Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ephesians 1:16
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
16. cease not, &c.] For similar thanksgivings cp. Rom 1:8; 1Co 1:4; Php 1:3; Col 1:3 ; 1Th 1:2; 1Th 2:13 ; 2Th 1:3; 2Th 2:13; Phm 1:4. The thanks were literally “unceasing” in principle, and, in practice, came out on every fit occasion.
making mention of you ] For parallels, see the contexts of the passages just quoted, and 2Ti 1:3. The phrase implies the expression of individual remembrance. It might be literally “by name,” or not. How much of the Apostle’s work for his converts consisted in the holy labour of special intercessory prayer, with thanksgiving! In his Roman lodging this was the case, perhaps, even more than ever.
The recorded prayers of St Paul form in themselves one of the richest of Scripture studies. Most observable in them is their almost invariable intercessory direction. He thinks of others, not of self, upon his knees. On that which now follows Bengel remarks, “ Argumentum precum pro veris Christianis,” “heads of prayer for true Christians.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Cease not to give thanks for you – In the prosperity of the church at Ephesus he could not but feel the deepest interest, and their welfare he never forgot.
Making mention of you in my prayers – Paul was far distant from them, and expected to see them no more. But he had faith in prayer, and he sought that they might advance in knowledge and in grace. What was the particular subject of his prayers, he mentions in the following verses.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. Cease not to give thanks] The apostle intimates, so fully satisfied was he of the genuineness of their conversion, and of their steadiness since their conversion, that it was to him a continual cause of thanksgiving to God, who had brought them into that state of salvation; and of prayer, that they might be preserved blameless to the end.
Making mention of you] While praying for the prosperity of the Christian cause generally, he was led, from his particular affection for them, to mention them by name before God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Cease not to give thanks for you; for your faith and love, and all the spiritual blessings God hath bestowed upon you.
Making mention of you in my prayers; I not only acknowledge what ye have received, but pray that what is yet lacking in you may be made up.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. (Col1:9).
of youomitted in theoldest manuscripts. Then the translation may be as English Versionstill, or as ALFORD,”making mention of them” (your “faith andlove”).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Cease not to give thanks for you,…. On account of their faith and love; which were gifts of grace bestowed upon them, and not the produce of their own free will and power; and therefore thanks are given to God for them:
making mention of you in my prayers; which shows the apostle to be a praying person, and that he was constant at the throne of grace, where he prayed for others as well as for himself; and it points out the time and way, when, and in which he gave thanks to God for them; and is mentioned, not only to testify his great affection for them, but also to excite them, by his example, to the practice of those duties themselves.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I do not cease ( ). Singular present middle, while in Col 1:9 Paul uses the plural (literary, or including Timothy), .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Making mention, etc. As I make mention. The same expression occurs Rom 1:9; Phi 1:4; Phl 1:4.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Cease not to give thanks for you” (ou pauomai euchariston huper humon) “Do not cease (of my own accord) giving thanks on behalf of you all (at Ephesus). ” Unceasing gratitude to God for the labors of others is a Christian virtue that should be cultivated and practiced by every believer. Paul thanked God for 1) the Roman brethren, Rom 1:8; Romans 2) the ‘Philippian brethren, Php_1:3; Philippians , 3) Phm 1:4.
2 “Making mention of you in my prayers” (mneian poioumenos epi ton proseuchon mou) “Continually making mention (of you) in my prayers.” As our Lord prayed for His church and those who should later believe on Him, even for believers today; and as He now prays, making intercession for believers at the right hand of the Father, so should every true believer, especially those in bonds of a covenant fellowship church, pray one for” another and for missionaries and brethren in sister churches. Such is of divine command and brings heaven’s blessings on those who practice it. Joh 17:9-21; Heb 7:25; Heb 8:1; Heb 9:24; 1Jn 2:2; Gal 6:1-2; Jas 5:16.
THEN LET US PRAY
The day was long, the burden I had borne Seemed heavier than I could longer bear; And then it lifted — but I did not know Someone had knelt in prayer.
Had taken me to God that very hour, And asked the easing of the load, and He In infinite compassion, had stooped down And lifted the burden from me.
We cannot tell how often as we pray For some bewildered one, hurt and distressed The answer comes, but many times these hearts Find sudden peace and rest.
Someone had prayed, and faith, a lifted hand Reached up to God, and He reached down that day. So many, many hearts have need of prayer —Then, let us, let us pray.
–Selected
There’s a holy, high vocation
Needing workers everywhere; Ms the highest form of service,
‘Tis the ministry of prayer.
Do you long to see the millions,
Who are perishing today, Snatched as brands plucked from the burning?
Do you long, yet seldom pray?
Come and join the intercessors!
Laurels, then, some day you’ll wear; For there is no higher service
Than the ministry of prayer.
–Selected
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. Making mention of you. To thanksgiving, as his custom is, he adds prayer, in order to excite them to additional progress. It was necessary that the Ephesians should understand that they had entered upon the proper course. But it was equally necessary that they should not turn aside to any new scheme of doctrine, or become indifferent about proceeding farther; for nothing is more dangerous than to be satisfied with that measure of spiritual benefits which has been already obtained. Whatever, then, may be the height of our attainments, let them be always accompanied by the desire of something higher.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.Almost all St. Pauls Epistles are introduced by this union of thanksgiving and prayer, which is, indeed, characteristic of the right harmony of all Christian worship. (See Rom. 1:8-9; Php. 1:3-4; Col. 1:3-4; 1Th. 1:2-3; 2Ti. 1:3; Phm. 1:4.) In the Galatian Epistle the omission of both is characteristic; in the two Epistles to the Corinthians thanksgiving alone is explicit, though prayer may be implied. But the proportion of the two elements varies. Here the thanksgiving has already been offered, although in the widest generality. Accordingly all that follows is prayer. In the parallel Colossian Epistle (Col. 1:3-13), which has no corresponding preface of thanksgiving, both elements are co-ordinate, with perhaps a slight predominance of thanksgiving.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Cease not This implies three things: 1. That the apostle was incessant in prayer. 2. That individual objects dear to his heart were specially introduced into his prayers; and, 3. That his Ephesians were, after his hearing of their faith had aroused his interest and hope, among those special objects.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eph 1:16 . ] a popular form of hyperbole. My thanksgiving so full and urgent is it can find no end. Comp. 1Th 1:2 ; Luk 2:37 ; Herod, vii. 107: .
] to give thanks on your account . On the participle , see Herm. ad Viger. p. 771; Bernhardy, p. 477; and on ( super vobis), comp. Eph 5:20 ; Rom 1:8 , Elz.; 1Ti 2:1 .
. ] accompanying definition to : while I make mention in my prayers . Comp. Rom 1:9 ; 1Th 1:2 ; Phi 1:3 ; Phm 1:4 . What Paul makes mention of is learned from the context, which furnishes not merely (Elz.; see the critical remarks), but a more precise definition, namely: of what he has heard concerning the faith and love of the readers , and for which he gives thanks on their account. This . . ., however, is not superfluous, and after . . self-evident; but it serves, through the close joining on to it of the following . . . (after Eph 1:16 only a comma is to be placed), as a means of leading over from the thanksgiving to the intercession connected with it, and is thereby accounted for .
] of the prevailing relations and circumstances, in or under which anything takes place. See on Rom 1:10 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Ver. 16. Making mention of you ] Whether a minister shall do more good to others by his prayers or preaching, I will not determine (saith a grave divine), but he shall certainly by his prayers reap more comfort to himself.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eph 1:16 . : cease not to give thanks for you . The is most naturally connected with the nearer participle. There is no reason why the remoter participle should be made the leading term, as some construe it, rendering it so “I cease not, while giving thanks for you, to make mention,” etc. (Abbott). The verb , which is used in later Greek both in the sense of feeling thankful and in that of giving thanks , occurs in none of the NT Epistles except in that bearing Paul’s name. In these it is found some twenty-six times. It also appears once in Revelation, twice in Acts, and more frequently in the Gospels. : making mention of you . Documentary evidence is against the insertion of . Though it is supported by considerable authorities ( [88] [89] [90] [91] , Vulg., Syr., Boh., Orig., etc.), it has no place in [92] [93] [94] [95] 1 , etc., and is omitted by LTTrWH and the Revisers. The subject of the , therefore, must be understood. It may be , or it may rather be the preceding and . In the phrase the noun seems to have the sense of mention . In other connections it has the sense of mindfulness ( , 1Th 3:6 ) or that of remembrance (Phi 1:3 ). : in my prayers , On as here = in see Blass, Gram. of N. T. Greek , p. 137; Win.-Moult., p. 470; Bernh., Synt. , p. 246. The local reference proper to (as the preposition answering the question Where?), however, is not wholly sunk in the temporal sense. See Ell. on 1Th 1:2 . Winer takes it to express the idea of something attaching itself to something else. The word for prayer used here is one of frequent occurrence in the NT, sometimes joined with ( e.g. , Eph 6:18 ; Phi 4:6 , etc.), and sometimes with as well (1Ti 2:1 ). The most general term is = precatio , and that term is not used but of prayer to God . , which can be used also of addresses to men, has the more definite sense of petitio, rogatio ; while , which means a falling in with, conference, conversation , and goes beyond the idea of intercession (as our AV renders it), expresses prayer as the converse of the soul with God, with the notion of urgency and filial confidence. See Huther and Ell. on 1Ti 2:1 ; Win.-Moult., sub ; Light. on Phi 4:6 ; Trench, Syn., sub voce.
[88] Codex Claromontanus (sc. vi.), a Grco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.
[89] Codex Mosquensis (sc. ix.), edited by Matthi in 1782.
[90] Codex Angelicus (sc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.
[91] Codex Porphyrianus (sc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Eph 2:13-16 .
[92] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[93] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[94] Codex Alexandrinus (sc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).
[95] Codex Claromontanus (sc. vi.), a Grco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
give thanks. Greek. eucharisteo. First occurance: Mat 15:36. With its noun and adjective occuring fifty-five times (thirty-eight in Paul’s Epp.) See App-10.
making mention, &c. See Rom 1:9. In a papyrus of second century A.D. the mention of assurance of intercession for a sister in the same words is found in a letter from a soldier.
prayers. App-134.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eph 1:16. , I do not cease) Paul made mention of all the churches in his prayers; Col 1:9.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Eph 1:16
Eph 1:16
cease not to give thanks for you,-A remarkable feature of Pauls life was the frequency of his thanksgiving, indicating the prevalence in him of a bright, joyous state of mind, and tending to increase and perpetuate the same. Constantly to recognize Gods goodness in the past begets a larger expectation of him in the future.
making mention of you in my prayers;-[While thankful for them his heart was not satisfied regarding them-he wished them to forget the things behind, and reach forth to those before. His prayers for the saints are always remarkable. They are very short, but wonderfully deep and comprehensive; very rich and sublime in aspiration; powerful in their pleas, whether expressed or implied; and exhaustive in their range of blessings which they implore.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Cease: Rom 1:8, Rom 1:9, 1Sa 7:8, 1Sa 12:23, Phi 1:3, Phi 1:4, Col 1:3, 1Th 5:17, 2Th 1:3
making: Gen 40:14, Isa 62:6, 1Th 1:2
Reciprocal: Joh 16:24 – in Rom 6:17 – But Eph 3:14 – I Eph 5:4 – but Eph 6:18 – Praying Col 1:9 – since 2Th 1:11 – we pray 2Ti 1:3 – I thank Phm 1:4 – General 3Jo 1:3 – when
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Eph 1:16.) -I cease not giving thanks for you. is thus used,Eph 5:20; 1Ti 2:1. , in the sense of to give thanks, belongs to the later Greek, for, prior to the age of Polybius, it signified to please or to gratify. Phryn. ed. Lobeck, p. 18. Instead of a participle the infinitive is sometimes employed, but there is a difference of meaning. The participle expresses an action which already exists, and this form of construction prevails in the New Testament. As one giving thanks for you I cease not. The infinitive would mean, I cease not from a supposed period to give thanks. Winer, 45, 4; Stuart, 167; Scheuerlein, 45, 5; Hermann, Ad Viger. p. 771; Bernhardy, p. 477. The Gothic version of Ulphilas has preserved the peculiar point of the expression-unsveibands aviliudo,-non-cessans gratias dico. The apostle, though he had visited them, does not felicitate himself on his pastoral success among them, but gives thanks on this account to God, for His grace had changed them, and had sustained them in their Christian profession.
-making mention of you in my prayers. Rom 1:9; Php 1:3; 1Th 1:2-3. Some MSS., as A, B, and D, omit , and it is rejected by Lachmann; but there is no good reason for its exclusion, for it may have been omitted because of the previous so close upon it, for A and B have the same omission in 1Th 1:2. F and G place the pronoun after the participle. The terms and are not to be identified. The apostle gave thanks, and his thanks ended in prayer. As he blessed God for what they had enjoyed, he implored that they should enjoy more. He thanked for their faith and hope, and he prayed as he glanced into the future. And he made special mention of the Ephesian church; in the middle voice implying-for himself- . The preposition has a temporal meaning with a sub-local reference. Bernhardy, p. 246; Winer, 47, g, d; Stallbaum’s Plato, de Rep. p. 460. He did it as his usual work and pleasure, and perhaps the language implies that he made formal mention of them whenever and wherever he prayed. He yearned over them as his children in Christ, and he bore their names on his heart before the Lord in fervent, repeated, and effectual intercession.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Eph 1:16. Paul was thankful for the encouragement of faithful brethren, for that was of more value than temporal favors. Making mention of you. It is a common thing for brethren to specify to God the “objects of their prayers” when asking for divine favors on their behalf, but it is seldom that personal mention is made of those for whose services we should be thankful. Paul’s example should have our careful consideration, in which he not only thanked God for the faithfulness of these brethren, but also prayed for the continued favors of the Lord upon them as we shall soon see.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eph 1:16. Cease not to give thanks for you. Eadie: As one giving thanks I cease not. In the O. T. confession precedes thanksgiving, but the Apostle almost invariably begins his Epistles with thanksgiving, which befits the privileged condition of Christians. For you, lit, over you, with the idea of protecting them.
Making mention of you. The best authorities omit of you, which, however, is the necessary sense, though some would supply in thought your faith and love. This specifies when and how he gives thanks.
In my prayers. When at my prayers and in my prayers; it being impossible to separate the temporal and local senses of the preposition used. No thanksgiving without petition, so long as perfection and completion are not yet there (Stier).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
16. Do not cease giving thanks in your behalf, making mention of you in my prayers. The globe of salvation contains two hemispheres; i.e., faith, which is the human side; and love, the Divine. Faith is the only human condition of salvation; it is the only hand competent to receive the things of God, repentance on the part of the sinner, to put him on believing ground for justification by faith, while entire consecration is the sine qua non indispensable to put the Christian on believing ground, where he can be sanctified by faith. The sinner can not exercise faith for pardon unless he is on believing ground, which is the utter and eternal abnegation of all his sins; while it is equally true that no Christian can be sanctified by faith till he gets on believing ground, which is a radical and unequivocal consecration of all to God for time and eternity. Love here is agape, divine love, in contradistinction to philia, human love, which is peculiar to fallen humanity, and destitute of saving grace. The rich man had it in hell; so he wanted to send a missionary to his brothers, to keep them out of that awful doom. This love is the Divine nature (1Jn 4:16), and is only native in the heart of God, transmitted to us by the Holy Ghost by regeneration. (Rom 5:5.) Hence this love is exotic in the human heart, while the philia is indigenous. Popular religion stops with this human love, which is utterly destitute of salvation, and lets the people fall into hell like Dives. It is utterly impossible for any one to possess this Divine love till the Holy Ghost pours it out in the heart.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
“Thanks” is the Greek word “Eucharisteo” which simply means thanks, or to give thanks, or be thankful. It is the word that eucharist comes from. The eucharist is the “body” that the Roman church offers – the actual body of Christ that it offers often in the mass, that literal actual body, in their minds, that they offer.
It is of note in my mind that Webster in his 1828 dictionary uses the term in a positive protestant way. “The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; the solemn act or ceremony of commemorating the death of our Redeemer, in the use of bread and wine, as emblems of his flesh and blood, accompanied with appropriate prayers and hymns.” He also lists the thought of giving thanks.
Giving thanks for the Lord’s sacrifice would be the thought of the term. This brings to mind a question that only history can answer. Did the church through the ages consider the Lord’s Table a table of thanksgiving? Was the purpose of the Lord’s Table thanksgiving?
Since the Lord called it a remembrance, then I would think if thanksgiving is a part of it, it is a lesser part than remembrance. In all the observances I have been to, the prayers always reflect a thanksgiving for the shed blood and broken body of the Lord, but where does that come from within the context of a remembrance observance?
The term is always, as far as I can tell, related to thanking God in the New Testament. It is used in relation to the Lord’s Table observance. Thus, it would seem that it should be an integrated part of that observance. We are to remember the sacrifice of the Lord, and this would almost automatically bring us to a point of thanksgiving for what He has done for us.
This brings another question to mind. Why was Christ giving thanks when observing the Lord’s Table with the apostles? He had no reason to thank God for his broken body and shed blood. Or did He? Since God the Father would give all the redeemed to Christ, He might have been looking forward to the completed work and the knowledge of what He had provided for all those that soon would be His.
First of all the term is not exclusively used with the Lord’s Table. It is used at the miracle of the fish and loaves in Mat 15:36 which relates only to thanksgiving related to the food table, so to speak.
The fact that the word is used elsewhere in situations not relating to the Lord’s Table, it would seem that giving thanks for items received at the food table is the natural thing for us to do. At the Lord’s Table there is special significance and it certainly moves one to thank God for Christ’s provision. We thank Him for food at the food table, so we should thank Him for what we receive at the Lord’s Table, the juice and bread that remind us of the Lord’s sacrifice for us.
Paul knows of their faith and prays for them. He mentions his requests in the next verse, but at this point considers what it would be like to have someone like Paul praying for you. Not only is he thanking God for them, he is interceding on their behalf as well. That would be a big confidence builder to me to know he was thankful for my assembly and that he wanted to pray for it.
Years ago I stopped in at a small church for a meeting. A church that I was totally unacquainted with. After the meeting I was standing at the back door greeting people and an old couple walked up. The man opened his Bible and displayed one of our prayer cards and said, “We are still praying for you.”
I was unable to talk to the couple over and above a short greeting and thank you. I often wondered about two things. First, where they had gotten our prayer card, as it was about three years old, and I don’t think that I had ever met them. Secondly, I wondered at length what it was that caught their attention with us to cause them to pray for us for three years without having any current information about us. They were not on our prayer letter list so had no real contact with us.
At any rate, I have to tell you I was so greatly encouraged with that simple comment, “We are still praying for you.” What a boost to my week to know that I had that old couple on my side before the Lord. What a ministry they had to me and I did not even know it.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
These qualities in his readers stimulated Paul to give thanks to God for their present condition and to petition Him for their present and future needs. He said he prayed for them repeatedly. [Note: See W. B. Pope, The Prayers of St. Paul.]