The phrase “now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” is Ephesians 3:20 in the King James Version, and it is a doxology, a formal ascription of glory to God. The KJV stacks four intensifiers (exceeding, abundantly, above, all) onto one verb to translate a single Greek word that already carries a superlative force. The verse describes God’s power as immeasurable, but it does not promise unlimited outcomes for any specific request.
The Greek Engine Behind the Piling Adverbs
A doxology is a liturgical formula that ends a prayer or argument by directing praise upward. Ephesians 3:20–21 closes a prayer that began in verse 14, and it splits into two grammatical halves: a description of God and an ascription of glory “in the church by Christ Jesus.”
The engine sits in the Greek verb hyperekperissou, which appears only here in the New Testament. It fuses three elements: hyper (beyond, over), ek (out of, exceedingly), and perissou (abundantly, leftover). A wooden rendering is “beyond-exceedingly-abundantly.” The KJV translator rendered this single word with the phrase “exceeding abundantly above,” then the next Greek word, huperekperissōs, and the surrounding clause add “above all that we ask or think.” The multiplication is the point: the Greek is already a double superlative, so the English translators stacked intensifiers to match it. Plainly: one Greek word carries the whole crescendo, and English needed four words to carry it back.
The noun dynamai (“is able,” “has power”) supplies the verb of the first half. Its cognate dynamis is the ordinary New Testament word for power, might, and miraculous ability. The verse’s claim is not that God is willing to do everything, but that God’s ability to act is not bounded by human imagination or petition. Two participles qualify that ability: God “is able to do,” and the doxology then names the sphere of praise, “in the church by Christ Jesus.”
The doxology’s structure matters for how readers parse the verse. Verse 20 describes God; verse 21 ascribes glory “unto him.” The KJV’s word order, “now unto him who is able,” places the ascription first and the description second, which is why the phrase reads as a single unit in English even though it is grammatically split across two verses. A reader who stops at the word “think” loses the doxological destination.
Quantifying the Intensifier Stack
The verse’s rhetorical force is measurable in the number of intensifiers, and that number is unusual in the New Testament. Most doxologies use one or two qualifiers, such as “able to do” or “exceedingly.” Ephesians 3:20 uses four in the KJV: exceeding, abundantly, above, and all. The underlying Greek has two: hyperekperissou and huperekperissōs.
The word hyperekperissou occurs once in the New Testament, in this verse. Its cognate family is common, but the fused form is a one-off. That rarity is why the verse is a favorite of Greek grammarians. A unique compound cannot be checked against parallel usage, so its meaning is judged by its parts and by the context of Paul’s prayer in verses 14–19.
The doxology also notes the scope: “above all that we ask or think.” Here “ask” covers petition and “think” covers comprehension. The verse brackets both the request and the imagination that generates requests, which is a wider scope than most doxologies claim. It does not bracket human suffering, timing, or the conditions under which prayer is answered.
Edge Cases: Hyperbole, Grammar, and the KJV’s Choices
The verse is not a blanket guarantee of answered prayer. A reader who takes “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask” as a promise that every petition will be granted beyond expectation has misread the grammar. The verse praises God’s capacity; it does not contract God to deliver a specific result on a specific timeline.
The KJV rendering is not a literal word-for-word transplant. The translators made a stylistic choice to reproduce the Greek’s intensification with English adverbs. Modern versions compress it: the New International Version renders the same clause as “immeasurably more than all we ask or think.” The KJV’s multiplication is a translation strategy, not a claim that the Greek contains four separate words.
A counterintuitive detail: the verse’s “power that is at work within us” (verse 20, second half) refers to the same dynamis that raised Christ from the dead in Ephesians 1:19–20. The doxology’s “able” is not a generic capability but the resurrection power already described. That connection is the strongest argument that the verse is about God’s redemptive action, not about material abundance.
A professional caveat: some popular teaching treats the verse’s intensifiers as a formula for “super-abundant” blessings, especially financial ones. The text supplies no measure, no time frame, and no category of blessing. Preachers who supply those categories are reading into the verse, not out of it.
Misconceptions About the Verse
Misconception: the verse promises that God will do more than anyone can imagine. The text says God is able to do more than what is asked or thought, and it locates that ability in God’s power, not in a guarantee of a particular outcome. Misconception: “exceeding abundantly” is a magic formula for a breakthrough. The phrase is a translation of one Greek word, and the verse’s context is doxology, not a technique for prompting God. Misconception: the KJV wording is the original. The KJV is an English translation from 1611, and its phrasing reflects seventeenth-century English style, not the Greek word order. Misconception: the verse teaches that prayer’s limits are set by the asker’s imagination. The verse sets no human limit as the cause of answered prayer, though verse 20’s “that is at work within us” ties the power to God’s indwelling, not to the asker’s mental effort.
Comparison of Common English Renderings
| Translation | Rendering of “hyperekperissou” | Intensifier count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| KJV (1611) | “exceeding abundantly above all” | 4 | Stacks adverbs to match the Greek compound |
| ESV | “far more abundantly than all” | 3 | Keeps the “more abundantly” family |
| NIV | “immeasurably more than all” | 2 | Compresses to a single intensity term |
| NASB | “far more abundantly beyond all” | 3 | Preserves the “beyond” element |
| NLT | “infinitely more than we might ask or think” | 2 | Uses “infinitely,” a different figure |
The comparison shows that the KJV is the most expansive of the major versions. A reader comparing translations should treat the KJV’s four intensifiers as a stylistic amplification of one Greek word, not as four separate promises.
The Verse’s Time Course in Its Letter
| Stage | Passage | What It Establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Prayer begins | Ephesians 3:14–15 | Paul bows before the Father, naming the family in heaven and earth |
| Inner strengthening requested | Ephesians 3:16–17 | Prayer asks for power through the Spirit and Christ dwelling in hearts |
| Comprehension requested | Ephesians 3:18–19 | Prayer asks to grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ’s love |
| Ability described | Ephesians 3:20a | God is able to do beyond all asking or thinking |
| Power located | Ephesians 3:20b | The power is “at work within us” |
| Glory ascribed | Ephesians 3:21 | Glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout generations |
The timeline clarifies that verse 20 is the hinge between petition and praise. The pray-er has asked for inner strength and comprehension; the doxology then praises the God who can exceed even those requests. The “forever and ever” of verse 21 places the doxology outside the letter’s immediate circumstances, which is why the verse has been used liturgically for centuries.
Practical Actions for Reading and Using the Verse
Readers who want to engage the verse responsibly can take concrete steps. Read the whole prayer first, from Ephesians 3:14 to 3:21, so the doxology’s function is clear. Compare at least two translations side by side and note where the intensifiers land. Check the Greek word behind the English phrase using a lexicon or study Bible note, and notice that hyperekperissou is a single compound. Then treat the verse as a doxology in prayer and liturgy rather than as a claim about a specific petition, and avoid using it to promise particular outcomes to others.
For study groups, a 20-minute session can walk through the five stages above using the timeline table. For personal reading, a single pass through verses 14–21 with the comparison table in view is enough to see the translation choices at work. For preaching, the strongest move is to connect verse 20’s dynamis to Ephesians 1:19–20, where the same power raises Christ from the dead; that connection keeps the doxology anchored to redemption rather than to prosperity.
Limitations of What the Verse Can Bear
The verse cannot be used to predict outcomes, dates, or amounts. It names no currency, no threshold, and no schedule. Its claim is about God’s ability, and its context is a prayer for inner strength and comprehension, not a formula for material gain. The KJV’s intensifier stack is a translation artifact, and treating it as a fourfold promise overreads the text.
The verse also cannot settle debates about how prayer works. It describes God’s power as exceeding human asking and thinking, but it does not explain when, how, or whether a given request is answered. Readers who want certainty about specific outcomes will not find it here, and teachers who supply that certainty are not drawing it from the text.
The doxology’s final clause, “throughout all ages, world without end,” is a liturgical formula that places the verse in worship rather than in prediction. That setting is the verse’s proper home. Used as a doxology, it is one of the New Testament’s richest ascriptions of praise. Used as a guarantee, it becomes something the text does not claim to be.