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En is used of number . . .
"Among the princes of Juda" (Matt. 2: 6).
En is used of agency . . .
"By His blood" (Rom. 5: 9).
"With thy mouth" (Rom. 10: 9).
"For their much speaking" (Matt. 6: 7).
En may also indicate the business in which one is employed (Rom. 1: 9), the society
to which one belongs, or matters in which one has a share (Matt. 23: 30) and the state
or condition of the mind (Eph. 4: 15).
The epistle therefore was written to the saints; to those who were in or at Ephesus.
The preposition en occurs some 120 times in Ephesians. We cannot refer to all these
here, but we will give an example of each of the different ways in which it is translated in
these occurrences.
AT.--"At Ephesus" (1: 1).
IN.--"In Christ Jesus" (1: 1).
WITH.--"With all spiritual blessings" (1: 3).
WhereIN.--"Wherein He hath made us accepted" (1: 6).
AMONG.--"Among whom also we all had our conversation" (2: 3).
THROUGH.--"In His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (2: 7).
BY.--"Made nigh by the blood of Christ" (2: 13).
ThereBY.--"Having slain the enmity thereby" (2: 16).
OF.--"The prisoner of the Lord' (4: 1).
WhereBY.--"Whereby ye are sealed" (4: 30).
FOR . . . . . SAKE.--"Even as God For Christ's sake" (4: 32).
WhereWITH.--"Wherewith ye shall be able" (6: 16).
ALWAYS.--"Praying always (lit. in every season)" (6: 18) and
"THAT I MAY OPEN (lit. in the opening of)
MY MOUTH BOLDLY (in boldness)" (6: 19).
The reader may meet with some who will assure him that they are not blessed with all
spiritual blessings but in them; that Paul was not the prisoner of Christ Jesus, but in Him,
etc., etc. If so he will now possibly be the better fitted to treat such intrusion at its true
worth. If anyone apprises us what this or that word is in the original; that it is this or that
preposition, he renders us a service, but if, with irritating literality, he attempts to reduce
all such counters of living thought to a dead level, his service becomes a disservice.