DATE
DATE
The letter speaks of Paul as in prison (Eph. 3:1; 4:1). This is usually taken to refer to his imprisonment in Rome toward the end of his life, which would mean a date in the early 60s. Those who reject Pauline authorship usually date Ephesians in the period 7090, the period during which the Pauline letters are thought to have been collected. If it was not written by Paul, it must belong to the immediate postapostolic period, but there are no criteria for locating it with precision. It cannot be much later than about 90, for it seems to be referred to by Clement of Rome, who is usually thought to have written his letter c. A.D. 96.