The words are omitted in a MS. Of the tenth or eleventh century, and in a cursive of the eleventh or twelfth. The words ἐν Ἑφέσῳ in Ephesus, are also omitted from Eph 1:1, by two of the oldest MSS. On which fact has arisen the theory that the Ephesian Epistle was encyclical, or addressed to a circle of churches, and not merely to the church at Ephesus. This theory has been very widely received. With this has been combined the omission of in Rome from the Roman Epistle, and the attempt has been made to show that the Roman Epistle was likewise encyclical, and was sent to Ephesus, Thessalonica, and possibly to some other churches. Archdeacon Farrar advocates this view in “The Expositon,” first ser., 9, 211; and also in his “Life and Work of Paul,” ii., 170. This theory is used to defend the view which places the doxology of Rom 16:25-27 at the end of ch. 14. See note there.
Called to be saints (κλητοῖς ἁγίοις)
Or, saints by way of call. See on called to be an apostle, Rom 1:1. It is asserted that they are what they are called. The term ἅγιοι saints is applied to Christians in three senses in theNew Testament. 1, As members of a visible and local community (Act 9:32, Act 9:41; Act 26:10); 2, as members of a spiritual community (1Co 1:2; Col 3:12); 3, as individually holy (Eph 1:18; Col 1:12; Rev 13:10).