Ephesians 6:20

Ephesians 6:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
• New International Version (NIV)for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
• English Standard Version (ESV)for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
• New King James Version (NKJV)for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Context of Ephesians 6:20

18As you stand strongly like that, always pray for God's help. Pray about everything as God's Spirit helps you to pray. For this purpose, watch carefully all the time. Also, continue to pray for all God's people everywhere. 19Please pray for me, too. Pray that God will give me the right message to speak. Pray that I will not be afraid to tell people about God's good news. Pray that I can explain God's secret to them. God has sent me to tell people the good news on his behalf. And that is why I am now in prison. So pray that I will speak God's message bravely, as I ought to speak it. 21My Christian friend, Tychicus, will tell you all the news about me. He works hard as the Lord's servant. He will tell you about what is happening here. Then you will know what I am doing and how I am. 22That is the reason why I am sending him to you. I want him to tell you what is happening to us here, so that you will feel stronger.

Ephesians 6:20 word by word

ὑπὲρ οὗ πρεσβεύω ἐν ἁλύσει, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῷ παρρησιάσωμαι ὡς δεῖ με λαλῆσαι.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forὑπέρhuper · above/forG5228
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• I am an ambassadorπρεσβεύωpresbeuō · be ambassadorG4243
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• bondsἅλυσιςhalusis · chainG254
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• ·αὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• I may speak boldlyπαρρησιάζομαιparrhēsiazomai · to preach boldlyG3955
• asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• oughtδεῖdei · be necessaryG1163
• to speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980

Cross-references for Ephesians 6:20

• Proverbs 13:17If you send a message with a wicked person, he will cause trouble. But if you send someone that you can trust, he will bring peace.
• Isaiah 33:7Look! Our brave soldiers are calling out in the streets. The people that we sent to make peace with our enemies are weeping.
• 2 Corinthians 5:20So we speak to people on behalf of Christ. It is like this: When we speak, God himself is speaking to you. On behalf of Christ, we say to you, ‘Please come back to God, as his friends!’
• Ephesians 3:1That is why I pray for you. I, Paul, am in prison because I serve Christ Jesus. He has sent me to help you Gentiles.
• Ephesians 4:1Because I serve the Lord, I am here in prison. I really want you to live as God's own people should live. God has called you to come to him. He has chosen you to be his own people.
• 2 Samuel 10:2David thought, ‘I will be kind to Hanun, because his father Nahash was kind to me.’ So David sent some of his officers to give a message to Hanun. David wanted to tell Hanun that he was sorry that Nahash had died. David's officers took his message to the land of the Ammonites.
• Acts 26:29Paul answered him, ‘It is not important if it takes a long time or a short time. I pray to God for you and for everyone who is listening to me today. I pray that you may all become like me. But I would not want you to become a prisoner like me!’
• Acts 28:20That is why I want to talk with you now. I want to tell you why I am a prisoner here. It is because I believe in the one that God promised to send to us who are Jews.’
• Philippians 1:7It is right for me to feel like this about all of you, because I love you very much. God has been very kind to all of us. Because you know that, you have continued to help me. You have helped me while I have been here in this prison. You also helped me when I was free and I could teach the good news. I explained to people why the good news is God's true message. Together, we have known how kind God is.
• 2 Timothy 1:16But Onesiphorus has stayed to help me. I pray that the Lord will be kind to his family. He often came to help me not to be sad. I am in prison, but he was not ashamed to help me.
• 2 Timothy 2:9And I have many troubles because I tell that good news to people. They have even put me in a prison, like someone who has done something bad. But nobody can keep God's message in a prison!
• Philemon 1:10So I am asking you to help Onesimus, who is like my own child. I taught him about Jesus while I was in prison. Because of that, he now has life with God. I am like his father.
• Ephesians 6:19Please pray for me, too. Pray that God will give me the right message to speak. Pray that I will not be afraid to tell people about God's good news. Pray that I can explain God's secret to them.
• Isaiah 58:1The Lord says, ‘Shout out! Shout as loudly as you can! Make as much noise as a trumpet makes! Tell my people that they have not obeyed me. Tell the family of Jacob about their sins.
• Jeremiah 1:7The Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone that I send you to. You must say whatever I tell you to say.
• Ezekiel 2:4I am sending you to speak to these people. They do not accept my authority and they refuse to change. But you must say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says.”

Commentaries on Ephesians 6:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20An ambassador in bonds - An ambassador being the representative of his king, his person was in all civilized countries held sacred. Contrary to the rights of nations, this ambassador of the King of heaven was put in chains! He had however the opportunity of defending himself, and of vindicating the honor of his Master. See above. As I ought to speak - As becomes the dignity and the importance of the subject.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds - In chains (see the margin); or in confinement. There is something especially touching in this. He was “an ambassador” - sent to proclaim peace to a lost world. But he was now in chains. An ambassador is a sacred character. No greater affront can be given to a nation than to put its ambassadors to death, or even to throw them into prison. But Paul says here that the unusual spectacle was witnessed of an ambassador…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-24Verses 19-24 The gospel was a mystery till made known by Divine revelation; and it is the work of Christ's ministers to declare it. The best and most eminent ministers need the prayers of believers. Those particularly should be prayed for, who are exposed to great hardships and perils in their work. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith. By peace, understand all manner of peace; peace with God, peace of conscience, peace among themselves. And the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20Paul's mission was to help non-Jews (Gentiles) understand they are now accepted by God and welcomed into God's church. the mystery of the gospel: See study notes on 1:8–10; 3:3. I am an ambassador in chains: Although writing as a prisoner (see 3:1; 4:1), Paul knew his role as God's ambassador was to continue speaking boldly for God (compare 2 Corinthians 5:20) .Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. For--Greek, as in Ep 6:19, "On behalf of which." an ambassador in bonds--a paradox. Ambassadors were held inviolable by the law of nations, and could not, without outrage to every sacred right, be put in chains. Yet Christ's "ambassador is in a chain!" The Greek is singular. The Romans used to bind a prisoner to a soldier by a single chain, in a kind of free custody. So Ac 28:16, 20, "I am bound with this chain." The term, "bonds" (plural), on the…Read the comment

Topics related to Ephesians 6:20

• Ambassadors
• Gospel
• Intercession
• Minister, Christian
• Wisdom
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Ambassador
• Chain
• Ephesians, Epistle to
• Nurture
• Obey
• Provoke
• Wrestle
• Chain; Chains
• Ephesians, Epistle to the
• Justification

Commentaries on Ephesians 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings