independentparticipialrelativepurposecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The sentence suspended — the parenthesis on the mystery 3:1–7
v. 1 — the prayer begun and broken off
1
Τούτου χάριν ἐγὼ Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν—independent — anacoluthon — the subject suspended without a verb; resumed at v. 14
vv. 2–7 — the parenthesis opens: the stewardship of the mystery
2
εἴ γε ἠκούσατε τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς δοθείσης μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς,conditional — εἴ γε — backward-leaning, a confident aside: surely you have heard
3
ὅτι κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον,content — what they heard — the mystery came by revelation, not invention
καθὼς προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ,comparative — the cross-reference — chs. 1–2 in brief
4
πρὸς ὃ δύνασθε ἀναγινώσκοντες νοῆσαι τὴν σύνεσίν μου ἐν τῷ μυστηρίῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ,relative — on ὃ (what he wrote) — reading yields perception
5
ὃ ἑτέραις γενεαῖς οὐκ ἐγνωρίσθη τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπωνrelative — the mystery hidden — the former silence
ὡς νῦν ἀπεκαλύφθη τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ καὶ προφήταις ἐν πνεύματι,comparative — the then/now contrast — revelation by the Spirit
6
εἶναι τὰ ἔθνη συγκληρονόμα καὶ σύσσωμα καὶ συμμέτοχα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου,content — epexegetic infinitive — the mystery's content: three σύν-compounds
7
οὗ ἐγενήθην διάκονος κατὰ τὴν δωρεὰν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς δοθείσης μοι κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ.relative — on τοῦ εὐαγγελίου — servant by gift and power, not merit
The least of the saints — wisdom made known through the church 3:8–13
vv. 8–9 — the grace given: to preach and to illumine
8
ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη,independent — the digression's main verb — ἐλαχιστότερος, a comparative of a superlative
τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐαγγελίσασθαι τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ,content — epexegetic infinitive 1 — the grace defined: preaching to the Gentiles
9
καὶ φωτίσαι πάνταςcontent — epexegetic infinitive 2 — illumination for everyone
τίς ἡ οἰκονομία τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένου ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων ἐν τῷ θεῷ τῷ τὰ πάντα κτίσαντι,content — indirect question — the οἰκονομία of the long-hidden mystery (οἰκονομία, not κοινωνία, read)
vv. 10–12 — the purpose: God's wisdom displayed to the powers
10
ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ,purpose — the goal of the illumination — the church as God's lesson to the powers
11
κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνωνphrase modifier — the norm — the purpose of the ages
ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν,relative — ἐποίησεν — 'accomplished' rather than 'formed' read here
12
ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ.relative — on Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ — πίστεως αὐτοῦ as faith in him (objective genitive)
v. 13 — the plea: do not lose heart
13
διὸ αἰτοῦμαιindependent — διό — the inference drawn from vv. 2–12
μὴ ἐγκακεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσίν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν,content — subject unexpressed — 'you' supplied (not 'that I not lose heart')
ἥτις ἐστὶν δόξα ὑμῶν.relative — ἥτις attracted to δόξα — the tribulations themselves are your glory
The prayer resumed — the ἵνα-chain 3:14–19
vv. 14–15 — the resumption: knees bowed to the Father
14
Τούτου χάριν κάμπτω τὰ γόνατά μου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα,independent — the resumption — Τούτου χάριν repeated from v. 1; the verb at last
15
ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀνομάζεται,relative — the πατήρ/πατριά wordplay — every family named from the Father
vv. 16–19 — the petitions: strengthened, indwelt, rooted, filled
16
ἵνα δῷ ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦpurpose — the petition — the prayer's governing ἵνα
δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον,content — infinitive 1 under δῷ — strength within, by the Spirit
17
κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστὸν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν,content — infinitive 2 under δῷ — the strengthening's twin: Christ at home in the heart
ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι,participial — nominative anacoluthon — read with the indwelling; many take it proleptically with the ἵνα of v. 18
18
ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε καταλαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοιςpurpose — the chain's second ἵνα — comprehension is corporate, with all the saints
τί τὸ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ ὕψος καὶ βάθος,content — indirect question — four dimensions, object unexpressed: Christ's love (v. 19)
19
γνῶναί τε τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ,content — γνῶναί τε — coordinate with καταλαβέσθαι: knowing what outruns knowledge
ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ.purpose — the chain's last ἵνα — the climax: filled to God's own fullness
The doxology 3:20–21
20
Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπερεκπερισσοῦindependent — a suspended dative — resolved by αὐτῷ in v. 21
ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμενrelative — genitive of comparison (attracted ὧν) — beyond asking and imagining
κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν,phrase modifier — the measure — the same power already at work (1:19; 3:16)
21
αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.independent — αὐτῷ resumes the dative — glory in the church and in Christ, verb supplied
Analysis. The shape of this chapter is the great anacoluthon, and the layout shows it as two dashed flush-left fragments that answer each other across twelve verses. Τούτου χάριν ἐγὼ Παῦλος (v. 1) opens on the margin with no verb — a suspended subject, dashed — and everything from v. 2 to v. 7 hangs beneath it in one descending staircase: the εἴ-γε aside, the mystery made known, what he wrote, what they can read, the revelation to apostles and prophets, the mystery's content (Gentiles fellow-heirs, three σύν-compounds), and Paul made its servant. Verses 8–13 begin again at the margin (ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη) and descend through the two infinitives of his commission to the amber ἵνα of the church's cosmic assignment, before διὸ αἰτοῦμαι closes the digression. Then v. 14 repeats Τούτου χάριν verbatim and at last supplies the verb — κάμπτω τὰ γόνατά μου — and the prayer immediately builds the chapter's second staircase, the ἵνα-chain: δῷ, then the twin infinitives κραταιωθῆναι and κατοικῆσαι side by side under it, then ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε with γνῶναί τε beside its complement, then the climactic ἵνα πληρωθῆτε at the chain's bottom. The doxology (vv. 20–21) is two dashed marginal lines, a suspended dative resolved by αὐτῷ. Interpretive choices the layout takes a side on: εἴ γε (v. 2) is read as a confident aside anchored back on ὁ δέσμιος, not a real doubt; μὴ ἐγκακεῖν (v. 13) supplies 'you' as subject, not 'I'; πίστεως αὐτοῦ (v. 12) is faith in him (objective genitive); ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι (v. 17) is read with the indwelling that precedes it rather than proleptically with the ἵνα of v. 18 (the tag flags the alternative); and the ἵνα-clauses of vv. 16, 18, 19 are taken as successive steps, each hanging from the petition above it, not as three parallel requests.