Four Words for Power

“... having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know... what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us to believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.” - Ephesians 1:18-21

Ephesians has the highest percentage of power words of any New Testament book. In verse 19 alone, Paul uses four different words for power, which is remarkable: as one commentator writes, “in other New Testament texts where any of these four terms are found together, there are never more than two in a given instance; here there are four!”

The phrase “immeasurable greatness of his power” is Greek dynamis and means having the capacity or potential for power. The phrase “according to the working” is Greek energeia and means the active working out of power, power in action. The word “great” is Greek ischus and means endowed or inherent power. The word “might” is Greek kratos and includes inherent power but stresses the dominion of that power, its authoritative strength and ability to overcome resistance.

In his commentary, Hoehner writes, “By way of illustration, a bulldozer has the ability, capacity, and potential of routing out trees (dynamis). By looking at it, one senses its inherent strength (ischus) but when its engine roars and it begins to move, its power of mastery becomes obvious (kratos). However, when it comes to a tree and knocks it over, one sees the activity of its power (energeia).” Calvin illustrates these words by saying that ischus is like the root, kratos like the tree, energeia the fruit, and dynamis the more general term that all the others support.

This power is present in the resurrection of Christ. Jesus has inherent power as one who is fully God; he worked out this power through his resurrection from the dead; he was endowed with power from the Father; he now sits in a place of authority and dominion. These four terms contrast with the four hostile powers listed in verse 21: Jesus has the dynamis, energeia, ischus and kratos that is far above "all rule and authority and power and dominion."

Paul's prayer is not that we have this power but that we can recognize it. He spells it out so extensively because he wants us to see what we already have. May we, through the revelatory work of the Holy Spirit, indeed see and know this power today.