Abstract
The New Cambridge Bible Commentary series continues to add further volumes, especially in regard to New Testament texts – with eleven volumes now published. This volume on Ephesians is written by David DeSilva of Ashland Theological Seminary.
The introduction covers many of the issues surrounding this text, especially those that show both differences from and similarities with other Pauline letters. DeSilva comments that ‘no one doubts that it [Ephesians] seeks to represent, in some fashion, the essence of Paul’s calling, mission, message, and vision for the congregations he planted throughout the eastern Roman Empire’ (p. 2). On the basis of this comment he then asks the perennial question, ‘Is this discourse Paul’s own, or does it represent an early interpretation of Paul?’ (p. 2). Much of what follows in the introduction discusses the features of the letter relevant to that question, and in the process probes the issue of authorship. For DeSilva, Ephesians can be regarded as mixing to types of ancient letters, which he characterizes as the ‘celebratory’ and the ‘advisory’. Thus he highlights the mix of praise for the recipients in relation to their new status in Christ, while also counselling the audience to conform its pattern of behaviour to that newfound status. DeSilva provides a helpful and accessible discussion of the textual problem of the omission of the words ‘in Ephesus’ in certain early manuscripts of the letter (pp. 7–11), and further he examines the author’s relationship with the audience, the portrayal of Paul in the letter, the style and vocabulary, the theology contained in the letter, and the relationship of Ephesians to Colossians in order to examine the identity of the author. In the end, while acknowledging that the question of authorship is not clear-cut, DeSilva states that he is ‘less persuaded by the arguments in favour of pseudonymous authorship and more inclined to accept the letter’s claim to represent Paul’s mind and voice’ (p. 31). DeSilva also helpfully discusses the occasion and purpose of the letter, suggesting that its occasion might explain it lack of a single discernible purpose. Thus he suggests, [i]t is perhaps its quality as “last lecture” rather than a timely intervention in a specific crisis that makes Ephesians so winsomely accessible to readers in any time and place’ (p. 39).
The commentary section conforms to the style of the series. Each portion of text under consideration is given in English, the commentary itself draws on much recent scholarship with focused comments on certain verses or ideas while drawing out the overall meaning of the block of text being analysed. There is only limited reference to the Greek text, and even then the Greek is transliterated for ease of use by those who do not have facility in the ancient language. There is use of material contained in grey boxes either to provide additional background material, or for more focused discussion of textual issues. In addition, major blocks conclude with a section entitled ‘bridging the horizons’, which seek to provide helpful reflections on some of the abiding insights that can be drawn from the text.
This treatment of Ephesians is to be highly commended. The author has considered the issues surrounding the text at a deep level, and then managed to distil those insights into a form that is accessible for a general readership. This book will be of great use to those engaged in ministry, but also it contains important discussions that will benefit continuing scholarly discussions of the text.