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I, Paul, A Prisoner of Christ Jesus



I, Paul, A Prisoner of Christ Jesus

Excerpt

‎Prisoner here is meant literally of physical imprisonment, not figuratively of the writer’s complete submission to Christ’s will (see also 4:1 and verse 6:20).

‎It may also be possible to translate the prisoner of Christ Jesus as “a prisoner because of what I have done for the sake of Christ Jesus,” or “I am in prison because I serve Jesus Christ.” There is, however, a problem in some languages in having a kind of triple apposition, namely, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus. This must be broken up in some languages to read “I, Paul, who am a prisoner for Christ Jesus’ sake.” In order that people may understand that prisoner is not to be taken in a figurative sense, one may translate I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus as “I, Paul, am in prison because of Christ Jesus”.

For the sake of you Gentiles: this is a further reason; Paul is a servant of Christ Jesus working for the good of the Gentiles. So the two phrases might be rendered: “I am a prisoner because as a servant of Christ Jesus I work on your behalf,” or “I am a prisoner because I serve Christ Jesus and work on your behalf”.


Bratcher, Robert G., and Eugene Albert Nida. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. New York: United Bible Societies, 1993. Print. UBS Handbook Series.

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