Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Structure of Ephesians 1:15-23

The following is a broad analysis of the structure of Ephesians 1:15-23:

Eph 1:15-23 = A Prayer of thanksgiving, intercession, and praise
Eph 1:15 = Reasons for Paul's prayer
Eph 1:16 = Paul's response
Eph 1:17-23 = Content of Paul's prayer (growth in maturity & understanding of Christ's work)
v. 17-18a = Request for strengthening by the Spirit (growth in practical wisdom & understanding)
v. 18b-19a = Description of the resulting revelatory work of the Spirit
v. 19b-23 = Elaboration of God's power (cf. 1:19a)
v. 21-23 = Elaboration of Christ's supremacy over good and evil
v. 23 = Summary statement describing Christ's supremacy

1 comment:

JRandal said...

You don't, then, go for a chiastic structure for the prayer, as per Heil?