Semantic Analysis — Ephesians (Full Book) | English → Dutch

Method and Scope

This document analyzes the Koine Greek text of Ephesians chapter by chapter, first to last, per PRD Phase 1 Step 1. The core passage (Ephesians 2:1–10) receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter receives a chapter-level survey of its load-bearing theological terms, using the same analytical fields:

1. Original (Greek)
2. Transliteration
3. Literal meaning
4. Semantic range
5. English variants (as commonly found across English Bible translations)
6. Contextual theological meaning (in Ephesians specifically)
7. Destination-language (Dutch) rendering and risk

Where a term is already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json, the established Dutch rendering is reused exactly, and the entry notes this explicitly rather than re-deriving a new rendering. Doctrine-risk tiers (Critical/High/Medium/Low) follow the baseline’s definitions exactly.

This curriculum’s nine focus doctrines are abbreviated as follows for cross-reference: SGF = Salvation by Grace through Faith · EPC = Election and Predestination in Christ · CBC = The Church as the Body of Christ · UJG = Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity · MCR = The Mystery of Christ Revealed · SWA = Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God · HCR = Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships · GBC = Gifts for Building Up the Church · WNL = Walking in Newness of Life.

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PART A — CORE PASSAGE: Ephesians 2:1–10, Verse by Verse

Ephesians 2:1

“En u, hoewel u dood was door de overtredingen en de zonden…”

• νεκρός (nekros) — “dead.” Literal: physically dead/lifeless. Semantic range: physical death; figurative spiritual deadness/total separation from God’s life. English variants: “dead,” “deadness.” Contextual meaning: describes total spiritual inability prior to grace — the necessary backdrop for SGF; the dead cannot contribute to their own resurrection. Dutch: “dood.” Risk: Medium — unambiguous physically, but without clear syntactic anchoring (“dood… in uw overtredingen en zonden”) secular readers may read it as rhetorical exaggeration for moral weakness rather than the total-inability doctrine underlying Reformed monergism (Canons of Dort).
• παράπτωμα (paraptōma) — “trespass, false step.” Literal: a fall/lapse beside the path. Semantic range: a specific act of wrongdoing, distinct from the general condition denoted by hamartia. English variants: “trespasses,” “transgressions.” Contextual meaning: concrete acts of moral failure paired with the general condition of sin to describe total depravity. Dutch: “overtredingen.” Risk: Medium — must remain visibly distinct from “zonden” (below) rather than collapsing into a single repeated word.
• ἁμαρτία (hamartia) — reuse baseline TM term. Dutch: “zonde.” Risk: High (per baseline: colloquial Dutch “zonde” now primarily means “a pity/waste,” a stronger drift than in most languages in this batch — must not be left unglossed in accountability contexts).

Ephesians 2:2

“…waarin u vroeger wandelde, overeenkomstig de tijdgeest van deze wereld, overeenkomstig de heerser van de macht der lucht…”

• περιπατέω (peripateō) — “to walk.” Literal: to walk about. Semantic range: literal walking; Semitic idiom for habitual conduct/manner of life. English variants: “walked,” “lived,” “conducted yourselves.” Contextual meaning: the organizing metaphor of Ephesians for a person’s entire manner of life, used both negatively (2:2) and positively (2:10, 4:1, 5:2, 5:8) — the verbal backbone of the WNL doctrine. Dutch: “wandelen.” Risk: Medium — the established idiomatic Dutch Bible rendering (HSV/NBV), but secular readers may hear only the literal leisure-walk sense without contextual anchoring at each occurrence.
• αἰών (aiōn) — “age.” Literal: an age, era. Semantic range: a long duration; the present world-system/order opposed to God. English variants: “age,” “course [of this world],” “ways.” Contextual meaning: names the present evil spiritual-cosmic order, setting up ch. 6’s spiritual warfare worldview. Dutch: “de loop/tijdgeest van deze wereld” (not literal “eeuw,” which misleads toward “century”). Risk: Medium.
• ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας (archōn tēs exousias) — “ruler of the authority.” Literal: chief/ruler of the jurisdiction/domain. Semantic range: human magistrate OR (here, “of the air”) a personal, cosmic evil power. English variants: “prince of the power of the air,” “ruler of the authority.” Contextual meaning: identifies Satan as a real personal ruler over a spiritual domain — foundational to SWA. Dutch: “de overste van de macht der lucht.” Risk: High — “macht,” and especially “overheid”/“machten” used again at 6:12, is the ordinary Dutch word for civil government; must not be confused with the earthly-authority material already flagged in the baseline’s Romans 13 notes.
• υἱοὶ τῆς ἀπειθείας (huioi tēs apeitheias) — “sons of disobedience.” Literal: sons of unpersuadableness. Semantic range: Hebraic idiom for people characterized by habitual unbelief/disobedience. English variants: “sons of disobedience,” “the disobedient.” Contextual meaning: humanity’s natural condition of willful unbelief. Dutch: “kinderen van de ongehoorzaamheid.” Risk: Medium — the “sons/children of X” idiom must be recognized as character-description, not literal parentage.

Ephesians 2:3

“…onder wie ook wij allen vroeger verkeerden, in de begeerten van ons vlees… en wij waren van nature kinderen des toorns, evenals de anderen.”

• ἐπιθυμία (epithymia) — “desire, craving.” Literal: strong desire. Semantic range: neutral desire OR (dominant NT usage) sinful craving. English variants: “desires,” “lusts,” “cravings.” Contextual meaning: disordered cravings of the fallen nature. Dutch: “begeerten” (preferred over narrower “lusten,” which skews sexual). Risk: Medium.
• σάρξ (sarx) — “flesh.” Literal: muscle tissue/meat. Semantic range: the physical body; Paul’s technical term for fallen human nature opposed to the Spirit. English variants: “flesh,” “sinful nature,” “body.” Contextual meaning: the corrupted, self-oriented human condition, not the body per se. Dutch: “vlees.” Risk: Medium — also ordinary Dutch for butcher’s meat; Paul’s technical anthropological sense requires contextual signaling.
• φύσις (physis) — “nature.” Literal: inborn nature, origin. Semantic range: inborn character; natural order. English variants: “nature,” “by nature.” Contextual meaning: “by nature children of wrath” teaches the sinful condition is innate from birth, not merely acquired — directly grounding original sin/total depravity. Dutch: “van nature.” Risk: High — Dutch Reformed dogmatics’ developed doctrine of “erfzonde” (inherited sin) must be reinforced here, not softened into “a nature one could outgrow,” which would weaken the grace-not-merit doctrine already Critical/High in the baseline.
• ὀργή (orgē) — “wrath.” Literal: settled anger. Semantic range: human anger; God’s righteous judicial anger against sin. English variants: “wrath,” “anger.” Contextual meaning: God’s just judicial response to sin — the backdrop against which grace in vv. 4–8 is displayed as unearned rescue. Dutch: “toorn” (elevated register, distinct from ordinary “woede/boosheid”). Risk: Medium.

Ephesians 2:4

“Maar God, Die rijk is aan barmhartigheid, heeft ons, om Zijn grote liefde waarmee Hij ons liefgehad heeft…”

• ἔλεος (eleos) — “mercy.” Literal: pity/compassion shown to one in need. Semantic range: compassion toward the suffering or guilty; withholding deserved punishment. English variants: “mercy,” “compassion.” Contextual meaning: God’s compassionate disposition toward those under his own wrath (v. 3) — the relational counterpart to grace’s gift-dimension. Dutch: “barmhartigheid” (or “ontferming”). Risk: Low.
• ἀγάπη (agapē) — “love.” Literal/technical: self-giving, unconditional love. Semantic range: divine self-giving love; general affection in broader Greek usage. English variants: “love.” Contextual meaning: God’s initiating, unearned love grounding election (1:4–5), redemption, and grace throughout Ephesians. Dutch: “liefde.” Risk: Low.

Ephesians 2:5

“…ook toen wij dood waren door de zonden, met Christus levend gemaakt (uit genade bent u zalig/behouden geworden)…”

• συζωοποιέω (syzōopoieō) — “made alive together with.” Literal: a rare compound verb, coined for emphasis. Semantic range: uniquely stresses union with Christ’s own resurrection life, not merely a fresh start. English variants: “made us alive together with,” “made alive together.” Contextual meaning: regeneration as co-resurrection with Christ — central to Ephesians’ union-with-Christ Christology. Dutch: “met Christus levend gemaakt” / “mede levend gemaakt.” Risk: High — Dutch has no single native compound matching this Greek coinage; the “together with Christ” union-dimension must be preserved by phrase construction, not flattened into a generic “given new life.”
• χάρις (charis) — reuse baseline TM. Dutch: “genade.” Risk: High (per baseline: must always convey unearned favor apart from human cooperation, per Synod of Dordrecht).
• σῴζω (sōzō) — “to save.” Literal: to rescue, deliver from danger. Semantic range: physical rescue/healing; ultimate spiritual salvation. English variants: “saved,” “rescued.” Contextual meaning: here in a perfect passive periphrastic (“you have been and remain saved”) — an already-accomplished, settled state; the verbal counterpart to the TM noun σωτηρία/“behoud.” Dutch: “behouden [zijn]” (verb form of the TM noun “behoud”). Risk: Critical — must not switch register to “gered” (rescued, colloquial/secular) or “zalig” (archaic/pietistic), per the baseline’s flagged three-way salvation register split; the settled perfect tense must be preserved to reinforce Assurance of Salvation rather than reduce salvation to an anxious, ongoing process.

Ephesians 2:6

“…en heeft ons mede opgewekt en mede gezet in de hemelse gewesten in Christus Jezus…”

• συνεγείρω (synegeirō) — “raised together with.” Literal: to raise up jointly. Semantic range: co-resurrection with Christ (rare compound, parallel to v. 5). English variants: “raised us up with him.” Contextual meaning: believers’ definitive, positional co-resurrection, already accomplished. Dutch: “mede opgewekt” / “met Hem opgewekt.” Risk: High — must reuse the “opstanding”/“opwekken” word family from the baseline resurrection entry, retaining the “met Hem” union-dimension.
• συγκαθίζω (synkathizō) — “seated together with.” Literal: to enthrone jointly. Semantic range: shared enthronement conferring shared status/authority. English variants: “seated us with him.” Contextual meaning: believers’ present, positional share in Christ’s heavenly enthronement — background for the spiritual authority assumed in ch. 6’s SWA. Dutch: “met Hem gezet [in de hemelse gewesten].” Risk: Medium — no single Dutch verb captures “co-enthroned”; a descriptive phrase is required, with care not to lose the enthronement/authority sense to a vague “being near.”
• ἐπουράνιος (epouranios) — “heavenly [places/realms].” Literal: above the heavens. Semantic range: the heavenly, spiritual dimension of reality; both God’s dwelling and (6:12) the arena of spiritual conflict. English variants: “heavenly places,” “heavenly realms.” Contextual meaning: a distinctive Ephesians term (5 occurrences, uniquely concentrated in this letter) denoting a present spiritual reality believers already occupy in Christ. Dutch: “hemelse gewesten” (not flat “hemel,” which suggests only the future afterlife-destination). Risk: Medium.

Ephesians 2:7

“…om in de komende eeuwen te tonen de overweldigende rijkdom van Zijn genade, door Zijn goedertierenheid over ons in Christus Jezus.”

• πλοῦτος (ploutos) — “riches.” Literal: wealth. Semantic range: material wealth; figurative abundance — a favorite Ephesians image (1:7, 1:18, 2:7, 3:8, 3:16). English variants: “riches,” “wealth.” Contextual meaning: God’s lavish, inexhaustible abundance of grace, not a rationed resource. Dutch: “rijkdom.” Risk: Low.
• χρηστότης (chrēstotēs) — “kindness.” Literal: goodness, benevolence. Semantic range: moral goodness; kindness expressed in action. English variants: “kindness,” “goodness.” Contextual meaning: God’s benevolent character displayed concretely in salvation, showcased for future ages. Dutch: “goedertierenheid” (elevated covenantal register) or “vriendelijkheid.” Risk: Low.

Ephesians 2:8

“Want uit genade bent u behouden, door het geloof, en dat niet uit u, het is een gave van God.”

• χάρις / πίστις — reuse baseline TM. Dutch: “genade” / “geloof.” Risk: High for both (per baseline).
• δῶρον (dōron) — “gift.” Literal: a gift/offering. Semantic range: any given gift, often votive in secular Greek. English variants: “gift.” Contextual meaning: salvation as a whole (not faith alone) is God’s gift, not a human contribution — the verse’s climactic anti-synergistic statement. Dutch: “gave” or “geschenk.” Risk: High — Dutch syntax must clearly attach “gift” to the entire preceding clause (grace-through-faith as a totality), consistent with the historic Reformed position (against Arminian/Remonstrant synergism) that faith itself is included in the gift, not a human contribution alongside it.

Ephesians 2:9

“…niet uit werken, opdat niemand zou roemen.”

• ἔργον (ergon) — “work, deed.” Literal: any action/deed. Semantic range: any action; specifically law-works or meritorious deeds in Pauline soteriology. English variants: “works,” “deeds.” Contextual meaning: human effort/merit explicitly excluded as the ground of salvation — echoing the Romans 4:4–5 grace-works antithesis already flagged in the baseline. Dutch: “werken.” Risk: High — the sharp antithesis with “genade” must never be softened toward works as a partial contributing cause.
• καυχάομαι (kauchaomai) — “boast.” Literal: to boast, glory in. Semantic range: sinful self-glorying; legitimate glorying in God (context-dependent). English variants: “boast,” “brag.” Contextual meaning: salvation by grace alone excludes any ground for self-congratulation before God. Dutch: “roemen” (dignified biblical register, not colloquial “opscheppen”). Risk: Medium.

Ephesians 2:10

“Want wij zijn Zijn maaksel, geschapen in Christus Jezus tot goede werken, die God van tevoren bereid heeft, opdat wij daarin zouden wandelen.”

• ποίημα (poiēma) — “workmanship.” Literal: a thing made, work of craftsmanship (root of “poem”). Semantic range: any product of making; a work of art. English variants: “workmanship,” “handiwork,” “masterpiece.” Contextual meaning: believers are God’s own artistic creation, re-created in Christ — good works flow from God’s prior creative act, not the reverse. Dutch: “maaksel.” Risk: Medium — must preserve the craftsmanship image, distinct from “schepping” (creation in general).
• κτίζω (ktizō) — “create.” Literal: to create, found. Semantic range: divine creation (Genesis); founding an institution. English variants: “created,” “made.” Contextual meaning: “new creation” language reused at 2:15 and 4:24 for the “new humanity”/“new self” — terminological consistency across the letter matters. Dutch: “geschapen.” Risk: Medium.
• ἔργα ἀγαθά (erga agatha) — “good works.” Literal: good deeds. Semantic range: morally good, God-honoring deeds. English variants: “good works,” “good deeds.” Contextual meaning: good works are the God-prepared fruit and purpose of salvation, not its ground (contrast with v. 9’s ἔργα) — the necessary companion truth to sola gratia. Dutch: “goede werken.” Risk: High — Dutch connective syntax (“…geschapen… tot goede werken”) must not be misread as making good works a precondition rather than the fruit of salvation.
• προετοιμάζω (proetoimazō) — “prepared beforehand.” Literal: to prepare in advance. Semantic range: advance preparation; predetermined provision. English variants: “prepared beforehand,” “planned in advance.” Contextual meaning: links EPC (ch. 1’s predestination) to ordinary Christian life — God’s sovereign planning extends to the specific good works believers will do. Dutch: “van tevoren bereid.” Risk: Medium — should echo the “voorbestemming” vocabulary family from ch. 1 so readers perceive the doctrinal link.

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PART B — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER SURVEY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 (Ephesians 1:1–23) — Election, Predestination, and the Mystery of God’s Plan

• μυστήριον (mystērion) — “mystery.” Literal: a secret thing, known only to initiates (originally of Greco-Roman mystery-religion rites). Semantic range: a previously hidden truth now disclosed by God; not a puzzle to be solved but a revealed secret. English variants: “mystery,” “secret.” Contextual meaning: God’s previously hidden plan to unite all things in Christ (1:9-10), later specified as the union of Jews and Gentiles (3:3-6) — the letter’s central MCR doctrine. Dutch: “verborgenheid” (Statenvertaling/HSV tradition) or modern “geheimenis.” Risk: Critical — modern colloquial “geheim” carries connotations of a hidden agenda or conspiracy in secularized Dutch discourse, and Gnostic “mystery religion” associations exist in academic contexts; the rendering must clearly signal a truth now disclosed, not an ongoing secret or esoteric knowledge reserved for an elite.
• προορίζω (proorizō) — “predestined.” Literal: to mark out/determine beforehand. Semantic range: to decide or appoint in advance. English variants: “predestined,” “foreordained,” “destined.” Contextual meaning: God’s sovereign, prior determination of believers’ adoption and inheritance (1:5, 1:11) — the letter’s clearest EPC statement. Dutch: “voorbestemd” / “voorbestemming.” Risk: Critical — this is the direct doctrinal counterpart to the baseline’s “verkiezing” (election) entry; must be rendered consistently with the Canons of Dort’s unconditional-election emphasis and must not be softened toward foreseen human choice (the historic Remonstrant position the Synod of Dordrecht rejected).
• ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai) — “chose.” Literal: to pick out, select. Semantic range: personal, deliberate selection. English variants: “chose,” “elected,” “selected.” Contextual meaning: God’s choice of believers “before the foundation of the world” (1:4) — reuse baseline “election” (verkiezing) word family. Dutch: “uitgekozen/verkoren.” Risk: Critical (reuse baseline “election” note in full, including the democratic-vote homonym risk).
• ἀπολύτρωσις (apolytrōsis) — “redemption.” Literal: a buying back, ransoming (from slavery). Semantic range: release secured by payment of a price. English variants: “redemption,” “ransom.” Contextual meaning: believers’ deliverance secured by Christ’s blood (1:7, 4:30) — a distinct Greek term from σωτηρία (salvation/behoud). Dutch: “verlossing.” Risk: High — the baseline’s Romans package explicitly rejected “verlossing” as an alternative rendering for σωτηρία/behoud; translators and reviewers must understand that here a genuinely different Greek term (apolytrōsis) legitimately takes “verlossing,” and this must not be confused with, or read as contradicting, the “behoud” register decision for salvation-language elsewhere.
• ἄφεσις (aphesis) — “forgiveness.” Literal: a release, letting go. Semantic range: release from debt or bondage; forgiveness of sins. English variants: “forgiveness,” “remission.” Contextual meaning: forgiveness of sins through Christ’s blood (1:7). Dutch: “vergeving.” Risk: Medium.
• κληρονομία (klēronomia) — “inheritance.” Literal: a portion received by lot/heirship. Semantic range: a legal inheritance; a promised future possession. English variants: “inheritance,” “heritage.” Contextual meaning: believers’ guaranteed future possession in Christ (1:11, 1:14, 1:18). Dutch: “erfenis” (modern) or archaic “erfdeel.” Risk: Medium.
• σφραγίζω (sphragizō) — “sealed.” Literal: to stamp with a seal, mark as authenticated/owned. Semantic range: an official mark of ownership, authenticity, or security. English variants: “sealed,” “marked.” Contextual meaning: the Holy Spirit as God’s mark of ownership and guarantee on believers (1:13). Dutch: “verzegeld.” Risk: Medium-High — this connects positively to the Heidelberg Catechism’s own sacramental language (Q&A 66: sacraments as “heilige zichtbare tekenen en zegelen”), an opportunity for Reformed-catechized readers, but risks reading as a merely bureaucratic official stamp (as on legal documents) for secularized readers, losing the devotional, relational sense of divine ownership.
• ἀρραβών (arrabōn) — “guarantee, down payment.” Literal: a pledge, first installment guaranteeing the rest. Semantic range: a deposit securing a future full payment. English variants: “guarantee,” “deposit,” “down payment,” “pledge.” Contextual meaning: the Spirit as the first installment guaranteeing believers’ full future inheritance (1:14). Dutch: “onderpand” (classic Statenvertaling term). Risk: Medium — modern Dutch “onderpand” primarily means financial/legal collateral; risk of a purely transactional reading rather than the Spirit as a living, personal guarantee.
• πλήρωμα (plērōma) — “fullness.” Literal: that which fills, a full complement. Semantic range: totality, completeness; in Ephesians, the fullness of Christ filling the church and the cosmos. English variants: “fullness,” “completeness.” Contextual meaning: describes Christ’s cosmic supremacy (1:10, 1:23) and, later, the church’s and believers’ participation in that fullness (3:19, 4:13). Dutch: “volheid.” Risk: Medium — must avoid a vague mystical reading; keep tied concretely to Christ’s person and the church.
• κεφαλή (kephalē) — “head.” Literal: the physical head. Semantic range: literal head; figurative source/authority/preeminence. English variants: “head.” Contextual meaning: Christ as head over all things and specifically over the church (1:22) — a foundational CBC term reused with acute sensitivity in the household code (5:23). Dutch: “hoofd.” Risk: High — see full discussion under ch. 5; the gender-role controversy in modern egalitarian Dutch society makes every occurrence a live flashpoint.
• σῶμα (sōma) — “body.” Literal: a physical body. Semantic range: a physical body; the corporate, organic unity of the church. English variants: “body.” Contextual meaning: the church as Christ’s body (1:23) — the letter’s central CBC metaphor, developed through chs. 2–4. Dutch: “lichaam” (van Christus). Risk: High — must retain the organic, corporate-unity sense rather than reducing “lichaam” to a loose institutional or associational metaphor; connects directly to the baseline’s already-High “church” (gemeente vs. kerk) entry.
• θέλημα (thelēma) — “will.” Literal: will, desire, purpose. Semantic range: personal will/wish; God’s sovereign decree. English variants: “will,” “purpose.” Contextual meaning: God’s sovereign will as the ground of election and calling (1:1, 1:5, 1:9, 1:11). Dutch: “wil.” Risk: Low.
• ἀγαπητός (agapētos) — “beloved.” Literal: dearly loved. Semantic range: object of deep affection. English variants: “beloved,” “dear.” Contextual meaning: believers’ status “in the Beloved [Son]” (1:6). Dutch: “geliefde.” Risk: Low.

Chapter 2 (Ephesians 2:11–22) — beyond the core passage: Unity of Jews and Gentiles, the Church as Temple

(vv. 1–10 fully analyzed above; this section covers vv. 11–22.)

• μεσότοιχον (mesotoichon) — “dividing wall.” Literal: a middle wall, partition wall. Semantic range: a physical barrier wall; here figuratively, the Temple’s “soreg” barrier separating Jewish and Gentile worshippers, or the Torah itself as a boundary marker. English variants: “dividing wall,” “barrier.” Contextual meaning: the hostility/separation between Jews and Gentiles, now abolished in Christ (2:14) — the letter’s central UJG image. Dutch: “scheidingsmuur.” Risk: High — “de scheidingsmuur” is also the standard contemporary Dutch media term for the Israeli West Bank separation barrier, creating a real risk that modern readers import a specific, politically charged contemporary referent onto Paul’s ancient Jew-Gentile theological image; translators must ensure context (Temple, law, circumcision) keeps the historical referent clear.
• ἔχθρα (echthra) — “enmity, hostility.” Literal: hatred, hostility. Semantic range: personal or group hostility; here, both Jew-Gentile hostility and humanity’s hostility toward God. English variants: “hostility,” “enmity.” Contextual meaning: the hostility Christ’s cross abolishes on both the Godward and horizontal (Jew-Gentile) planes (2:14, 2:16). Dutch: “vijandschap.” Risk: Medium.
• καταλλάσσω / ἀποκαταλλάσσω (katallassō / apokatallassō) — “reconcile.” Literal: to exchange, restore to favor. Semantic range: restoration of a broken relationship, often through resolving an offense. English variants: “reconcile,” “restore to favor.” Contextual meaning: Christ’s cross reconciling both Jew and Gentile to God in one body (2:16) — the atonement’s social and vertical dimensions united. Dutch: “verzoenen” / “verzoening.” Risk: Critical — this is the direct counterpart to the baseline’s flagged atonement/propitiation risk (Romans 3:25); must not be reduced to a general peace-making or conflict-resolution sense, losing the God-directed, blood-bought reconciliation Paul specifies.
• εἰρήνη (eirēnē) — reuse baseline TM. Dutch: “vrede.” Risk: Low/Medium (per baseline; here also horizontal Jew-Gentile peace, not only vertical peace with God).
• προσαγωγή (prosagōgē) — “access.” Literal: a bringing near, an introduction (court/audience terminology). Semantic range: formal access into a ruler’s presence. English variants: “access.” Contextual meaning: believers’ access to the Father through Christ by the Spirit (2:18). Dutch: “toegang.” Risk: Low.
• οἰκεῖοι τοῦ Θεοῦ (oikeioi tou theou) — “household members of God.” Literal: members of a household. Semantic range: family/household belonging, as opposed to guest or stranger status. English variants: “members of God’s household,” “God’s family.” Contextual meaning: Gentile believers’ full family belonging alongside Jewish believers (2:19). Dutch: “huisgenoten van God.” Risk: Medium.
• θεμέλιος (themelios) / ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogōniaios) — “foundation” / “cornerstone.” Literal: a building’s foundation; the load-bearing corner stone. Semantic range: structural building terms. English variants: “foundation,” “cornerstone,” “chief cornerstone.” Contextual meaning: the apostles and prophets as foundation, Christ as cornerstone, of the church-as-building (2:20). Dutch: “fundament” / “hoeksteen.” Risk: Low.
• ναός (naos) — “temple, sanctuary.” Literal: the inner sanctuary of a temple (distinct from the broader temple precinct, ἱερόν). Semantic range: the dwelling place of a deity. English variants: “temple,” “sanctuary.” Contextual meaning: the church, Jew and Gentile together, as God’s living temple (2:21). Dutch: “tempel.” Risk: Medium — risk of readers picturing either the literal historic Jerusalem temple building or a generic non-Christian “tempel” (as used of Hindu, Buddhist, or ancient pagan temples in modern Dutch usage) rather than the corporate-people-as-God’s-dwelling metaphor; increasingly relevant given religious pluralism in the Netherlands.
• οἰκοδομή (oikodomē) — “building, building up.” Literal: a building; the act of building. Semantic range: a physical structure; edification/spiritual growth (reused in ch. 4). English variants: “building,” “building up,” “edification.” Contextual meaning: the church as a structure being built up (2:21), and later mutual edification (4:12, 4:16, 4:29). Dutch: “gebouw” / “opbouw.” Risk: Low.
• κατοικητήριον (katoikētērion) — “dwelling place.” Literal: a place of settled habitation. Semantic range: a permanent residence. English variants: “dwelling,” “dwelling place.” Contextual meaning: the church as God’s Spirit-indwelt dwelling place (2:22). Dutch: “woonplaats.” Risk: Low.
• ἐπαγγελία (epangelia) / διαθῆκαι — “promise” / “covenants.” Reuse baseline TM “covenant” (verbond). Contextual meaning: Gentiles’ former exclusion from “the covenants of promise” (2:12), now included. Dutch: “belofte” / “verbonden der belofte.” Risk: High (reuse baseline covenant note; here specifically ties Israel’s covenant history to Gentile inclusion, directly relevant to UJG).
• καινὸς ἄνθρωπος (kainos anthropos) — “new man / new humanity.” Literal: a new person/man. Semantic range: an individual new nature (parallel usage in ch. 4); here, a corporate new humanity formed from formerly hostile Jew and Gentile groups. English variants: “one new man,” “one new humanity,” “new self.” Contextual meaning: Christ’s creation of a single new corporate humanity out of two previously hostile peoples (2:15) — the letter’s central UJG term, reused individually in 4:24. Dutch: “nieuwe mens(heid).” Risk: High — the corporate, Jew-and-Gentile-united sense here must not be flattened into only the individual “new self” sense the same Dutch phrase carries in ch. 4; reviewers must confirm which sense (corporate or individual) is active per occurrence, paralleling the baseline’s context-sensitivity note for “called/calling.”

Chapter 3 (Ephesians 3:1–21) — The Mystery of Christ and Paul’s Ministry

• μυστήριον (mystērion) — reuse ch. 1 entry, now specified: the mystery is that Gentiles are “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise” (3:6). Dutch: “verborgenheid.” Risk: Critical (reuse ch. 1 note; here explicitly identified as MCR’s core content — the unity of Jews and Gentiles).
• οἰκονομία (oikonomia) — “stewardship, administration.” Literal: household management. Semantic range: management of a household or estate; a divinely assigned commission/administration. English variants: “stewardship,” “administration,” “dispensation.” Contextual meaning: Paul’s divinely entrusted commission to administer/disclose the mystery (3:2, 3:9). Dutch: “rentmeesterschap” or “bediening/taak.” Risk: Medium — “rentmeesterschap” (stewardship) carries good Reformed devotional resonance but is a somewhat literary register; ensure it is not mistaken for financial stewardship/fundraising language common in modern Dutch church-administration contexts.
• συγκληρονόμος (synklēronomos) — “fellow heir.” Literal: a co-inheritor. Semantic range: sharing equally in an inheritance. English variants: “fellow heirs,” “joint heirs.” Contextual meaning: Gentiles’ equal share with Jewish believers in the promised inheritance (3:6) — reinforces UJG. Dutch: “medeerfgenamen.” Risk: Medium.
• πολυποίκιλος σοφία (polypoikilos sophia) — “manifold/many-colored wisdom.” Literal: wisdom of many varied colors/patterns (a weaving metaphor). Semantic range: rich, multifaceted wisdom. English variants: “manifold wisdom,” “many-colored wisdom.” Contextual meaning: God’s richly varied wisdom displayed through the church to cosmic powers (3:10). Dutch: “veelkleurige wijsheid.” Risk: Low.
• παρρησία (parrhēsia) — “boldness, confidence.” Literal: freedom of speech. Semantic range: bold, confident, unashamed speech or access. English variants: “boldness,” “confidence,” “freedom.” Contextual meaning: believers’ confident access to God through Christ (3:12). Dutch: “vrijmoedigheid.” Risk: Low.
• ἀνεξιχνίαστος πλοῦτος (anexichniastos ploutos) — “unfathomable/unsearchable riches.” Literal: riches that cannot be tracked out. Semantic range: an inexhaustible, immeasurable abundance. English variants: “unsearchable riches,” “unfathomable riches.” Contextual meaning: the immeasurable riches of Christ that Paul proclaims to the Gentiles (3:8). Dutch: “onnaspeurlijke rijkdom.” Risk: Low.
• ῥιζωθέντες καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι (rhizōthentes kai tethemeliōmenoi) — “rooted and grounded.” Literal: rooted (botanical) and founded (architectural), a mixed metaphor. Semantic range: stability, deep foundation. English variants: “rooted and grounded,” “rooted and established.” Contextual meaning: believers’ stability in love as the basis for comprehending Christ’s love (3:17). Dutch: “geworteld en gegrond.” Risk: Low.
• ἐνέργεια (energeia) — “power at work, working.” Literal: effective operation, energy. Semantic range: active, effective power (root of English “energy”). English variants: “power that works,” “working,” “power.” Contextual meaning: God’s active power working within believers, exceeding all they could ask or imagine (3:7, 3:20). Dutch: “werkzame kracht.” Risk: Low (reuse baseline “power_of_god” family).
• πατριά (patria) — “family, lineage.” Literal: a paternal line/clan. Semantic range: an extended family or people-group traced through a father. English variants: “family,” “fatherhood.” Contextual meaning: every “family” on earth named from God the Father (3:14-15) — a wordplay on πατήρ (Father). Dutch: “geslacht” or “familie.” Risk: Low.

Chapter 4 (Ephesians 4:1–32) — One Body, Gifts for Ministry, Newness of Life

• ἑνότης (henotēs) — “unity.” Literal: oneness. Semantic range: unity, oneness of a group. English variants: “unity.” Contextual meaning: the unity of the Spirit to be maintained (4:3) and the unity of the faith to be attained (4:13) — the practical outworking of UJG and CBC. Dutch: “eenheid.” Risk: Medium.
• ἓν σῶμα, ἓν πνεῦμα… ἓν βάπτισμα, εἷς Θεός (hen sōma, hen pneuma… hen baptisma, heis theos) — “one body, one Spirit… one baptism, one God.” A sevenfold creedal unity-formula (4:4-6). βάπτισμα (baptisma) — “baptism.” Literal: an immersion/dipping. Semantic range: ritual washing; the Christian sacrament/ordinance of baptism. English variants: “baptism.” Contextual meaning: one shared baptism as a mark of the church’s unity. Dutch: “doop.” Risk: High — Dutch Christianity’s real denominational division between infant baptism (“kinderdoop,” Reformed/Catholic practice) and believer’s baptism (“volwassendoop”/“geloofsdoop,” Baptist/evangelical practice) creates a genuine risk that “one baptism” (4:5) is read through the lens of one’s own tradition’s specific practice rather than Paul’s underlying point about shared unity in Christ; requires careful, non-partisan framing.
• δόματα (domata) and the fivefold gifts: ἀπόστολος (reuse TM, apostel), προφήτης (reuse TM, profeet), εὐαγγελιστής (euangelistēs) — “evangelist.” Literal: one who proclaims good news. English variants: “evangelist.” Dutch: “evangelist.” Risk: Low. ποιμήν (poimēn) — “shepherd.” Literal: one who tends sheep. Semantic range: literal shepherd; pastoral church leader. English variants: “pastor,” “shepherd.” Contextual meaning: Christ’s gift of pastoral leaders to the church (4:11) — GBC doctrine. Dutch: “herder.” Risk: Medium — modern Dutch clergy commonly use the functional title “dominee” or “voorganger,” not “herder,” in ordinary church-administrative speech; retaining the biblical, pastoral-care-image “herder” (rather than substituting a modern office-title) preserves the text’s own metaphor and is the established convention in HSV/NBV. διδάσκαλος (didaskalos) — “teacher.” Dutch: “leraar.” Risk: Low.
• καταρτισμός (katartismos) — “equipping.” Literal: making fit, outfitting fully (used of setting a fractured bone or fully outfitting a ship). Semantic range: thorough preparation/equipping for a task. English variants: “equipping,” “training.” Contextual meaning: the gifted leaders’ purpose is to fully equip the saints for ministry (4:12) — GBC doctrine. Dutch: “toerusting.” Risk: Low.
• τέλειος (teleios) — “mature, complete.” Literal: brought to its end/goal, complete. Semantic range: full maturity; moral/spiritual completeness; (elsewhere) sinless perfection. English variants: “mature,” “perfect,” “complete.” Contextual meaning: the corporate goal of the church’s growth into full maturity in Christ (4:13). Dutch: “volwassen” (preferred) rather than “volmaakt.” Risk: Medium — “volmaakt” risks implying sinless moral perfection rather than the corporate/spiritual maturity Paul intends; “volwassen” (grown-up/mature) better preserves the intended sense.
• παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος (palaios anthropos) / νέος ἄνθρωπος (neos anthropos) — “old self / new self.” Literal: old man / new man. Semantic range: one’s former, corrupted identity in Adam versus one’s new, re-created identity in Christ. English variants: “old self,” “old man,” “new self,” “new man.” Contextual meaning: the individual counterpart (4:22, 4:24) to the corporate “new humanity” of 2:15 — WNL’s central identity-language. Dutch: “oude mens” / “nieuwe mens.” Risk: Medium — translators should note the deliberate terminological link to 2:15’s corporate usage (same Dutch phrase, different but related referent: individual renewal flowing from, and expressing, the church’s corporate new-humanity identity).
• ἀνακαινοῦσθε (anakainousthe) — “be renewed.” Literal: to be made new again. Semantic range: ongoing inner renewal/transformation. English variants: “be renewed,” “renewed.” Contextual meaning: the ongoing renewal of the mind as the mechanism of the old-to-new-self transition (4:23). Dutch: “vernieuwd worden.” Risk: Low.
• ἀποτίθεμαι / ἐνδύομαι (apotithemai / endyomai) — “put off / put on.” Literal: to take off/lay aside (clothing); to put on/clothe oneself. Semantic range: a clothing-change metaphor for decisive moral transformation. English variants: “put off,” “put away,” “put on,” “clothe yourselves with.” Contextual meaning: decisive, once-for-all-oriented moral action accompanying ongoing renewal (4:22, 4:24-25). Dutch: “afleggen” / “aandoen.” Risk: Low.
• λυπέω τὸ Πνεῦμα (lypeō to pneuma) — “grieve the Spirit.” Literal: to cause sorrow/pain to. Semantic range: to cause emotional distress to a person. English variants: “grieve,” “cause sorrow to.” Contextual meaning: sin grieves the personal Holy Spirit (4:30) — a strong personhood-of-the-Spirit statement. Dutch: “de Geest bedroeven.” Risk: Medium — must retain the personal-relational sense (grieving a Person who loves you) rather than a merely functional “annoy/disrupt,” reinforcing the baseline’s Holy Spirit personhood note.
• ἀπολύτρωσις (apolytrōsis) — reuse ch. 1 entry (“day of redemption,” 4:30). Dutch: “verlossing.” Risk: High (reuse ch. 1 note).

Chapter 5 (Ephesians 5:1–33) — Walking in Love and Light; the Household Code Begins

• μιμηταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ (mimētai tou theou) — “imitators of God.” Literal: mimics/imitators. Semantic range: one who patterns their behavior after a model. English variants: “imitators,” “followers.” Contextual meaning: believers called to imitate God’s own self-giving love as revealed in Christ (5:1) — WNL. Dutch: “navolgers van God.” Risk: Low.
• προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία… ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας (prosphora kai thysia… osmē euōdias) — “offering and sacrifice… fragrant aroma.” Sacrificial-cultic vocabulary applied to Christ’s self-giving (5:2). Dutch: “offergave en offer… welriekende reuk.” Risk: Low — well-established Old Testament sacrificial imagery, transparent to Dutch readers across traditions.
• πορνεία (porneia) — “sexual immorality.” Literal: unlawful sexual activity (root of English “pornography”). Semantic range: any sexual activity outside the biblical marriage covenant. English variants: “sexual immorality,” “fornication.” Contextual meaning: named among the vices incompatible with the kingdom of God (5:3, 5:5). Dutch: “ontucht” (modern) or archaic “hoererij.” Risk: Medium — a register choice (modern “ontucht/seksuele immoraliteit” vs. Statenvertaling-era “hoererij”) rather than a doctrinal ambiguity, but flagged because the Netherlands’ contemporary sexual ethics differ sharply from the text’s, requiring care not to either soften the term’s scope or let modern connotations (e.g., “ontucht” as a narrower legal/criminal term) restrict its broader biblical sense.
• πλεονεξία (pleonexia) — “covetousness, greed.” Literal: a desire for more. Semantic range: greed, insatiable desire for gain. English variants: “covetousness,” “greed.” Dutch: “begerigheid” or “inhaligheid.” Risk: Low.
• εἰδωλολάτρης (eidōlolatrēs) — “idolater.” Literal: one who serves/worships an idol. Semantic range: literal idol-worship; (here) greed identified as a form of idolatry. English variants: “idolater.” Dutch: “afgodendienaar.” Risk: Low.
• τέκνα φωτός (tekna phōtos) — “children of light.” Literal: children/offspring of light. Semantic range: a Hebraic idiom for people characterized by, and belonging to, the light. English variants: “children of light.” Contextual meaning: believers’ new identity as those who belong to God’s light, in contrast to their former darkness (5:8) — WNL. Dutch: “kinderen van het licht.” Risk: Low.
• πληροῦσθε ἐν Πνεύματι (plērousthe en pneumati) — “be filled with the Spirit.” Literal: be filled, be made full. Semantic range: an ongoing, repeated filling (present imperative), not a one-time event. English variants: “be filled with the Spirit.” Contextual meaning: the Spirit-filled life as the alternative to drunkenness, producing worship and mutual submission (5:18-21). Dutch: “vervuld worden met de Geest.” Risk: Medium — connects to the baseline’s spiritual-gifts note about differing Reformed and (smaller, growing) Pentecostal/charismatic Dutch streams reading Spirit-filling language differently; the ongoing, repeated-filling sense (not a single dramatic event) should be preserved by verb aspect where possible.
• ὑποτάσσω (hypotassō) — “submit, be subject to.” Literal: to arrange under, subordinate. Semantic range: voluntary or structural ordering under authority; military/social rank-ordering. English variants: “submit,” “be subject to,” “be subordinate to.” Contextual meaning: mutual submission among believers (5:21) and wives’ submission to husbands as the church submits to Christ (5:22, 5:24) — the letter’s central and most contested HCR term. Dutch: “zich onderschikken” / “onderdanig zijn.” Risk: High — this is a major flashpoint in one of the world’s most gender-egalitarian societies; risk runs in two directions: an overly literal, decontextualized rendering can sound harshly patriarchal to modern Dutch ears, while an activist-driven softening or omission can erase content the text and historic Dutch confessional tradition both actually teach. Requires deliberate, historically- and pastorally-aware handling, flagged for human theologian review, holding together the passage’s mutual-submission framing (5:21) with its specific wife-husband instruction (5:22-24) without collapsing either into the other.
• κεφαλή (kephalē) — reuse ch. 1 entry, now applied specifically to Christ as head of the church and, by analogy, the husband as head of the wife (5:23). Dutch: “hoofd.” Risk: High (reuse; intensified here by direct application to marriage).
• μυστήριον (mystērion) — reuse chs. 1/3 entry, applied to marriage as a picture of Christ and the church (5:32, “this mystery is profound/great”). Dutch: “verborgenheid.” Risk: High — must retain the “revealed truth” sense (Christ-and-church typology), not a vague “marriage is mysterious/hard to understand” reading that a literal modern-Dutch “geheim” or colloquial idiom might suggest.
• μία σάρξ (mia sarx) — “one flesh.” Literal: one flesh/body. Semantic range: the marital union (Genesis 2:24 citation). English variants: “one flesh.” Dutch: “één vlees.” Risk: Low.
• φοβῆται (phobētai) — “respects, reveres” (5:33). Literal: fears. Semantic range: terror; (here) reverent respect, not servile fear. English variants: “respects,” “reveres,” “fears.” Dutch: “ontzag heeft voor.” Risk: Low — must be rendered as reverent respect, not literal fear/terror.

Chapter 6 (Ephesians 6:1–24) — Household Codes Continued; Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God

• ὑπακούω (hypakouō) / τιμάω (timaō) — “obey” / “honor.” Literal: to listen and comply under authority; to value/esteem highly. Semantic range: children’s obedience to parents; the wider commandment to honor (citing Exodus 20:12). English variants: “obey,” “honor.” Contextual meaning: the child-parent household code (6:1-3) — HCR. Dutch: “gehoorzamen” / “eren.” Risk: Medium/Low.
• δοῦλος (doulos) — “slave, bondservant.” Literal: one who is owned, a slave. Semantic range: a slave in the Greco-Roman household-economy sense (which included skilled, sometimes relatively well-positioned domestic and administrative roles, distinct from — though still genuinely a form of — chattel slavery); by extension, one wholly devoted/bound to a master (also used of believers as “slaves of Christ”). English variants: “slave,” “bondservant,” “servant.” Contextual meaning: the master-slave household code addresses real first-century Greco-Roman household slavery while relativizing it under a shared heavenly Master (6:5-9) — HCR. Dutch: “slaaf.” Risk: High — the Netherlands’ own extensive historical involvement in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave trade (VOC/WIC) makes this an emotionally weighted, historically fraught term for contemporary Dutch readers; the ancient Greco-Roman household-slavery context must be carefully distinguished from, and not read as endorsing, the fundamentally different and more brutal Dutch colonial chattel-slavery system, without minimizing either the historical reality of ancient slavery or its ethical seriousness.
• κύριος / δεσπότης (kyrios / despotēs) — “master” (earthly). Literal: lord/master; owner/master of a household (despotēs, root of English “despot,” more absolute in connotation than the more relational kyrios). Semantic range: an ordinary human master/employer in context. English variants: “master,” “lord.” Contextual meaning: earthly masters, distinct from the capital-Lord Christ, though answerable to him (6:5, 6:9). Dutch: “heer” / “meester.” Risk: Medium — must be visually/contextually distinguished from the TM’s capitalized “Heer” reserved for Christ’s Lordship, to avoid conflating an earthly slave-master with divine Lordship.
• πανοπλία τοῦ Θεοῦ (panoplia tou theou) — “the whole armor of God.” Literal: full/complete armor (of a heavily-armed Greek hoplite soldier). Semantic range: a soldier’s complete equipment. English variants: “whole armor of God,” “full armor of God.” Contextual meaning: the complete set of spiritual resources for standing against the devil (6:11, 6:13) — the letter’s central SWA image. Dutch: “[de hele] wapenrusting van God.” Risk: Low — a well-established, widely recognized idiomatic phrase in Dutch Bible tradition and devotional culture; primary risk is not mistranslation but under-appreciation of its supernatural seriousness in a highly secularized culture that may reduce it to a purely psychological/motivational metaphor.
• μεθοδεία (methodeia) — “schemes, wiles.” Literal: a crafty method, scheming (root of English “method”). Semantic range: cunning strategy or deception. English variants: “schemes,” “wiles,” “strategies.” Contextual meaning: the devil’s deliberate, strategic deception against which believers must stand (6:11). Dutch: “listen.” Risk: Medium.
• διάβολος (diabolos) — “devil.” Literal: a slanderer, accuser. Semantic range: the personal, supernatural enemy of God and believers. English variants: “devil,” “the evil one.” Contextual meaning: a real, personal spiritual adversary, not a metaphor for impersonal evil or misfortune. Dutch: “duivel.” Risk: Medium — secularized Dutch readers may reduce “duivel” to folkloric imagery (a cultural, cartoonish figure) rather than a real personal spiritual enemy; the text’s straightforward, matter-of-fact treatment of the devil’s reality should not be softened into metaphor.
• ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι, κοσμοκράτορες, πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας (archai, exousiai, kosmokratores, pneumatika tēs ponērias) — “rulers, authorities, [world] powers, spiritual forces of evil.” Literal: rulers/chiefs; authorities/jurisdictions; world-rulers/cosmic potentates; spiritual [things] of wickedness. Semantic range: a stacked list of supernatural evil powers/ranks, not human governmental structures. English variants: “rulers,” “authorities,” “powers of this dark world,” “cosmic powers,” “spiritual forces of evil.” Contextual meaning: identifies the believer’s true spiritual battle as against organized supernatural evil, not human opponents (6:12) — the letter’s climactic SWA statement, and the direct escalation of the 2:2 “ruler of the power of the air.” Dutch: “overheden, machten, wereldbeheersers, geestelijke machten van het kwaad.” Risk: High — “overheden” is the ordinary, everyday Dutch word for civil governmental authorities (as in “de overheid” = “the government”); this creates a strong risk of readers conflating Paul’s language about supernatural cosmic powers with earthly political government, especially given the baseline’s already-flagged sensitivity around Romans 13:1-7’s government/authority material. Must be clearly and consistently marked in context as supra-human, spiritual powers, never civil government.
• ἵστημι / στῆτε (histēmi / stēte) — “stand, stand firm.” Literal: to stand, take a stand. Semantic range: to hold one’s ground, especially in battle. English variants: “stand,” “stand firm,” “take your stand.” Contextual meaning: the repeated imperative structuring the armor-of-God passage (6:11, 6:13, 6:14). Dutch: “standhouden” / “staan.” Risk: Low.
• ἀλήθεια (alētheia) — “truth.” Literal: that which is not hidden, reality as it is. Semantic range: factual truth; moral integrity/truthfulness; ultimate divine reality. English variants: “truth.” Contextual meaning: “the belt of truth” (6:14) — truth as foundational, load-bearing spiritual equipment. Dutch: “waarheid.” Risk: Medium — low as a standalone lexical item, but flagged given the Netherlands’ strongly pluralistic, “post-truth”-aware public discourse, where absolute or exclusive truth-claims face particular skepticism; the armor metaphor’s implicit claim to a single, objective, defensible truth should not be diluted into “a truth” or “your truth.”
• δικαιοσύνη, εὐαγγέλιον, εἰρήνη, πίστις, σωτήριον, ῥῆμα Θεοῦ (dikaiosynē, euangelion, eirēnē, pistis, sōtērion, rhēma theou) — the remaining armor pieces: “breastplate of righteousness,” “gospel of peace,” “shield of faith,” “helmet of salvation,” “sword of the Spirit — the word of God” (6:14-17). All reuse baseline TM terms exactly: gerechtigheid, evangelie, vrede, geloof, behoud. Risk levels per baseline (Critical/High/Medium as previously assigned). The one new lexical item is ῥῆμα (rhēma) — “word, utterance.” Literal: a spoken word/statement. Semantic range: a specific spoken utterance, sometimes distinguished from λόγος (a more general “word/message”), though the distinction is not always sharply maintained in Koine usage. English variants: “word,” “utterance,” “saying.” Contextual meaning: the Spirit’s sword identified with God’s spoken word (6:17). Dutch: “woord [van God].” Risk: Low-Medium — Dutch, like English, typically renders both λόγος and ῥῆμα as “woord”; no separate lexical item exists to preserve the nuance, so translators should resist inventing an artificial distinction not clearly load-bearing in this passage.
• προσευχή (proseuchē) — “prayer.” Literal: prayer, a request addressed to God specifically (distinct from αἴτημα, a general request). Semantic range: prayer directed to God. English variants: “prayer.” Contextual meaning: prayer “at all times, in the Spirit” as the sustaining posture accompanying the armor (6:18). Dutch: “gebed.” Risk: Low.
• πρεσβεύω (presbeuō) — “to be an ambassador.” Literal: to act as an elder/envoy on behalf of another. Semantic range: to represent a sovereign or state as an official envoy. English variants: “ambassador,” “envoy.” Contextual meaning: Paul’s self-description as “an ambassador in chains” for the gospel (6:20) — GBC/mission-adjacent, echoing the baseline’s “mission”/“zending” entry. Dutch: “gezant.” Risk: Low.

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Summary of Doctrine Coverage by Chapter

Chapter	New load-bearing vocabulary introduced	Primary doctrine(s)
1	mystery, predestined, chose/election, redemption, forgiveness, inheritance, sealed, guarantee, fullness, head, body, will, beloved	EPC, MCR, CBC
2 (core: vv.1-10; plus vv.11-22)	dead, trespass, walk, age, ruler/authority, sons of disobedience, desire, flesh, nature, wrath, mercy, love, made alive together, saved, raised/seated together, heavenly places, riches, kindness, gift, works, boast, workmanship, created, good works, prepared beforehand — plus dividing wall, enmity, reconcile, access, household of God, foundation, cornerstone, temple, building, dwelling place, covenants of promise, new humanity	SGF, EPC, UJG, WNL
3	mystery (specified), stewardship, fellow heirs, manifold wisdom, boldness, unsearchable riches, rooted/grounded, power at work, family	MCR, UJG
4	unity, one body/Spirit/baptism formula, baptism, evangelist, shepherd, teacher, equipping, mature, old self/new self, renewed, put off/put on, grieve the Spirit	CBC, GBC, WNL
5	imitators of God, offering/sacrifice, sexual immorality, covetousness, idolater, children of light, filled with the Spirit, submit, head (marriage), mystery (marriage), one flesh, respect	WNL, HCR, MCR
6	obey, honor, slave, master, whole armor of God, schemes, devil, rulers/authorities/cosmic powers, stand firm, truth, ambassador (plus reused armor terms)	HCR, SWA

No chapter of Ephesians is without new or intensified load-bearing theological vocabulary; the letter is unusually dense in doctrinal terminology relative to its length, and full-book coverage above reflects this.