Charles Hodge on Ephesians 1:12

V. 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory, εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς, εἰς ἔπαινον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, that is, that we should be the means of causing his divine majesty or excellence to be praised. Here, as in v. 6, the glory of God is declared to be the design of the plan of redemption and of every thing connected with its administration. The persons here spoken of are described as τοὺς προηλπικότας ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ, those who first hoped in Christ. That is, who hoped in him of old, or before his advent; or, who hoped in him before others, mentioned in v. 13, had heard of him. In either case it designates not the first converts to Christianity, but the Jews who, before the Gentiles, had the Messiah as the object of their hopes. The form of expression here used (ἐλπίζειν ἐν), does not mean simply to expect, but to place one’s hope or confidence in any one. Comp. 1 Cor. 15, 19. It is not, therefore, the Jews as such, but the believing Jews, who are here spoken of as in Christ the partakers of the inheritance which he has purchased.

The construction of these several clauses adopted in the foregoing exposition is that which takes them in their natural order, and gives a sense consistent with the usage of the words and agreeable to the analogy of Scripture. The first clause of this verse is made to depend upon the last clause of v. 11: ‘Having predestinated us to be the praise of his glory;’ and the last clause, ‘Who first hoped in Christ,’ is merely explanatory of the class of persons spoken of. The whole then hangs naturally together: ‘We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated to be the praise of his glory, we, who first hoped in Christ.’ There are, however, two other modes of construction possible. The one connects the beginning of v. 12 with the first clause of v. 11, and renders ἐκληρώθημεν, we have attained. The sense would then be, ‘We have attained, or, it has happened unto us to be to the praise of his glory.’ This however not only unnaturally dissevers contiguous clauses, but assigns to ἐκληρώθημεν a weakened sense inconsistent with the Scripture usage of that and its cognate words. A second method connects the last clause of the 12th verse with the second clause of the 11th.—‘Having predestinated us to be the first who hoped in Christ.’ But this also rends the clauses apart, and does not express a sense so suitable to the context. It is saying much more, and much more in the way of an explanation of the fact affirmed in the first clause of v. 11, to say, ‘We were predestinated to be the praise of God’s glory;’ than to say, ‘We were predestinated to be the first who hoped in Christ.’ The majority of commentators therefore take the clauses as they stand, and as they are concatenated in our version.