What Does Ephesians 3:16 Mean?
That he would give you, according to the riches of his weight, to be made firm with strength through his breath in the inner humankind.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;THE KEY
The strength God grants is carried inward by his own breath, reaching the person beneath what others can see.
THE MEANING
God’s strength meets you in the inner person through his breath, according to the abundance of his weight. The verse speaks of inward strength as something granted, not manufactured by sheer self-command. Your hidden life is where this gift takes hold.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that you must make yourself strong before God can meet you gives way: the strength here is granted and reaches the inner person through his breath.
THE ROOT
κραταιωθῆναι
krataiōthēnai
GROWS FROM
κρατ-
krat-
Strength, might, or prevailing power.
“made firm with strength” in this verse is krataiōthēnai. The Greek uses κρατ- for being made strong, then a different root, δυν-, for the might by which it happens. The verse holds together the strengthening of the inner person and the capacity that is granted to them.
ALSO GROWS
kratos: Strength, might, or dominion.
κράτος
This same root appears in the power named in Ephesians 6:10, linking inward strengthening with the Lord’s power.
krataios: Strong or mighty.
κραταιός
This related form shows the quality of strength carried by the verb translated “strengthened.”
δυνάμει
dynamei
GROWS FROM
δυν-
dyn-
Ability, capacity, or power.
This word names effective capacity, not merely a feeling of strength. The verse presents that capacity as something God grants to the inner person.
ALSO GROWS
dynamai: To be able or capable.
δύναμαι
Its shared root connects might with the capacity to act.
dynatos: Able, capable, or powerful.
δυνατός
This branch shows might as a capacity present in someone, illuminating the inner strengthening described here.
πνεύματι
pneumati
GROWS FROM
πνευ-
pneu-
To breathe or blow; breath and wind.
The Greek noun πνεῦμα holds breath, wind, and spirit within one word. Here it names God’s Spirit, so the verse joins divine presence with the image of living breath moving inwardly.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: To breathe or blow.
πνέω
This verb reveals the breath and wind carried within the same word family as Spirit.
pnoē: Breath or a blowing.
πνοή
This branch makes the breath connection explicit: the strengthening comes through God’s living presence.
THE PATTERN
Strength is granted where human capacity is depleted, and it reaches the inward life.
In the day I cry out, you answer me, and you stir me with strength in my living soul.He gives power to the faint, and to those without might he multiplies strength.Therefore we do not give out; though our outer person is worn through, yet our inner person is made new day after day.THE THREAD
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the grip of his strength.The word “power” here is κράτος (kratos), from the same κρατ- family as “strengthened” in Ephesians 3:16. That verse locates the strength in the inner person; this one names the Lord as its source.
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