By Prof. A. Lopukhin
Ephesus, located on the Caistros River, where it flows into the Icarian Sea (part of the Aegean Sea), was the capital of the Asian province (sometimes simply called Asia). The city fortress rose on a cliff, and the port was located at the mouth of the river. Thanks to its convenient location, Ephesus became the most important commercial center of the province, but the moral state of the population was quite low. Among the magnificent city buildings, the most famous was the temple of Diana or Artemis. Many Jews also lived in Ephesus.
After the founding of the church in Ephesus, the city served for a long time as the center of Christianity in Asia Minor. The Apostle John the Theologian resided here, and then several councils were held. Ephesus was probably destroyed by Tamerlane in 1402. Today, only ruins remain on the site of the glorious city.
The first seeds of Christianity were planted in Ephesus by the disciples of John the Baptist, who, although with limited knowledge of the Christian faith, believed in Jesus as the Messiah. Later, during his second apostolic journey, the apostle Paul also visited Ephesus and spoke to the Jews about the faith, leaving the spread of the Gospel in the city to his collaborators Aquila and Priscilla. Later, they were joined by the Alexandrian Jew Apollos, who was instructed in the truths of the faith by Aquila and Priscilla. The solid foundation of the Ephesian church was established during the third journey of the apostle Paul. He stayed in the city for about three years, gathering a large number of Jews and Gentiles into one community, performing miracles over the mentally and physically sick and putting an end to the practices of witchcraft among the Jews, and managed to avoid the dangers that threatened him during the popular uprising prepared against him by the master goldsmith Demetrius. Thus, from here the Apostle Paul spread his beneficial influence throughout Asia Minor.
Upon his departure from Ephesus, the Apostle Paul appointed his disciple Timothy as bishop of the Ephesian Church.
Place and time of writing the Epistle
The Epistle to the Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul while he was in prison (Eph. 3:1; Eph. 4:1). Everything indicates that this is about the Apostle’s first Roman imprisonment, and not about his detention in Caesarea. Various ancient manuscripts and translations of the Epistle contain a signature, testifying that it was written from Rome. Further, from the text of the Epistle (Eph. 1:15; Eph. 6:19–20) it is seen that the Apostle is preparing to give a final answer to the pagan authorities, which he could not have expected in Caesarea, since there he was only asked to be sent to Rome for trial. His stay in prison, during which the apostle wrote the letter to the Ephesians, is undoubtedly the first in Rome, since the apostle does not yet feel the restrictions that he experienced during his second imprisonment in the Roman prison. Since his first stay in prison lasted from the spring of 62 to the spring of 64, the origin of the letter should also be attributed to this period.
Purpose of the letter and the occasion for its writing
The letter of the apostle Paul to the Ephesians was recognized by the entire ancient church as having been written specifically for the church of Ephesus. However, modern criticism denies this mainly on the grounds that the words in the first verse “in Ephesus” are inauthentic and inserted by some copyist of the letter. It is then pointed out that the letter as a whole is of a general nature, with no special references to the church of Ephesus and no greetings to individuals. However, these considerations cannot be considered sufficient. The words “in Ephesus” are missing in only three codices, while all other lists and translations contain them. Moreover, the word “those who are” without the addition “in Ephesus” remains as if hanging in the air. It is impossible for the apostle, who in his other epistles precisely designates the addressees in the greetings, to deviate from this practice here.
To what has been said, it can be added that in the other epistles of the apostle Paul, to the expression τ. οῦσιν (“those who are”) or τ. ούση, an indication of the place where the readers of the epistle “were,” “abiding” is always added. Cf. Rom. 1:7; 2 Cor. 1:1; Phil. 1:1.
If St. Basil the Great reports the existence of copies of the epistle without the addition “in Ephesus,” it is clear from his words that these were copies that were not widely distributed. And the saint himself recognized this expression as authentic.
Finally, we should not be confused by the fact that the expression “in Ephesus” in the text refers only to the word “saints” and seems to separate two most closely related predicates—“saints” and “faithful.” The first predicate, since it designates Christians in general, requires a precise determination of the place of residence of those Christians to whom the apostle is addressing. The second predicate—“faithful in Christ Jesus”—since it designates not their external position as members of a particular church (“saints”), but their internal Christian state, does not require an indication of the place of residence of these “faithful.”
As for the general character of the epistle, it cannot be denied that the epistle leaves the impression of being addressed to a particular church. The general character was deliberately given by the apostle so that the epistle would be applicable to other churches in Asia Minor. A similar absence of personal greetings is also found in the epistle to the Galatians. This can be explained by the fact that the apostle knew so many people in Ephesus that he would have to devote entire pages to greetings alone.
The external occasion for writing the epistle to the Ephesians was the sending of Tychicus to Asia Minor. With him the apostle Paul found it necessary to send the epistle. As for the internal motives that led the apostle to address the Ephesians, any polemical purpose should be excluded: nowhere does it appear that the apostle wants to refute heretics who have appeared there. It is most natural to assume that the apostle, sensing the closeness of the end of his ministry, wanted to reveal to his beloved church the greatness of Christianity, which the Ephesian Christians apparently did not fully understand, and then to affirm the idea of the need for unity, which was also insufficient among the Ephesians.
On the authenticity of the epistle
Despite the unanimous testimony of antiquity, which recognizes the Epistle to the Ephesians as an authentic work of the Apostle Paul, more recent criticism denies this authenticity. First, critics point out that the theology in this epistle differs from the theology of other, undoubtedly authentic works of the Apostle Paul; secondly, that this epistle closely resembles the Epistle to the Colossians, so that it is supposedly a simple extension of the latter.
As for the first consideration, it is not without serious grounds, because the critics have not really been able to find anything in the theology of this epistle that contradicts the theology of the other Pauline epistles. There is no doubt that here the doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth more fully and more accurately, but this was required by the circumstances of the time.
If the Epistle to the Ephesians resembles the Epistle to the Colossians in some places, this does not speak against its authenticity (see on this issue in the introduction to the Epistle to the Colossians). Finally, the peculiar style of the epistle is also mentioned, but this argument is not particularly important, because this epistle from beginning to end bears the character of a positive revelation of Christian doctrine and morals, and polemics nowhere comes directly to the fore; the usual opponents of the holy apostle – the Judaizing preachers – are absent, and therefore there are no “questions” or “answers” to enemies who distort the Gospel. This is what distinguishes the Epistle to the Ephesians from the Epistle to the Romans, the Epistles to the Corinthians and the Epistle to the Galatians. Therefore, all objections to its authenticity do not have sufficiently serious arguments.
Content of the Epistle
The Epistle to the Ephesians can be conveniently divided into two parts: dogmatic (Eph. 1–3) and moralistic (Eph. 4–6). In the first part, the apostle reveals the greatness of Christianity in general – especially in the first chapter; then he reveals this same idea in an application to the readers of the epistle (Eph. 2), and finally speaks of this greatness from the point of view of his personal experience (Eph. 3). In the moral part of the epistle, general instructions are also first set forth, applicable to every member of the Church without distinction (Eph. 4:1–5:21), followed by instructions to the members of the Christian family (Eph. 5:22–6:9). The epistle concludes with some exhortations, announcements, and an apostolic blessing (Eph. 6:10–24).
Literature
In patristic literature, there are known interpretations of the Epistle to the Ephesians belonging to St. John Chrysostom, Blessed Theodoret, Blessed Jerome, St. John Damascene, Theophylact, and others.
