Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:17b-Is Paul Speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Human Spirit or a Wisdom that is Spiritual?

Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, after I myself heard about the faith among each and every one of you in the one and only Lord Jesus as well as you are practicing divine-love, which is on behalf of each and every one of the saints, 16 I never permit myself to cease regularly expressing thanks to the one and only God because of each and every one of you. I do this while disciplining myself to make it my practice of remembering each and every one of you during my prayers. 17 I make it a habit of occupying myself with praying that the God, that is, the glorious Father of the one and only Lord ruling over each and every one of us as a corporate unit, who is Jesus Christ, would cause each and every one of you to receive divine wisdom, specifically, divine revelatory wisdom provided by the one and only Spirit with respect to an experiential knowledge of Himself. (Lecturer’s translation)

We have a very difficult interpretative problem to address here in this hina direct object clause, which appears in Ephesians 1:17.

Namely, the problem is with regards to the accusative neuter singular form of the noun pneuma (πνεῦμα), which is interpreted by expositors in three ways: (1) “a spirit” of wisdom and revelation, (2) “the Spirit” of wisdom and revelation, or (3) “spiritual” wisdom and revelation.

I interpret the noun pneuma not only as a reference to the Holy Spirit but specifically as a reference to one of His post-justification ministries on behalf of the church age believer, namely that He provides them with divine wisdom from the revelation He provides in Scripture, which He inspired (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

Here it refers to the Holy Spirit providing divine wisdom for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the form of the divine revelation He provided through the apostolic teaching of Paul.

As several of the commentators have noted, this interpretation is indicated by the fact that revelation does not derive from the believer’s human spirit but rather they receive it from the Holy Spirit’s teaching, which appears in Paul’s writings and the entire New Testament.

Secondly, as Merkle and Hoehner point out “ἀποκάλυψις (and related words) always refers to a disclosure given by the triune God (cf. Matt 11:25, 27; 16:17; Rom 2:5; 8:19; 1 Cor 1:7; 2:10; Gal 1:12, 16; and esp. Eph 3:5).

However, since the ‘revelation’ word-group always describes a disclosure given by God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit, or is the result of events brought about by them,[1] it is more likely that our phrase is speaking of the Holy Spirit.”

As O’Brien states “since the ‘revelation’ word-group always describes a disclosure given by God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit, or is the result of events brought about by them,[2] it is more likely that our phrase is speaking of the Holy Spirit; hence the NIV rendering the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.”[3]

Thirdly, as Hoehner pointed out citing Meyer “whenever πνεῦμα, ‘spirit,’ is the predicate of ‘to give,’ as is the case in this verse, it always refers to the objective spirit, whether it be divine or demonical (e.g., Luke 11:13; John 3:34; Acts 8:18; 15:8; Rom 5:5; 1 Thess 4:8; 1 John 3:24).[4]”[5]

Fourthly, as Hoehner also states, “other genitival expressions such as ‘Spirit of truth’ (John 15:26), ‘Spirit of his Son’ (Gal 4:6), and ‘Spirit of God’ (Matt 12:28) refer to the Holy Spirit.”[6]

Hoehner further points out that “Paul is not praying that they be given the Holy Spirit for he has already been imparted to them. Rather, he is praying for a specific manifestation of the Spirit so that the believers will have insight and know something of God’s mysteries as a result of the Holy Spirit’s revelation.”[7]

Lastly, in Ephesians 1:13-14, the apostle Paul just mentioned the sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit at the justification of the recipients of the Ephesian epistle, and which ministry he asserts is the down payment of their inheritance until the Father redeems them as His possession at the rapture of the church.

Therefore, we can see that Ephesians 1:17 contains a triadic pattern.

Thus, like Paul’s doxology in Ephesians 1:3-14, his intercessory prayer on behalf of the recipients of the Ephesian epistle here in Ephesians 1:15-23 contains a triadic pattern because it mentions each member of the Trinity.

Ephesians 1:3-6 describe the Father’s work in electing the church age believer in eternity past while Ephesians 1:7-12 describe the work of the Son in redeeming them at the cross and Ephesians 1:13-14 describe the work of the Holy Spirit in sealing them as the Father’s possession at their justification.

Now, here in Ephesians 1:17, Paul asserts that he addresses God the Father when interceding in prayer on behalf of the recipients of the Ephesian epistle.

He then describes God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lastly, he asks that the Father provide the recipients divine wisdom, and specifically a divine revelatory wisdom provided by the Holy Spirit.

Here in Ephesians 1:17, I believe that the noun pneumashould be translated “the one and only Spirit” since it is functioning as a definite anarthrous noun and is a monadic noun with a genitive adjunct, which together express a monadic idea.

When a noun is anarthrous it can have one of three forces: (1) indefinite, (2) qualitative (3) definite.

I believe the force of the anarthrous construction of this noun is definite.

Wallace writes “A definite noun lays the stress on individual identity. It has in view membership in a class, but this particular member is already marked out by the author. Definite nouns have unique referential identity.[8]”[9]

Wallace also points out that an anarthrous noun may be definite under certain conditions.

He lists the following: (1) if the noun is a proper name (2) if it is the object of a preposition (3) if it is used with ordinal numbers (4) if it is used as a predicate nominative (5) if it is used as a complement in an object-complement construction (6) if the noun is monadic (7) if the noun is an abstract noun (8) if the word is used in a genitive construction (Apollonius’ Corollary) (9) if it is used with a pronomial adjective (10) if is a generic noun.

I believe that the noun pneuma here in Ephesians 1:17 is a monadic noun, which means as Wallace states it is a one of a kind noun indicating that the Holy Spirit is one of a kind.

Furthermore, the word’s genitive adjunct sophias kai apokalypseōs (σοφίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως) indicates that the entire expression pneuma sophias kai apokalypseōs (πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως) contains a monadic idea.

The monadic idea of this expression is that the Holy Spirit is the only one who can provide divine wisdom on behalf of the church age believer because He is the member of the Trinity who provides divine revelation which He communicates through the Scriptures, which He inspired.

. here (cf sim. similar(ly) . Matt 11:25, 27; 16:17; Rom 2:5; 8:19; 1 Cor 1:7; 2:10; Gal 1:12, 16; and esp cf. is used to direct the reader to: (1) a similar or relevant biblical passage, or (2) a view similar to but not identical with the view just expressed, or (3) a general treatment of the point under consideration in one or more of the grammars, commentaries, or dictionaries. . Eph 3:5). However, since the esp. especially [1] Matt. 11:25, 27; 16:17; Rom. 2:5; 8:19; 1 Cor. 1:7; 2:10; Gal. 1:12, 16; Eph. 3:5. [2] Matt. 11:25, 27; 16:17; Rom. 2:5; 8:19; 1 Cor. 1:7; 2:10; Gal. 1:12, 16; Eph. 3:5. V rendering NIV New International Version [3] O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians(p. 132). W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [4] Meyer, 70 n. 1. [5] Hoehner, H. W. (2002). Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary(p. 257). Baker Academic. [6] Hoehner, H. W. (2002). Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary(p. 257). Baker Academic. [7] Hoehner, H. W. (2002). Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary(p. 258). Baker Academic. [8] Givόn, Syntax, 399. He defines definite as follows: “Speakers code a referential nominal as definite if they think that they are entitled to assume that the hearer can—by whatever means—assign it unique reference.” [9] Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (p. 245). Zondervan Publishing House and Galaxie Software.