was they would serve the descendants of the Shem, who is the progenitor of Abram. The list will look like this – Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Jebusites. Joshua 9:7 calls the Gibeonites Hivites.

Hivite | The amazing name Hivite: meaning and etymology (abarim-publications.com)   

Biblical Canaanite descendants are still living in Lebanon, say geneticists (christiantoday.com)

 A fun side note here is Job is in the land of Uz. Uz is in Genesis 10:23 and is a descendant of Shem. 

Because of the Treaty

The first notable thing in 9:18 is that Israel grumbled. In the exodus under Moses, they grumbled when they had no bread, then they grumbled when they got tired of the bread (manna), and here Israel is grumbling because of dry, moldy bread. There is a pattern in all of that, I just do not know what it is. Another side note, Jesus our Bread of Life was born in the House of Bread. We need to remember that at this time the manna had stopped, and they were getting their own food.

Did they grumble because of Exodus 34:12 where God said to not make a treaty with anyone in the land? It could be that grumblers just like to grumble.

Joshua and the leaders did not do well in this treaty/league. Treaty and league are nice sounding terms, but they made a H1285 or covenant with these people. For them to break it would have been bad news, King Saul did, and a drought plagued the land under David’s rule.

So, they made them wood choppers and water carriers. Deuteronomy 29:11 states that there were foreigners in the exodus that had the job during the forty years of wandering. Joshua assigned the Gibeonites these chores for the Tabernacle and Gibeon was given to the Levites as one of their cities.  

A clause in the covenant must have been about mutual defense if attacked. Because when Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem attacked, the Gibeonites called for help. (Joshua 10:2) In 10:12 Joshua asks for a miracle and gets it, the sun “stands still” until he has beaten the Amorites. This miracle is mentioned in Isaiah 28:21.

To show how far the area had slipped into sin let’s look at the name Adoni-Zedek. Melchizedek was also the king of Jerusalem (Salem) and he was the priest of the Most High God in Genesis 14. Adoni-Zedek means lord of righteousness, he did not come out with bread and wine. Like Balaam, he did not keep the memo about listening to and believing the Most High God.

King Saul and the Gibeonites

2 Samuel 21 is a story that involves the Gibeonites, King Saul, Rizpah, and King David. Gibeon was in the area that was given to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 21:17). 1 Chronicles 9:35, Saul’s genealogy, says he had family from that city. Saul had relatives who lived by the Gibeonites, so his zeal may have had a monetary base. Anyway, he had tried to destroy them, which broke the covenant that Joshua had made with them. They must have cried out to God and He answered by stopping the rain for three years. Rizpah was Saul’s concubine who had two sons given to the Gibeonites, she kept scavengers from disturbing the bodies. No, I do not comprehend all of the “legal” aspects of this tale but it is plain that God was serious about that covenant.

Gibeon the City

This city and region are mentioned many times in the history of Israel and Judah.

  • There was a pool there. 2 Samuel 2:13 and Jeremiah 41:12 are fights that happened near this pool.
  • David moved Moses’ Tabernacle and the altar of offerings to a hill there when he took the Ark to Jerusalem, see 1 Chronicles 16:39, 21:29, 1 Kings 3:4, 2 Chronicles 1:3.

People of Gibeon

These may be Benjaminites or native Hivites.

  • 1 Chronicles 12:4 mentions a member of David’s elite bodyguard, Ishmaiah, who led the Thirty.
  • Hananiah, a false prophet, who opposed Jeremiah was from Gibeon. He was probably a priest or Levite.
  • Nehemiah mentions it twice – 3:7 and 7:25.

Joshua

Joshua was a great leader. How would you like to follow in the steps of Moses? He and Caleb were the oldest people in the camp and had watched their families all pass. He did the job he had been raised up for and with just one recorded mistake, not bad.

Numbers 27:18 and Deuteronomy 34:9 both speak of Joshua having the Spirit. The OJB uses the term Ruach HaKodesh which means spirit of wisdom or Holy Spirit.

Hebrew Names for God – Ruach HaKodesh (hebrew4christians.com)

Other posts I have done on Joshua – Joshua by the Books, and Joshua and Encouragement