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Eph_1:11. Ἐν αὐτῷ ] resumes with emphasis the ἐν Χριστῷ (Herm. ad Viger. pp. 734, 735; Bernhardy, p. 289 f.), in order to attach thereto the following relative clause (Kühner, II. § 630, 5); hence before ἐν αὐτῷ a comma is to be placed, and after it not a full stop, but only a comma (so, too, Lachmann, Teschendorf). Comp. on Col_1:20.
ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκληρώθημεν ] in whom (is the causal basis, that) we have also obtained the inheritance. καί , in the sense of also actually introduces the accomplishment corresponding to the preparation (which was expressed by ἣν προέθετο ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς οἰκονομίαν κ . τ . λ .). See Hartung, Partikel. I. p. 132; Klotz, ad Devar. 636 f.; Baeumlein, Partik. 152. It has reference to the thing, not to the persons, since otherwise it must have run καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐκληρ ., as in Eph_1:13; hence the translation of the Vulgate: “in quo etiam nos,” etc., and others (including Erasmus, Paraphr., and Rosenmüller), is incorrect. The subject is not the Jewish Christians (Grotius, Estius, Wetstein, Rosenmüller, Meier, Harless, Schenkel, and others), because there is no antithesis of ἡμεῖς and ὑμεῖς , Eph_1:13, but the Christians in general. ἐκληρώθημεν means: we were made partakers of the κλῆρος (Act_26:18; Col_1:12), that is, of the possession of the Messianic kingdom, which before the Parousia is an ideal possession (Eph_1:14; Rom_8:24), and thereafter a real one. The expression itself is to be explained in accordance with the ancient theocratic idea of the ðÇçÂìÈä (Deu_4:20; Deu_9:26; Deu_9:29), which has been transferred from its original Palestinian reference (Mat_5:5) to the kingdom of the Messiah, and thus raised to its higher Christian meaning (see on Gal_3:18); and the passive form of this word, which is not met with elsewhere in the N.T., is quite like φθονοῦμαι , διακονοῦμαι , πιστεύομαι (see on Gal_4:20), since we find κληροῦν τινί used (Pind. Ol. viii. 19; Thuc. vi. 42). Others (Vulgate, Ambrosiaster, Chrysostom, Erasmus, Estius, de Wette, and Bleek) have insisted on the signification of being chosen by lot (1Sa_14:41-42; Herod, i. 94; Polyb. vi. 38. 2; Eurip. Ion. 416, al.), and have found as the reason for the use of the expression: “quia in ipsis electis nulla est causa, cur eligantur prae aliis” (Estius), in which case, however, the conception of the accidental is held as excluded by the following προορισθ . κ . τ . λ . (see Chrysostom and Estius); but it may be urged against this view that, according to Paul, it is God’s gracious will alone that determines the ἐκλογή (Eph_1:5; Rom_11:16 ff.), not a θεῖα τύχη , which would be implied in the ἐκληρ .; comp. Plato, Legg. vi. p. 759 C: κληροῦν οὕτω τῇ θεῖᾳ τύχῃ ἀποδιδόντα .
προορισθέντες κ . τ . λ .] predestined, namely, to the κλῆρος , according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will. The words are not to be placed within a parenthesis, and τὰ πάντα is not to be limited to what pertains to the economy of salvation (Piscator, Grotius), but God is designated as the all-working (of whom, consequently, the circumstances of the Messianic salvation can least of all be independent). Comp. πανεργέτης Ζεύς , Aesch. Ag. 1486. But, as God is the all-working, so is His decree the παντοκρατορικὸν βούλημα , Clem. Cor. I. 8.
As to the distinction between βουλή and θέλημα , comp. on Mat_1:19. The former is the deliberate self-determination, the latter the activity of the will in general.