SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:3
¶ Bendito el Dios y Padre del Seor nuestro Jess Cristo, el cual nos bendijo con toda bendicin espiritual en bienes celestiales en Cristo,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Ephesians 1:3
Verse 3. Blessed be the God] See the note on 2 Cor. i. 3, where the same form is used. With all spiritual blessings] With the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and the abundant gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, justifying, sanctifying, and building us up on our most holy faith.
In heavenly places] en toiv epouranioiv? In heavenly things, such as those mentioned above; they were not yet in heavenly places, but they had abundance of heavenly things to prepare them for heavenly places.
Some think the word should be understood as signifying blessings of the most exalted or excellent kind, such as are spiritual in opposition to those that are earthly, such as are eternal in opposition to those that are temporal; and all these in, through and by CHRIST. We have already seen, on Gal. iv. 26, that the heavenly Jerusalem, or Jerusalem which is from above, is used by the Jews to signify the days of the Messiah, and that state of grace and glory which should follow the Levitical worship and ceremonies; and it is possible that St. Paul may use the word epourania, heavenly things, in this sense: God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things, or in this heavenly state, in which life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel. This is apparently the preferable sense.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , &c.] God, the first person in the Trinity, is the God of Christ, as Christ is man and Mediator; he chose and appointed him to be the Mediator, and made a covenant with him as such; he formed and prepared an human nature for him, and anointed it with the Holy Ghost above measure, and supported it under all his trials and sufferings, and at last glorified it: and Christ, as man, prayed to him as his God, believed, hoped, and trusted in him as such, and loved him as in such a relation to him, and cheerfully obeyed his commands. And the same is the Father of Christ, as Christ is God; as such he is the Son of God; not by creation, as angels and Adam, nor by adoption, as saints, but by natural generation; he being the only begotten of the Father, his own proper Son, of the same nature and perfections with him, and equal to him. Now to bless God is neither to invoke nor confer a blessing on him; for there is none greater than he to be called upon; nor does he need anything, nor can he receive anything from his creature; but it is either to congratulate his greatness and goodness, to ascribe blessing, glory, and honour to him, or to give thanks unto him, both for temporal and spiritual mercies. And the reasons why he is blessed, or praised by the saints as the God and Father of Christ, are; because these are his New Testament titles, under which he is more clearly made known, and in which he delights; and because he is their God and Father in Christ; nor can they come to him in any other way, but through him; and because it is through him that all their blessings come to them, and therefore all their praises must go this way, as follows: who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ : God is the author and giver of all blessings; and he blesses his people with them, as he is the God and Father of Christ, and as he is their covenant God and Father in Christ; and he only can bless; if he blesses not, none can; and if he blesses, they are blessed indeed: the us that are blessed, are such who deserve, according to the tenor of the law, to be cursed; and are not all men, but some distinct from others; and who are before described as saints, and faithful in Christ Jesus; and include both Jews and Gentiles, who belong to the election of grace. And the blessings such are blessed with are spiritual, so called to distinguish them from temporal blessings. The Jews have the like distinction of twynmz twbwj , temporal blessings, and twynjwr twbwj , spiritual blessings f4 ; which latter are solid, substantial, and lasting blessings; and which concern the good of the soul or spirit of man; and are agreeable to, and desired by a spiritual man; and are applied by the Holy Spirit of God; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, with every blessing of the Holy Spirit: and which are very comprehensive, and take in all the fulness of grace in Christ; all the blessings and sure mercies of the everlasting covenant; all things pertaining to life and godliness, such as justification, peace, pardon, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life: and with these the saints are blessed in heavenly places; God that blesses them is in heaven, and so is Christ, in whom they are blessed; and the completion of their blessedness will be in heaven, where their hope is laid up, and their inheritance is reserved: and this phrase may denote the safety of them, being out of the reach of any enemy, sin, Satan, or the world, to deprive them of them, as well as the nature of them; for it may be read, in heavenly things, and so distinguishes these blessings from such as are of an earthly kind; and points at the original of them, being such as descend from above, come down from heaven; and also the tendency of them, which is to heaven; and being what give a right unto, and a meetness for the kingdom of heaven: and these they are blessed with in Christ; as he is their head and representative, and as they are members in him, and partakers of him; through whom, and for whose sake, they are conveyed unto them, and who himself is the sum and substance of them. Agreeably to this way of speaking, the Targumist, Jonathan ben Uzziel, on ( Numbers 6:27) paraphrases the last clause thus, I will bless them, yrmymb , in my word. The date of these blessings, hath blessed us, may respect either first conversion, when the discovery and application of the blessings of grace are made to God's people; or the making of the covenant with Christ, their head, to whom all grace was then given, and to them in him, and their election was in Christ, as follows.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 3-8 - Spiritual and heavenly blessings are the best blessings; with which we cannot be miserable, and without which we cannot but be so. This wa from the choice of them in Christ, before the foundation of the world that they should be made holy by separation from sin, being set apar to God, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, in consequence of their election in Christ. All who are chosen to happiness as the end, ar chosen to holiness as the means. In love they were predestinated, or fore-ordained, to be adopted as children of God by faith in Chris Jesus, and to be openly admitted to the privileges of that hig relation to himself. The reconciled and adopted believer, the pardone sinner, gives all the praise of his salvation to his gracious Father His love appointed this method of redemption, spared not his own Son and brought believers to hear and embrace this salvation. It was ric grace to provide such a surety as his own Son, and freely to delive him up. This method of grace gives no encouragement to evil, but show sin in all its hatefulness, and how it deserves vengeance. The believer's actions, as well as his words, declare the praises of Divin mercy.
Greek Textus Receptus
ευλογητος 2128 ο 3588 θεος 2316 και 2532 πατηρ 3962 του 3588 κυριου 2962 ημων 2257 ιησου 2424 χριστου 5547 ο 3588 ευλογησας 2127 5660 ημας 2248 εν 1722 παση 3956 ευλογια 2129 πνευματικη 4152 εν 1722 τοις 3588 επουρανιοις 2032 {2: εν 1722 } χριστω 5547
Vincent's NT Word Studies
3. Blessed (euloghtov). Placed first in the clause for emphasis, as always in the corresponding Hebrew in the Old Testament. The verb is commonly omitted - blessed the God. In the New Testament used of God only. The perfect participle of the verb, eujloghmenov blessed, is used of men. See on 1 Pet. i. 3. The word differs from that used in the Beatitudes, makariov. which denotes character, while this word denotes repute. Lit., well-spoken of.
God and Father of our Lord, etc. Some object to this rendering on the ground that the phrase God of Christ is unusual, occurring nowhere in Paul, except ver. 17 of this chapter. Such render, God who is also the Father, etc. But Christ of God is found Matt. xxvii. 46; and my God, John xx. 17; Apoc. iii. 12. Compare, also, 1 Cor. iii. 23; and the phrase is undoubted in ver. 17.
Hath blessed (euloghsav). Kindred with eujloghtov blessed.
Spiritual (pneumatikh). Another leading word. Spirit and spiritual occur thirteen times. Paul emphasizes in this epistle the work of the divine Spirit upon the human spirit. Not spiritual as distinguished from bodily, but proceeding from the Holy Spirit. Note the collocation of the words, blessed, blessed, blessing.
In the heavenly places (en toiv epouranioiv). Another keyword; one of the dominant thoughts of the epistle being the work of the ascended Christ. Places is supplied, the Greek meaning in the heavenlies. Some prefer to supply things, as more definitely characterizing spiritual blessing. But in the four other passages where the phrase occurs, i. 20; ii. 6; iii. 10; vi. 12, the sense is local, and ejpouraniov heavenly, is local throughout Paul's epistles. The meaning is that the spiritual blessings of God are found in heaven and are brought thence to us. Compare Philip. iii. 20.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:3 {Blessed} (eulogetos). Verbal of eulogew, common in the LXX for Hebrew _baruk_ (Vulgate _benedictus_) and applied usually to God, sometimes to men (#Ge 24:31), but in N.T. always to God (#Lu 1:68), while eulogemenos (perfect passive participle) is applied to men (#Lu 1:42). "While eulogemenos points to an isolated act or acts, eulogetos describes the intrinsic character" (Lightfoot). Instead of the usual eucaristoumen (#Col 1:3) Paul here uses eulogetos, elsewhere only in #2Co 1:3 in opening, though in a doxology in #Ro 1:25; 9:5; 2Co 11:31. The copula here is probably estin (is), though either estw (imperative) or eie (optative as wish) will make sense. {The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ} (ho qeos kai pater tou kuriou hemwn iesou cristou). kai is genuine here, though not in #Col 1:3. The one article (ho) with qeos kai pater links them together as in #1Th 1:3; 3:11,13; Ga 1:4. See also the one article in #2Pe 1:1,11. In #Eph 1:17 we have ho qeos tou kuriou hemwn iesou cristou, and the words of Jesus in #Joh 20:17. {Who hath blessed us} (ho eulogesas humas). First aorist active participle of eulogew, the same word, antecedent action to the doxology (eulogetos). {With} (en). So-called instrumental use of en though {in} is clear. {Every spiritual blessing} (pasei eulogiai pneumatikei). Third use of the root eulog (verbal, verb, substantive). Paul lovingly plays with the idea. The believer is a citizen of heaven and the spiritual blessings count for most to him. {In the heavenly places in Christ} (en tois epouraniois en Christ"i). In four other places in Eph. (#1:20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). this precise phrase (with en) occurs nowhere else in the N.T. and has a clearly local meaning in #1:20; 2:6; 3:10, doubtful in #6:12, but probably so here. In #2:6 the believer is conceived as already seated with Christ. Heaven is the real abode of the citizen of Christ's kingdom (#Php 3:20) who is a stranger on earth (#Php 1:27; Eph 2:19). The word epouranios (heavenly) occurs in various passages in the N.T. in contrast with ta epigeia (the earthly) as in #Joh 3:12; 1Co 15:40,48,49; Php 2:10, with patris (country) in #Heb 11:16, with klesis (calling) in #Heb 3:1, with dwrea (gift) in #Heb 6:4, with basileia (kingdom) in #2Ti 4:18.
