Ephesians Hebraically – Intro

Kurios יהוה: Torot of first mention: Genesis 15:8 the coming of Kurios/Adonay יהוה at the Malki-Tzedik covenant of the pieces. Kurios emphasizes Yahusha as the fulfiller of the death penalty, bringing salvation and deliverance to the tzadik’s whilst bringing judgement upon their oppressors! Shalom & Spirit: Paul’s matured; he’s gone from doctrine and reasoned argument into doxology and prayer. The words ‘en Ephesious’ (at Ephesus) are absent from some of the oldest textual witnesses, as well as manuscripts mentioned by Basil and the text used by Origen. 1:15 Therefore, ever since I heard of your trust in the Lord Yeshua and of your love for all the kedoshim, 3:2 Surely you have heard about the plan of God’s grace given to me for you— 4:21 if indeed you have heard Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Yeshua. These verses  show & establish a detached relationship between Paul and his audience. A circular: a letter that was intended for various assemblies throughout Asia Minor; Tychichus was the courier (6:21) and Ephesus could have been its point of origin and from where it was distributed to other congregations. Paul most probably sent the letter with Tychicus when he sent Colossians and the letter was copied and circulated from Ephesus, as a circular it would make sense that they’d be a blank in v.1 where the name destination assembly ‘at ……’ could be inserted, which would account for the earlier textual witness not having ‘at Ephesus.’ You can see that this kind of circular letter writing went on in Colossians: 4:15: Greet the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, as well as Nympha and the community that meets in her house. When this letter has been read among you, make sure that it is also read in Messiah’s community of Laodicea. In turn, you should read my letter coming from Laodicea. So it could actually be the text ‘Ephesians’ that was written to the Laodiceans; ’and in turn, you should read my letter coming from Laodicea.’ You can see that Colossians and Ephesians are strikingly similar. 34% of Colossians is paralleled in some way with Ephesian’s;  and 26.5% of Ephesians is paralleled in some way by Colossians. (Colossians preceded Ephesians). Hebrew – Aramaic – Greek?  No reputable scholar has ever suggested a Hebrew or Aramaic origin for the Epistle of Ephesians. Did Paul write Ephesians? Not everyone agrees that Paul wrote the letter; in fact Ephesian’s is part of the collection of what’s called the ‘Deutero-Pauline’ letters which includes Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy and Titus. Texts where Paul’s authorship is disputed. If Paul was imprisoned, as we know he was, and Tychicus was his courier, as we know he was, then it;’s not improbable that Tychicus could of acted like a secretary and helped Paul compose the letter. This would then account for any stylistic and vocabulary differences that some get too hung up on;  in my opinion. History tells us that the early Church accepted genuine Pauline authorship; it was accepted into the Apostolic Cannon, the letter was known to Clement of Rome and Irenaeus. Even the heretic Marcion acknowledged genuine Pauline authorship. Location: where was Paul when he wrote Ephesians? It could be part of the ‘Prison Epistles’ like Phil, Col and Philemon. 3:1  For this reason I, Paul, am a prisoner of Messiah Yeshua for the sake of you Gentiles. 4:1 Therefore I, a prisoner for the Master.  6:20 I am an ambassador in chains. Date: 60-62 CE. City of Ephesus: the leading city of the richest region in the Roman Empire, a major political and religious center of Asia Minor, a major seaport and trading area with a amphitheater that could seat up to 24,000 people. Originally a Greek city which was taken by the Persians (546 BCE) only to be liberated by Alexander the Great (334 BCE). Later it fell under the wing of the Seleucid Dynasty which in turn fell to the Romans in 133BCE and was totally under their control. Pagan worship was prevalent, especially the veneration