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Eph_3:17. Κατοικῆσαι κ . τ . λ .] Parallel to δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι , etc., which “declarat, quale sit interioris hominis robur,” Calvin. According to Rückert, something different from what forms the object of the first petition is here prayed for, and there is a climax. In this way we should have, in the absence of a connecting particle, to take the infinitive, with de Wette, as the infinitive of the aim; but the circumstance that with Christians the being strengthened by the Spirit, who is indeed the Spirit of Christ, cannot at all be thought of as different from the indwelling of Christ (Rom_8:9-10; 2Co_12:9; Php_4:13; Rom_15:17 f.), and the subsequent ἐῤῥιζ . κ . τεθεμ ., which manifestly further expresses the conception of the κραταιωθῆναι , decide for the former view. The explanatory element, however, lies in the emphatically prefixed κατοικῆσαι : that Christ may take up His abode by means of faith in your hearts. In the Holy Spirit, namely, which is the Spirit of Christ (see on Rom_8:9-10; Gal_2:20; Gal_4:6; 2Co_3:17), Christ fulfils the promise of His spiritual presence in the hearts (Joh_14:23; comp. above, on Eph_2:17; 2Co_13:5), in which faith is the appropriating instrument on the part of man (hence διὰ τῆς πίστεως ). Where thus there is a κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος , there is also to be found a κατοικῆσαι of Christ; because the former is not possible without a continuous activity of Christ in the hearts. Opposed to the κατοικῆσαι of Christ in the hearts is a transitory ( πρόσκαιρος ) reception of the Holy Spirit (Gal_3:3). A more precise definition, by virtue of which the clause κατοικῆσαι κ . τ . λ . may in reality be an explanatory clause to that which precedes, is thus before us, namely, in the prefixed emphatic κατοικῆσαι itself. This in opposition to Harless and Olshausen, who find this more precise definition only in the following ἐν ἀγ . ἐῤῥιζ . κ . τεθεμ .
On κατοικεῖν in the spiritual sense, comp. Col_1:19; Col_2:9; Jam_4:5; 2Pe_3:13; Test. XII. Patr. pp. 652, 734; and the passages in Theile, ad Jac. p. 220. The conception of the temple, however, is not found here; for the temple would be the dwelling of God, and Christ the corner-stone, Eph_2:20 ff.