to ask (in genitive case) · verb — present middle indicative, 1st person plural
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
think
νοοῦμενnooumen
G3539
to exercise the mind (observe) · verb — present active indicative, 1st person plural
to
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
power
δύναμινdunamin
G1411
force (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
that
τὴνtēn
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative singular feminine
worketh
ἐνεργουμένηνenergoumenēn
G1754
to be active · verb — present middle participle, accusative singular feminine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
us
ἡμῖνhēmîn
G2254
to (or for
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Romans 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for t…
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for the…
Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ephesians 3:14–end
We now come to the second part of this chapter, which contains Paul's devout and affectionate prayer to God for his beloved Ephesians. - For this cause. This may be referred either to the immediately foregoing verse, That you faint not, etc., or, rather, the apostle is here resuming what he began at the first verse, from which he digressed in those which are interposed. Observe,
I. To whom he prays - to God, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of which see Eph 1:3.
II. His outward posture in prayer, which was humble and reverent: I bow my knees. Note, When we draw nigh to God, we should reverence him in our hearts, and express our reverence in the most suitable and becoming behaviour and…
unto him--contrasted with ourselves and our needs. Translate, "that is able above all things (what is above all things) to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or (even) think": thought takes a wider range than prayers. The word, above, occurs thrice as often in Paul's writings, as in all the rest of the New Testament, showing the warm exuberance of Paul's spirit.
according to the power--the indwelling Spirit (Rom 8:26). He appeals to their and his experience.
Adam Clarke on Ephesians 3:20
Now unto him - Having finished his short, but most wonderfully comprehensive and energetic prayer, the apostle brings in his doxology, giving praise to Him from whom all blessings come, and to whom all thanks are due.
That is able to do exceeding abundantly - It is impossible to express the full meaning of these words, God is omnipotent, therefore he is able to do all things, and able to do ὑπερ εκ περισσου, superabundantly above the greatest abundance. And who can doubt this, who has any rational or Scriptural views of his power or his love?
All that we ask or think - We can ask every good of which we have heard, every good which God has promised in his word; and we can think of, or imagin…
He is praying to God the Father that we might know better what is expedient for us, and what had better not be asked for, and when something should be given, and how much of it and exactly what we really need. He prays that God himself might fittingly govern those who believe in him by his own providence and power.
He says in effect: "I pray that you will do these things and understand these things. If, however, anyone is able to do more and more abundantly and go beyond these things—that is, beyond what I ask or understand—praise be to him. Yet whoever does more abundantly will receive this ability through the same power that works within us all, namely, through the power of God and Christ our Lord."
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." That God hath done "abundantly above all that we ask or think," is evident from what the Apostle himself hath written. For I indeed, saith he, pray, but He of Himself, even without any prayer of mine, will do works greater than all we ask, not simply "greater," nor "abundantly greater," but "exceeding abundantly." And this is evident from "the power, that worketh in us:" for neither did we ever ask these things, nor did we expect them. However, what is higher than the being "strengthened with might," in order to have Christ within? Vast are the things we ask, saith he, yet is He able to do above even them, so that not only doth He love us, but doth so intensely. Be it our care therefore, beloved, to understand the love of God. A great thing indeed is this; nothing is so beneficial to us, nothing so deeply touches us: more availing this to convince our souls than the fear of hell itself. Whence then shall we understand it? Both from the sources now mentioned, and from the things which happen every day. For from what motive have these things been done for us? from what necessity on His part? None whatever. Over and over again he lays down love as the cause. But the highest degree of love is that where men receive a benefit, without any prior service on their part to call for it.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ephesians, Epistle to — Was written by Paul at Rome about the same time as that to the Colossians, which in many points it resembles. Contents of. The Epistle to the Colossians is mainly polemical, designed to refute…
Fellowship — (1.) With God, consisting in the knowledge of his will (Job 22:21; John 17:3); agreement with his designs (Amos 3:2); mutual affection (Rom. 8: 38, 39); enjoyment of his presence (Ps. 4:6);…
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Power Of God, The · Works in, and for saints — Works in, and for saints
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Ephesians 3:20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly,.... This is the conclusion of the apostle's prayer, in which the power of God is celebrated, a perfection which is essential unto God, and is very large and extensive; it reaches to all things, to every thing that he wills, which is his actual or ordinative power; and to more things than he has willed, which is his absolute power; and to all things that have been, are, or shall be, and to things impossible with men; though there are some things which God cannot do, such as are contrary to his nature, inconsistent with his will, his decrees and purposes, which imply a contradiction, and are foreign to truth, which to do would be to deny hi…
Ephesians 3:20-21
20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
20. Ei autem, qui potest cumulate super omnia facere, quae petimus aut cogitamus, secundum potentiam in nobis agentem,
21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
21. Sit gloria in Ecclesia per Iesum Christum, in omnes aetates seculi seculorum. Amen.
20. Now to him. He now breaks out into thanksgiving, which serves the additional purpose of exhorting the Ephesians to maintain "good hope through grace," (2 Thessalonians 2:16,) and to endeavor constantly to obtain more and more adequate c…
This doxology concludes the first section of the letter (see also Rom 16:25-27; Gal 1:5; 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Jude 1:24-25).
3:20 all glory to God: Because of the grace God has shown in Jesus Christ, he deserves nothing less. • The mighty power at work within us is the power of the living God that raised Christ from the dead (see 1:19-20). By that power, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think, because God is at work in the lives of his children (see Rom 8:31-39; Phil 4:13; Col 1:29).
