Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
In whom--by virtue of union to whom.
obtained an inheritance--literally, "We were made to have an inheritance" [WAHL]. Compare Ephesians 1:18, "His inheritance in the saints": as His inheritance is there said to be in them, so theirs is here said to be in Him (Acts 26:18). However, Ephesians 1:12, "That we should BE TO . . . His glory" (not "that we should have"), favors the translation of BENGEL, ELLICOTT, and others, "We were made an inheritance." So the literal Israel (Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:29; Deuteronomy 32:9). "Also" does not mean "we also," nor as English Version, "in whom also"; but, besides His having "made known to us His will," we were also "made His inheritance," or "we have also obtained an inheritance."
predestinated-- (Ephesians 1:5). The foreordination of Israel, as the elect nation, answers to that of the spiritual Israelites, believers, to an eternal inheritance, which is the thing meant here. The "we" here and in Ephesians 1:12, means Jewish believers (whence the reference to the election of Israel nationally arises), as contrasted with "you" (Ephesians 1:13) Gentile believers.
purpose--repeated from "purposed" (Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:11). The Church existed in the mind of God eternally, before it existed in creation.
counsel of his . . . will-- (Ephesians 1:5), "the good pleasure of His will." Not arbitrary caprice, but infinite wisdom ("counsel") joined with sovereign will. Compare his address to the same Ephesians in Acts 20:27, "All the counsel of God" (Isaiah 28:29). Alike in the natural and spiritual creations, God is not an agent constrained by necessity. "Wheresoever counsel is, there is election, or else it is vain; where a will, there must be freedom, or else it is weak" [PEARSON].
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Jeremiah 1:5
Daniel 4:35
Zechariah 6:13
Galatians 4:2
Ephesians 1:1
Ephesians 1:3
Ephesians 1:3
Ephesians 1:5
Ephesians 1:9
Ephesians 1:13
Ephesians 1:18
Philippians 2:12
Colossians 1:12
Hebrews 11:10
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